Cat's Incredible History Lesson

[hanson]

Day 1 of the Cat's Incredible in East Grand Forks, MN wrapped up and I believe the word on the street was "tough bite". Ouch!

The guys who caught fish did dang well. Then there was the rest of us.

The leading team weighed in a 5 channel cat limit of 44lbs. Only 2 of those 5 are over 24" in length because of the slot restrictions. After Day 1, you needed 30lbs of fish to crack the top 20.

My dad & I weighed in a tad over 10lbs. Took (3) 22" channels to make that 10lbs. We lost another channel about that size 2' behind the boat and that was it for the action today. Lots of taps, a couple almost hook ups, and that was it. Just could NOT find a cat with any size today. Guess I was somewhat happy as prefishing Thurs & Fri did not go that well either.

I believe their were at least 40 teams that didn't even weigh a fish.

Thunder, lightning, and rain made for a fun 35 minute boat ride this morning.

Thats todays update. We're going to hammer out our game plan tomorrow and see if we can't hook up with a couple fatties to jump us up a little higher in the standings.

[DARK30]

Any word from team Whiskers/Fishhead?

[sparcebag]

Hanson you fishin any slack 1-2 ft. water??

[hanson]

Quote:

---

Any word from team Whiskers/Fishhead?

---

Yeppers... Rumor is Dennis landed a dandy 12lb Northern Pike. That was their excitement for yesterday. They did better today but for the most part, we all pretty much sucked it up.

[hanson]

Quote:

---

Hanson you fishin any slack 1-2 ft. water??

---

Yep. We fished a lot of shallow, close to the bank water Friday and Saturday as well. Really nothing going on there at all. Sometimes its good, but this weekend was not that time.

[hanson]

Sunday for us was a lot like Saturday, we really, really struggled. We found our 3 under 24" slotfish pretty early but we busted our butts to get them. We missed hooksets, lost fish, lost fish to the wood, but finally scrapped 3 together by about 11:30am.

Game plan switched to a new strategy after that cause we HAD to find big fish. We bebopped around hitting a number of different spots trying to fish structure or cover we hadn't fished yet, something different. 3pm was approaching which was my cut off to head back time when dad popped a fatty for us. He pretty much saved the day when he hooked that 33 1/4", which weighed in at 16.2lbs. We were really feeling good about the day, even though we were way out of the top places. We worked hard and finally got a nice one at the end.

Our Sunday weight ended up being 26 lbs approximately added to our 10lbs from the previous day to finish with 36lbs.

Lots of people struggled and the weights are way down from previous years so it will be interesting to see the final results.

[DTro]

thanks for the update. sound like you could've done a lot worse

[HossFisher]

This was just posted in the Red River Forum

WEIGH SLIP CALCULATIONS

Total

Total

Place

TEAM

Names

City/State

Caught

Weight

Shows place, team number, Name, Then # of fish and weight.

