
2009 SOB News
SOB 2009 Lunker of
the Months
|
Mar-09 |
Nick Cammarata |
41 |
X |
North Spring |
IL |
|
Apr-09 |
Nick Cammarata |
46.5 |
X |
Fox Chain |
IL |
|
May-09 |
Kathy Cammarata |
53 |
X |
Green Bay |
WI |
|
Jun-09 |
Scott Bjornson |
47 |
X |
Fox Chain |
IL |
|
Jul-09 |
Nick Cammarata |
49 |
X |
Fox Chain |
IL |
|
Aug-09 |
Scott Jenkins |
52 |
X |
Lake Of The Woods |
ON |
|
Aug-09 |
Mel Christensen |
52 |
X |
Vermilion |
MN |
|
Sep-09 |
Bob Matusek |
50 |
X |
St Croix River |
WI |
|
Oct-09 |
Scott Bjornson |
48.5 |
X |
Pewaukee |
WI |
|
Nov-09 |
Tim Wallies |
45 |
X |
Fox Chain |
IL |
|
Dec-09 |
Nick Cammarata |
45.5 |
X |
Oconomowoc |
WI |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Releases do not have to be submitted to the Lung Log to qualify for
the Traveling Trophy Contest
|
Fox Chain Traveling Trophy 2009 |
|
Place |
Name |
Points |
|
|
1 |
Ryan Stochl |
24 |
Winner |
|
2 |
Emily Olson |
22 |
|
|
3 |
Joe Laubinger |
19.5 |
|
|
4 |
Nick Olson |
14 |
|
|
5 |
Martin Fudulov |
12 |
|
|
6 |
John Splitt |
12 |
|
|
7 |
Scott Bjornson |
11.5 |
|
|
8 |
Natalie Olson |
11 |
|
|
9 |
Tom Olson |
11 |
|
|
10 |
Len Sculz |
10 |
|
|
11 |
Nick Cammarata |
8 |
|
|
12 |
Frank Walter |
8 |
|
Tournament News
The SOB's have been
tearing up the PMTT tournament trail in 2009. SOB father son team Ron &
Rich Weidner are currently the PMTT Top Gun Team going into the PMTT Ranger
Boats World Championship on the Madison Chain along with SOB teammates Bob
Matusek & Rob Frechette who are currently in second place in the Top Gun
standings. These two SOB teams are the only PMTT teams who have placed in
3 out of the 4 qualifying events so far this year. Also making the PMTT
Ranger Boats World Championship are SOB teammates Nick Cammarta & Tom Olson who
are currently in 5th place. Lets wish them all some good SOB luck in the
Championship.
Ron & Rich have
placed 16th in the PMTT Cave Run, 8th in the PMTT Fox Chain & 7th in the PMTT
St. Croix events. Bob & Rob have placed 9th in the PMTT Fox Chain, 20th in
the PMTT Eagle River & 8th in the PMTT St. Croix events. Nick & Tom have
placed 2nd in the PMTT Eagle River & 9th in the PMTT St. Croix events.
Below are some
of the fish they have caught in the PMTT events so far this year, including a
nice 50" caught by Bob Matusek, his first 50" and a 49.5" caught by Tom Olson.


