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Ice Series on Rush!


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It was a great day to be on the ice! I actually got a sunburn! cool.gif

A kamakazi copter and some very loud snowmobiles going speeds I didn't know were possible, didn't spoil the fun on this event. I just hope Dietz's voice is OK trying to yell through the bull horn to be heard over the radar runs that overtook us!

I want to thank everyone who came out to our last ICE Series event of the season! I think it was one of the best. We had some pretty good sized baskets come in and our biggest fish of the year. Rush is deffinatley a very good fishing lake.

Here are the winning weights for Rush:

1rst PLACE

Brian Randow took home the trophy for first, big fish, and the title Worlds Greatest Ice Angler Rush Lake with a VERY nice pike early in the day that went 14.1 lbs. Brian released this fish to fight another day!

Congratulations Brian!!

2nd PLACE

Dale Svitak took runner up with a mixed bag of quality crappies, sunnies and a nice pike. Total bag weight was 10.3 lbs.

Good on ya Dale!

3rd PLACE

Cory Sybrant brought 10.0 lbs in with some nice perch, crappies and another quality pike.

Way to go Cory!

4th PLACE

Aaron Rogers had another quality bag of fish with10 nice perch, 7 crappies, and 4 nice gills. Aaron also caught a very nice largemouth that was released and not weighed.

You made Daddy proud!

5th PLACE

Bill Johanson takes 5th with a mixed bag of perch, crappies and a sunny.

Congratulations Bill.

I also want to thank Bill and Al From Midwest Rod and Reel for attending and dontating a custom ice rod for this event. Great rods and my personal favorite rods to use.

Thanks to all our ICE Series sponsors for their generosity in providing the quality prizes for these events.

JR's Tackle

Scenic Tackle

Marcum Technologies

Otter Outdoors

Custom Jigs and Spins

Todays Tackle

Nils Master

Stone Legacy

Bad Dog Lures

Lakemaster Maps

Thorne Brothers

Beaver Dam Tip ups

Lazy Jigger

Air Plugs

Islander Lures

Fish Fever

Road King

I want to thank all those who attended any one of our ICE Series this season. OUr members are what makes these events a good time for all.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank this years ICE Series Prostaff. They put in the time to help organize and set up these event so that they were a fun time for all.

Matt Johnson Surface Tension

BDR Tom Herman

ChuckN Ray Esbolt

Paul Waldowski Jim W

Northlander Chunkytrout

I would also like to thank all the staff and members who helped out with the events. Thanks guys it was very much appreciated!

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What a great day!

We sure gave the augers a work out! It was great putting some names with the faces. My son had a pretty good sun burn by the end of the day. He really enjoyed the slush ball fights with the guys.

Seeing all those scouts having a good time and then winnibg somne really nice prizes made my day. Many had little to no fishing experince. You just didn't want to get between them and a freshly popped flag. laugh.gif

Thanks guys for all you did during the series. See you at cool cats. laugh.gif

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Man, that was a fun day. Couldn't beat the weather. The Boy Scouts were a hoot. They now all think Matt Johnson is some kind of fishing god. They really aren't that far off.

My apologies to Borch, little Borch (he ain't so little), Hanson, and Irv for dragging them all over the lake with little to show. We should have followed Matt and Brian from the get go. However, we did go back to where we started in the morning and smoked the crappies from 3:30PM on. Just so you don't think I was too far out in left field. I'm only a little out there.

A big thanks to Dennis Steele and Paul Waldowski for organizing and running these events this year. They're very organized and are very professionally run. Good job guys.

I wish everyday ice fishing was that much fun.

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And to think I had to drive to Milwaukee to buy a new firewood processor. Oh well... maybe next year......

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A couple thoughts...

1) I DID get in between a troop of Boy Scouts and a freshly popped flag, MY FLAG!!! Matt was giving me a hard time because I showed up to their fishing area late, popped a few holes, and caught a nice 4-6 pound pike not too long after getting there. Guess I had the lucky hole. Thanks BDR for the Shiner minnow! Those shiners also caught me a bunch of kitties today including 1 very nice 9 pounder.

2) One forgets how powerful the sun can be in the middle of winter. My face is alot redder than it was a couple days ago. Time for the suntan lotion to go back into the tackle bag.

3) I will never call Ray a bad guide. I got a good tour of some good spots on a lake I've never fished before. Thank you. Was it the very first place we went to that turned out the crappies???

I went back to the same place Matt was at until sundown and continued to catch crappies & bluegills hand over fist! Lots of fun. Had to weed through a lot to find the nicer ones.

It was, once again, a very good time!! Couldn't have picked a nicer day!! Cool Cats 2005... here I come!!

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To say I had fun on Saturday would be an understatement! The weather was incredible, the company was awesome, and the fishing was good!

I spent the day fishing with a group of boy scouts, and let me tell you, these kids are well on their way to becoming pro fishermen! smile.gif (Look for the recap on the Ice Fishing Main Forum)

I had to opportunity to see several nice fish come through the ice and the opportunity to share a few laughs on Saturday.

