Thirty-one teams, including 60 amateur and semi-pro anglers from around the region and neighboring states, fished in the Hayward Bass Club’s 16th annual Round Lakes Open Sunday June 23.
The tournament, held out of Powell’s on Round and Grand Pines Resort, was originated at the invitation of the Original Famous Dave’s.
“For a large-scale open bass tournament, the entry fee was set at a relatively low $120 per team to give novices a chance to experience a professional event and share the waters with some of our bigger names in the regional bass community,” said HBC President and Tournament Director Wayne Balsavich.
“HBC’s emphasis in all off its events is ‘friendly competition,’ with utmost respect for the environment and the natural resources we are blessed with in our area,” Balsavich said.
“The tournament was strictly regulated by the HBC, with permit guidelines from the Wisconsin DNR insuring the health and condition of the fish, which were all released alive and dispersed back throughout the lake.”
Twenty of the teams brought in a total of 85 bass to the weigh-in, including 16 Largemouth and 69 Smallmouth. The average weight of the released fish was 2.61 pounds—down a bit from prior years.
Eleven teams caught fish, but chose to release them before weigh-in, knowing that they were not in contention for payouts or top honors on the leaderboard.
Weather conditions were very favorable, with air temperatures beginning in the low 50s and topping out in the high 60s. The wind, which can be big factor on Round with its large expanses of water, was very minimal, starting out from the west-northwest at eight knots and then laying down to five to six knots from the northwest for most of the day. The sky was partly cloudy to broken with a few passing showers that mostly missed the lake. Surface water temps ranged from 65 to 68 degrees.
- Although normally closed on Sundays, Powell’s Restaurant (Jim and Heidi) put in the extra effort to make sure the doors were open in the early morning for the arrival teams, and opened their Tiki Bar for the crowd and the teams at the weigh-in.
Mike Best and Grand Pines had a bathroom on site, provided coffee and doughnuts, made sure the site was ready, and opened up the Grand Pines Motel boat ramp on Little Round for the participants.
“The whole Best family has worked hard to support this event for every one of its 16 years,” said Balsavich.
The day began with check-in and boat inspection at 6:30 a.m. After the mandatory rules meeting at 7:30, a flag-bearing Grand Pines pontoon was piloted to the center of Richardson’s Bay to form the starting line. At 7:50 the group had an opening prayer and Jim Breen sang a rousing National Anthem.
At 8 a.m. the boats were flagged out one-by-one, insuring safe distancing, and the competition began. The teams returned by 4 p.m. and the weigh-in began in front of the large crowd. Fish were immediately re-watered and the anglers returned them to the lake.
After computing the results, the HBC held the awards/payouts ceremony. During the ceremony, Powell’s and Grand Pines/Best Family were honored for their support. Special accolades went to Mike Smith, a volunteer photographer on the staff who captures the HBC events and the angler action every year.
From the entry fees, $310 was held back and will be used to help fund the annual free Youth Bass Tournament to be held on the Chippewa Flowage out of The Landing Resort on Sunday, July 28.
This year’s staff included Wayne along with Deputy Director Gene Magiera, Mike Best, Mike Smith, Mike Persson, John Prickette, Al Reinhardt, and Ricky Billings.
The Leaderboard
1) Champions, father and son team Chad and Cruz (16) Constantineau, Star Prairie, five smallmouth, 16.28 lbs, $930.
2) Brothers Noah and Christian Glitto, Winter, five smallmouth, 15.98 lbs, $560.
3) Preston Johnson and Brad Doll, Rice Lake, five smallmouth, 15.61 lbs, $430.
4) father and son Ken Milender (Hayward) and Byron Milender (Savage, Montana), one largemouth and four smallmouth, 15.46 lbs, $280.
5) Damien Luchteerhand (Solon Springs) and Hayden Anderson (Poplar), five smallmouth, 13.93 lbs.
6) Blaine Lee (Hayward) and Thad Vettrus (Chippewa Falls), five smallmouth, 13.87 lbs, $150.
7) Brothers Aron Pontillo (Racine) and Marshall Sandretto (Burlington), five smallmouth, 13.76 lbs, $130.
8) Father and son team Harrison and Finley Nelson (Iron River), five smallmouth, 13.75 lbs, $100.
9) Jason Slagstad and Nick Gifford (Cameron), five smallmouth, 13.26 lbs.
10 Bbrothers Casey and Rick Huebner (Eau Claire), five smallmouth, 13.24 lbs.
•• Big Largemouth Bass: family team—Jeremy Gordon (Iron River) and Steve Ratte (Duluth), 3.50 lbs, $310.
•• Second biggest Largemouth: Tim Lundsten and Bud Sheehan (Hayward), 3.46 lbs.
•• Big Smallmouth—Family team Tim and Ridge Lodermeier (Alma), 4.44 lbs.
•• Second biggest Smallmouth—Brothers Noah and Christian Glitto (Winter), 4.22 lbs.
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