Oak Orchard Tournaments

[Paul Czarnecki]

Just a note to remind everyone of two very important upcoming tournies. On Saturday Oak Orchard will again host the Annual Johnny V Memorial Tournament. This is a weigh your best 3 event with a $100 cash entry. You must be in line to weigh your catch at Lake Breeze Marina no later than 3 pm.

Entries will be accepted by Bob Stevens (Sunrise) and myself (Free Spirit) at Lake Breeze Marina. New for this year----you can fish from any port but must enter and weigh at Lake Breeze Marina.

On Tuesday the 5th--the day after Labor Day-- we will be holding the Annual Oak Orchard One Man Fish Bowl Tournament. It is a $100 cash entry and weigh your best 3 event. There will be a captains meeting at 6am at Lake breeze Marina with fishing from 630 to 1130 and weigh ins immediately thereafter at Lake Breeze Marina. Lunch will be hosted by the winner of the event at the Black North immediately following the last weigh in.

I will be accepting entries up until 6am on Tuesday.

For more info give me a call at 716-390-0085

See ya there!

Paul

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

Give us tourny rundown. Love the sound of that "one man- er". Who bought lunch(won), and who put a "beat down" on his food and winners wallet?

[Fishtails]

Yeah Paul, lets hear what happened bro ? I would do the one man tourney in a heartbeat, that just sounds like an absolute ball, but the timing was bad for me.

[Paul Czarnecki]

The Johnny V was won by Butch Cooley (Pisces) with a very impressive catch. Bob Songin (Reel Excitement) was a close second.

The One Man Fish Bowl was a BLAST and for most of the time it felt like we were SWIMMING in a fish bowl----torrential rain and some lightning. However, the lake was calm as 5 captains set out alone in their boats and in about 2 minutes we knew it was gonna be a great day. Bob Stevens (Sunrise) and I set up about 100 yards apart right in front of the harbor in 45 fow. As I lowered my first rigger I could hear Bob yelling---he was hooked up already! No sooner did I stop my rigger and it went off and I was fast to a nasty king as well. With no auto pilot I had to fight the fish and drive which, although fun, is not an easy task. Once I had the fish netted and had reset I collected my bearings in time to see Bob hook up again. However, this time he was NAKED! Well.....almost. He doubled as I got close and I got to see WAY more of Capt. Bob Stevens than I ever wanted to as he struggled with two fish on at once. From 150 yards away I could hear him laughing and yelling like a school kid in the downpour.

As I passed Capt. Clarence Crisp I saw him putting his net away, having just boated his second. He stood up and he was NAKED TOO! Oh my GOD!!!

Well....at this point I'm trailing by at least one fish so I figure I better drop a diver in to complete my three rod "set". No sooner did I lock the diver in and the center rigger went off again with a SCREAMER that got way more line than I wanted him to. In mid run, my freshly set diver goes off as well! DOUBLED UP! In between trying to control the first fish which was out nearly 150 yards and trying to drive in the downpour I managed to get the diver rod out of its holder and into a rigger holder to keep the fish from yanking it out.

I finally worked the rigger fish to the boat and netted the 22 pounder then immediately grabbed the diver rod. Luckily the fish stayed close. I had him to the boat in a couple of minutes and got him netted as well. By the way its not easy netting a diver fish by yourself with a 10 ft leader!

Two time Champ, and last year's winner, Capt Butch Cooley, decided to join us after his charter cancelled and quickly went to his "secret spot" and boated two cohos! With a 25"+ no cull rule he had to keep them and promptly conceded defeat after he discovered that his four other competitors each had three kings in the box. All of the brave competitors boxed out by 8:45. Radio banter, naked solo fishing with great friends in a torrential downpour and incredible salmon fishing combined to make the 2012 One Man Fish Bowl our most memorable yet.

After the final weigh in it was Capt. Bob Stevens and his Sunrise Pursuit that narrowly edged out Capt. Clarence Crisp and yours truly. First year competitor Jim Cond came in 4th but his catch was voted "Prettiest box" by everyone in attendance.

Per tournament rules Capt. Bob Stevens treated us all to a terrific lunch of pizza and wings at the Black North Inn where the banter and smack talking continued. It should be noted that there are now THREE captains that have won this coveted trophy TWICE.

