2009 Tour Update 11

Rollin'

The latter part of summer was just as hot and heavy as it started for Hooters Bass Fishing this year. In July HBF was invited to the Fort Knox Army base in Kentucky for a most impressive tank demonstration. HBF loaded up the Hooters Bass Fishing tow vehicle with family and all the Hooters gear and Hooters Magazines I could get my hands on and rolled to Kentucky. What a great opportunity to thank our military. After cleaning out the truck of all that Hooters stuff and personally thanking many soldiers. I and family witnessed one of the most awesome, powerful, exhilarating experiences of our lives! The ground rumbled and several tanks rolled up side by side and began to dissect and light up multiple targets up to two miles away! I’ve never felt the fury from those cannons or seen anything so impressive in all my life. This invitation to Fort Knox was truly the highlight of the year, to witness those tanks and also personally thank our heroes.

The rest of July consisted of; another top ten finish at Rocky Fork with team partner Scotty Baker in the USA BASSIN team trail. A seventh place to be exact. A strong limit of five fish was caught and more great points to qualify Team Hooters for the USA BASSIN Super Regional. Team Hooters won the Super Regional event last year and took home a brand new boat. USA BASSIN is a great trail, check it out! Also HBF scored another great finish at the Ohio River, Gallipolis, in the OBFN State Invitational. 2009 is wrapping up to being a record year for HBF in the OBFN trail. One tournament remains for the quest for angler of the year and State team qualifications. After this event HBF is in second place if you removed everyone’s drop event. The Ohio BASS Federation is another great trail I strongly encourage anyone to participate their states BASS Federations. Hats of to the OBFN for their promotion of fellowship, conservation and especially all the youth programs.

August rolled in with a great visit from Coach Jim Stofko and his band of merry men. Coach Stofko and senior captains from the Moeller High School football team enjoyed some great fishing and fellowship at the Hooters Bass Fishing headquarters private lake before starting two a day practice for the upcoming season. If those boys play ball as well as they can fish, look out for their competition! Getting young folks in the outdoors is what it’s all about, hats off coach Stofko!

Rollin is just what HBF did in August to one of our favorite destinations. Lake Champlain, New York was the battlegrounds for the second of three events on the BASSMASTER Northern Open trail this year. HBF had the pleasure of meeting, fishing and rooming with two of the greatest people I’ve simply ever had the pleasure to meet; Don and Will Peet from the Vera Bradley Corp. Don, father and son, Will came to New York for Will’s first major league bass tournament. I was so impressed with Don’s devotion to his children and Family and the human race for that matter. If I could ever hire a team manager, this guy would be it! Young Will at 16 years wise was equally impressive, his sportsmanship and manners and the fact he was jumping in the big leagues and the youngest contender in the tournament was refreshing and amazing. HBF had two great days with strong limits weighing over 12lbs each day and two great partners for the event. What a great region and beautiful waters. HBF would like to thank Chris Jackson, the city of Plattsburgh and Don and Will Peet. I would also like to thank the ESPN and BASSMASTER folks for a great time and all the fun and exposure Hooters receives at these events.

Congrats to the following Hooters Gift card recipients for their performance at the Ohio Bass Federation’s State Invitational on the Ohio River, Gallipolis!

Angler Division

~Big Bass~ Randy Peck Kokosing Valley Bass Club Hooters Gift Card - $25.00
~1st Place~ Randy Peck Kokosing Valley Bass Club Hooters Gift Card - $50.00		~2nd Place~ Bill Schumate Hard Knox Bassmasters Hooters Gift Card - $25.00

Co-Angler's Division

~Big Bass ~ Brian Mailot Out Cast Bassmasters Hooters Gift Card- $25.00
~1st Place ~ Don Coots Hard Knox Bassmasters Hooters Gift Card - $50.00		~2nd Place ~ Chad Kelley Champaign County Bassmasters Hooters Gift Card - $25.00

Thanks, enjoy, best Fishes!

2009 Tour Update 10

Kick’n Bass and great promotions!