Congrats to the winners

1

85

Dustin Lunski & Fred Liebsch

Grand Forks, ND

9

68.64

2

69

Larry Vanderhoff & Linda Vanderhoff

Grand Forks, ND

7

63.48

3

56

Rich Longoria & Tim Brooks

Grand Forks, ND & East Grand Forks, MN

5

62.94

4

90

Darwin Lunski & Branden Lunski

Grand Forks, ND

8

62.82

5

102

Marv Feltman & Shane Feltman

Grand Forks, ND

9

59.71

6

64

Larry Barrow & Joel Barrow

Lincoln, NE

10

59.60

7

32

Lee Bell & Paul Tomaselli

Grand Forks, ND

6

59.47

8

98

Troy Srnsky & Zach Srnsky

Warren, MN

8

57.23

9

148

Tom Barbour & Craig Koonce

Spirit Lake, IA & Conrad, IA

7

56.07

10

63

Brian Block & Allan Hillings

Lincoln, NE

10

53.83

11

82

Andre Fortune & Lee Adamson

East Grand Forks, MN & Grand Forks, ND

8

53.70

12

46

Jesse Weber & Troy Weber

East Grand Forks, MN

8

51.16

13

49

James Nordlof & John Sonstegard

Baudette, MN

7

51.08

14

20

Wilbur Vanderhoff & Donald Vanderhoff

Glendale, AZ & Clewiston, FL

8

50.83

15

7

Joe Miller & Mike Howard

Grand Forks, ND

7

50.64

16

38

Phillip Hartwig & Casey Weber

East Grand Forks, MN

8

50.60

17

97

Gary Mounce & Bonnie Mounce

Nebraska City, NE

4

50.36

18

115

Bethany Kurz & Brent Nesdahl

Thompson, ND

5

50.15

19

123

Alex Vournas & Tyler Dokken

Thief River Falls, MN & Williston, ND

5

49.82

20

86

Phillip Jeffery & Jason Kalt

East Grand Forks, MN

6

49.37

21

72

Shawn Aaker & Mick Messelt

East Grand Forks, Mn

8

48.83

22

2

Darrell Carter & Matthew Carter

Jefferson, SD

9

48.77

23

1

Travis Carter & Pat Carter

Jefferson, SD

8

48.08

24

140

Steve Walsh & Gerald Litzinger

Mekinock, ND & Grand Forks, ND

8

47.09

25

59

Kris Newman & Brian Stennes

Grand Forks, ND

5

46.78

26

136

Jeffery Zak & Merle Hoverson

East Grand Forks, MN

8

46.72

27

30

Marv Robinson & Todd Biederman

Battle Lake, MN

5

46.45

28

94

James Benson & Brian Rud

East Grand Forks, MN & Grand Forks, ND

6

45.67

29

45

Steve Lothspeich & Mark Lothspeich

Black Hawk, SD & Grand Forks, ND

8

44.98

30

144

Jason Schiller & Steve Quam

Grand Forks, ND & Roseville, MN

8

43.59

31

125

Michael Hedlund & Paul Hedlund

East Grand Forks, MN & Maple Grove, MN

10

43.30

32

58

Harold Nowatzki & Darrin Abernathy

Langdon, ND & Grand Forks, ND

4

42.77

33

54

Chris Taylor & Mike Taylor

East Grand Forks, MN

8

42.63

34

100

Kristina Fredrichs & Ernest Fredrichs

Merrifield, MN

4

42.22

35

76

Kevin Weber & Kyle Weber

East Grand Forks, MN

4

41.27

36

105

Paul Cariveau & Mervyn Rud

East Grand Forks, MN

8

41.27

37

40

Karry Kyllo & Pam Kyllo

Grand Forks, ND

6

40.99

38

5

Bill Murray & Heath Hodgson

East Grand Forks, MN

8

40.51

39

89

Nathan Mytych & Aaron Johnson

Grand Forks, ND

5

40.51

40

141

Dwaine Rud & Greg Winskowski

Stephen, MN

7

40.07

41

66

Jerry Molstad & Nate Molstad

Glasgow, MT & Havre, MT

7

39.52

42

12

Larry Yowell & Jimmy Yowell

Kirksville, MO & Chillicothe, MO

6

39.23

43

150

Dana Connors & Daniel Connors

Bode, IA

5

38.93

44

126

Iver Hensrud & Lee Hensrud

Mekinock, ND & Grand Forks, ND

3

38.82

45

147

Richard Nelson & Michael Leavy

Grand Forks, ND

7

38.80

46

11

Randy Byzewski & Jason Lothspeich

Dickinson, ND & Grand Forks, ND

8

37.95

47

73

Jerry Wenzel & Mark Swenson

East Grand Forks, MN

3

36.26

48

99

Christopher Hanson & Randahl Hanson

Plymouth, MN & Crookston, MN

7

36.03

49

3

Beau Abbey & Jarid Boushee

Grand Forks, ND & Oslo, MN

6

35.84

50

128

Kenneth Narlock & Shawn Mager

Grand Forks, ND & East Grand Forks, MN

5

35.34

51

81

Cory Stejskal & Jim Schulz

Grand Forks, ND

6

34.27

52

79

