Event 3 Deposits Update

As of today, all deposits have been received. The Finance Committee of the Tournament Office thanks you. Based on the receipt of the deposits, here's the fishing order for Event 3

1. The Bass Turds
2. The Wigglers
3. The Carp Pros
4. The Hookers
5. Beauty and The Beast
6. The Gaff Masters

Know Your Fellow Anglers - Issue 1

The Tournament Office is always listening to the angling community and recently there have been some concerns that the length of time between the Events leaves some of you wanting more in terms of information and details about others in the Tournament. In response to that desire, the Tournament Office has established a regular feature titled "Know Your Fellow Anglers" in which one member of the Tournament will go one-on-one with the Public Affairs committee of the tournament's Office. This friendly and frank discussion will deal delve in depth to the psyche of the anglers to provide valuable insight into the inner workings of your fellow Tournament participants. The identity of the angler will be disguised and you'll be encourage to guess at the true identity.

Volume 1
This angler has participated in all three seasons of the Tournament and continues to treat each week as a learning experience in an effort to become a better fisherman. This angler lead the tournament for almost a year with the most fish caught in one week on August 6, 2004 with 75 fish at MI-40 before being schooled by Merle the following year at Bulrush Pond

Well liked by everyone, this loveable angler is one of only two men on the 5th floor who uses "product" in their hair on a regular basis

Stats:

2004: 550 inches of fish, 4th Place Finish

2005: 239 fish, $569.90 creel, $2.38 average, 3rd Place Finish

Q&A Session:

Q: Who do you most identify with on The Office

A: Ryan, the temp of course.

Q: What interests you in fishing

A: Mostly it's something to get me away from that mind numbing building inspection database. Plus it gives me an opportunity to see the FESS folks in another setting. It's one thing to see these architects and engineers in an office setting interacting with the physics community in a thoroughly professional and highly skilled way, but they carry over that same outstanding atmosphere into every fishing event. I'm not kidding when I say, that I'm often left awe-struck by how smart, knowledge and savvy these guys are. The lab is lucky to have these guys.

Q: How would you describe your fishing techique.

A: We'll I'm in college, so I like to sit a lot. Sometimes, for fun, I'll try 'mitchelling' another angler, but mostly I just watch the way the engineers fish and try and learn a thing or two. I'm young so I have a lot to learn.

Q: What Do You Feel You Bring To The Team

A: (kisses one bicep and then other) These guns.

Q: Describe an experience that changed you.

A: Besides meeting my girlfriend (and future wife, if she'll have me, cross your fingers) I'd have to say the time I had the opportunity of fishing near someone high up in the Engineering organization at MI-40. It took all my fishing prowness to keep my cool while this person landed his water filled broken bobber at the same honey hole that I was fishing. For one hour.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish in the coming season

A: I'm hoping that my team mate and I can put together a couple of good events and challenge for second place. There is no way that we could even think about first, not with Steve and Merle at the top of their game. Those guys are like robots, fishing robots (sobs uncontrollably)

Q: Any plans for school

A: Last year during one of the regular Thursday night Beer Pond Tournaments, I realized that I like to sleep and I'm pretty good at shuffling paper so I thought I'd be great as an architect. Or maybe Johnson Controls Metays. Or maybe Inteperative Dance.

Event 3 Deposits

Here's the list of anglers who have provided the $50.00 down payment for Event 3:

• 'Turds - Both Ron and Russ have paid - they'll fish first
• Wigglers - Both Randy and Jim have paid - they'll fish second
• Carp Pros - Both Merle and Steve have paid - they'll fish third
• Hookers - Jeff has paid, Tomski has not
• Gaff Master - Neither Tom nor Tim has paid
• Beauty and The Beast - Neither PoBoy nor Kent has paid

Deposits are due by June 30!

Event 2 Starting Time Change

Because you, the angling community demanded it, the following changes have been made:

1. The starting time for Event 2 at the Fox River has been changed to 4:30 to allow family and friends to attend.

Event 1: Photos

As promised, here's some photos from today's event


A power hunger madman without the rudder that is his wife, is captured in an all too typical pose directing his minion is shown at left

The "better half" of the Wigglers, at right, gives Merle a lesson on the proper technique for landing a mighty bullhead

The exhausted B&B Boys take a break and call for help below

Counting Time. Shown below is the count of the fish by Pat and Jerry. Note the "emasculating" devices willingly applied to thier hands.

Event 1: What A Day For Fishing

The weather broke from the oppressive heat and humidity of earlier in the week just in time for 11 fearless anglers to brave the mighty puddle that is Shull's Hole for an hour of fishing fun earlier today.