New changes to our
Release Contest
We
have some new changes to go over for 2009. First, we are breaking the fish
submission releases into two main categories. Local & Non-Local, the Non-Local
category will be apprised of any of our members who reside more than 100 miles
driving distance from Antioch, IL. This new division will not be subdivided into
other divisions, such as Juniors, Womens, Mens & Masters, it will just be
categorized by the members name & fish caught by each member, also this new
division will not be part of our clubs Release Contest. The reason for this also
has to do with our next change. Plaques for our Release Contest will only be
given out for the Local section and then only if you attend or make arrangements
to have someone attend in your place at our Annual Awards Ceremony, which is
held on the third Wednesday in April every year. Any member who will be awarded
a plaque for that year’s Release Contest will be sent a letter in January
informing them of the plaque they will be receiving that April. They will then
have two weeks to contact the release chairman and let them know if they will be
attending or will have someone attend in their place at the Awards Ceremony in
order to receive their plaque. Anyone who does not respond will not receive
their plaque. There are a couple reasons for these new changes. First is the
cost of having the plaques made and then, if they are not picked up, having to
mail them out or the hassle of arranging to drop them off, the other is out of
fairness to the other club members who come to this Ceremony to show their
support for the club. These new changes will begin with the 2009 Release
Contest, but if you are going to be receiving a plaque for 2008, please show
your support for the club and come to the Ceremony this April to receive your
plaque in person. All old plaques will be mailed out or given to those members
as time allows. These new changes do not affect Patches and Annual or Individual
Certificates or for Muskies Inc. International fish submissions; they only apply
to 1st thru 3rd place for Juniors, Womens, Mens & Masters Divisions along with
Lunker of the Month & Fox Chain Lunker plaques for our own club Release Contest.
2008 SOB News
2008 Release Contest
Winners
SOB 2008 Lunker of
the Months
|
Lunker of the Month |
|
Date |
Name |
Size |
Final (X) |
Lake |
State |
|
Jan-08 |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
Feb-08 |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
Mar-08 |
Robert Taylor |
39 |
X |
Evergreen |
IL |
|
Apr-08 |
Lexy Frechette |
48 |
X |
Fox Chain |
IL |
|
Apr-08 |
Kathy Cammarata |
48 |
X |
Fox Chain |
IL |
|
May-08 |
Nick Cammarata |
49.5 |
X |
Green Bay |
WI |
|
Jun-08 |
Peter Kica |
49.25 |
X |
Lake Of The Woods |
ON |
|
Jul-08 |
Greg Marino |
55.25 |
X |
Lac Seul |
ON |
|
Aug-08 |
Greg Marino |
55 |
X |
Lac Seul |
ON |
|
Sep-08 |
Robert Taylor |
46 |
X |
Detroit River |
ON |
|
Oct-08 |
Nick Cammarata |
54 |
X |
Bemidji |
MN |
|
Nov-08 |
Linda Rice |
55.5 |
X |
Lac Seul |
ON |
|
Dec-08 |
Robert Taylor |
34 |
X |
North Spring |
IL |
Tiger Musky Video
Our own SOB member
Ben Modica put together a video of tiger muskies he has in a tank feeding.
Check it out it's pretty cool stuff.
Tiger's Feeding Video
SOB Outings on the
Chain - 2008 Final Bob Matusek Winner
Any questions call Jim Stella @ 847-343-7221.
Remember anybody who comes to an
Outing will fish, if you don't have a boat don't worry, we will match you with
someone who does, that's an SOB promise.
See you on the water.
|
Fox Chain Traveling Trophy |
|
Place |
Name |
Points |
|
|
1 |
Bob Matusek |
37.5 |
Winner |
|
2 |
Nick Cammarata |
30.5 |
|
|
3 |
Tim Wallies |
26 |
|
|
4 |
Scott Bjornson |
18 |
|
|
5 |
Kathy Cammarata |
11.5 |
|
|
6 |
Bernie Loonsfoot |
11 |
|
5/21/08
Bernie Loonsfoot - 41.5"
6/11/08
Nick Cammarata - 44.5"
Bob Matusek - 37" & 34.5"
7/16/08
Kathy Cammarata - 44"
8/20/08
Bob Matusek - 44"
Tim Wallies - 42" & 36"
Nick Cammarata - 38"
Scott Bjornson - 37.5"
9/17/08
Scott Bjornson - 37"
2008 SOB Tournament News
This year's
tournament schedule has been good to the SOB's so far. It started out in
April with the PMTT Cave Run event where SOB's Rob Frechette & Nick Cammarata
took 2nd Place with a 38" & 47" and SOB Jim Stella and his partner
Ty Sennett took 8th Place with a 30" & 31
3/4", Jim also won the Ranger Cup Award. Photos are posted below.