A big congrats to Brian Randow! That pike was amazing! I saw Brian land that monster and I told him to hop in my truck so we can get it to the weigh-in and back in the water. The warm weather definitely was a plus and the fish swam away like new. A 14.1 pound pike!...

rushchamppike2-281x375.jpg

rushchamp-405x297.jpg

Brian Randow - 1st place and Big Fish!!

Dale Svitak came in second place with a nice bag of fish as well...

rushrunnerup-284x375.jpg

Dale Svitak - 2nd place!!

Just an icredible day on the ice! I got the chance to meet a lot of new FMer's and put a few more faces with some of the names. We certainly have a great bunch of people here!

Here are some more shots from Saturday...

aaronicelargy-405x305.jpg

Aaron (BDR's son) with a nice largemouth caught on a JR's Tackle Crusher spoon on a tip-up!!

brianiceperch3.jpg

BDR with a nice pile of perch

rushray-282x375.jpg

Ray Esboldt with a nice pile of panfish and perch

rushhanson.jpg

Chris Hanson with a nice pike

rushmarcumwinner-283x375.jpg

The lucky boy scout who went home with a new MarCum!!

rushweighin-405x306.jpg

2005 Rush Lake ICE Series Weigh-in

rushweighin2-405x301.jpg

Another shot of the weigh-in

I'm with Dennis, a big thank to all the ICE Pro Staff!

Another HUGE thank you goes out to Dennis Steele. Dennis worked very, very hard and making sure everything was running on all cylinders for the ICE Series. Some long nights for Dennis and a big part of the success of the ICE Series in contributed to him. So a big THANK YOU Dennis!

There's still a lot of ice fishing left this season and I hope to see some of you on the ice!

Some of the upcoming FM events...

Feb. 19 - Backwater Brawl down on the Mississippi backwaters.

Mar. 5 - Cool Cats - Horseshoe Lake

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

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I always appreciate a tour of a lake as I now have a number of spots to fish in the future.

So it was the first spot that ponied up!

Hanson and I went back to the bay the scouts were in and dropped in a tipup each and then hole hopped. I had a hole that I could catch only perch in and I added some nice jumbos and probably the smallest perch I have ever seen! Had to show Hanson that fish just to prove I actually caught it on a hook.

Turns out Hanson was hole hopping on the other side of the trucks and pounding the fish. He was releasing everything but could have put a nice bucket of fish out if he wanted---I actually "glommed" onto one of his hot holes and added some more fish including maybe my best crappie of the season so all was not lost.

When I drove off the lake at 6PM it looked like a coleman lantern convention on all of the deep holes. This was very obvious as the main road back to CJ's goes smack dab through the deep holes around the islands and with the nice weather everybody was fishing in the open--must be a PM bite on this lake!

Man it must be great to be young--little Borch was doing the run and slide game on the ice and ended up dumping himself flat on his back on the ice--all I saw were the bottoms of his boots flying through the air. If it had been me we would have got to check out the ambulance service to Rush Lake!

Anytime you want to provide more free guiding I'll follow,

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BDR, Aaron(BDR Jr), Ray, Deitz, Matt-

It was great to meet you guys! Nice Large mouth, Aaron!! I wished I could have gotten out there earlier, BUT... Sorry Ray, I know you said people who don't make it out are "LAME"! Would you buy "I lost the hood of my truck" as a good excuse?!? Alright, I'm "LAME"!! I'd like to hook up with you boy'z sometime and hit some of the local hottie's(I mean LAKES!). Glad to see you got into some Crappies, always a nice end to the day.

-Brandt

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RR4,

OK. I'll take the lost the hood excuse. grin.gif

Nice to meet you as well. See if you can swing over to the Forest Lake Gander Mtn. on Wednesday night. Deitz will be giving a presentation at 7PM.

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River-Rat

It was good to meet you also! Thanks for the tip on the Dodge hoods. Too bad you had that happen I bet you had to go change your shorts. grin.gif

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RR4, the missing hood is a good look though.. stick with it!!! he he he.. I'm sure we will have another get togeather up here...

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Deitz,

It was a good day! Although I was about to start throwing snowballs at the helicopter, It was deffinetly close enough at times. tongue.gif Had a hard time finding snow too crazy.gif. I was wondering if you guys had decals and stuff for sale there and I just missed it. If you didn't, it might be an idea for next time. I'll bet you would be able to sell some merchandise at these things.

Thanks again to the leaders for a fun day,

"hooks"

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Hooks... thats a great idea... the stickers are just becoming available on www.fmlogo.com.. you can buy them there.. or will be able to soon... and you are 100% correct, the copter dude could have flown a little more safly in my opinion as well.. a little uncalled for.

If you get a chance.. stop in at Gander tomorrow night WEdnesday... 7pm and check out my seminar!

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river-rat4,

It was nice to meet you as well. Lost hood definitely sounds like a legit story, I'll buy that smile.gif Enjoy the rest of the ice season and maybe we'll see each other out there again!

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

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Hey guys-

I plan on being @ Gander tomorrow, I changed my shorts- so I'm ready to go!!

BDR- If you want the phone # for Chrysler about your hood,(need to get a file#) let me know. It is a recall for '95-'96 thru 2001 so yours would fall into that yaer class. Shouldn't cost you a thing for replacement.

See ya Wednesday!

-Brandt

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