Hebgen ice fishing tournament

[jim alvis]

I was wondering why they are not counting brown trout

[BackCountry Kyle]

good question! That's what the fwp issued the permit for

[bighof]

Good times fellas... It was a blast hanging out with the ice shanty bros.  I'll post some pics when I get home.  And of course Kyle telling me I am the best fisherman in the world was nice too 

[Desperado]

Congrats to Russ and Chippa on The Win

also to Clark and Stehanie for Big Fish

What a SUCCESSFUL event

I did a little review of the past couple years events
- In 2010 there was one NAIFC tourney with more than 60 teams; Lake Delvan WI
- In 2011 there was one NAIFC tourney with more than 60 teams; Pelican Lake MN
- So far this year it's looking like one NAIFC tourney with more than 60 teams; HEBGEN LAKE MT
... and on Super Bowl Sunday no less
* * * BIG SKY BOYS GETTIN' IT DONE * * *

Good schedule/location choice by the NAIFC powers-that-be
Great job of promoting by the West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce
plus a Special Thanks to the hosts; Kirkwood Resort, marina manager Kyle Burden, and the entire staff
NICE SHOW GUYS, WELL DONE

[BackCountry Kyle]

Yeah Hof, you know it. In case you didn't check the results... I'll save Bighof the trouble... #3 with two nice rainbows and some near misses was Bighof's team! Way to represent UT guys, ha, more like way to represent small town Montana and the Southern Lakes Conference (Brent). Jason Watts and flylinemt did well too finishing in the money. MY team as well as the fellas from Columbia Falls didn't fair as well.  I think quite a few people found out that these Hebgen lake trout don't like being caught! I was outfished! I can relate to the Patriots pain today. These guys are good anglers and thanks to all of you for making the trip and sharing info. I had a good time! Now to get that darn little cat off the ice.......

[Desperado]

What happened Kyle 

Them little ice-fly/hair-jigs I gave were supposed to be the secret weapon.   

[Jason watts]

Good times on hebgen. Lots of friendly People and good to meet some IS members. Learned a lot about tourney fishing  maybe we'll hit 100 teams next year  See you guys this summer hopefully!

[OUTHNTN]

Couldn't make it due to the Pikemasters banquet here in Billings saturday, but was curious what size fish were taking the honors?  -OH

[Jason watts]

A bunch of fish in the two to three lb range and some smaller ones. Fishing was very slow. Eighteen below when we hit the ice. Not a lot of fish came in. Definitely potential for some really  big ones. Maybe next near we'll have a day when there's a bunch of action.

[Quantoson]

A lot of WOW at this tourney!  Congrats to all the winners, so many great folk showed up.  Just a real HOOT!  Thanks to Kyle for the snowmobiles, sorry about sticking it in the slush on Friday but you saved the day getting us out.

Neptune and I had a blast.  We got to meet some more Ice Shanty members.  The events on Friday and Saturday were well worth the trip and were just loaded with fun and a lot of pro info.  The whole community welcomed the fishermen and fisherwomen.   

Pam from Kirkwood Resort, Thank You for hosting the event.  Again Kyle, your the man!    I'll be there again next year for the event.

[cnelson]

what was the biggest catch of the tourney?

[flylinemt]

First of all thanks to Kirkwood Resort, businesses in West & NAIFC.  It was worth every dollar we spent,Great weekend.  The education & being able to meet & talk to so many great fisherman from Mt & other states, awesome.  With 62 teams I never thought a team with one fish could finish in the money.  Can't wait to do it again next year.

[Quantoson]

what was the biggest catch of the tourney?

cnelson,

you can view all the  results here http://www.naifc.com/events.php?pg=results&eid=32&season=2012

Look at how many Montana teams made it in the over all standings for qualified teams here http://www.naifc.com/standings.php

[BackCountry Kyle]

What happened Kyle 

Them little ice-fly/hair-jigs I gave were supposed to be the secret weapon.   

They still are! Just could find the right color trout. Thanks for reminding me too. I had lost one of those jigs on Henry's lake in Idaho where they had landed me a number of nice brookies. The brookies loved them and I was going to order more from Kieth and never did. I tied the other on a rod for my son, who competed with my brother in this event, and their lone hit came on THE jig, but snap went the line. Just got done filling my shopping cart with replacements though. It's gonna be bittersweet when i crush the bows after delivery oh well like my boy said "it's over now".

[jim alvis]

thanks for the info i was wondering how the tournement went

[IceCreeper]

WOW,3 fish for the winning team and 40 sum teams that didnt even land a fish,sounds like they picked an awesome lake for a high dollar tourney,Ill definitely be there next year!