In the FRV Spring Challunge
on the Fox Chain SOB Tim Wallies took 3rd with a 38 1/2", SOB's Ron Weidner &
Dan Borak took 6th Place with a 36" and SOB's Nick & Kathy Cammarata took 10th
Place with a 32 1/2".
In the PMTT Shelbyville event
SOB Jim Stella took 6th Place with a 40" and SOB's Ron & Rich Weidner took 10th
place with a 32 3/4". Photos are posted below.

In the PMTT Eagle River event
SOB's Ron & Rich Weidner took 4th place with a 39 1/4". Photos are posted
below.

In the PMTT Detroit River
event SOB's Ron & Rich Weidner took 7th place with a 36 3/4". Photos are
posted below.

In the PMTT Ranger Boats World
Championship SOB Jim Stella and his partner Ty Sennett took 3rd place with a 46", they also
finished in 2nd place for the Top Gun Team of the Year standings. Photos
are posted below.

In the FRV Fall Challunge
on the Fox Chain SOB Tim Wallies and his partner Matt Stevens took 4th with a 36",
they also won the Challunge Series with a 3rd place finish in the Spring & a 4th
place finish in the Fall tournaments.

SOB Annual Awards
Presentation - 4/16/08
Our annual awards
presentation will be held at our last indoor meeting on April 16, 2008 at the
Moose Club in Antioch. The awards presentation will begin at 7:30pm
followed by our monthly speaker Rob Manthei - Northern WI Guide. For those of you who who are not
familiar with Rob, he's a regular writer for Esox Angler Magazine and also
appears on The Next Bite Esox Angler TV show and John Gillespie’s Waters
& Woods TV show. So be sure to stop in,
especially if you placed in 1st - 3rd place in your division or won Lunker
Month, so you can receive your award. See you there.
2007 SOB News
2007 Release Contest
Winners
SOB 2007 Lunker of
the Months

|
Date |
Name |
Size |
Final (X) |
Lake |
State |
|
Jan-07 |
Nick Cammarata |
49.5 |
X |
Crystal Lake |
IL |
|
Mar-07 |
Robert Frechette |
43.5 |
X |
Kinkaid |
IL |
|
Apr-07 |
Ben Modica |
48.5 |
X |
Fox Chain |
IL |
|
May-07 |
Kathy Cammarata |
47 |
X |
Green Bay |
WI |
|
Jun-07 |
Linda Rice |
55.25 |
X |
Lac Seul |
ON |
|
Jul-07 |
Greg Marino |
54 |
X |
Lac Seul |
ON |
|
Aug-07 |
Linda Rice |
56 |
X |
Lac Seul |
ON |
|
Sep-07 |
Robert R Christensen |
53 |
X |
Vermilion |
MN |
|
Oct-07 |
Greg Marino |
54.75 |
X |
Lac Seul |
ON |
|
Nov-07 |
Greg Marino |
53 |
X |
Lac Seul |
ON |
He Get's It; Twice
Here is a short story from
SOB's Keith Eldrup about a fishing trip with his youngest son Jake.
Jake and I have been going to Green Bay Musky fishing for the past 2 years. The
last 3 day trips this year we got skunked, except for 1 short fish. I was pretty
dejected driving home from the last trip and Jake and I were talking. Jake said
“it’s alright if we don’t catch anything, I like going anyway. The whole day is
fun, driving up in the morning when it’s dark, getting breakfast at Mc D’s, the
hot chocolate, the hand warmers and driving home. Besides we can’t catch one if
we don’t go & can I bring my sleeping bag next time?” He really gets it!!
Well yesterday about 3:30 he got it. A beautiful 49’’ Musky, that he brought in
by himself. A couple of quick photos and back she went!! The drive home was even
better this time!!

Muskie Stocking on
the Chain
The SOB's will be doing our
annual Muskie Stocking on the Chain on Wednesday 11/14/07 at the Thirsty Turtle.
It should start around 10:30am. All are welcome to come out and lend a
hand. It's a good time, so be sure to stop by and show your support for
the SOB's and our Muskie Stocking program. Any interested in breakfast, we
will be meeting around 9am at The Squire restaurant in Antioch on the corner of
Rt.173 & Rt. 83, all are welcome to join us for breakfast before hand if you
want. See you there!
Well, it was a great time,
thanks to all those who showed up to help. Below are some photos from the
stocking.








