Houghton Lake Championship 2009

The results are in from Championship Week 2009 and WOW what a great championship. With nearly 400 boats and 800 anglers competing in the first ever Lazer Sharp Red, White & Blue NBAA National Championships, this may have been the largest tournament ever held in Michigan.

Kicking off championship week was the registration. With hundreds of anglers on hand and dozens of vendors giving out special deals, everyone had a great time. Some of the special deals included 50% off of Auto Value deep cycle batteries. Auto Value was also on hand doing free battery checks and had a great display of items on hand.

Other vendors and sponsors on hand included Gamma, Garneau Baits, Hooks & Bullets, Mercury Marine, Bass Pro Shops, Tracker Marine, Uncle Bobs Barbeque, Tamarack, Fish with the Pros, Lunch Money Lures, National Angler Rods, Please Release Me, Houghton Lake Tourism, Michigan Out Of Doors, Minn Kota, Humminbird, Lazer Sharp, WaveSpin, Dj’s custom Rods, Power Pole, Case Plastics, Next Level Lures, Starks Woods and Waters, and more. With many of these vendors giving away prizes it seemed like everyone won something.

The next day was the kick off to the first event, the Lazer Sharp Red Challenge Championship. With the cold temperatures and rain throughout most of the day, to say it was a tough day on the water would be understating it. However, for the anglers who stuck out the demanding conditions fishing was good. The conclusion of the weigh in found the team of Randy & Ron Nelson taking top honors with 15.63 pounds, just edging out the team of Ryan Mills & Dick Lawrence by .3 one hundredths for the Tracker/Mercury combo. Following in 3rd place was the team of John Robiadek & James Clauser with 14.46 pounds. Big Bass honors of the day and of the entire tournament was caught by Stan Pearson. Stan’s monster largemouth topped the scales at 5.99 lbs.

Day 2 was the kick off for the second event, the Lazer Sharp White Challenge Championship. With the weather staying much the same as day 1, again this would test the anglers and their ability to endure the elements. Just like the day before the anglers who stuck it out found fish and again a great bag of smallies caught by Steve Noel & Kevin Chesser would take top honors. Steve & Kevin’s weight of just over 14 lbs would be good enough to take home 1st place and a new Tracker/Mercury combo. Homer Mayberry & Chris Standhart would give Steve and Kevin a run for their money but with just over 13 ½ lbs came up just short. Following in 3rd place was the team of Lester Noel & Charles Woodstock with 13 lbs exactly. Big Bass of the day went to the team of Mike & Brian Olsen with a 3.73 Smallmouth.

Finally the weather broke a bit for the last championship day, the Lazer Sharp Blue Challenge Championship. The sun came out and the temperatures rose but so did the wind. With anglers battling the weather all week long it was nice to see the sun but the wind did hamper some of the anglers ability to get to their fish. However, for one team this would be like living a dream two days in a row. For the second consecutive day the team of Steve Noel & Kevin Chesser would take top honors and another Tracker/Mercury combo would be theirs. Steve and Kevin would not have such an easy time of it as the previous day. With almost all the teams weighed in the team of Randy & Ron Nelson came to the scales and just missed winning another boat themselves by less than a quarter pound. Following behind Randy & Ron in 3rd place was the team of Leonard Harris & Jack Hayes with almost 14 lbs. Capturing the days big bass honors would be the team of David & Michael Boedeker with a 3.65 smallmouth.

NBAA would like to thank all of the anglers who made the trip to Houghton Lake. With over 2000 pounds of bass weighed in at this year’s championship I don’t think there is a doubt in anyone’s mind that this body of water holds an enormous amount of Bass. With great catches of largemouth and smallmouth bass anglers brought in dozens of limits each day.

We would also like to thank the Houghton Lake Tourism Board. Without their help this type of event would not be possible. From getting special rates for the anglers to the fantastic spaghetti dinner served at registration, we are all very grateful for their support of NBAA and the anglers.

Last but certainly not least we would like to thank all of our sponsors who also help make a special event like this possible. Sponsors include Bass Pro Shops, Mercury Marine, Tracker Boats, Nitro Boats, Minn Kota, Humminbird, Lazer Sharp, Auto Value, Power Pole, Signs & More, WFN, Mann’s, Venom, Poor Boys Baits, Eagle Claw, Please Release Me, Gamma, Scent Lok, Uncle Josh, Garneau Baits, Tamarack, Case Plastics, BTI, Whitetail Institute, B&T Outfitters, Ron Speed Exotic Outdoor Adventures, and many more. Plus, a special thanks to D&S Trophies for providing the great Lazer Sharp plaques through 10th place at each days championship.

* Keep an eye on the web for all of the championship photos to be posted soon. Also, you can find the results below from this year’s championship.

Results:

Red: championship_red_results_09.pdf
White: championship_white_results_09.pdf
Blue: championship_blue_results_09.pdf