LUCKY ENUFF Sodus Pro-AM Report - Bob's Boy Version

[TOP SECRET]

First let me say, it was an honor and privilege to fish with Rod, Ray and Mitch (our observer for the two days) aboard LUCKY ENUFF.

I got out of work late Thursday and drove up to the lake. The fiance and I got there around 1am only to find that the electric on the docks wasn't working and it was 80 degrees and muggy still. Tried to get a few hours of sleep, but it was just too hot... finally went to the car turned on the AC and fell asleep in the front seat. Not a great start to the weekend!

Friday morning it was just Rod and I for the big fish pre fish tournament. We got a bit of a late start due to some trouble getting one of the engines started. Two weeks previous out of Sodus I had been having luck in that 200-300 foot range and that was pretty much where we stayed most of the weekend... from straight out to 6 miles west.

We had a good day going 8 for 8. We had a 20lb king, 15lb king, couple of 8-10lb kings and an 11lb brown in the box early and were looking for another 20lb king to put us in contention for the heaviest 3 fish tournament. We managed two more 13-15lb kings that we threw back thinking we really needed that 20lb fish.... it never came and we ended up weighing in the 20lb, 15lb and 10lb king for a total of 76 points. We finished 11th ... out of 10th by half a pound. Had we kept one of those 15lb fish we would have finished at least a few spots higher... live and learn

Amateur results:

Pro results:

Saturday was the start of the pro-am and we felt ready. Friday we had found a few nice lure selections that worked well for us and areas of water that looked decent that we hoped would hold out another day... they did. We started in shallow and couldn't get anything to go, but neither Rod nor myself had been able to get those shallow fish to go in the past weeks on our boats, so we didn't waste much time in turning the boat north. At 7:20 our first fish took a rip on a dipsey. At 7:25 our second fish started taking out the copper line. At 7:35 our third fish popped a rigger. Nice triple! One fish was too small and we got to throw it back, the next was a real nice 21lb king and the third was a king about 10lbs. We were psyched! Then came the lull. Our first fish came 1hr 20mins after we started fishing... it would take another 1hr 20mins almost EXACTLY to get our next fish... which was another 15lb king. 3 in the box... good start. Again a lull and almost EXACTLY 1hr and 20 mins later the dipsey starts screaming, then the copper and THEN THE RIGGER... TRIPLE! :shock: We get all three fish in, one about 10 lbs, one about 15 and unfortunately the 22" steelie on the copper stayed on as I pulled it in.... shame to kill such a small steelie, but rules are rules. So a little after 11am and we were headed back to port with a full box. We had heard reports that other boats had limited, so we were psyched yet nervous that we weren't the only boat with a lot of fish.

We got to port a bit after 11:30 to find out we were the first boat in. Now if that doesn't make you smile, nothing will! It was an awesome feeling.

We also had the big salmon at the time... although it wouldn't hold

I think it was almost an hour before the next boats came in, I believe they had a long run from oswego/mexico and had fished browns. I think we ended up being the only team to limit fishing for kings and not browns.... which to me meant a lot! It was a lot of fun to sit there and watch the other boats come in and weigh in, but man was it nerve racking just waiting for a boat with a heavier cooler. But come 2pm, only two other AMs and a couple of pros had weighed in, mostly all browns... what the heck is going on? Well, I guess a lot of people really struggled on the first day, there were very few kings. We ended the day in 1st place with a score of 126.72 and a 25 point lead over the second place team. We were in good shape!