Mike Boushee & Jeff Boushee

Grand Forks, ND

4

34.17

53

52

Jamie Gudajtes & Kevin Gietzen

Grand Forks, ND & Bellingham, MN

4

33.85

54

84

Dave Clement & Casey Clement

East Grand Forks, MN

4

33.54

55

83

Perry Gagnon & Alfred Gagnon

Grand Forks, ND

4

31.97

56

119

Kevin Boushee & Bennett Boushee

East Grand Forks, MN

3

31.76

57

21

Bill Crocker & Joel Tangen

Grand Forks, ND

5

30.83

58

9

Jesse West & Teresa Beck

Strandquist, MN

3

30.36

59

121

Jason Hilde & Don Hilde

Grand Forks, ND

3

29.56

60

14

Scott Garner & Greg Micko

Cottage Grove, MN

6

29.25

61

61

Terry Melland & Christian Melland

Grand Forks, ND & Minneapolis, MN

6

28.64

62

16

Seth Lothspeich & Jared Lothspeich

Bismarck, ND & Grand Forks, ND

5

28.46

63

34

John Steinmetz & Kelly Clement

Shakopee, MN

5

28.45

64

22

Ken Coauette & Jim Perkins

East Grand Forks, MN

2

28.06

65

10

Dave Thompson & Jayson Deziel

Grand Forks, ND

5

27.53

66

23

John Nordine & Tammy Nordine

Grand Forks, ND

3

27.32

67

112

Mike Brundin & Matt Fossum

East Grand Forks, MN & Fisher, MN

5

27.27

68

118

Bradley Nelson & Kevin Thompson

East Grand Forks, MN

9

27.10

69

71

Shannan Swedin & Aaron Olson

Grand Forks, ND & Mekinock, ND

3

25.81

70

68

Rusty Miller & Dennis Steele

Crookston, MN

6

25.41

71

55

Randy Galstad & Jason Mack

East Grand Forks, MN

6

25.25

72

27

Mark Aitchinson & Dean Opatz

East Grand Forks, MN & Jordan, MN

5

24.93

73

149

Brad Abbey & Nick Brekke

Baudette, MN

6

24.76

74

135

Larry Dorsch & Mark Lierz

Auburn, NE

6

24.46

75

65

David Vigen & Adam Olson

Grand Forks, ND

3

24.45

76

108

Shannan Martin & Shayne Martin

Thief River Falls, MN

8

23.90

77

57

Jeff Rusling & Noel Rusling

East Grand Forks, MN & Crookston, MN

4

23.86

78

138

Daryle Gomez & Tim Gomez

Lincoln, NE

6

22.17

79

4

Jeff Twomey & Darrell Utzinger

St. Paul, MN & East Grand Forks, MN

4

21.63

80

42

Jamie Lembke & Ralph Brecke

Grand Forks, ND

3

20.94

81

122

Brady Flaten & Jason Molstad

Wolf Point, MT & Glasgow, MT

6

19.35

82

44

Thomas Westra & Ann Westra

Moorhead, MN

4

18.99

83

91

Ken Cremers & Greg Cremers

Grand Forks, ND & East Grand Forks, MN

3

18.79

84

87

Curtis Havig & Jeff Johnson

Grand Forks, ND

4

18.72

85

70

John Boman & John Rausch

Thief River Falls, MN

2

18.55

86

109

Harvey Akridge & Shelly Schumacher

Grand Forks, ND & Reynolds, ND

3

18.53

87

29

Tim Pesch & David Pesch

East Grand Forks, MN

3

18.27

88

101

Gordon Graetz & Cody Graetz

Arvilla, ND

2

17.57

89

60

Tom Jerome & Jeff Klein

Roseau, MN & Warroad, MN

5

17.32

90

129

Paul Lovelace & Lindsey Lovelace

Grand Forks, ND

3

16.98

91

28

Tom Christensen & Scott Chapman

Fargo, ND & Houlton, WI

3

15.75

92

17

Randy Zejdlik & Jeff Zejdlik

Grand Forks, ND & East Grand Forks, MN

4

15.41

93

113

Terry Hecht & Rod Smette

East Grand Forks, MN

2

15.34

94

75

Scott Enright & Michael Bruggeman

East Grand Forks, MN & Erskine, MN

3

15.32

95

103

Jeff Bertsch & Gary Johnson

Grand Forks, ND & Fargo, ND

4

15.07

96

131

John Lindquist & Tim Lindquist

Grand Forks, ND

4

14.85

97

137

John Knauf & Larry Graveline

Grand Forks, ND & East Grand Forks, MN

6

14.67

98

35

Charles Olson & Brandon Olson

Grand Forks, ND

2

14.26

99

120

Dan Messelt & Tyler Messelt

East Grand Forks, MN

1

14.15

100

134

Don Oster & Ryan Oster

Grand Forks, ND

1

13.53

101

106

Brian Nelson & Michelle Nelson

East Grand Forks, MN

4

12.70

102

41

Corey Anderson & John Lassonde

Grand Forks, ND

3

12.68

103

107

Thomas Gennes & James Hallick

Warroad, MN & Grand Forks, ND

1

12.45

104

