Winni Derby '99

(it was Geoff's year)

The ice has been gone from the lake since April 8th and the salmon fishing season is well underway. Once again we come to an annual tournament that "the guys" get together for. Typically the tournament is held mid May every year. As with the ice fishing tournament, our luck has been less that spectacular. However that never stops us from paying the entry fee and spending evry minute of daylight out on the lake no matter what the conditions.

The crew is typically a little smaller than the ice fishing derby and for obvious reasons. Its just much easier to have a lot of people ice fishing than it is to cram that many people into a couple small boats.

Without further adue, let's introduce this year's field of competitiors:

Chris -- An eight year veteran of the derby and life long salmon fisherman. Has caught a few good size salmon in his life, but rarely during the derby. Number of fish entered in past Winni Derbies:0 (tried to enter a 4.7 lb fish in 1995 but did not have a witness to sign entry afidavit)

Pete -- Has also been fishing the derby as long as Chris with approximately the same level of success. Is hoping to better control his temper this year(last year he lost a lake trout in the 8-10 pund range due to "equipment failure" and threw several fishing rods and 3 tackle boxes into the lake, then he followed it up by yelling "I'm never borrowing your equipment again Chris! It sucks!"-- incidentally, Pete was forced to rent SCUBA gear and retrieve all of the articles he jettisoned) Number of fish entered in past Winni Derbies: 0

Chris Z. aka:The Diddler -- This will be the Diddler's 4th year competing in the derby. Chris has shown little ability in the past to put fish in the boat, but he is trying harder every year, this year he bought a new fly rod combo! Good luck Diddler!!! Number of fish entered in past Winni Derbies: 0.

Tom Civ aka: Squash Neck, Rubber Neck, Meat Squash, Idiot, and other catchy names -- Tom has been involved in the derby off and on for about 4 years. Its a rare occassion when Tomm can make both the ice fishing derby and the Winni Derby in the same year. He usually has some lame excuse like: "I can't miss work this weekend or I'll get fired" or "I have to have my spleen removed this weekend". Number of fish entered in past Winni Derbies: 0.

Kevin "I almost got a nice one..."' Poulos -- Expert in the art of camoflage and reeling in the big bass during the salmon tournament. Has been fishing the derby since his release from the Chicago Department of Corrections three years ago. Number of fish entered in past Winni Derbies: 0. Number of days spent in the woods hunting for deer and turkey in the last twelve months: 28. Number of deer and turkey taken as a result of his efforts: 0. "I almost got a nice one though!"

Jeff Doloway -- Questionable for this years derby. Fished his first derby in 1998. Number of fish entered in past Winni Derbies: 0.

Jeff Poulos -- Also questionable for this years derby. Fished in 1997 and surfed in 1998. Number of fish entered in past Winni Derbies: 0.

Charlie -- This will be Charlie's first Winni Derby. Number of fish entered in past Winni Derbies: N/A

Geoff "The Burner" Turner -- Another new face to the Winni Derby. Burner fished in the ice fishing tournament this year and has shown great interest in actually catching a fish. Geoff has said that he will be relying on cunning instinct and a shitload of biginners luck to help him finish near the top of the pack in this derby.

The 1999 Winni Derby

Friday

Angler	Salmon	Lake Trout	Rainbow Trout
Chris F.	1	0	0
Chris Z.	0	0	0
Tom Civ.	0	0	0
Geoff T.	0	0	0
Kevin	0	0	0
Charlie	0	0	0
Pete	0	0	0

Sunday

Angler	Salmon	Lake Trout	Rainbow Trout
Chris F.	0	0	0
Chris Z.	0	0	0
Tom Civ.	0	0	0
Geoff T.	0	0	0
Kevin	0	0	0
Charlie	0	0	0
Pete	0	0	0

And The Winner Is....

First Place	Chris
Second Place	Pete
Third Place	Geoff T.

Congratulations: Chris

(remember: second place is first loser...sorry Pete)

Congatulations are in order for Geoff T. The rooky of the derby who caught the first salmon of the weekend as well as a Meredith Rotary tagged rainbow trout!!! (the trout everyone is after in the annual ice fishing derby in February)

Geoff holding his tagged rainbow for the camera. Incidentally, Geoff tried out for the high school football team once, but he didn't make it. The coach said it had something to do with "hands like feet". Whatever that means.

A specail note of thanks Team Kidney Klean (Kevin & Charlie) for stinkin' us all out all weekend. Not only did they stink out the house all weekend, but I thought I heard the guys in the boat across the bay complaining about the stink out on the water emenating from the little red & white boat. "It must have been the sausage..." -thanks Charlie

As usual you can find several photos from the weekend below:

Here's Burner again letting out line. Boy this salmon trolling sure is exciting!

What a surprise! Its Geoff again! Somehow he always finds a way to get in the photo!

Guess who? Thats right! Its Turner again! And doesn't he look so very happy. Whats the matter Geoff? Fish just aren't biting as well as they were yesterday huh? Don't fret Geoff, this is what salmon fishing is all about. GET USED TO IT ROOKIE!

Hey, there he is! Its Tom! Hey Tom, remember when you had beginners luck and got all the attention? Yep, your days in the limelight are over. There's a new Rookie in town who goes by the name of Geoff "the Burner" Turner!

Unfortunately, as of the time of this update, photos of Kevin and Charlie and Znoj at this year's derby are hard to find. Hopefully we will be able to put up some images captured from video of them on the web site. If Kevin gets off his ass and gives me a copy of the fishing video(s) I will be happy to do just that.