Sunday.... yikes. We struggled... plain and simple. We only had one good rip the entire day and we lost it. The rest of the day we struggled with the dinks. We managed a 4lb steelie and two 3lb kings and a bunch that we threw back... oh and did I mention how much the weather sucked!!! I've never seen it rain that long for that hard ever! So at 1:30 we decided to head back to port and give ourselves enough time to get into the pier heads by 2pm. We were only about 6 miles out, so shouldn't be a problem. Well about 2 miles from the lighthouse up on plane in the mix of the group of boats running in we here BAM! and the boat slows down and makes a sound like the engine is being revved way up! We blew an outdrive Now at 8mph we have to go 2 miles in about 15 mins. You do the math :shock: Rod continues driving and the rest of us go down in the cuddy to the front of the boat.... 10 mins left 1.25 miles to go, 5 mins left 1/2 a mile to go and we can see the pier heads.... 2 mins left... we're not going to make it! #*@#!!!!!! 1 minute left on our observer's cell phone we're 500 yards from the lighthouse.... with no more than 10 seconds left we curl around the pier head and into the chute. We look at the judge on the pier fearing his clock might not read the same... he taps his watch ..... and then gives the thumbs up... we erupt in cheers!!!! At that point, I don't know if we cared what happened the rest of the day, that victory was probably one of the most memorable I'll ever have!

We managed to limp the boat painfully into the abandoned docks at carey's cove and carry the cooler over to the weigh in. Rod was much more optimistic than me... I was really thinking that our 10lbs of 3 fish just weren't going to be enough to stay in the top 10. Luckily, a lot of other people struggled too. Screamer had went for kings today and only managed one... a real nice one at 25lbs, but it wasn't enough. The team the day before us with their limit of browns went for browns again and again had their limit and managed to top us. If we could have gotten just one large king or two more kings ... we could have won it all! But hey... we were all unbelievably happy at the 2nd place finish and at my home port none the less!!! Bragging rights for sure back at the marina!

There was one last surprise in the works for the evening.... it was time for the East Cup announcement and they announced that there was a tie for 3rd place. Turns out with Rod's finish in Oswego and our excellent finish in Sodus... we caught up to Screamer and managed to tie for third place... SWEET!!!! Just having your name in the same sentence as ATOMIK Screamer you know you should be proud. Way to go guys!

Well that's where the fun stopped. We then had to get Rod's boat out of the water so he could have it checked out. We didn't head home until about 8pm and didn't get in the door until about 2am. Tired as all heck today at work, but one thing is for sure...

I haven't stopped smiling all day.

Nick

Slideshow of all my pics from the weekend can be seen at:

http://s110.photobucket.com/albums/n105 ... 26db68.pbw

[REELJERKS]

Very Well Done!!!

[Billy V]

Nice job guys! Congratulations.

[muskybob]

FANTASTIC finish to a great weekend. Atta way to go.

PS: Real nice report too.

[ray koziatek]

great story i can relate to your run in . now give our plug back...

[TOP SECRET]

I called Rod today and he said he blew something out of his ass end on the way home today... but I think it was a bearing not a plug :shock:

Nick

[unkeljim]

Great job guy's!

[Kingfisher06]

Way to go Rod! The LUCKY ENUFF t-shirt has turned into my lucky walleye shirt! Still owe you a trip, just let me know.

[on the lam]

Congrats, love the pig brown

[Fishtails]

Dude....that's a great report!! Looking at those pics I sure did get some sun. You could have told me to put on some freakin lotion!!

Anyways...for the first time ever....I have very little to add. The boat sure has gone through some high's and low's recntly. I had a talk with her today and told her she's getting a time out in the driveway for awhile till she gets her act together. That's two weeks in a row we had to come in on one motor. Just been one of those seasons.

It was great fishing with you Nick. We all fished really well together and I had a great time for sure!! Glad we were able to earn you those bragging rights in your home port. I will never forget looking to my left and to my right while I was fighting a fish, and seeing you and Ray fighting fish also. That triple was a sweet way to end the day Your a very good fisherman and your welcome on Lucky Enuff anytime.

BTW....word through the grapevive has it we officially made it in with 5 seconds left. We coulda fished for 4 more seconds!!

[dieselhp]

Congratulations! Nice Job

But why didn't you guys fish the last 4 seconds?