26

Geoff Swendseid & Michael Romans

Stephen, MN & Hallock, MN

3

11.92

105

92

Bruce Nelson & Kevin Grinde

East Grand Forks, MN & Grand Forks, ND

4

11.85

106

111

Troy Telander & Dennis Griffin

West Fargo, ND & Grand Forks, ND

1

11.63

107

130

Steve Pearson & Larry Koehn

Lincoln, NE & Alvo, NE

6

11.47

108

47

Jason Gagnon & Tyler Gagnon

Grand Forks, ND

3

11.42

109

95

Mike Laschkewitsch & Steve Pich

Grand Forks, ND & Mandan, ND

4

11.24

110

31

Daryll Foss & Tyler Foss

Lake Bronson, MN & Grand Forks, ND

2

10.16

111

37

Thomas Hanson & Eric Hanson

Grand Forks, ND & West Fargo, ND

2

9.36

112

96

Brandon Bies & Matt Bies

Kenmare, ND & East Grand Forks, MN

2

9.21

113

25

Marty Berg & Jon Brundin

Grand Forks, ND

1

9.20

114

39

Ricky Compeau & Michael Compeau

East Grand Forks, MN & Grand Forks, ND

3

8.52

115

53

Jeff Sime & Jade Sime

Grand Forks, ND

1

6.25

116

43

Mike Johnson & Rita Feltman

Drayton, ND

2

4.33

117

50

John Schultz & Sheila Shulte

Ely, MN

1

3.38

118

139

Art Johnson & Gary Johnson

Petersburg, ND & McVille, ND

1

3.26

119

133

Greg Schleif & Francis Allard

Grand Forks, ND

1

2.34

120

33

Tom McDonald & Sarah McDonald

East Grand Forks, MN

1

1.43

121

6

John Anderson & Tony Weber

East Grand Forks, MN

0

0.00

122

8

Darin Grosz & Gary Grosz

Elbow Lake, MN & Grand Forks, ND

0

0.00

123

13

Jeff Heath & Eric Heath

East Grand Forks, MN

0

0.00

124

15

Justin Waters & Tim Lafferty

Grand Forks, ND

0

0.00

125

18

Jeff Jordheim & Scott Jordheim

East Grand Forks, MN

0

0.00

126

19

Garret Mishcke & Mark Laufenberg

Fargo, ND

1

0.00

127

24

Douglas Neumiller & Jeffery Metz

Medina, ND & Jamestown, ND

0

0.00

128

36

Brandon Oby & Victor Moreno

St.Thomas, ND & Hoople, ND

0

0.00

129

48

Doug Fritel & Duncan McDonald

Grand Forks, ND

0

0.00

130

51

Rick Nygaard & Randy Carriger

Grand Forks, ND & Cokato, MN

0

0.00

131

62

Steve Keller & Terrence Anderson

Grand Forks, ND

0

0.00

132

67

Dave Christensen & Pat Miller

Maddock, ND & Minnewauken, ND

0

0.00

133

74

Norman Tucker & Michael Haney

Lincoln, NE & Martell, NE

0

0.00

134

77

Michael Kiefer & Jennifer Kiefer

Grand Forks, ND

0

0.00

135

78

Richard Newman & Brent Newman

Grand Forks, ND

0

0.00

136

80

John Howard & Ralph Miller

Grand Forks, ND

0

0.00

137

88

David West & Joshua West

Strandquist, MN

0

0.00

138

93

Rod Heinitz & Glenn Reistad

Hillsboro, ND & Larimore, ND

0

0.00

139

104

Ben Moen & Brian Horner

Grand Forks, ND

0

0.00

140

110

Pat Bushaw & Janell Bushaw

Manvel, ND

0

0.00

141

114

Gerald Johnson & Shawn Johnson

Fargo, ND

0

0.00

142

116

Brad Johnson & Jason Hillhouse

Oslo, MN

0

0.00

143

117

Eric Thompson & Ray Lee

East Grand Forks,MN & Grand Forks, ND

0

0.00

144

124

Lee Kohl & Justin Stauss

Emerado, ND & Grand Forks, ND

0

0.00

145

127

Matt Wedde & Jeff Preuss

New York Mills, MN

0

0.00

146

132

Bill Sackenreuter & Bruce Hagen

Devils Lake, ND

0

0.00

147

142

Mark Soeby & Joshua Soeby

Grand Forks, ND

0

0.00

148

143

Marc Kurz & Tyler Murphy

Thompson, ND

0

0.00

149

145

John Kallock & Todd Anvinson

Oslo, MN

0

0.00

150

146

Steve Abbey & Andrew Lamourex

East Grand Forks, MN & Grand Forks, ND

0

0.00

Total Caught and Weight

593

3706.90

Average Weight

6.25

[crazyice]

There's alot of goose eggs up there Hanson, so I'd say you are doing just fine.

[rushing]

I heard they were biting in 65-73.niner feet of water.

Considering all the goose eggs you guys did awesome! Congrats and you've already won just being out fishing with your dad!

[hanson]

Holy Shnikies!