SOB Outings on the
Chain - Next up May of 2008. Any questions call Jim Stella @ 847-343-7221.
Remember anybody who comes to an
Outing will fish, if you don't have a boat don't worry, we will match you with
someone who does, that's an SOB promise.
See you on the water.
9/12/07 Outing - This Outings
season is now down in the books and what an exciting season it was. With
multiple fish caught at every Outing, this years Traveling Trophy Contest was
the closest in SOB club history. Bob Matusek made a final push to try to
knock Rob Frechette out of the lead with a 40.5", which was the only muskie
caught. So how did it all play out, I can see you guys biting your nails
just waiting to see. But instead I'm just babbling on here trying to build
up the suspense. OK OK I'll tell yea. Rob Frechette managed to hold
on to his lead by 3/4 of a point. Rob finished with 31.25 points to take
top honors and the Traveling Trophy for 2007. Bob Matusek finished with
30.5, followed by Jim Stella with 13.25 points, then Jefferson Batt with 11.5
points, then Kathy Cammarata with 8 points, then
Bill Kilimnik with 7 points and John Splitts with 4 points. Well it's back
inside for the October Meeting, we will be holding it a week later due to a good
point that a bunch of SOB's will be fishing in the PMTT Championship in Kentucky
during our normal week, so we will hold our Meeting on 10/24/07 with Steve
Worrall from MuskieFIRST as our guest speaker. So be sure to show up and
show your support to the SOB's.
8/15/07 Outing - We had
another fine Outing, the rain missed us while we were on the water and for the
most part so did the muskies. But as is becoming a trend with the Outings
this year, somebody always gets one or two. It was that way for SOB's Bob
Matusek & John Splitts. Bob caught a 35" narrowing Rob Frechette's lead
for the Traveling Trophy and John caught a 30". Well with just one more
Outing left, here's the breakdown for the Traveling Trophy. Rob is in the
lead with 31.25 points followed by Bob with 16, Stella with 13.25, Jefferson
with 11.5 points, Kathy with 8 points, Bill with 7 and then John with 4 points.
Next up is September 12, 2007.
7/18/07 Outing - Just because
I mentioned that we finally had nice weather for the last outing, the weather
seemed to take offence and did it's best to drive everybody off the water, but
not before some muskies were boated. SOB member Jim Stella caught a
39.25", SOB member Bob Matusek caught two 33", but only one of them was caught
during the Outing hours and SOB member Bill Kilimnik caught a 33". It was
a great time despite the torrential rains & lightning, we had about 10 boats and
around 24 people who attended the outing. So after 3 outing Rob is in the
lead for the Traveling Trophy with 31.25 points followed by Stella with 13.25,
Jefferson with 11.5 points, Kathy with 8 points and then Bob & Bill with 7
points each. Next up is August 15, 2007. Photos are below, click to
enlarge.

6/13/07 Outing - Well we finally had some pleasant weather for an outing. Sunny skies, warm
temperatures, but again for most, no muskies. That is if you weren't Rob
Frechette. Rob had the proverbial horseshoe up his butt, for lack of a
better word. Rob caught a 37 1/4" & a pair of 36's". The funny thing
is that the two 36's were indeed the same fish, it had a tag and it ate twice
about 10 minutes apart, talk about being hungry. So after two outing Rob
is in the lead for the Traveling Trophy with 31.25 points followed by Jefferson
with 11.5 points and then Kathy with 8 points. Next up is July 18, 2007.
Photos are below, click to enlarge.