Under the watchful eye of Assistant to the Commissioner Garcia, the 2006 Tournament kicked off at 11:45. Less than a minute later the silence was broken by Steve's triumphant "Boo Yah" as he landed the first fish of the event and year on his way to a 53 fish/$95.01 creel. Combined with Merle's 43 fish/$74.31 creel, your two-time defending champions Carp Pros began the defense of the title with their best start in the storied history of the tournament. A shaken member of the 5th place B&B Boys was overhead stating "Those guys must be robots or something. Sure they are smart and kind of sexy, but the way they fish is beyond what I could ever hope for. Oh well, at least I have the Building Inspection database. No one can take that away from me."


It was a quiet start for The Hookers, or so it seemed from the lack of Boo Yah's emanating from the duo at the south end of the pond. When the tally was complete, however, it was Tomski that smoked the competition with the record for the day of 61 fish for a creel value of $103.43. Jeff led the Tournament with the highest average fish value of $2.06 and produced a 16 fish/$32.95 creel. This effort put the Hookers into second place with a respectable $136.38 total within striking distance of the Carp Pros. It was the Hookers, however that have been placed on disciplinary probation for the rest of the tournament due to un-angler like conduct and lewd gestures. As captured by the watchful eye of the Assistant to the Assistant to the Commissioner, the Hookers were obviously in the act of unsportmanslike conduct. A repeat of such offense will likely result in a "re-education" session involving a Senior Safety Officer, a pair of compression shorts, a voltage tester and an inebriated hedgehog.


Pegged in many pre-season rankings as the team most likely to challenge the two time defending champion Carp Pros for the #1 spot this year, the Bass Turds made an impressive start to the event at the north side of the pond. The team, led by Russ with a 35 fish/$65.63 creel and followed closely by Ron with a 30 fish/$54.49 creel, the 'Turds put together a $120.12 day. A clearly pleased Russ stated "While not the top of the heap, we are in striking distance of the 'Pros. Finally Ron's pulling his weight so we have a chance now. The rest of the 'bottom feeders' on the tournament will finally respect us."

Another strong start to the tournament was put together by the Wigglers with Randy landing 20 fish for $28.56 and Jim adding 12 fish worth $23.53 for a combined $52.09 creel, good enough for fourth place. Some questioned the ethics when Jim "forced" Alex and Jerry to fish for him while he sat in the shade of a tree and ate the lunches of he downtrodden students. "He's so mean" said one of the college student anglers "it's bad enough that he rides us all day long with his tirades about plotters and shape files and constant critisms about my clothes and music. I go home every day and ask myself, is this worth it, is Fire Protection so glamorous that I'm willing to put up with a despot like Niehoff. In the end, I come back, because, yes, one day, if I try hard enough, I too can be as cool as Jim.

Fifth Place for the Event was the late-arriving Beauty and The Beast Team. Led by PoBoy's 20 fish/$40.33 creel and supported by Kent's 5 fish/$7.87 effort, the team, best described as lacksidascial managed to stumble into a fifth place ranking with a combined creel of $48.20. "Just wait until the Fox event" exclaimed Pat "I'm bringing my gang and we'll show you."

A yeoman's effort was put together by Tim who fished alone for the Gaff Masters. Despite a late change to live bait, Tim managed a respectable solo creel of 18 fish for $30.23, leaving many to wonder what could of been if only Tom would have been there.

Totals for the event:

• 313 fish
• $556.34 Creel Value
• $1.78 average fish value

More pictures to follow in subsequent posts.

Event 1 Early Results

The early results from Event 1 at Shull's Hole are listed below
Congratulation Carp Pros on your Event 1 Victory.

AQ: Standings

On occasion, the Tournament Office will receive a question, from you, the anglers. You may rest assurred that the Tourament Office will respond to your questions in timely manner.
Question: Could you provide a recap of last year's standings:

1. $1,653.93 The Carp Pros
2. $1,231.27 The Hookers
3. $828.11 Beauty and The Beast
4. $748.48 Bass Turds
5. $528.23 The Wigglers
6. $444.10 The Chums
7. $441.47 Roger's Ramrods

Assistant...Commissioner

While the Commissioner is away researching fishing tournaments in Europe, the Tournament Office has, after a series of excuriatingly complex and difficult testing, retained the services of Gerry Garcia as Assistant to the Commissioner for Event 1 at Shull's Hole.
Any tomfoolerly will be dealt with in a harsh and completely unreasonable manner.

Exclamation - Boo Yah

Many of you have asked what will be this year's exclamation on catching a fish. As you know, the verbal signal allows other anglers to have an idea of the progress of others on the Tournament.

After sorting through many suggestions (see below), the Tournament Office has settled on "Boo Yah" as the offical verbal indetification of landing a fish.

