01-06-2004, 02:14 AM
ALEXANDRIA, MN--Joe Honor of St. Cloud, Minnesota, and Ray Legatt of Rice, Minnesota, walked away from the second North American Ice Fishing Championship with $10,000 and matching gold championship rings.
The pair was one of 50 teams to compete for the unofficial title of the Best Ice Anglers In America on Lake Ida, December 21. They weighed in 6.58 pounds of crappies, bluegills and sunfish to beat out second place finishers, Illinois anglers, Dale Erath of Huntley, and Mark Bauer of Lake in the Hills, who caught 6.28 pounds of panfish.
Third place went to John Corl of Warsaw, Indiana and Fred Welter of Wauconda, Illinois, who caught 5.74 pounds of fish, and were the only other team to weigh in seven crappies.
Fifty teams from nine states competed in the championship. Teams qualified for the event by placing among the top 10 finishers in at least one of five Trap Attack Open ice fishing tournaments held at various sites throughout the Midwest.
By tournament rules, championship anglers were allowed to weigh in seven crappies, plus a combination of seven bluegills and sunfish. The ability to catch midday crappies in the clear waters of Lake Ida was a key factor in placing high in the championship event.
Honor and Legatt caught their limit of crappies early in the day, fishing an area of coontail weeds in eight feet of water. They pinpointed the spot, on a gradually sloping bottom not far from the take-off area, during practice and found numbers of catchable crappies. Blowing snow that covered the holes they'd drilled eased worries that other competitors might also locate the fish.
The pair twitched horizontal ice jigs, each tipped with two maggots and a waxworm, explaining that the lively maggots drew fish to the bait while the waxworm made them bite.
Erath and Bauer used a different strategy for their fish. Rather than fishing live bait, they tipped their ice jigs with miniature soft plastic tails and swam the offerings horizontally.
Six qualifying tournaments, sponsored by Lindy Tackle, Vexilar, Clam Corp., Aqua-Vu, StrikeMaster and Arctic Cat, make up the 2004 Trap Attack Open series.
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