Barczak and Mayan Win Midwest Regional Championship

By Chris Jones (FOM Staff Writer)
In the world of competitive fishing consistency is a major key to fishing success. Anglers that can put together good limits on multiple days usually fair very well at the final weigh in. The past season has been one of consistency for WI East Division anglers Jim Barczak and Mike Mayan, winning two division events, three big bass awards and the division point championship. During the Fishers of Men Midwest Regional Championship on Lake Wissota the duo added another tournament victory to their already impressive FOM resume. Finishing in first place with a total weight of 26.42 pounds, the two took home the keys to a brand new Triton TR186 bass boat powered by a 150 horse power Mercury Optimax.

They ended day one in the 7th position weighing in 12.51 pounds, and Barczak commented on stage that they had purposely left fish for Saturday?s final day of competition. In fishing terms, this concept of leaving active fish during the tournament in hopes of catching them the next day is often called ?fish management?, an overlooked strategy that sometimes can backfire, leaving anglers empty handed at weigh in. For the anglers from Fremont and Rosendale, Wisconsin it worked to perfection. Weighing in last on Saturday the two tipped the scales with a solid limit of smallmouth bass weighing 13.91 pounds to earn the victory. Excited and yet humbled by the win Mike Mayan shared that, ?We caught a majority of our keepers both days on Blue Craw ISG tubes, french fries and crankbaits up in the Chippewa River in 6-12 feet of water.? In regards to the concept of fish management, Barczak a design engineer for Mercury Marine, replied, ?When you fish multiple day tournaments on lakes like Wissota fish management has to be part of your game plan. We really didn?t want to burn our fish on Friday, so when we knew we had about 12 pounds, we left our fish and started looking for more water to fish on Saturday.? It?s hard to argue considering the fact that the strategy was good enough to win the new boat and motor package valued at $25,000.00. In a post tournament interview both specifically asked to thank their wives for allowing them to spend so much time on the water. They also wish to thank Mercury Marine, St. Croix Rods and the gang at ISG.

Leading for a majority of Saturday?s weigh in were Howie Lee and Karen Savik from the Minnesota West Division, who weighed a two day total of 25.49, only to be edged out at the last minute by the eventual winners. Consistency was also a key to their success, weighing in with 12.01 on day one and 13.48 on day 2. These longtime tournament partners characterize many of the unique human interest story lines that seem to highlight FOM event headlines. More than 10 years ago Lee and Savik were paired in a tournament on Long Lake, and due to a mechanical issue, Savik?s boat was out of commission. Lee kindly offered to let her use his boat for the tournament that day, and the two have been fishing together ever since. Savik?s fishing career has brought her to a touring level as a pro on the FLW tour, but despite the busy tournament schedule and her own family, she always finds time to fish with Lee. ?These tournaments are really cool, not so stressful and just a lot of fun,? replied the savy Land O Lakes touring professional. Both days the two used the entire system to pull together their limits, including spots on Little Lake Wissota, Lake Wissota proper and the Chippewa River, which made for some very active runs on the water. Their bait of choice was a jig called a Sump?n Sump?n (www.northstarjigs.com), which ironically Lee specifically designed for Savik to use on the tour. The 5/16 oz jig with a brown hue and a splash of purple along with a trailer was particularly effective at targeting smallmouth in 6-12 feet of water. Both Howie and Karen wish to thank their spouses and sponsors for their encouragement and support throughout the past season.

Close behind in 3rd place were WI East Division anglers Jeff Eggert and Scott Lischefski with a combined total of 25.25 pounds. The two caught all of their fish in the Yellow River and believe fishing their own water all day was a key ingredient to their success. ?We went ultra shallow up the Yellow and used drop shots and spinner baits to catch our fish yesterday and Yamamoto creature baits today. We never had to deal with another competitor either day,? responded Lischefski. ?We love fishing FOM, replied a smiling Eggert. ?They run a top notch event at every level, and they go out of their way to make the tournaments an awesome experience.? Eggert and Lischefski followed up their day one weight of 10.79 pounds with the big bag of day two, weighing in at 14.46, which got a good cheer from the crowd of more than 200 watching the weigh in at The View.

Rounding out the top five were Travis Rosciszewski and Chris Wolfe with 24.11 pounds and Michael & Steve Hansen with 23.49. Both teams caught their fish in the Chippewa River with Travis ?R? and Wolf using a 5/16 oz. Swamp Monster jig on ledges and large rocks, while Team Hansen was Carolina rigging a ?not to be mentioned? soft plastic in the river as well. Advancing to the national championship by winning the adult/junior portion of the tournament were Dave and Todd Saterback with a two day total of 10.49 pounds. Winning the male/female side of the competition and also advancing were Marlan and Debbie Brown with 8.77 pounds. They will join the top seven teams in the standings along with the top team from each division at the FOM National Championship in March.