5/16/07 Outing -
For those that braved the weather fronts that moved
in and out, unfortunately it didn't pay off, except for Jefferson Batt and
Kathy Cammarata.
Jefferson is a new member to the SOB's and he showed off his stuff catching t a nice 37.5".
Kathy Cammarata also caught a 34", those were the only fish caught for
the Outing.
Partner Needed
for Canadian Smallmouth Trip
SOB member in search of fellow SOB member
who wants to go on a September smallmouth trip to Rainy Lake in Ontario.
Leave morning of Friday, Sept. 21. After overnight in International Falls,
cross U.S./Canada border Saturday morning, Sept. 22. Potential on this trip
for many large smallmouth bass. Expect some walleyes and pike, but no
muskies. Fish through Friday, Sept. 28 and leave for return to Illinois on
Saturday, Sept. 29. Have own boat or can use yours. $80 for week's lodging
plus gas, food, license, etc. Contact: Jon Kartman, home 847-566-0772;
work 312-280-4211; email
jkartman@ala.org.
Green Bay Muskies
SOB members Nick
Cammarata and his wife Kathy went up to Green Bay, WI on the Fox River to try their
hand at those GB monsters. Kathy caught 3 with the biggest being a
nice 47" (LOTM for May) Nick also got a 43.5". Here are some of their photos.
Click on the image to see an enlargement.

SOB Members Do Well
In Fox Chain PMTT
The SOB's again showed their
skills in the 1st event of the 2007 PMTT Trail held on the Fox Chain in April.
SOB Member Nick Cammarata and his partner
Rick Miscinski took
8th Place with a 39.25". SOB members Ben Modica & Tim Wallies took 15th
Place with a 30". Great Job Guys, their photos are below.

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SOB 16th Annual Fund
Raiser 3/21/07
Please be sure to
come out on Wednesday March 21, 2007 for our 16th Annual SOB Fund Raiser Dinner
at Maravela's in Fox Lake. It's always a great time, plus all the money we
raise goes to stocking muskies, so show your support to the SOB's and muskie
stocking and bring as many people as you can with you. Without your
support our muskie stocking program suffers.
Click here for
the form or show up and pay at the door, but call us first, so we can an idea of
how many dinners we need. If you can't make the dinner, come anyways and
join in on the raffle tables and auctions, lots of great stuff to win and bid
on. We need your support!
SOB Annual Awards
Presentation - 4/18/07
Our annual awards
presentation will be held at our last indoor meeting on April 18, 2007 at the
Moose Club in Antioch. The awards presentation will begin at 7:30pm
followed by our monthly speaker Lee Tauchen - Madison Chain, WI & Mille Lacs, MN
Guide. For those of you who who are not familiar with Lee, he's a regular
writer for Esox Angler Magazine and also appears on The Next Bite Esox Angler TV
show and The Linder's Anglers Edge TV Show. So be sure to stop in,
especially if you placed in 1st - 3rd place in your division or won Lunker
Month, so you can receive your award. See you there.
2006 SOB News
2006 Release Contest
Winners
|
Final For 2006 |
| |
JUNIORS |
FISH |
POINTS |
| 1 |
|
1 |
19 |
| 2 |
|
1 |
18 |
| |
|
|
|
| |
WOMENS |
FISH |
POINTS |
| 1 |
|
22 |
335 |
| 2 |
|
7 |
65 |
| 3 |
|
5 |
61 |
| |
|
|
|
| |
MENS |
FISH |
POINTS |
| 1 |
|
42 |
401.75 |
| 2 |
|
19 |
346.5 |
| 3 |
|
|
|
| 4 |
|
14 |
142 |
| 5 |
Arrigoni,
John |
11 |
130 |
| 6 |
|
7 |
111.25 |
| 7 |
|
6 |
97.5 |
| 8 |
|
6 |
93 |
| 9 |
|
8 |
69 |
| 10 |
|
4 |
59.5 |
| 11 |
|
6 |
47 |
| 12 |
|
4 |
40.5 |
| 13 |
|
3 |
35 |
| 14 |
|
3 |
31.5 |
| 15 |
|
3 |
29 |
| 16 |
Lynch,
Randy |
1 |
23 |
| 17 |
|
1 |
23 |
| 18 |
|
1 |
19 |
| 19 |
|
2 |
16 |
| 20 |
|
1 |
16 |
| |
|
|
|
| |
MASTERS |
FISH |
POINTS |
| 1 |
|
68 |
627.5 |
| 2 |
|
35 |
381.5 |
| 3 |
|
31 |
329 |
| 4 |
|
21 |
211 |
| 5 |
|
16 |
201.75 |
| 6 |
|
7 |
80.25 |
| 7 |
|
3 |
56.5 |
| 8 |
|
3 |
45 |
| |
|
|
|
| |
Total Muskies Caught
376 |
|
Last Year 277 |
SOB 2006 Lunker of
the Months