Paul Czarnecki, Butch Cooley and now Bob Stevens have each won the award twice setting up next year's tournament to be a virtual BLOOD BATH as one of us tries to make it a HAT TRICK. It would be great to see this event grow. It is a terrific end of the season stress reliever and is about as much fun as you could ever have by yourself. We are very safety conscious and clothing IS optional.

[UpGrady]

Atta Boy Deuce!!! But I really could do without the visuals!

[Yankee Troller]

LOL....Paul is the auto-pilot coming in 2013? LOL

[Paul Czarnecki]

LOL....Paul is the auto-pilot coming in 2013? LOL

It may Rick but I've won TWO fish Bowls without it. If I do get one it will be to make charters and tournaments easier. I have too much fun fighting fish from the wheel and really want to get a hat trick with no auto pilot.

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

Good stuff guys. Congrats Sunny 2. Whoever thought of that came up with a winner.

[Paul Czarnecki]

Good stuff guys. Congrats Sunny 2. Whoever thought of that came up with a winner.

The idea was concieved in a bar Vince----as most good ideas are. Bob Stevens, Bob Songin and myself were sitting in the North over 6 years ago lamenting about the end of the season. We came up with the idea for one last, end of the season, bash. And it really is!

Every year we get promises from lots of people wanting to fish it and lots of smack talking from guys who say they're gonna win it but yet, when the day comes, those people are no where to be found. It goes on anyway and its still the BEST way to end the season!

[Fishtails]

Awesome recap Pauley. All of us who have had the pleasure of attempting to land a big king solo can certainly appreciate the laughter and fun you guys enjoyed.

I have a question for you guys. How come when fishing In a big money tourney, diver fish seem to be gone if you don't get to the rod In like 5 seconds, yet on a fun day you can't get them off the hook no matter how many things you do wrong?

I am sure you have a good reason to hold it when you do, but that is like the day my kids go back to school.... Almost any other time I would be there, but that day is just impossible. I may need to work it out next year, just to see that you don't get that hat trick What are friends for , right Paul?

[Paul Czarnecki]

I have a question for you guys. How come when fishing In a big money tourney, diver fish seem to be gone if you don't get to the rod In like 5 seconds, yet on a fun day you can't get them off the hook no matter how many things you do wrong?

Rod, in my experience the worst thing you can do is get to a diver or copper rod quickly. My mates, clients and team mates are given STRICT orders not to grab a diver rod the second it starts to go. I like to let the fish hammer on it for 7-10 seconds AT LEAST before taking it out of the holder. On coppers with inline boards clients are not even allowed to touch a screaming rod until they count to five SLOWLY. It seems that moving and changing the angle of a diver or inline rod before the fish is done with its initial head shakes results in thrown hooks 95% of the time.

The fish is either hooked or its not---allowing the fish to hammer on rods that have straight line contact (coppers and divers) simply assures that they stay hooked.

[Fishtails]

5 seconds. Dude, that would seem like a lifetime to me ! It always seems like if we don't get to it "before" 5 seconds, it's gone. Maybe I have gotten into a bad habit of keeping my drags to tight on diver rods?

Wait just a second here....you are just trying to trick me into standing there next year at the Wilson invite watching my diver rod throb In the holder while I stupidly count to five....and loose my fish Ahhh, well played Pauley I think I will continue with my 3 foot power sprints and take my chances

[Paul Czarnecki]

I think I will continue with my 3 foot power sprints and take my chances

And that's exactly what you should continue to do. Whatever "works" for you . However, if your hit to kill ratio on divers isn't at LEAST 85% perhaps you should think about what I wrote.

If I am missing fish on the strike on my divers and no one else around me is its either a speed issue, an angle issue, or BOTH. Rarely do I lose a diver fish once its hooked up. BUT........at least for the 2013 Wilson Invite, you should continue to get to your diver and copper rods as quickly as humanly possible. And maybe even throw a good hook set or two in for good measure.

Glad you're not going to Cali---I was gonna miss ya.

[Fishtails]

Glad you're not going to Cali---I was gonna miss ya.

That hurts man.....

[muskybob]

:D

Great post. I got a good chuckle out of it. THANK YOU for no action shots. If Ray K. ever gets involved in this PLEASE make it a no camera allowed derby.