Team Solecki pulls off close Hawgfest win
The Western Basin Sportfishing Association (WBSA) and Ohiogamefishing.com (OGF) held the third annual Evinrude, Sharpnack II, WKYC TV 3, Huron Hawgfest tournament and party on Saturday, September 23, 2006. The field of 80 teams was rewarded with a great day to be on the lake and nothing short of fabulous fishing. West Marine provided coffee and donuts at the registration for the teams to enjoy before heading out for the day.
The team of John Solecki of Westlake, OH, Matt Thompson of Rocky River, OH and Karl Burris of Port Clinton, OH brought in a tournament limit of five fish weighing 32.62 lbs to capture first place and take home $3033 for the win. The second place team of Boyd Martin, Ray Sterk, Chris Woods, Brett Flaczynski all of Wakeman, OH and Denny Braun of Vermilion OH brought in a limit of walleye weighing 31.84 to win $1516 and take second place for the second year in a row. Marc Hunziker of Chardon, OH, Dave Hall of Chesterland, OH and Keith Crowl of Mayfield Village, OH weighed five fish for 24.2 lbs to capture third and take home $959.
In the big fish competition the Solecki team also took top spot with a HAWG, tipping the scales at 10.10 pounds to take home the $1000 big fish pot. Coming in second for big fish was the team of Paul Curmi of
Belleville, MI, Ben Stapish and Jacob Girbach both of
Ann Arbor
MI and Kasi Saunders of
Ypsilanti
MI with their fish tipping the scales at 8.96 lbs.
There were a total of 343 fish brought to the scales with the average weight being just over 3 lbs per fish. Teams talked of catching in excess of 50 -60 fish through out the day. Fish were caught from within 1 mile of the river mouth to 25 miles NE of the river. A variety of techniques were used including trolling spoons, crankbaits and worm harnesses to drifting with bottom bouncers and casting weapons. The winning team caught their fish with dipsy's and spoons and caught the big fish winner last thing of the day as they were getting ready to pull lines.
After the great day on the water the teams and spectators that came out enjoyed a great dinner and awards banquet at the Plantation Hotel. The food was catered by Ray Sterk Catering and the roasting hog was donated by Rich's Hook, Line and Sinker and cooked by Ed Swartz of
Berlin Heights
,
Ohio
. The over 350 people in attendance enjoyed a great evening of food, raffles and awards as thousands of dollars worth of prizes were given away along with 5 Lake Erie fishing trips. Trip donations were from Reef Stalker Sport Fishing Charters, Legacy Charters, Blue Dolphin Charters, Eyestalker Charters, and Freebyrd Charters.
Headline sponsors for the Hawgfest were Evinrude E Tec Motors, Sharpnack II Chevrolet of Willard and WKYC TV 3. They were joined by Cranberry Creek Marina, West Marine, Rich’s Hook, Line and Sinker, Cisco Fishing Systems, Den's Sportsman's Outpost, Dave's Bait, Navionics, Maxed Out Enterprises, Wonderfoam/Restore Cleaners, Mossy Oak, Happy Hooker Bait & Tackle, TNT Tackle, Wolverine Tackle, and drift socks by OGF’s Walleyeguy.