What a great summer it has been for Hooters Bass Fishing! Competitively Hooters Bass Fishing has been on fire in 2009. June and July have been full of victories and great promotions. The beginning of June was the annual United Way Celebrity Bass Tournament. HBF’s old buddy Fast Freddie from 93.3 The Wolf fm. and I smashed the scales with four pound largemouth again this year, we just couldn’t get that fifth cookie cutter four pound bass in the boat and had to settle for a respectable second. Fred and I were overall champions last year and almost made a record setting consecutive back to back victory this year. This annual event has raised well over $100,000.00 for the United Way since it began. It’s great to have support from the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburg Steelers and all the sponsors. These are great people and a great cause. Hooters Bass Fishing is honored to be a part of it. Check out the cool links and photos of the event at; http://news.steelers.com/article/105735/ from the Steelers website steelers.com. Also http://www.wncd.com/cc-common/gallery/globalphotos.html , from 93.3 The Wolf fm.

Thank you to my brother Major Greg Wall from the U.S. Army. Major Wall stepped in and stepped it up with HBF for a second place victory and big bass honors at Rocky Fork Lake in the USA BASSIN team Invitational. Major Wall anchored the team with our biggest bass catch over four pounds! It was great to get a chance to fish a tournament with my brother. He left home to serve our country when he was eighteen. Major Wall has completed three tours at war and getting ready to go again. Always remember to thank those that protect our freedoms. Thanks Greg and all the soldiers this goes out to. We love you, be careful and come home safe.

HBF has also complied three top ten finishes in the Ohio B.A.S.S. Federation State Invitationals including a record setting back to back victory at Lake Erie for myself and co-angler Brandon Estep (owner of Warrior Baits), HBF is well on our way to another top six state team berth and in strong contention for a possible angler of the year title for the state of Ohio. HBF had a personal best 20.89lbs. of monster smallmouth, and Brandon took first place honors for the co-angler division with 4 fish weighing 13Lbs! Congrats Brandon, HBF had blast fishing with you. Congrats to all the OBFN anglers below who took home Hooters Gift Cards from the Lake Erie State Invitational! Check out more HBF highlights at ohiobassfederationnation.com.

Angler Division

~Big Bass~ Jay Ward Cridersville Bass Busters Hooters Gift Card - $25.00
~1st Place~ Brad Wall Catchem’ Bassmasters Hooters Gift Card - $50.00		~2nd Place~ Matt Elkins Cridersville Bass Busters Hooters Gift Card - $25.00

Co-Angler's Division

~Big Bass ~ Michael Nesbitt Hooters Gift Card- $25.00
~1st Place ~ Brandon “Warrior Baits” Estep Twin Rivers Bassmasters Hooters Gift Card - $50.00		~2nd Place ~ Tom Lacy All Ohio Bassmasters Hooters Gift Card - $25.00

Thank you to The Springfield Entertainment Group that invited Hooters Bass Fishing to co host the 4th of July Veterans Celebration with fellow professional angler Sandra Rankin. What an honor it was to host such a huge show and personally contribute and thank our veterans during the 4th of July. Many people, bands, commissioners, the mayor, all branches of the military came out to the Springfield fair grounds for three days to thank and celebrate our veterans. Military fly overs, music, rides, fireworks what a great time and an honor to host. Great day to be an American!

Thank you to all our sponsors; Ranger boats, Mercury, Lowrance, Motorguide, Navionics, Dixie Marine, Walt Luti Tire, Reaction Innovations, Fishing Edge Rods, Bassahaulics and all contributors. A special thank you goes to Hooters. Thanks as well to all the world class tournament organizations Hooters competes in; ESPN BASSMASTERS, OBFN and USABASSIN for all the fun and media exposure.

Stay tuned, fish on!

2009 Tour Update 9

BASSMASTER Southern Open and the USA BASSIN National Classic

Sweat home Alabama! After leaving the cold Chesapeake Bay tournament it was refreshing to head towards the warm south in late April and early May. Lake Wheeler, Alabama was the next destination for the BASSMASTER’s Southern Open Tour. I was looking forward to this event. HBF had a 4th place finish in a BASSMASTER OPEN on Lake Wheeler before. Practice was awesome for this event. Thanks to one of my favorite baits to fish the “skinny dipper” by Reaction Innovations I only needed one pole for practice. I didn’t have to put it down. I concentrated on the skinniest back waters I could find and whatever got in my way I threw the skinny dipper at it and got my arm tore off! The pattern was complete after three days of quick practice. Conservatively 18, 19, and over 20 pounds were the weights put together just locating areas with fish and never hitting them twice.

