Randy Wieczorek wins 2008 Minnesota B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Championship, September 4-5, 2008 on Pools 4 & 5 of the Mississippi River.

Minnesota’s best amateur bass anglers tackled the sprawling waters of the Mississippi River for the Minnesota B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Tournament of Champions. Day one went like clockwork; all the anglers were on the water by 8:00 a.m. The perfect weather proved to be an advantage as the many bags of both largemouth and smallmouth bass brought to the scales prove the Mississippi River is a diverse and fertile bass fishery. Brian Brown of Breezy Point, MN led the pack on day 1 with 4 nice bass weighing over 12lbs, followed closely by Sport Smith of Maple Grove, MN. The field was very tight and most anglers in the Top 50 were in striking distance after Day 1.

Day two, the weather changed overnight and anglers were met with a dense fog cover; everyone got a late start, the first boats were not on the water until after 10am. Weights dropped off considerably on day two for most anglers, probably due to the shortened tournament hours and a cool front that had the fish in a funk.

Randy Wieczorek from local River Rats Bassmasters weighed in as one of the last few boats to bump Andy Nitchals West Central Bassmasters from the top spot. The remaining divisional team qualifiers: Rich Lindgren – Gopher Bassmasters, Dean Capra – 10,000 Lakes, Matt Hanson – Zumbro Valley Bassmasters, John Zvorak – West Central Bassmasters, Jim Pinke – Bass Wackers, Doug Pietzrak – Granite City Bassmasters, Brad Ballard – River Rats, Brian Brown – Range Bassmasters, Scott Fisher – River Rats, John Schlee Jr – Loon State Bassmaters, Tim Vondersitt – Upper Iowa Bassmasters.

Andy Nitchals & John Zvorak of West Central Bassmasters anchored their 4 man team to take the team honors. They beat our very respectable efforts by Loon State & Upper Iowa Bassmasters. Day 1, Tom Borkowski brought in the big fish of the tournament, a beautiful 4.79lb largemouth.

Zumbro Valley Bassmasters hosted the tournament and raised money for the Wabasha Food Shelf, and also collected non-perishable food items as well. The guys really stepped up and help make things work smoothly; so give Zumbro Valley Bass club a big pat on the back – good job guys! Steve Soukup of Skeeter Boats did an awesome job as Master of Ceremonies as anglers weighed their bags at tournament headquarters, which was held Ike’s park right on the banks of the river.

A total of 149 anglers, from 27 different clubs, competed for the top 12 spots to advance to next years divisional tournament on Lake St. Claire near Detroit, MI, fishing against seven other State Teams from Wisconsin, Indiana, South Dakota, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, and Ohio, in August 2009.

A really fun thing about the Minnesota B.A.S.S. Federation Nation State Championship is that the tournament and its anglers give back to the community. MNBFN sponsors really pitched in for the annual raffle with all the proceeds going to the Wabasha Food Shelf. This years sponsors were; Skeeter/Yamaha Boats, Precision Propeller Works, Slippery’s Bar & Grill, River Crossing BP, Gemini Sports Marketing, Cabela’s, Vicious Fishing Line, Gopher Tackle Company, Minn Kota, MG Lures, Mojo Rods, Sure-Life Laboratories fish release formulas.

See Full Results at – MNBFN.org
INDIVIDUALS
1 Randy Wieczorek RIVER RATS BASSMASTERS 8/8 4.08 21.17
2 Andy Nitchals WEST CENTRAL BASSMASTERS 8/8 4.54 20.53
3 Rich Lindgren GOPHER BASSMASTERS 8/8 3.42 19.45
4 Dean Capra 10,000 LAKES BASSMASTERS 8/8 3.45 19.2
5 Matt Hanson ZUMBRO VALLEY BASSMASTERS 7/7 3.18 19.16
6 John Zvorak WEST CENTRAL BASSMASTERS 8/8 2.55 18.85
7 Jim Pinke BASS WACKERS 5/5 18.84
8 Doug Pietzrak GRANITE CITY BASSMASTERS 8/8 2.89 18.59
9 Brad Ballard RIVER RATS BASSMASTERS 8/8 3.49 18.33
10 Brian Brown RANGE BASSMASTERS 7/7 3.23 18.08
11 Scott Fischer RIVER RATS BASSMASTERS 7/7 3.41 17.9
12 John W. Schlee Jr. LOON STATE BASSMASTERS 7/7 3.15 17.39
13 Tim Vondersitt UPPER IOWA BASSMASTERS 8/8 2.65 17.21
14 Chad Keller GRANITE CITY BASSMASTERS 8/8 2.77 16.84
15 Paul Shimek WEST CENTRAL BASSMASTERS 7/7 16.8
16 Trevor Rogge CLASSIC SEVEN BASSMASTERS 8/8 16.49
17 Dan Bonneson SPORTSMEN BASSMASTERS 8/8 16.14
18 Jeff Mulholland ZUMBRO VALLEY BASSMASTERS 7/7 3.67 15.93
19 Dale Youngquist LOON STATE BASSMASTERS 7/7 3.01 15.89
20 Greg Halleland ZUMBRO VALLEY BASSMASTERS 5/5 15.69

TEAMS
1 West Central Bassmasters 28 67.71
2 Loon State Bassmasters 26 58.39
3 Upper Iowa Bassmasters 25 55.97

Total Participants: 149
Total Fish Weighed: 635 Avg. Fish Weight: 2.20
Total Fish Released: 632 Avg. Fish / Participant: 4.3
Total Fish Weight: 1,410.68 Avg. Weight / Participant: 9.47

BIG FISH 1: 4.79 Tom Borkowski – PRIOR LAKE HOOK SETTERS
BIG FISH 2: 4.54 Andy Nitchals – WEST CENTRAL BASSMASTERS
BIG FISH 3: 4.24 Brian Skluzacek – PRIOR LAKE HOOK SETTERS