| Date |
Name |
Size |
Final (X) |
Lake |
State |
| Jan-06 |
Risius, John |
42 |
X |
North Spring |
IL |
| Feb-06 |
Risius, John |
46.5 |
X |
North Spring |
IL |
|
Mar-06 |
Frechette, Robert |
41 |
X |
Kinkaid |
IL |
|
Apr-06 |
Wallies, Tim |
41 |
X |
Fox Chain |
IL |
|
May-06 |
Wallies, Tim |
45 |
X |
Fox Chain |
IL |
| Jun-06 |
Marino, Greg |
53.25 |
X |
Lac Seul |
ON |
|
Jul-06 |
Nuyttens, William R |
54.25 |
X |
Lake of the Woods |
ON |
|
Aug-06 |
Wallies, Tim |
51 |
X |
Fox Chain |
IL |
|
Sep-06 |
|
51 |
X |
Vermilion |
MN |
| Oct-06 |
Marino, Greg |
52.25 |
X |
Lac Seul |
ON |
|
Nov-06 |
Arrigoni, John |
49 |
X |
Pewaukee |
WI |
| Nov-06 |
Lynch, Randy |
49 |
X |
Fox Chain |
IL |
|
Dec-06 |
Bjornson, Scott |
42 |
X |
Fox Chain |
IL |
2006 SOB Outings on
the Chain!
Nick Cammarata won the SOB Fox Chain Traveling Trophy
contest with a fat 46.25 caught during the June Outing, Congratulations to Nick.
September 20, 2006 Outing - Unfortunately I don't remember how many boats
we had at the outing, I waited to long to file the report and my memory has
failed me, luckily I'm not under oath. But I'm sure we had a great time
and I know no one was able best Nick Cammarata's 46.5 incher from the June
outing, so Nick won the Traveling (Stationery) Trophy, now all he has to do is
get it from Tommy. August 16, 2006 Outing - Unfortunately I was unable to
attend this outing, but I heard we had a good turnout of around 10 boats.
The weather was nice and FINALLY there was no rain, but again the muskies were
elusive, with none being caught that night. With only the September 20,
2006 Outing left here is where we are at so far for the SOB Fox Chain
Traveling Trophy contest. In the lead is Nick
Cammarata with a fat 46.25" muskie caught during the June Outing, in
second place is Tom Olson with a pretty 40" muskie caught during the July
Outing, in third place is Scott Bjornson with a 37" muskie caught during the May
Outing & Bob Matusek is in fourth place with a 35.5" muskie also caught during
the May Outing. So it's still pretty close with any SOB member having a
shot at winning the Traveling Trophy contest,
so be sure to attend the September Outing on the 20th at Daddy O's on Rt. 173 in
Antioch at 5pm until dusk. See you there!