Other suggestions included:

• Fishing Is Mucho Simple (or "FIMS Rules" for short)
• Yippee, I caught a fishy
• GIS is in Engineering
• Go Cubs Go
• Safety 1st
• Is that Merle again

For the record, previous exclamations were:

• 2005: HaaZaa
• 2004: Ahoy Hoy

First Fish Bonus

Following a tradition begun decades ago by the benevolent Tourament Office, a "first fish" bonus will be awarded to the angler that lands the first fish of the event. Because of the logistics of Event 3, this bonus will be awarded only at Event 1 (Shull's Hole) and Event 2 (Fox River).

This year's bonus will be equal to to value of the largest fish landed by the angler who catches the first fish. For example, if Merle catches the first fish and goes on to catch another 72 fish, the bonus will be equal to the largest fish he caught all day.

Be sure to yell out loud when you have landed the first fish.

Three Days To Shull's Hole

Only three days remain before the first fishing event at Shull's Hole this Friday. The pond is in the best condition in years, thanks in large part to the installation of the aeration windmill at the pennisula at the east end of the pond.

As seen in the photo at right, the pond is primed and ready for an hour's worth of fun and excitment so get your gear ready.

Shull's Hole History

Traditionally, Shull's Hole has been a productive location in terms of quantity (if not quality) of fish caught. Shown at right is the comparison of the 2005 and 2006 data. (The dollar values have been adjusted to 2006 values).

In 2004, 278 fish were landed by the Tournament with Pat O'Boyle with the largest fish (7.17") and Merle with the most fish (51). The average fish value was only $1.67

In 2005, the Tournament landed 437 fish, led by Merle of the Carp Pros with 82 fish. While the fish count was up, the average fish value was the lowest of the season ($1.71).

It was Shull's Hole, as regular readers will recall, that was the site of a somewhat "sticky" incident involving the measurement of fish. This photo shows the reason that each team MUST bring their own bucket and not store the fish "in other places" until the Commissioner arrives. It's also best to speak clearly when asked "where are the fish" and not respond with a "cute" or "smart-alexy" response that could possible result in an unpleasant measurement. So remember, bring a bucket.

2006 Slot Values

During the Off Season the Tournament Office established a special commision to investigate the color-to-fish value of the measuring devices used as part of the scoring system and recommend changes to the system for 2006. As you may recall, the 2005 Tournament resulted in a tremendous number of fish in the White and Black categories. The chart above shows the spread.


The special commission on fish value report contained the following comments and recommendations:

1. The Tournament Office is a well run, world class orginazation;
2. The Commissioner is fair minded and just;
3. The color-to-slot values should be adjusted slightly to accomodate conditions.

Based on the input of the special commission the following is a comparison of the 2005 and 2006 values

September 1st Information

Here's the info on the September 1st Fishing Outing

Charter Company: Addiction Charters
Duration: 5 hours
Departure Time: 2:00 pm
Location: North Point Marina in Winthrop Harbor

Misc

1. Rate is $445 per boat (includes $25 fuel surcharge)
2. Six (6) people per boat maximum.
3. You'll need a license and trout stamp. A one day license and salmon stamp is available on the boat for $5.50
4. Needs $200.00 down payment (The Tournament Office has sent this in this weekend)
5. In the event of extreme weather, the date will be rescheduled.

Deposits are due by June 30th. Listed below are the status of deposits already received :

1. Bass Turds - Both Russ and Ron - Gold Star, they'll fish first!
2. Wigglers - Jim
3. Hookers - Jeff
4. Carp Pros - Steve

2006 Team Listing

The following teams have been confirmed:

Carp Pros (Your two time defending champions)
Merle and Steve

The Hookers
Tomski and Jeff

The Bass Turds
Russ and Ron

The Wigglers
Jim and Randy

Beauty and The Beast
Kent and Patrick

Gaff Masters
Tom P and Tim

2006 Tournament Schedule

The season schedule has been set.

Friday June 23rd - Shull's Hole - 11:45 am to 12:45
The return to the only spot on site deemed clear of mussicide is set for one week from today. Preliminary reports indicate that many of the anglers are not prepared for the steady fishing action at the site of the only functioning windmill on the Fermi site. Sadly, this lacksidasical approach is playing into the hands of the two time defending champs The Carp Pros.

Friday August 4- Fox River in Batavia - 4:00 pm to 6:00
The second date is at the Fox River in downtown Batavia near the Gazebo west of the Police Station. Families and friends are invited and there is no limit on the number of poles fished as long as it is held by a human. This would allow friends and family to help the lower ranked teams (you know who you are). We could order pizza to round out the evening.

Friday September 1st - Lake Michigan
The Tournament Office has arranged for two charter boats for an afternoon on Lake Michigan through Addiction Charters Each boat can accommodate a maximum of six people, so one member from each team will be assigned to each boat.