I was really looking forward to this tournament. My schedule then made me leave for Kentucky Lake to practice for the USA BASSIN National Classic for the next five days then return to Lake Wheeler for the Open event. I was praying my pattern would hold until I returned. When I got back the pattern was still good but the one or two good kicker bites I was getting at each spot just didn’t happen. A weeks worth of guys practicing and local tournaments thinned out those larger fish. The Southern Open at Wheeler was a great tournament. HBF had a strong limit over nine pounds the first day and was within one good bite from making the final cut. As luck would have it a monsoon hit northern Alabama that night and washed all of my fishing areas into chocolate milk. After adjusting, picking up a shaky head jig and worm, I began to finesse bite a school of fish off a much more stable and clearer main lake point on day two. I salvaged another nine pound bag and just missed the day three cut.

I can only say that I wouldn’t have to catch a fish in northern Alabama to have a great time. That credit goes to the people in that area and especially The Hooters of Huntsville Alabama. The Hooters of Huntsville store should be a serious tourist attraction. Hooters of Huntsville have never missed doing a promo with HBF on any of the lakes in northern Alabama we’ve fished in the last six years. They are like family. I love those guys. We have received a multitude of media from local newspapers, ESPN, BASSMASTERs, FLW, on and on, from the promo events we’ve done together. The store itself is one of the most rocking Hooters you will ever visit. Some of the most beautiful and charismatic gals I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with and crediting their leadership from managers Kevin Bullock, Ron Coursey and especially Pete Rodrigues for all of Alabama and Mississippi. If you frequent Hooters locations all over this great country in your travels like I do, absolutely do not pass up the opportunity to visit the Hooters of Huntsville.

Thanks to all HBF’s friends that came out to the Hooters and events in that area and for there hospitality; Chris and Beth Jackson, Jonathan, Jim Leary, Nicky and all their peeps who come along. Special thanks to Stewart Vest for all your hospitality and coming out to fish with HBF. Had a blast thank you all!

HBF Doubled back after day two at Wheeler straight to Kentucky Lake to immediately fish the first day of two at the USA BASSIN National Classic. A quick rendezvous on the way at one of my favorite Hooters locations Nashville (Alcoa), highly recommended, for dinner, cheer and photos and I was back on the road. Good old HBF pro staffer and life long outdoors buddy Scott Baker and I slammed some monster largemouth in the event, it was awesome. Scott and I had finished 3rd in the prior USA BASSIN Classic out of 260 boats in Tennessee. Although we didn’t finish as well as we had in the prior Classic we sure had fun bringing in some monster largemouth to the scales. You can’t go wrong fishing on Kentucky Lake or with the USA BASSIN National Team Trail. Thanks Scott and USA BASSIN for all the hospitality and media coverage.

Congratulations to Steve Donahue and son Nick for capturing the grand prize at our local golf tournament to benefit passing the levy for Little Miami School system. Grand prize for the tournament is a donated day of guided fishing with HBF. Congratulations as well to the following six recipients who were awarded Hooters gift cards at the East Fork Lake Ohio BASSMASTER Federation State Invitational tournament.

Thanks again to all of our sponsors; Ranger, Mercury, Lowrance, Motorguide, Navionics, Dixie Marine, Walt Luti Tire, Bassahaulics, Reaction Innovations, Fishing Edge, all contributors and especially Hooters.

Angler Division

~Big Bass~ Michael White CompetitionBassmasters Hooters Gift Card - $25.00
~1st Place~ Richard Keever Warren County Bassmasters Hooters Gift Card - $50.00		~2nd Place~ Michael White CompetitionBassmasters Hooters Gift Card - $25.00

Co-Angler's Division

~Big Bass ~ Don Coots Hard Knox Bassmasters Hooters Gift Card- $25.00
~1st Place ~ Don Coots Hard Knox Bassmasters Hooters Gift Card - $50.00		~2nd Place ~ Josh West Apple CityBassmasters Hooters Gift Card - $25.00

Live, love, laugh, and enjoy, fish on!

2009 Tour Update 8

BASSMASTER Northern Open, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland.

Hooters Bass Fishing always embraces fishing new areas of the country. Such was the case with the first stop on the BASSMASTER Northern Open Tournament trail for 2009. Chesapeake Bay is a great fishery. This body of water is affected by incoming and outgoing tides like the Potomac River. Adding an extra dimension such as tide makes fisheries much more interesting. I enjoy fishing tidal water and I enjoyed fishing the Chesapeake Bay. The weather for the event was perfect; however the week of practice prior to the event was brutal weather. Seven days of rain and temperatures in the low forties made for a grueling practice. HBF had a good showing with fish for the scales every day when many anglers struggled to even catch a fish. We caught many fish during the tournament, but with an early season 15 inch size limit, the majority of the fish were just under keeper size.