"Laugh no more!"
Here is a nice story from SOB
member Jessi Shopiro on her 45" Muskie, she posted the story on Chad Cain's
website.
Every year, my family
goes to the North Woods (Hayward, WI) for two weeks. During the two weeks, my
Dad (Rick Shopiro) and his friend, Rick Velasquez, go fishing with the "Famous"
Chad Cain for two days on Lake Vermillion, MN. On the day my Dad left for MN, he
sat me down, gave me the keys to the boat, and showed me how to wrap and unwrap
it. Afterwards, I told him I wanted to take the boat up to Fawn Lake, and asked
if it was alright to go through the channel. Our conversation went something
like this:
Dad: "Sure, but be careful when you get to Fawn, because the water is low this
year. And just out of curiosity, what are you going to throw?"
Me: "A black Llungen tail with a red and silver spinner"
Dad: "No, don't do that, throw a crank bait. They've been hitting on crank
baits."
Me: " No Dad, I want to throw a Llungen".
Dad: "Fine, have fun catching no fish."
That night, I took the boat out with my friend Rachel bass fishing. While going
through the channel, a boat of guys saw us and laughed at us. They asked us if
we've been, "catching all the fish." and I replied, "Yes, a 20'' Bass and some
more 17 and 18" bass." The bass fishermen said no more, but that wasn't the last
encounter I had with men laughing at me while driving my Dad's boat. Which
really, really made me want to go catch a big fish because I wanted to show them
all up.
So the very next day, I woke up early, 8:15 a.m., and grabbed my friend Terri.
We headed out to Fawn Lake to the exact weed line I wanted to work around 8:45
a.m., with the sun very bright and the water flat. Not a good sign. So I told
Terri I probably won't catch a fish, but I might get a lazy follow. If I do, I
told her I would say, "Follow, follow", and she should get the net, and so she
can see her first Muskie. She replied, "OK, but what if you catch one?" I
thought for a second, then said, "We're screwed."
On the next cast, I was bringing the lure into a figure 8 and saw a huge fish
following it.
I screamed, "Follow, follow!!". Terri got up and grabbed the net. The fish
flared it's gills and crashed down on my lure.. I was reeling her in and Terri
took one look at her and said, "Holy S___!! It's huge!". I screamed, "Terri, put
the net in the water, and net the fish!". Just as Terri put the net in the
water, the fish jumped, and landed in the center of the net.
I quickly turned off the trolling motor (that I learned to work that day), and
let the spool out.
"OK, OK", I said to myself, and got the pliers and bent down in the net.
The fish was pissed off. She kept thrashing and hit her head on the side of the
boat. I had to hold the net away from the boat, but in the water, for about 45
seconds while she released steam. Then I tried to get the hook out. It was in
her mouth, and I needed to use the jaw spreader. After I finally got them to
work, I cut the hook that went through the bottom of her mouth and pulled the
remaining hook out. She was free, and not bleeding, which was a very, very good
sign.
Terri then got the ruler and said, "She is at least 35 inches". I responded,
"Are you kidding? She is at least 40". Then while I was measuring her, Terri
kept asking questions: "How big is she?" "Is she your biggest?" "Will she live?"
I replied, "Yes, she's my biggest, she's 45", and Terri, I need you to stop
asking questions right now!".
She said, "OK" and got the cameras ready.
I frantically looked for the Musky Armor gloves that we had purchased at the
Musky Show in Illinois. They were not in the lure box my Dad left. I said,
"Crap, the gloves are with my Dad. You would think Chad would have enough!".
(Turns out the gloves were there, I just looked past them in my rush). I went
back to the net, and turned her over, and ran my finger until I found the bone.
I quickly slipped in my unprotected hand, and said, "OK, Terri, get ready."
I slowly lifted her out of the water, and held her for the pictures. I then
slipped her into the water away from the net, and she slowly took off.
I cleaned the boat and told Terri to watch for her. Sure enough, about ten
minutes later, we saw a big fin swimming around. I trolled over to where she
was, and as soon as she saw the boat, she kicked off real strong. We stayed for
about ten minutes more, and then I told Terri she would be fine.
Instead of continuing to fish, we drove straight back to the bay where our cabin
was, and told everyone what happened, and showed them our pictures.
My Dad came home the following day, and I told him the story. I got a lot of,
"You're kidding me" and "Unbelievable!". Turns out that my fish was:
a) the biggest landed by anyone in our boat;
b) on the lake on which my Dad really wanted a fish (although he outfished me on
three other lakes in the chain); and
c) caught with the lure my Dad told me not to use.
So, thank you, Dad for teaching me how to fish, how to work the boat, and for
taking me fishing all the time (you are the one who made me love it). Thank you,
Chad, for teaching me and my Dad so much about Musky fishing. Without you, that
fish would probably be dead. And thanks to Rick Velasquez, for teaching me
patience and how to get the hook out of a fish. And thank you Ted Cushna for
giving my clues about the spot to fish and what lures to use.
I will email Chad to post the pictures of the fish since I do not know how to do
it on this forum.
From All SOB Members, Congrats
to Jessi on applying all you have learned about muskie fishing into a
spectacular catch!

