2007 Ranger Boats Ultimate Bass Challenge....
Travis Frank
For the past 3 years, Ranger Boats, and a handful of sponsors have been hosting a charity event on lake Minnetonka to raise money for Northwestern Health Sciences University. This year I was invited as one of the 50 Ranger Pro's. Quite an honor because I was fishing against most of the upper midwest's top Ranger professionals including guys like the Capra's, Mehsikomer's, Raveling's and others. While this was a charity event, and all the money raised went to help a good cause, we were still fishing in a tournament.
Each Pro was paired up with two others that would also be fishing in the boat for the day in search of the 3 largest bass to weigh in for our limit. It was a very relaxed tournament, but when you get 50 intense professional fisherman competing for even a peanut, there is bound to be some excitement. My guests on this day were absolutely awesome to fish with. Dave and Todd were longtime buddies who decided to donate money for their great cause and earned a spot in a boat. I couldn't have asked for better partners on this day, and we spent the entire time catching bass and laughing at each other. The hunting and fishing stories that these guys shared while we were out fishing was awesome, not to mention the world records that they hold with a certain Canadian fish on 6 lb test.
Todd started the morning by filling our 3 fish limit with really respectable bass, and then we went searching for Mr. Big. I was able to land a real dandy a couple of hours into the day, and it jumped our chances of finishing well. We caught several bass during our day along with a few pike, and even a walleye. We all figured that if we could get one more big one like the one Dave is holding in the picture, that we would possibly have a chance to win, but that wasn't the case on that day. Instead we were more than happy to finish in 7th place with a bag of roughly 9.85 pounds. Not too shabby for a muskie man fishing in a bass mans world! At our weigh in we were then put on stage in front of the crowd to tell about our fish and our day, and I even hoisted the 5+ pounder in the air for all to see. It kinda felt like we were on ESPN or somethin. Ranger really put on a great event that, and the fish cooperated for the 3 of us making for an awesome time on the water. I'm not exactly sure how much money was raised for the charity, but judging by the turnout of the event I would say it was quite a bit. Oh yeah, I also got to see both of my fishin bud's try turning their key to see if they could start the motor on the boat that was given away. Oh so close on that one, but a nice lady won it instead. Thanks for the fun and the memories fellas! Until next time Y'all, keep on livin the Dream!