The people in the Baltimore area are great and many Bass fans showed up for the weigh inns. An enormous thank you goes to the Hooters store of Towson Maryland. Manager Tiffany Hasson graciously entertained HBF, guests and friends at the Towson store several nights and sent three of Towson’s finest representatives to the weigh inn for promotions. Once again Hooters gobbled up much press and tons of public interaction. The gals passed out magazines, coupons, t-shirts, Frisbees and of course tons of stickers for all the kids (under the age of 80!). HBF also visited the nearby Hooters of Newark, DE. Thanks to Manager David Guinan and the Newark store as well, we had a blast. Big thanks to Mike Naughton for showing me the area and Scott Parker for coordinating our lodging and both for accompanying me at the local Hooters stores.

A very special thank you goes out to my past seventh grade teacher at Butlerville elementary, Sheri Martin. Mrs. Martin has always been one of my favorite teachers. We always look back and remember those who influence our lives in positive ways. Our teachers are responsible for so many good people and the positive contributions they make to society from the examples provided to us from our nation’s educators. Mrs. Martin invited Hooters Bass Fishing back to Butlerville elementary for career day for the Kids. What an honor to go back and speak to so many young people about fishing, conservation and our environment. It is amazing how many young people fish. 90% of the kids in every class raised their hands when asked if they fish. HBF covered the basics but the kids stole the show with personal fish story after the next fish story. What a rewarding day. Thanks again Mrs. Martin and Hooters for the opportunity to unite with those kids, priceless.

Thanks Hooters for the gift cards that are going to be awarded at this year OHIO BASS Federation state qualifying events. First place pro and co-angler receive $50 dollar gift cards to Hooters. Second place pro and co receive $25 gift cards. Big Bass Pro and co receives $25 gift cards as well. The OBFN state trail opener at Grand Lake awarded these Hooters gift cards to the following top six anglers for their performances, congratulations and enjoy!

Angler Division		Co-Angler Division
BIG BASS John Synder Twin Creek Bassmasters Hooters Gift Card - $25.00		BIG BASS Chad Kelley Champaign County Bassmasters Hooters Gift Card- $25.00
1ST PLACE Jim Huntley Warren County Bassmasters Hooters Gift Card - $50.00		1ST PLACE Scott Metzger Champaign County Bassmasters Hooters Gift Card - $50.00
2ND PLACE John Snyder Twin Creek Bassmasters Hooters Gift Card - $25.00		2ND PLACE Don Coots Hard Knox Bassmasters Hooters Gift Card - $25.00

Fish on!

ESPN Coverage

Chesapeake Bay

2009 Tour Update 7

PAA & The BassMaster Southern Open

The Carrot Stix’s PAA Tour inaugural season began in 2009 at Lake Toho in Kissimmee, Florida. West Lake Toho is one of my favorite places to fish. HBF used the famous Skinny Dipper swim bait by Reaction Innovations to catch over three limits of keeper Bass on the first day of competition.

Day two cold front affected our fish and the catch was slim until the water warmed and the bite came back towards the end of day two. The last 30 minutes HBF was able to start putting fish in the boat.

Just not quite enough bites to repeat day ones weight. We finished just outside the cut. What a great job the PAA is doing and how far the organization has come in the last five years. If you fish you should become a member. Check it out at fishpaa.com. Big thanks to all our friends’ fans and good people in Kissimmee. Thanks, Capt. John Lawson and Rich Beam for all their hospitality. As well as good friend Capt. Tim Boggs from B8Fish guide service, the ultimate crappie experience. If you like to catch crappie you owe it to yourself to fish with Team Boggs; B8Fish guide service (407) 791-1341.

The second half of our trip to Florida landed us an hour North of Lake Toho at the Harris Chain of Lakes in Tavares for the BASSMASTER Southern Trail opener. What a great chain of lakes and beautiful area. The bass were just coming in to spawn the day of the competition. Preceding cold fronts hampered the practice and made patterns and fishing challenging.

At the conclusion of practice I had half a dozen places I felt I could scratch out a limit on the lower lakes. However I had found a small stretch of cattails in Lake Griffin the last day of practice that I had caught three nice keepers in the3-4 pound range which would go far in this event.

