On the Water

You can check here for the Rocky Fork tournament results page.  It is a work in progress and I will keep updating the page through the night as I am woring on it.

Be sure and catch the video where Todd Thompson introduces the 2009 State Team right here.  This took place following the weigh in at Rocky Fork this past Sunday.

The Rocky Fork Lake tournament results and the final standings should be posted later on today.  Check back to see how you ended up for the year.

The Ohio BASS Federation Nation Invitational Trail concluded yesterday at Rocky Fork.  Congratulations to Brian Runyon for winning the Angler division and to Gary Elliot for the Co-Angler division!  I am trying to get the information posted as quick as I can.  Todd is feeding alot of pictures and results, plus I am getting a late start tonight.

Also, the 2009 State Team was finalized after the tournament.  My congratulations to all who made the team! It looks to be another “STRONG & STOUT” team.  The OBFN tournament format has definitely made “The Cream Rise to the Top”!  

2009 State Team

As I was getting prepared for Rocky Fork this weekend, I had to chuckle to myself.  I have always enjoyed going to Rocky Fork for club tournaments for years.  Here is one memory of a Rocky Fork night tournament I will never forget.

Back in the 70’s, our club (Miami Valley), would hold all night tournaments (8:00pm to 8:00am) at places like Rocky, Delaware and Alum Creek.  Well, one very foggy and cold night at Rocky Fork, OBFN Tournament Committee member Steve Schulz’s dad, Jim, was fishing with Jeff Macy in a club tournament.  Sometime during the late night/early morning hours, Jeff began to fall asleep in the back of Schulz’s Quachita bass boat.  If you know what a Quachita bass boat is, then I know you have been around for a long, long time.  These things did not have casting decks like we do now.  Anyways, ol’ Jeff now weighed somewhere between 300 to 500 lbs.  You may think I am exaggerating, seriously though, this is the truth.  That ol’ Quachita, when it took off that evening, looked like it was gonna flip over backwards with Jeff sitting in the back seat.  Well, Jim heard this big splashing commotion in the darkness and Jeff had fallen overboard when he fell asleep!  It was pitch black out and Jeff was trying to get back in the boat (without tipping it) with no success.  So Jim told Jeff to hang on while he used the outboard to get the boat to shore and get Jeff out of the water.  I am sure it was pretty scary at the time but by morning it was hilarious!

If you get a chance this weekend, ask Steve about it.  It is a timeless piece of Miami Valley Bassmasters history.

I was notified this morning that the Minnesota BASS Federation Nation does indeed have a website.  You can reach it by going to http://www.mnbfn.org/.  In one of my previous posts here where I was ranting about other Nation web sites not covering the Northern Divisional, I erroneously reported that Minnesota did not have a functional website.  So, Minnesota BFN, I apologize for the error and thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Not sure if anybody is aware of another blog called “Rich’s Bassin’ Blog”.  It is written by Rich Lindgren, who was a state team member of Minnesota BASS Federation Nation that finished 2nd.  He has been writing about the Northern Divisional tournament the last few days.  Even though it is written under his perspective, it still makes for some good reading.  There even is a good picture of Brad Wall with his Hooters Girls (any opening on the Hooters team, Brad? LOL!)

Incidentally, Rich finished third individually on the Minnesota team.  You can view the blog here at RICH’S BASSIN’ BLOG

Upon seeing the pictures from the third day of Northern Divisional on Bassmaster.com, I was disappointed in only a grand total of 6 pictures in Final Day gallery, from a bass fan’s perspective.  After all the noise the Ohio Nation made up north, you would have thought there be a picture of Ohio and Minnesota (2nd) or two.  But hey, WE (in the form of Brad Wall) was the Overall Individual Winner!!!

I am going to receive pictures from Todd T. that will capture more of the essence of the Northern Divisional and as soon as I do, I will get them posted on the web.

On a side note, something tells me that when we go to Rocky Fork Lake this weekend, we better watch out for the 2008 State Team members!  I have a sneaky feeling they are going to be totally fired up and focused more than we have seen all year!!!!!  What do you think?

We are interested in hearing how you liked or disliked the OBFN Tournament Trail this year.  Please vote in the new poll here.

In case you are wondering how the vote turned out for 6 Man Classic Tournament location preferences, here is the breakdown:

Alum Creek - 107 votes
Ohio River (Gallipolis) - 79 votes
Ohio River (White Oak) - 21 votes
Berlin Lake - 17 votes
Grand Lake St. Marys - 14 votes (tie)
Ohio River (Tanners) - 14 votes (tie)
Seneca Lake - 12 votes

There were a total of 264 votes cast in this poll.  The OBFN Board of Directors will most definitely take these votes in consideration in determining the locale of the 6 Man Classic. 

I was curious about something tonight, so I did some surfing on the net.  Not one of the other Northern Divisional competitors’ web sites have any mention of the Northern Divisional at all! Not Wisconsin (who won the team competition), Minnesota (does not even have a site), Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, South Dakota or Illinois.

Like I have been saying all summer long, the OBFN officers and I intend to make this “THE BEST website in the Federation Nation.” It looks like we are well on the way towards that goal!  What do you think?