Congrats to Mr. Rowbotham

[chickenhawk]

Congrats to Steve Rowbotham for being the Barrie 2008 Bassmaster Angler of the year! Excellent feat!

 

 

Hawk

[Terry]

wow

nice going

you should be dang proud

[tibbs]

Congrats Steve!

[Roy]

That's excellent news! Way to go Steve!

[motv8tr]

Awesome!!! Congrats Steve!!!!

 

Maureen

[bpsbassman]

Fantastic news Steve!

I'm not all that surprised after seeing all the HAWGS you've posted on here.

Congrats!

[smbhunter]

Congratulations Steve! Just do me a favor and stay away from the big smallies on the 15th Good job buddy.

[gone_fishin]

atta boy! you still going to school in Lindsay? if so we should hit scugog a few times this winter! i've got couple good spots GPS'd, and i'm picking up a 2-man portable hut this year too!

 

let me know bud!

[steverowbotham]

Thanks guys, I didnt realize I had a fan base ... LOL

 

It was a pretty awesome year, I was about to post a report, but I guess I'll do it here.

 

Our club has a 4 fish limit, which is different from most clubs (most have 5). We have 4 per person, which makes a team limit of 8 fish. We fish 6 qualifying tournaments and take our top 4 for Angler of the Year standings. Our membership stands at 58 members.

 

Here are my best 4 from the season...

 

July 9, 2008

Lake Simcoe - Afternoon Tournament

 

It was a really tough day, it was windy as could be, and I had already weighed in early from a completely seperate tournament to make it on time for this one. With 6 footers out on the lake, our best bet was to find shelter. I was lucky enough to be paired with my dad by random draw. We started off fishing some marinas for largemouth and my dad managed to boat a limit of small largies, but I wasnt having much luck (the difference between braid and fluoro). I ended up seeking shelter in a bay near Roches Point that had done well for me in the past. There were some giant smallies taking advantage of the rock bass spawn, but I lost my first 3 fish on a jerkbait. I finally switched to a spinnerbait, knowing I wouldnt get as many bites, but I'd land the vast majority of them. I landed 5 fish and weighed my biggest 4 at 9.50 pounds to take 5th place on a very tough day!!!

 

 

August 13, 2008

Lake Couchiching - Afternoon Tournament

 

I was paired with a new member today and my gameplan was different than most days. I used to do a lot of dock fishing on Cooch, but they have started to receive a lot of pressure and now hold a lot of smaller fish. My new plan involved deep weedlines. Both of us caught plenty of fish today dunking a 10 inch powerworm in deep milfoil beds, and throwing flukes over the more scattered weeds. I weighed my biggest 4 fish for 13.55 pounds for a first place finish, also had BIG FISH with a 4.40 pound largie.

 

 

August 17, 2008

Six Mile Lake - Full day tournament

 

This is one of my favourite lakes to fish, there are a ton of fish and they are scrappy as can be. I spent WAY too much time fishing shallow today, and although I had a quick limit, they were not big fish by any means. Finally in the last 2 hours I found better fish in 15 feet of water, dunking a 5" craw in deep weeds. I landed a better fish, then broke my 6 foot rod. I quickly changed my reel over to a 7 foot rod and lost 5 FISH IN A ROW!!!!!! That damn rod. I was dissapointed with my day coming into weigh-in, but it was a tough day for all and I managed 7th place with 7.85 pounds.

 

 

September 21, 2008

Lake Muskoka - Full day tournament

 

I worked until 2:30am in Lindsay, and I just drove right through to Lake Muskoka on no sleep. I had a fall plan and only managed to catch small fish, so I went to a back up plan that gave me a 3rd place finish here last year. I was in 6th place for AOY going into this final tournament and needed 3rd or better, and the guy in #1 needed 6th or worse for me to win. My backup plan worked .... I was throwing flukes over rockpiles in 8-10 feet of water and landed two beauties over 4 pounds, 1 was almost 5. My others were 2.5 ish. I came into weigh-in knowing I'd done my part. Winning weight here for our clubbies is usually 10-11 pounds (remember its only 4 fish) and I knew I had at least 13. Our leader had about 8 pounds and I knew it was going to be CLOSE!!!! He finished 8th, and I finished first with 13.85 pounds giving me the tournament and AOY win!!! On a side note for excitement, my dad weighed in a 6.15 pound largemouth out of Muskoka!!! He took big fish for the year, and qualified for our classic!!!

 

my dad's PIG!!!

 

A couple of my winning fish!

Edited September 24, 2008 by steverowbotham

[steverowbotham]

I'm pumped !!! haha, got the official confirmation today!

[GBW]

Congrats Steve, way to go!