The run to Lake Griffin would cost me 2 1/2 hours of fishing time during the tournament due to locks and canals and if those fish decided not to bite I would be stuck. I played it safe the first day thinking I could catch a reasonable limit on the lower lakes and see if I needed to risk the run to my only spot in Lake Griffin the second day.

The safe bet was the wrong decision. I only ended up with two fish on day one. With nothing to loose I swung for the fence and went to Griffin on day two. Sure enough they were biting. I slowed way down and picked the cattails apart with a June bug trick worm and whacked them. If I had just went to Griffin the first day I would’ve easily made the cut. I came in with 14lbs. on day two with a seven pound kicker. Hindsight is 20/20.

I would like to thank Frank Woodruff for all the hospitality and Darren Mcdermott for practicing with me. A special thank you goes to Dean and Peggy Morris from the PVA who visited the Hooters of Sanford with HBF. I look forward to participating in any way the Dean and Peggy. They have been associated and committee members with the PVA for nineteen years, truly admirable.

Enormous thanks to the Hooters of Sanford, the gals and regional manager Dan Davis who came out to the BASSMASTER weigh inns to support HBF and the event. Nobody left the weigh in site not covered in I love Hooters stickers and super bowl invitations to the Sanford store. Thanks BASS for a great event and coverage as well as the mentions to Hooters on the stage.

Fish on!

2008 Tour Update 6

National Championship

Milford Lake, Junction City, Kansas, was the battleground for the 2008 BASS Federation Nation National Championship. The top angler from each state and a few foreign countries (Mexico, Canada, Italy, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Japan) compete for six golden tickets to the 2009 BassMasters Classic. Hooters Bass Fishing qualified for this prestigious event by receiving 1st place Ohio and overall 1st place champion of the BASS Northern Divisional at Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin in August 2008.

Representing the great state of Ohio and fishing in the National Championship was an honor. The event was covered by many Medias and draws global exposure. One of the most rewarding parts of the event was fishing with and meeting so many of the volunteer men and women from Ft. Riley Army base. You couldn’t have picked more hard working and absolute toughest observers who rode with the contenders in the brutal conditions during the National Championship. I would personally like to thank 1SG Richard Hawk who rolled with HBF on those grueling days of competition. You can see 1SG Hawk and me coming off a wave at the National Championship on pages 78/79 full spread photo in BassMaster Magazine, (Parting Shot)! Nice orange Hooters gloves Sarge!

Even though HBF was not fortunate enough to get one of the golden tickets to the Classic, making the National championship was an experience of a lifetime. HBF would like to thank all of our sponsors that help us qualify for these opportunities, Ft Riley, BASS and ESPN, the Ohio Federation and all its members, our new friends we made from all over, foreign and domestic. As well as the Hooters stores of Topeka, St. Peters, MO., and Illinois that made the long bus ride home a lot easier

Fish on!

2008 Tour Update 5

Lake Guntersville

Sweet home Alabama. Lake Guntersville was the location for the final stop on the Bassmaster Southern Open trail in 2008. Lake Guntersville is the most powerful place I’ve fished in Alabama to date. The lake is vast and beautiful and is full of trophy bass. HBF had a blast down there last October. You can catch bass however you like in G-ville Lake.

The lake has everything to offer. The most productive bite for HBF was a combination of baits and techniques. Carolina rigging the main river drops to an incredible top water frog bite and various fishing stiles in between were the key factors to HBF’S success and landing seven to five pound bruisers in practice and the tournament.

Big thanks to Capt. Chris Jackson and his wife Beth from Fins and Grins Freshwater Adventures whom I met at last years Classic for all their hospitality. Special thanks to the Hooters of Huntsville store. The Huntsville store has always come out to support HBF over the last five years at tournaments all over Northern Alabama.

The Huntsville gals came out to the weigh inns and as usual gobbled up the attention of friends, fans, competitors, kids and especially BASS and the ESPN coverage. HBF got to meet Jim Tessmer from the corporate office and entertain several folks at the Huntsville store. What a great time. Thanks to BASS and ESPN for the media coverage and always making HBF feel welcome and the continued positive and fun experience you receive from this world class tournament organization.

Fish on!

