The 2002 Indiana Bass Federation Tournament Trail season is HISTORY!! What an exciting two-day event!! The first day started with the breakfast meeting at 5:00 a.m. with 45 Anglers and 45 Co-Anglers ready for a great day of fishing. Everyone made their way from the breakfast site to the lake for take off at 7:00 a.m.
Weigh in was at 3:00 and the excitement was tremendous!! Forrest L. Wood, the founder of Ranger Boats, was present at the weigh in. Also present was a friend to all fishermen, Dave Hire. It was great to see Dave and to see that, in spite of being struck by lightning while fishing, he still loves the sport!! We had a lot of fish come to the scales, but the results weren't revealed until the Banquet on Saturday evening.
The Classic Banquet started at 6:00. After a hard day of fishing it was time to let loose and have some great fun - which as you will remember is our main goal!! This was a very special Banquet in that this year marks the 25th Anniversary of the Invitational Trail. The evening was very full and went fast even though the fishermen were tired and anxious about the next day of fishing. Mike McDonald introduced Jack Peters, Sr. and Jack Peters, Jr. to the fishermen and guests. Jack Peters, Sr. was the first Classic winner 25 years ago and his son, Jack Peters, Jr., was the first Angler of the Year.
Forrest L. Wood was our Guest Speaker. He was introduced by Mike McDonald, representing Ranger Boats. Mr. Wood gave and informative and entertaining presentation about his life and accomplishments in bass fishing and the history behind Ranger Boats. Everyone could have listened to him for hours!
Ken Bortlein was recognized as the Angler Of The Year. This was the fifth (5th) time he has won this award in our 25 years of competition. No one else has won more than twice. He received a MotorGuide Trolling Motor, AC Delco Battery Charger, Solar Bat Sunglasses, Tool Cool Live Well Water Cooler and an Angler Of The Year ring (to be given at the December State Meeting).
Jeff Macabee was recognized as the IBF Invitational Trail's first Co-Angler Of The Year. He received a Shimano Chronarch / G. Loomis Rod & Reel combination, Solar Bat Sunglasses, and a Co-Angler Of The Year ring (to be given at the December State Meeting) in recognition of his performance during the season.
Congratulations to both Ken and Jeff!! These accomplishments are no small feat with all the great competition they had in the Invitational Tournaments in 2002.
The Classic Co-Angler winner was Larry Kitchel with 3 fish weighing 8.22 pounds. He received a check in the amount of $3,750, $1,500 Ranger Certificate, $1,000 Certificate from Mercury, a Classic Champion Plaque, his entry fees for the 2003 season paid by Killbuck Valley Sports, a pair of Solar Bat Sunglasses, and a gift pack from Killbuck Valley Sports. Second place went to Brad Kippenbrock with 2 fish weighing 6.14 pounds. He received a check in the amount of $755, a second place plaque and his entry fees for the 2003 season paid by Moore Boats. Steve Littrell finished third with 3 fish weighing 4.98 pounds and received a check in the amount of $604, a third place plaque and his entry fees for the 2003 season paid by Southern Indiana Marine. Finishing fourth with 2 fish weighing 4.88 pounds was Paul Svec. He received a check for $513, a fourth place plaque and his entry fees for the 2003 season paid by Ted's Aqua Marine. Finishing fifth was Stan Knies with 2 fish weighing 4.12 pounds. He received a check in the amount of $393 and a fifth place plaque. We paid out 10 places on the Co-Angler side.
Both the Anglers and Co-Anglers were recognized by the sponsors with gifts. Forrest Wood signed autographs and talked with the Anglers and Co-Anglers as they went through the line. We also had door prizes for the fishermen and their guests. The ladies present were given a ticket for door prizes. Everyone had a great time. The evening ended with the drawing for the ATA trip. Joe Baker won the American Trans Air round-trip airfare for two on any ATA scheduled flight destination within the continental U.S. Congratulations Joe!!
Sunday morning started with the Breakfast Meeting. The fishermen were a little more serious, but there was still joking and laughter. We had a little bit of fog, but were able to get the fishermen started a little early.
The Angler Classic Winner was Stu Moyer with a total of 9 fish weighing 22.32 pounds! He received a fully rigged Ranger 518VX Boat, Ranger Trail Trailer, 200 HP Mercury Outboard, Lowrance Electronics, MotorGuide Trolling Motor, a Tool Cool Live Well Water Cooler and a set of 4 Michelin Radial Tires (from new sponsor Eddie Gilstrap Motors, Salem Indiana). Second place went to Ladd Kitchel (for the second year in a row) with a total of 6 fish weighing 15.70 pounds. He received the second place plaque and a check in the amount of $1,553. Rodney Hardwick finished third with a total of 7 fish weighing 15.42 pounds and received a check in the amount of $1,242 and the third place plaque. Finishing fourth with a total of 4 fish weighing 11.14 pounds was Tom Todd. He received the fourth place plaque and a check for $1,056. The fifth spot went to Joe Rasnick with a total of 6 fish weighing 11.12 pounds. He received a check in the amount of $807 and the fifth place plaque. We paid out 10 places on the Angler side.
The new format installed for 2002 brought a renewed interest in the IBF Invitational Trail from many directions. It did not please everyone, but overall it was an overwhelming success. The complication of Angler/Angler match-ups at our tournaments was virtually eliminated while the number of Co-Anglers fishing our events actually outnumbered Anglers by 196 to 169. The Co-Anglers found themselves in a much better position to be successful by not competing with the Anglers and the Anglers found new respect for the guys in the back of the boat. One very important benefit of the new format became very evident in this Classic in that we had five (5) Father/Son combinations making the Classic. This resulted from fathers becoming Co-Anglers for their sons or sons becoming Co-Anglers for their fathers to achieve the goal of guaranteed use of the boat for the Anglers and guaranteed entry in to the event for the Co-Anglers.
Congratulations to the Father/Son combinations of Ken & Chris Bortlein, Ladd & Larry Kitchel, Dennis & Everett Lytle, Larry & Aaron Sisk and Michael & Robert Trueblood. The Kitchels did extremely well with Larry (father) winning the Co-Angler competition and Ladd (son) finishing second in the Angler competition.
We have enclosed a Questionnaire for your input for the 2003 season and ask that you fill it out and send it back to us as quickly as possible. This tournament is designed for you and we need your thoughts and suggestions. We value the information you return to us and want your comments - both positive and negative. Please take the time to give us your comments and mail it back to us. We appreciate your input and thank you in advance.
The Tournament Crew and I had a great time conducting the 2002 IBF Invitational Tournaments. We thank all of you for your participation and hope that you had a great time fishing with us. We really appreciate your support and trust that you will all come back next year and bring someone new with you!
Dan Simmons
Tournament Director
