Team of the Year - by Leif Nereson

After getting team of the year last season, it felt like the target was on our backs and pressure was even more intense than last year.  New teams from other experienced leagues and returning teams that get better with each year.  Knowing this, Nick and I really put on the gas even more.  But with all these amazing sticks that go all out as well, I really don't know how we pulled this off again.  I'm not in this league to "win", although I do enjoy the competitive nature.  I simply enjoy having something to do in the winter, learn new lakes, and hang out with friends.  It's a real therapy session, especially this past year.

Maple Lake: While pre-fishing, we explored other parts of the lake, but kept coming back to the North end for quantity of fish and structure which held them fairly tight.  We pinned out several areas on the North end knowing that's where most teams were headed and didn't want to be boxed out.  We managed to get to our first spot without anyone around to get a few nice crappies with room to move around.  Then we headed over to what we through was going to be a team favorite, but not many teams went there.  While catching crappies and gills, we stumbled across an area where we caught nice pumpkinseeds.  Never caught any of those pre-fishing!  These seeds were key in us placing 1st.  Almost the entire day used the pinhead with euros for both species.

Waconia: We really struggled to find crappie spots.  They were held tight within the weeds and not roaming at all.  Very easy to not see them on camera.  Almost like they were leaning up against a week on purpose trying to hide.  The main option we had was a spot that most teams already knew about, but we were 4th heat!  Nick pinned an area he through held better quality crappies.  Turns out we were one the last teams to roll up on this community spot and no one was in the area we wanted to go!  After getting our crappies, we headed to our next spot where we spent most of the day drilling it out to upgrade.  When sorting fish, found out my battery for the scale was dead.  So had to weigh them the old fashioned way - in my hands.  Our biggest crappie felt so close to our largest gill, so we decided to weigh a goofy bag of 7 crappies and 8 gills, for fun.  This was enough for a 2nd place finish.  The Vexilar FLX-30BB was really nice on this lake since we could lower the power and tighten the cone anfle to better fish in the weed pockets.

West Rush: In pre-fishing, couldn't find an crappies in the shallows, so we focused on the basins.  Found one basin where the quality seemed to be a bit better, but would be a challenge to locate them without Livescope.  On event day, with the deep freeze - the ATV wouldn't start even with attempts from a jump pack.  The call was made we could drive, so I was able to use my truck.  It was nice driving to spots, but not nearly as efficient as having all the gear on the ATV.  After takeoff, we rolled up to our first basin spot.  Drilled a few holes and struggled to find the school, but eventually moved enough to get on them.  Once we had enough crappies to feel comfortable, we headed off to our gill spot.  Upon arrival, found no one had been there!  Plucked our gills then headed back to our first spot in hopes of upgrading some crappies.  This secured a 2nd place finish.  These conditions were brutal and really took a toll on equipment.  Nick's ATV mounting rack snapped so we had to band-aid that with straps.  Nick and I both wore the Clam Ascent Float suits which kept us plenty warm.

Cross Lake: Pre-fishing showed crappies were in tight schools and roaming fast.  Gills seemed to be roaming in similar spots, but near the bottom.  There were very skittish too, which made us concerned about pinning them down on event day with limited drill batteries.  On event day, we mainly fished two spots.  Drilled only a few holes in each spot first in hopes they didn't get spooked.  But given how fast they roamed we eventually drilled it out anyway.  The bite was tough, unless you landed on an aggressive school of crappies.  They screamed up (or down!) to bait and just inhaled it.  That was fun.  After the skies cleared and snow stopped the bite got better.  Nicked dropped in on three holes where most of our weighable fish came from.  If that didn't happen, I bet we would have finished around 8th.  But, we finished 2nd and sealed the deal for Team of the Year. 

Thanks to my partner, Nick.  I don't know anyone else who works this hard to accomplish something.  You relentless drive and knowledge have been very valuable and addicting.

Thanks to league sponsors, especially Clam, Kenders, Thorne Bros. and Amped.  We used the Ascent suits, pinhead minnows, drop jigs, rods, reels, bait, and batteries from them.

Special thanks to Jake and Paul for running such a great league.  I'm amazed how much it's grown and matured over the years.  It's evident the members of this league are really one large team who fishes, learns, and has some laughs together.  A league that provides a bit of therapy for each other.