ESPN Coverage

Lake Guntersville

Courtesy of ESPN.com

U.S.A. Bassin Super Regional

Team HOOTERS Takes Champions Title...& Wins a New Boat!

By Scott Boyd
HOOTERS Bass Fishing
September 28, 2008

East Fork Lake, SW OH — The destination for the U.S.A. Bassin Super Regional. Team HOOTERS took top honors and won a new boat! "We simply grinded it out on a tough day and couldn’t wait to get to HOOTERS after the tournament," local team member Scott Baker said.

The winning five-fish-limit weight for Team HOOTERS was 7.08 lbs. According to Brad Wall, Team HOOTERS Angler, it took all day and five different baits to capture the winning limit. "With no practice and little knowledge of this lake we just fished hard, trusted our instincts and executed on every bite we were fortunate enough to get," said Wall.

Team HOOTERS are now qualified to fish the U.S.A. Bassin National Team Classic held at Kentucky Lake in May 2009. “We are looking forward to the opportunity to fish against the top teams from 13 states and 60 regions,” said Wall. Team HOOTERS took third place in the National Team Classic last year out of 260 boats at Douglas Lake in Tennessee.

"U.S.A. Bassin is a great national team trail. HOOTERS Bass Fishing thanks them for a great event,” Wall said. Check out the HOOTERS links and more details at usabassin.com.

BASS 2008 Northern Divisional

Wall Holds on for Wire-to-Wire Victory

By Andy Crawford
Bassmaster Senior Writer
August 15, 2008, 8:25 PM ET Wall Wins BASS Federation Northern Invitational

OSHKOSH, Wisc. — Ohio's Brad Wall went into the final day of the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Northern Divisional with a comfortable 8-pound lead, but found the last-day fishing more difficult.

It wasn't that he couldn't catch fish on Lake Winnebago. Instead, the issue was getting the bigger fish to bite. "I had a limit of 2 ½-pounders that I threw back," Wall explained.

Such a decision was forced by Wisconsin's no-cull rule, which mandates anglers stop fishing once the fifth fish has been placed in the livewell.

Wall stuck to his plan, which called for jumping from rock pile to rock pile in the northwest corner of the lake, to boat four bass that upped his total to 44 pounds, 14 ounces and sealed his win in the overall individual competition. Wall Wins BASS Federation Northern Invitational

"The main factor was breaks on the rocks," he said. "I would throw (onto rock piles) in 5 feet of water with my boat in 8 feet.

"You had that good drop, with a hard bottom."

The best breaks were those that included beds of muscles.

"A lot of hits happened if you could throw over the muscle beds," he said. "They would hit it on the fall."

Innovative Sports Group (ISG) tubes in several colors were the only lures Wall threw during the three-day event. He rigged the tubes on 3/8-ounce jigs, which were tied to 12-pound Seaguar 100 Percent Fluorocarbon.

His retrieve was important, but there was no one technique that shined.

Wall Wins BASS Federation Northern Invitational "I call it 'freestyling,'" Wall said. "Depending on which way the wind was blowing and how hard it was blowing, I might be dragging it or I might be hopping it along. It just depended on the conditions." He said the changing weather, which went from hard overcast and calm the first day to partly cloudy on the second day to blue-bird and windy the final day, really didn't play a factor.

"I literally caught fish in practice in every weather condition but pouring rain," Wall said..

The reason the bigger fish didn't provide the opportunity for Wall to put five fish in the livewell on the final day probably could be found in a combination of factors, he said.

First, his area of the lake became progressively crowded through the three days of competition, increasing the pressure on the schools of smallies.

But he also felt bass were simply not feeding as well.

"I think they fed so hard for us during practice, that they weren't hungry today," Wall said. Wall Wins BASS Federation Northern Invitational

Wall not only won the overall title, however. He also earned a ticket to the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation National Championship scheduled for Kansas' Milford Lake in November by beating out his 11 other team members.

The divisional features anglers from eight states, with each competing for individual and team honors. Joining him as team winners were Illinois' Jim O'Malley, Brian Hensley with the Indiana team, Iowa's Terry Fitzpatrick, Kent Miller of Michigan, Minnesota's Rick Billings, South Dakota team member Shane Oltjenbruns and Wisconsin's Brady Farrell.

Each of these team champs move on to November's national championship.

In the team competition, Wisconsin climbed from third on the second day to the top spot with a three-day total of 278-7. It is the state's second consecutive divisional win, and its sixth in the past nine years