[BackCountry Kyle]

hey creep, inflation just went up and your $0.02 aren't worth a darn thing. Didn't your mom ever tell you, If you don't have anything nice to say,.....keep your trap shut!?  You did some reading and came to an assumption. Theres a saying about that too. Fact is many teams caught browns, mine included. Talk to anyone that attended this thing and get their feedback on how things went. Then ask if they would want you and your attitude there. Truth be told, I'd love for you to enter. You provided me a lot of laughs this weekend. I couldn't imagine what it would be like if you were actually there! Hope to see you some time

[Mt.Bucket]

Glad the turnout was good. Maybe it'll be back next year?

[JayHelfrich]

hey creep, inflation just went up and your $0.02 aren't worth a darn thing. Didn't your mom ever tell you, If you don't have anything nice to say,.....keep your trap shut!?

Couldn't have said it better myself.  Some people just don't get it.  Dude we know, your too cool for this tournament so don't worry about it.

Jay

[lucas247]

I was there, it could have been handled a little better. Sat night was a joke,stood in line for paperwork that wasn't ready,sat for 3.5 hours just to get 10 min worth of rules that were already posted online. Might not have been so bad if the calcutta hadn't taken so long. Just gave everybody time to get plowed and argue about the rules and ask the same questions over and over because they weren't paying attention. Why not get the rules out of the way or do them right before the tourney when everybody is paying attention. Not everybody lives or stayed in West. 8:45p.m. finishing the rules didn't leave much time to get home sleep then drive back to be there by 6a.m.

[Quantoson]

WOW,3 fish for the winning team and 40 sum teams that didnt even land a fish,sounds like they picked an awesome lake for a high dollar tourney,Ill definitely be there next year!

IceCreeper, someone must poop in your Post Toasties every morning for you to be such a sour troll.

If you enjoy a good time, new people, a lot of laughs and great hospitality, this was it.  It's a fishing Derby for crying out loud.  A sport that apparently you don't enjoy unless your put in a golden carriage full of already packaged fillets.


I caught a real nice Brown as did several others.  It was an awesome time and I learned a lot.  It was organized, the Calcutta went way very fast and brought some money into the community.  I bought our team and into 5 other teams , one came in 3rd and another came in 6th.  I didn't even know these teams and they didn't know me.  That is how the fishing went, it was anybody's game if you showed up.  The team that won were sponsored by Wild West Bar, local employees and residents which made it even better because they had put the time into the Lake.

Wheat Montana sponsored 2 of their employees to come out and get it done.  Nice guys at that!  If anyone had ANY confidence in your ability to participate with a positive attitude they would have sponsored you.

IceCreeper..... Please stay home.

Herb Flores   Quantoson

P.S. I won the ugliest sweater contest

[BackCountry Kyle]

Lucas, I agree. Let's just get the rules out of the way first because that alarm rings pretty early. But was that it? I think some warmer weather next year would be an improvement and a great gift, Oh Sun God  My partner just about lost the tip of his nose.

[lucas247]

Still  had a good time even though it was so cold. You have to love fishing to be out in-20 degree weather. We didn't bring the shelter and heat didn't think it would be that cold, haven't needed it all season. Probably just leave it in the car just in case we need it from now on.

[bighof]

I had a great time and met alot of good guys.  If the biggest complaint from the whole weekend is that the calcutta took too long then I think the whole thing was a huge success.  The only thing I would have changed was having the teams stand up for the calcutta... I didnt know who people were bidding on (except for the big money superstar Kyle)  seemed like the rules whent pretty well except for the token guy that keeps asking stupid questions but that happens anywhere you go it seems.  For those of you that werent there it was a very tough bite, combine that with the slush and it restricted alot of teams to a fairly small area.  You basically had to decide if you wanted to fish close or go with minimal gear.  We chose minimal gear and it cost us a couple fish because of line freezeups etc that wouldnt have happened in the hut... oh well... those are decisions you have to make in a tournament.  Everybody needs to watch out next year!!! Kyle just moved into the 21st century and got some electronics!  He could be dangerous when he isnt fishing blind.

[Quantoson]

It was Cold???  I was so excited I didn't even notice. 
I also agree, rules first and then the Calcutta.

Anyone doing McGregor this weekend?

[flylinemt]

          Quantoson, we didnt get to see the ugly sweater, did you get a photo?

[BackCountry Kyle]

Kyle just moved into the 21st century and got some electronics!

Goodbye 1986!

[bighof]

here is the crew left to right Neptune, Kirkwood Kyle, bighof, my tourney partner Brent, and Quantosan (who was wise enough to buy us in the calcutta, and let us buy half....Thanks Herb!)

[missoulafish]

Good pic:)