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With the first 2 Chain events only 14 days apart, it is
not surprising that some of the same names were atop the
leader board in both tournaments. After Frank Luppino
and Andy Palwick won Chain #1 with 12.44 lbs., they
managed 2nd place in Chain #2. Meanwhile, Dave Kranz
and Ron Urick finished 3rd in Chain #1 and
took home top honors in Chain #2 with just under 15
pounds. Clearly, these teams had the Fox Chain
largemouth dialed in and made the right adjustments to
drastically changing water levels to maintain their high
standings.
On April 18th during the Spring Fling, water
levels on the Chain were the lowest many anglers had
ever seen. On May 3rd, the tournament was
under a “no-wake” with some of the highest water
conditions in recent memory. And on May 16th,
the water had returned to relatively “normal” levels.
Any bass angler knows that these kinds of rapid changes
can drastically alter fish behavior and patterns. Fox
Chain veterans Dave Kranz and Ron Urick capitalized on
their decades of experience to predict the affects
changing conditions would have on the fish. For the May
16th Fox Chain #2 tournament Kranz and Urick
only managed 5 hours of practice time. Fortunately for
them, those 5 hours confirmed the prediction that a
combination pattern of pre-spawn and spawning largemouth
would win the tournament.
Another piece that fell into place for Dave and Ron was
that the heavy NW winds that hampered many anglers
during the tournament were the same winds Dave
experienced in practice. They commented that this
helped them know “their” areas would be somewhat
protected and the exact boat position to be successful.
According to Urick, the biggest key to their victory was
“sticking to their game plan and not wavering from it at
all.” Despite the extremely accurate vision of both
these anglers, staying off the beds they had found
proved very effective for them. Their kicker fish of
4.15 lbs. was big bass of the tournament and was caught
blind casting toward a bed. For their
tournament-winning limit weighing 14.81 lbs., Ron and
Dave took home $1,610. They are sponsored by St. Croix
Rods and Dave’s Bait Tackle and Taxidermy in Crystal
Lake, IL. For this well respected team, it was not a
question of if – but when… Congratulations on your 1st
victory together on the Chain!
Frank Luppino and Andy Palwick also deserve recognition
for coming in 1st and 2nd in
consecutive tournaments to take the lead in the Anglers
of the Year category. Their lead over Kranz and Urick
is of the slimmest of margins and everyone expects a few
other teams to make a run at it. Stay tuned for that
exciting race to continue to heat up.
Congratulations also to the 3rd place team of
Henson and Pipala who had 12.65 pounds in Chain event
#3. With only 5 fish brought to the scales and a 3.85
lb. kicker, it looks like they were one decent fish away
from a shot to win. Still – a job well done and a great
finish.
On another note, the winners of this tournament – Kranz
and Urick - met many years ago when Dave fished out of
the back of Ron’s boat in a Northland Bass Pro-Am.
Since then, they have developed a life-long friendship
and an extremely successful tournament partnership. You
never know what could develop out of a wonderful shared
experience on the water. It has been many years since a
Pro-Am has taken place on the Chain, but Big Bucks Bass
is holding one July 18th at Chrome Bar and
Grille! Please sign up early and take someone fishing.
With the IHSA getting kids involved in tournament
fishing, we can do our part over the summer to provide a
great competitive event for anyone to enter – young or
old. We hope to hear from all of you very soon.
Registrations must be in 1 week before the event.
The next Chain tournament on the schedule is June 6th
and we hope to see everybody there.
A big thanks again goes out to; Chrome Bar and Grill for
hosting the tournament, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Outboards,
Action Marine and Julie Palmer for putting on a great
tournament. We’ll see everybody June 6th. |
