Hi all,

Just to let you know how Larry and I did or didn't do at our first leg of the FLW Qualifiers at Lake Chelan.  Well first let me say that the old saying of "Spend time on the water and prefish" is a very true statement.  I can't speak for Larry but I learned a very important lesson.  Prefish the body of water as close to tourney time as permitted by the rules and pay attention to moon phases, temps, weather, etc.  Get information if allowed from someone you can trust within the rules as close as possible.  Think about what you will do if your plans fish slap you upside the head.  I for one relied on information from others and last years tourney.  I didn't get to prefish anywhere close to the time allowed.  I was hoping for a boater with more experience and got paired up with a boater who had NEVER fished the body of water.  I put us on our first fish, but after that I was lost and had little to go on.  Being bedazzled by the let down and probably not being prepared totally with a back up plan, I panicked.  Both the boater and I only caught one fish, that was totally unacceptable, but it's what it was.  So the lessons learned by me personally will greatly enhance my future two tournaments left.  Then to come to Banks and catch three pretty much in half the time it took to catch the one, really made me realize, it wasn't going to be pretty.  Being rusty and not fishing every minute I can, made me realize, I need to be able and apply my abilities during the WINDY times and be more accurate with my casts.  If there was a bush or rock that I could get hung up on at Banks, I found it.

Oh, I realized just how SHARP my Gamakatsu treble hooks are also after cutting my index finger tip and removing it. OUCH....that was tender and Larry can attest to it by my constant hitting it on anything around and me complaining about the pain.........

So, Larry and I both are going to PREFISH the Lower Columbia from our Launch site of Kalama just about 7-10 days prior to our actual launch date.  We did have unfavorable weather, but it was won by 18+ pounds at Lake Chelan, so someone was able to locate those little brown fishies somewhere.  Lessons learned will make me a better fisherman in the months to come.  Thanks for the asking, and Yes, Larry caught 6+ pounds and I'm sure he wasn't totally happy either.  BUT, we do have a 1 in 66 chance of winning that brand new Ranger Bass boat after our last tournament in August 2007.

Chuck Pigue

PS...When you see Daryl S, ask him about the brown fishes.............He'll agree also about their disappearance..............

What brown fish? I thought it was a squaw fish tournament.

Well I started out with my GPS not working first thing in the morning. Then my trolling motor broke down. I think our little excursion at Banks Lake during the jamboree did a little more damage then was visible at the time.

So, I basiclly faught the wind all day and tried not to run up on the rocks or into any docks. It sucked.

Oh, by the way I blanked for the day. I hate that lake or it hates me. I have not figured it out yet.

I will get my revenge!

Well...as you know there was a bad incident on the Lower Columbia and we hope those guys get better real fast but there were alot of things learned from the fishing aspect as Myself, Chuck Pique, Daryl Snodgrass and Nick Barr ventured into the second of three events towards the Wash. State Team and the new Ranger boat......some did well and some learned lots...I will let the rest say what worked for them as for mysdelf i caught one Smally for 2.24 pounds but had lots of bites and lost one fish about three pounds at the boat...finally figured a pattern of rocky points near Portland/Vancouver and used a Steelhead drift rig (like a Carolina Rig) comprised of a Slinky weight to cut down snagging and a snap swivel with 1-2 ft leader....tides were minimal effect but there were Fountain boat races up and down river from 9 am till we left at three...did have fish follow baits to the boat and even strike baits but they would not chase cranks for us but many reported fish caught on cranks and rattle trap...took 14 pounds to win it, Mel Marchese (Hope I spelled it right) won. Have to spend more time pre-fishing!!!!!!!!

Rev,  We lost a bass boat due to a crash.   The boater suffered some damage to his back, is in the hospital, and a destroyed boat.  Reported that a wave from a passing ocean going vessel launched him reportedly 20 ft in the air, speared the next wave, and ripped the cap off the boat and iwhen my boater and I passed it, it was upside down, slightly beached with the coast guard standing by.  The non boater was not injured, shaken of course.  The boater's name was George Beegle, Puyallup Hawghunters, and I now found out he was Mac Randle's rooming partner on the FLW Stren Series.  Supposedly, no surgery is needed, but a long recovery of 6+ months and wearing a turtle shell brace during that.  Boat was supposedly a total loss also.  

Lesson:  BIG WAVES CAUSE PROBLEMS...KNOW HOW TO ENCOUNTER THEM AND ALWAYS RESPECT THEM.....

WE ALL ARE WISHING HIM GOD'S SPEED AND A QUICK RECOVERY...

Chuck Pigue

It IS a humbling sport, isn't it!   But you only fail if you learn nothing from the experience.  As long as you learn from your time on the river, (and it sounds like you did), then it was undoubtedly a sucessful experience!   Thanks for sharing!

UPDATE ABOUT BOAT WRECK:
Per emails, the boater, George Beegle, received three compression fractured vertebrae, three broken ribs and is in the tourtle brace and in pain.  The young non boater, Adam, did received a concussion and a slight forehead cut.  The boat is a loss and their club has a volunteer to step up and provide a boat for a non boater in the last of our tournaments.  we all hope George and Adam get better soon.

FLW Qualifier participant
Chuck Pigue