Oshkosh June 27-28, site of the 2009 WBFN Junior State championship. The waters of Oshkosh are beaming with big bass. Both Largemouth and Smallmouth can be caught within a few casts of each other. The kids knew this, they were excited and some kids found them in practice. Thirty two kids would converge on these waters to see who would be representing Wisconsin at Divisional’s for there respective age group.

                                 Saturday afternoon was the pre-tournament meeting. We went over rules and pairings and shared stories and fellowship while pigging out on Pizza’s and soft drinks. There was plenty of energy buzzing because I wasn’t sure of the exact amount of kids and boats till the last 10 minutes prior to the meeting. We were 1 boat short, so I opted to take the remaining 2 kids out myself in my boat that I brought up for a spare. The tournament would be run by people much more competent than I at running a tournament. Special thanks go out to Jeff Dyer , Brian and Lisa Beebe , Bill and Patty Parbs , Chris and Jen Wenzal , and others that I apologize for not mentioning. These people made this event successful.

                           Sunday morning Mother Nature welcomed us with winds in the 20-30 mph range. Tournament hours were from 5:30am to 1:30pm . The older kid in my boat, Andrew Behnke, was a local from the Oshkosh club and was on fish. Unfortunately for me, they were on the other end of Lake Winnebago in 2-4 foot waves. Thanks Buddy! The younger kid was Josh Lee and this run worked out to his advantage as he popped a dandy smallmouth from the back of the boat. We also stopped at another spot and Josh banged another nice smallie. Andrew redeemed himself in the river with 2 nice largemouths. There were a couple more that probably should have been in the box but didn’t find there way into the boat before coming off.

                          The weigh in went well. Plenty of fish were caught. When it was all said and done, Cade Laufenberg took top honors in the older division for the second year in a row. Great job Cade! Cades 5 fish limit topped the scales at 11.12 pounds. Jared Larue at 10.90, Tony Hundt at 9.50 and Cody Prellwitz at 8.08 rounded out the top 4 in the older division. The Younger division found Michael Bodsberg coming in with the only limit. With 5 fish weighing 8.98 pounds to take first place. Noah Lindus at 6.56, Josh Lee at 6.04 and Shane McQuitty at 5.54 rounded out the top 4 in the 11-14 age group.

                             This year we also launched the 10 and under age group. These kids fish for a prize but do not advance to divisional’s. We had 2 kids and Lizzie Michalski won with 1 nice smallie weighing in at 1.94 pounds. Jack Skaar came in second and fished hard but came up short.

                          Big Bass in the older age group was Jared Larue at 2.84. The 11-14 was Josh Lee with 3.52 and the 10 and under was Lizzie Michalski at 1.94.

                Divisional’s will be held in Michigan this year and Representing Wisconsin are Cade Laufenberg in the 15-18 age group and Michael Bodsberg in the 11-14 age group. Good luck guys. The weights brought in by the 2 youth anglers will be counted this year in the total weight for each state team. So State team anglers, it is to your advantage to help these young anglers get on fish.

                            Because of the off and on rain, casting kids competition was canceled on Saturday. Sunday’s competition only had 1 qualifier show up, Shane McQuitty . Shane scored 130 out of 150 in a Milwaukee competition that qualified him for State. So Shane is the State casting champion for the third time, this time by default. He will be representing Wisconsin in the casting competition in Michigan . Congratulations Shane !

This year’s event was a lot of fun. Thanks to all the boat captain’s who unselfishly gave up there time and boats for the kids. Thanks to Jamie and Cody from the City of Oshkosh tourism for all there help. Thanks to Wooden Nickel pizza and festival foods for there help with the party. Thanks to all the sponsors that donated baits and gifts for the kids. Thanks to the WBFN membership for all there support for the kids and thanks to all the youth adult advisors for sharing there precious time to make fishing a part of so many kids lives. I apologize if I left anyone out. These kids are the future of our sport. If you haven’t gotten involved, consider it, it’s rewarding and fun.