catch, on the right BASS founder Ray Scott
Rowland of Montgomery, Texas, " You go down south, like down to
Louisiana, and they shoot at you!" This kind of made me chuckle. "I'm
serious," he said, "they're right down there trying to chase you away
from their docks!". Rowland, who finished 3rd in the Wissota
tournament, 4th overall in the Elite 50 standings stood right out by the
boat landing signing autographs after the end of Saturday's madness,
along with newly crowned E-50 champ Kevin Van Dam. Van Dam, who
was horded by fans, patiently stayed and signed autographs and took
pictures with everyone who waited. By the time everyone had cleared
out I was able to go down and personally congratulate him, but I didn't
have the heart to ask him any questions for the website. His family was
waiting for him in the boat. I could see they were all very excited. I
didn't ask for an autograph, for I had already met him the night before,
along with the "G Man", 2004 Bassmaster angler of the year Gerald
Swindle, down at the Brick Memorial landing, straight across from the
View. Every one of these guys were down to earth and very pleasant
to meet with.
on the last day of the Elite 50 final on Lake
Wissota
dancing to Mc Hammer, while being the tournament
leader on the final day. The celebration was a little
premature, however, when the next angler to weigh
in would be Van Dam. Mike Iaconelli of New Jersey
won over the fans with his wild approach to the
sport of bass fishing. Iaconelli limited out on
Wednsday and Thursday and made a statement
that proved a lot of people (including myself) wrong
"To those who say there are no largemouth in
Wissota...thats three!!!!". Friday was Iaconelli's
33rd birthday, and while the fans poured in with
their "Happy Birthday Ike" signs, Ike was eliminated
that same day. But told the View crowd "This is the
best birthday present I could ever have!".
finding the bass on Wissota. One thing
that many BASS anglers agreed on was
that Wissota is a better musky lake than a
bass lake. "Before coming up here I'd
caught one musky in my entire life, I've
caught three in the last week!", exclaimed
Jay Yelas. "We had a good time. We all
knew this would be a tough lake to fish
way before we even got here," said Zell
Rowland, "but I'll tell you right now this
lake is FULL of big fish." And those fish
are just waiting for me to go catch 'em! ;)
We hope you enjoyed this article. To view
the full photo gallery from the Elite 50's
visit to Lake Wissota click here.