July 19, 2006 Outing - Conditions were PERFECT for some muskie
fishing on the Chain, of course we had a lite drizzle to start the outing off,
but no real rain. We had two fronts move in, but the fish were
uncooperative, unless you were in Tom Olson's boat. Tom always seems to find
where they're biting. Tom was fishing with his son Nick and was able to
land a 40" for the only fish of the outing. It was still a fun time, we
had 6 boats with about 15 members participating. The next outing will be
August 16, 2006, see you there.

June 14, 2006 Outing - OK the rain is getting a bit tiresome now.
The June outing started out, of course, with rain, but we still had around 6
boats with 10-12 members and friends who put on the raingear to take a shot at
catching some muskies. Nick Cammarata took the honors with a fat 46 1/4"
on his 5th cast of the evening. His boat partner also hooked up with a 30+
inch fish and they moved a few other fish. Bob Matusek had a couple
friends along with him, one of them got a 30+ incher and Bob lost a nice fish on
a topwater bait. Bill Kilimnik & Bob Macko both had low to mid forty-inch
fish up, but couldn't get them to commit. All in all, despite the early
rain, it was a fun time on the water. Here is a photo of Nick's fat 46
1/4", click on the image for an enlargement. The next outing is July 19,
remember to bring your raingear, because the way things are going, you'll need
it.

May 17, 2006 Outing - Well, if you waited out the lightening and braved the
pouring rain & hail, then during the last hour and a half you got to see the
sun. That describes the first Outing on the Chain for 2006, where 11
members in five boats braved the weather for a chance at catching a muskie.
But for Scott Bjornson & Bob Matusek the
weather was no match, as they each got to net muskies and that's what it's all
about. Scott & Bob were able to hook into a couple nice fish after all the
weather cleared. Scott caught a 37" and won the Outing and Bob caught a
35.5". Click on the photo below to enlarge. Don't forget to stop by
on June 14, one week earlier then normal, for the next Outing. Hopefully
the weather will be a bit more cooperative.

2006 SOB Fund Raiser
We have changed the date of the 2006 Fund Raiser to a
Saturday. It will be held on March 25 at Maravela’s in Fox Lake on Rt. 59.
Members will be getting their registration flyer in the mail shortly. Please
make a point to sign up as many friends as you can. It’s always a great time
with a lot of great items to bid on & all the proceeds go to help fund the club
and stocking the Chain Lakes. If you have any items to submit for the Fund
Raiser, please contact Bill Nuyttens at 847-838-1784. For more information on
the Fund Raiser please contact Ed Kukulski at 847-691-5718.
Click
here for a printable pdf copy.
2005 SOB News
2005 Release Contest
Winners
|
Final For 2005 |
| |
JUNIORS |
FISH |
POINTS |
|
1 |
Olson, Nick |
3 |
38.25 |
|
2 |
Shopiro, Rebecca |
2 |
30 |
|
3 |
|
2 |
29 |
| |
|
|
|
| |
WOMENS |
FISH |
POINTS |
|
1 |
Rice, Linda |
11 |
185 |
|
2 |
Napolski, Dianna |
4 |
62 |
|
3 |
Nuyttens, Diana L |
5 |
44.5 |
| |
|
|
|
| |
MENS |
FISH |
POINTS |
|
1 |
Modica, Ben |
30 |
315 |
|
2 |
Napolski, Terrence |
14 |
129 |
|
3 |
Frechette, Robert |
9 |
103 |
| |
|
|
|
| |
MASTERS |
FISH |
POINTS |
|
1 |
Olson, Tom |
34 |
388.25 |
|
2 |
Pilarski, William |
25 |
289.75 |
|
3 |
|