I had no idea we were going to finish that high! I'm pretty pumped about 48th considering how tough the fishing was.

It was a BIG team effort in our boat, my Dad caught this Sumo right before we pulled anchor to head back on Day 2. The proverbial big fish at the last minute story... unreal!

We were pumped!

[Kyle B]

Hanson Great job! I Would say finishing in the top 3rd is very good!

Just one question... How does one go about getting signed up/or in the lottery system for this tourney?

[hanson]

Kyle-

Here's a link to the official registration form for this year.

Cat's Incredible 2007

Registration starts in February. You have to have your registration in on Day 1 or you are screwed and will be on the waiting list.

Keep watching the Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce HSOforum for the 2008 registration forms to be made available. It will be awhile still.

[Catfishunter]

great job on that nice cat randy, hanson you can tell him that for me. one day i thinck i will have to get into that event.

[Larry FlatCaster]

Way to go Hanson! A tip of the hat on your work in what sounds like a tough contest.

[PierBridge]

Great job next year your in the money.

Just 5lbs out of the money this year did you guys have any fish come unbuttoned boatside, one fish can make all the difference in a competitive tourney like that one.

You beat some some really good teams like Dennis and Rusty great job!

[hanson]

Hey Gary-

At this point, it is a woulda, coulda, shoulda deal.

The way the limit is structured, you can only weigh 5 fish per day, only 2 of those can be over 24". Culling is not allowed as well. Because of that, you want to save those over 24" fish for something big.

With that in mind, we lost 1 more slotfish (22-23") 2' behind the boat on Day 1. "If" we would have known the bite was tough for everyone, we could have kept that extra fish and it would have given us another 3 1/2lbs on Day 1.

Day 2 was the same deal, we caught our 3 slotfish by 11am, and caught and released another one after we had those 3. The one I released was 21-22" or so, or another 3 1/2lbs.

Soooooo... should we have kept that extra slot on Day 2, and actually got a net under that other slot on Day 1, we would be 6 1/2-7lbs heavier.

Oh well... just something to keep in the back of the mind until next year.

[harvey lee]

Thats the tough part, do you keep a smaller one to move up 5 spots or do you wait for mr big and try to win the tourny? I would have done the same thing Chris and waited for the big one.

One never knows what the other guys are catching. If I'm going to play, I would like to play for first as second kinda stinks.

[ibwhnt]

Hanson, that fish your dad caught, that looks like the ND Bank. Somewhat close to a good hole. Am I close. Great finish

[hanson]

Quote:

---

Hanson, that fish your dad caught, that looks like the ND Bank. Somewhat close to a good hole. Am I close. Great finish

---

I think you are.

[CatManLee]

I weighed in 10-fish, but it says 8 because they messed up the slip at the north ramp? Anyways all our fish were under the slot except for 1 fish that was about 26" inches. My biggest goal was to weigh in 5 fish a day and I at least did that, just didn't get anything big.

2 slots...23 1/2"

7 slots...18"-19"

1 over...26"

Totaling just under 24lbs...pretty sad, but what can you do??? Oh well, I'll say it again...there's always next year!

It was fun, talk to ya'll later.

[hanson]

Hey Shannon-

Nice chatting with you again, both on the river and at the weigh-ins.

I truly think one of the greatest things about this tourney is the networking. I get to see old friends and meet new friends that all share the same passion.

If I really cared about how I placed, I would have quit after our 117th place last year. Holy smokes that was bad.

If I really cared about the money, I wouldn't fish it. You have to finish top 4 to make any serious kind of money. I'm dreading the thought of totaling up my fuel and bait bills for the weekend. Even 10th place wouldn't have covered those costs.

But I got to spend 4 solid days with my dad fishing, and we had a dang good time! When he caught that 16 pounder, we experienced a kind of excitement that you'll never experience fishing recreationally, and I've had MANY exciting days recreationally fishing! I think we'll both remember that moment for a long, long time!

I think I mentioned already, he's already talking about next year!! 360 some days to go!

[CatManLee]

Yep, every year I meet more great people at this tournament. Your right about making money, unless you live right there in town, it's gonna take a really good finish to "make" any money. If I took all the money I have spent on this tournament over the past 6 years, I could have put about $3,000 down on a new boat! But I enjoy it and am already looking forward to next year...

[hanson]

2001

Steve Hoffman & Jim Moyer teamed up to win this thing with a 2 day weight of 83.96lbs

What a fantasy team if I was to pick one! Sure wish I fished that year.

[Flaco651]

In-fishermans Steve Hoffman and the "Boss" teamed up?! That would be the Dream Team.