More information can be found by going to www.huronhawgfest.com
| Place |
Boat # |
Name |
Big Fish |
# Fish |
Weight |
Payout |
| 1 |
80 |
John Solecki / Matt Thompson / Karl Burris |
10.1 |
5 |
32.62 |
$3,033 |
| 2 |
41 |
Chris Woods / Boyd Martin / Denny Braun / Ray Sterk / Brett Flaczynski |
8.36 |
5 |
31.84 |
$1,516 |
| 3 |
74 |
Dave Hall / Marc Hunziker / Keith Crowl |
8.02 |
5 |
24.2 |
$959 |
| 4 |
57 |
Christopher Meister / Fritz Meister / Kurt Holmes / Pat Arnold |
7.88 |
5 |
23.22 |
$580 |
| 5 |
6 |
Travis Hartman / David Hartman / Kevin Seltas |
7.18 |
5 |
22.54 |
$357 |
| 6 |
79 |
Bruce Truckor / Bruce Shane / Tim Henricks |
|
5 |
21.94 |
$223 |
| 7 |
72 |
Ross Robertson / Larry Conn / Stephen Velte |
|
5 |
21.84 |
$201 |
| 8 |
18 |
Gary Zart / Wayne Jesionowski / Jared Meisterics / Nicholas Zart |
6.1 |
5 |
21.72 |
$201 |
| 9 |
13 |
Steven Puruczky / Jesse Ellison / Mike Krenn / Michale J Krenn |
5.84 |
5 |
21.72 |
$178 |
| 10 |
47 |
Paul Curmi / Ben Stapish / Jacob Girbach / Kasi Saunders |
8.96 |
5 |
21.16 |
$178 |
| 11 * |
51 |
Bob Dale / Howard Andexler |
8.24 |
5 |
20.04 |
$178 |
| 12 |
21 |
Mike Loya /Carl Bachtel / Rob Galla |
6.2 |
5 |
19.84 |
$156 |
| 13 |
77 |
David Spangler / Joe Horstman / Steven Oldiges |
|
5 |
19.42 |
$156 |
| 14 |
1 |
Steven Hammons / Jimmy Lang / Mike Townsend |
6.22 |
5 |
19.3 |
$156 |
| 15 |
31 |
Lance Norman / Morgan Kiser / John Jeffries |
6.38 |
5 |
18.64 |
$156 |
| 16 |
62 |
J. Wagner / Shawn Ritchie |
|
5 |
18.36 |
$156 |
| 17 |
46 |
Frank Zubel / Chris Zamborsky / Kevin Michnicki |
5.98 |
5 |
18.18 |
$134 |
| 18 |
55 |
Mike Zaborski / Charles Robinson / Tim Robinson / Tony Tyree |
|
5 |
16.94 |
$134 |
| 19 |
20 |
Chris Kish / Dan Wagner / Bob Kish / Dan Miller / Bob Kish SR |
4.82 |
5 |
16.68 |
$134 |
| 20 |
42 |
Kevin Moses / Joe Knott / Charlie King |
5.5 |
5 |
16.52 |
$134 |
| 21 |
35 |
Paul Ellis / Nick Plas / Craig Eppinger |
|
5 |
16.02 |
|
| 22 |
64 |
Kevin Tansey / Walter and paul Zickefoose / Keith Lambert |
|
5 |
15.66 |
|
| 23 |
58 |
Keith Condon / Jeff Pawlaczyk / Jeff Fuller |
|
5 |
15.18 |
|
| 24 |
28 |
Chad Adcock / Shawn Adcock |
|
5 |
15 |
|
| 25 |
5 |
Brian Zumack / Tom Najar / George Wischt / John Wischt |
|
5 |
14.96 |
|
| 26 |
27 |
Tim Van Atta / John - Dalton - Kyle - Christ Van Atta |
|
5 |
14.76 |
|
| 27 |
59 |
Jim Hatfield / Bob Yount / Bobby Fuchs / Ronald Shine |
|
5 |
14.72 |
|
| 28 |
50 |
Brian Lam / Dan Ritz / Ray Urban |
|
5 |
14.72 |
|
| 29 |
78 |
Randy, Rob and Lawrence Cline |
|
5 |
14.52 |
|
| 30 |
19 |
Bernard Babb / Chris Everson / Ken Myers |
|
5 |
14.18 |
|
| 31 |
76 |
William Edwards / Shane Mackin / Dave Cercone |
|
5 |
14.18 |
|
| 32 |
45 |
Ron Cramer / Gary Goetz / Randy Crossley |
|
5 |
13.98 |
|
| 33 |
38 |
Tom Sharpnack / Tom Banyas / Rich Baytash |
|
5 |
13.74 |
|
| 34 |