Due to the great support from the Chippewa Valley Sports Commission, Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center and the crew at The View the tournament was a great success. Despite the stormy start to the weekend the weather during Saturday?s weigh in was picture perfect. The bass of Lake Wissota were also a good host with 337 fish being caught, weighing 818.25 pounds, a very respectable 2.43 pound average per fish. All eyes turn to the South as the 2nd FOM Regional Championship begins next week on Kentucky Lake.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the fine companies that make Fishers of Men possible; Triton Boats, Mercury, Shakespeare, All Star Rods, Pflueger, Strike King Lure Company, Grace Full Gospel Church, XTools, Solar Bat, Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits, Keelshield, MotorGuide, SOSPENDERS,Marshall?s Marine Lake City SC, Kistler, All-Terrain Tackle, Dual Pro Charger, Lowrance, Buckeye Lures, Stanley Jigs, Deka Marine Master Batteries, Spike-It, Jacobs Glass, Hooah Energy Bars, Poor Boys Baits, T&H Marine BASS Rx, and Keep Alive. 2007 Midwest Regional Championship on Wissota Day 2 - 09/22/07

Place	Team	Members	# Fish	Big Fish	Gross	Penalty	Net Wt	Points
1	5967		5	3.15	14.46	0	14.46	200
2	5986		5	0	13.91	0	13.91	199
3	5941		5	3.28	13.21	0	13.21	198
4	6001		5	0	12.19	0	12.19	197
5	5999		5	2.88	12.01	0	12.01	196
6	5766		5	2.96	11.12	0	11.12	195
7	5969		5	0	10.56	0	10.56	194
8	2605		5	0	10.52	0	10.52	193
9	5993		4	3.24	9.77	0	9.77	192
10	5767		5	0	9.73	0	9.73	191
11	5964		4	3.42	9.65	0	9.65	190
12	6017		3	3.63	9.1	0	9.1	189
13	5989		3	4.01	8.43	0	8.43	188
14	5947		4	0	8.33	0	8.33	187
15	5948		4	0	8.26	0	8.26	186
16	5763	Jeff Tighe Sharon Tighe	3	3.75	8.23	0	8.23	185
17	5942	Gary Goodwin Dan Burkhardt	3	0	7.77	0	7.77	184
18	5831		3	3.59	7.77	0	7.77	184
19	3105		3	0	7.61	0	7.61	182
20	5762	Jeffery Hackler	3	3.31	7.56	0	7.56	181
21	5970		3	0	7.51	0	7.51	180
22	2614		3	2.96	7.26	0	7.26	179
23	5939		2	3.9	7.15	0	7.15	178
24	2633	Anthony Cannon	3	0	6.86	0	6.86	177
25	2649		3	0	6.66	0	6.66	176
26	6003		3	0	6.4	0	6.4	175
27	5757	John Trey Green	3	0	6.02	0	6.02	174
28	3104		2	0	5.57	0	5.57	173
29	5774		3	0	5.38	0	5.38	172
30	5975		2	3.7	5.33	0	5.33	171
31	6004		2	0	5.11	0	5.11	170
32	5992	Dale Roth	2	0	4.83	0	4.83	169
33	5977		2	2.65	4.79	0	4.79	168
34	5943		2	0	4.72	0	4.72	167
35	5984		2	0	4.59	0	4.59	166
36	5772		2	0	4.58	0	4.58	165
37	5961		2	0	4.21	0	4.21	164
38	5962		2	0	4.06	0	4.06	163
39	5837		2	0	3.75	0	3.75	162
40	5997		1	3.26	3.26	0	3.26	161
41	5771		1	3.16	3.16	0	3.16	160
42	5946		1	3.13	3.13	0	3.13	159
43	2629	John Duwel Gary Sindelir	1	2.92	2.92	0	2.92	158
44	5978		1	2.82	2.82	0	2.82	157
45	5769		1	2.6	2.6	0	2.6	156
46	5966		1	2.59	2.59	0	2.59	155
47	2601		1	2.54	2.54	0	2.54	154
48	2606		1	2.54	2.54	0	2.54	154
49	5981		1	2.42	2.42	0	2.42	152
50	5765		1	2.38	2.38	0	2.38	151
51	5830		1	2.22	2.22	0	2.22	150
52	5971		1	2.16	2.16	0	2.16	149
53	5988	Marlan Brown Debbie Brown	1	2.1	2.1	0	2.1	148
54	5998		1	2.07	2.07	0	2.07	147
55	3070		1	1.91	1.91	0	1.91	146
56	5752	Kevin Izzi	1	1.83	1.83	0	1.83	145
57	5756	William Bacon Bruce Jennings	0	0	0	0	0	144
58	5758	Michael Zerrien	0	0	0	0	0	144
59	5759		0	0	0	0	0	144
60	5760		0	0	0	0	0	144
61	5761		0	0	0	0	0	144
62	5770		0	0	0	0	0	144
63	5768		0	0	0	0	0	144
64	5773		0	0	0	0	0	144
65	3108		0	0	0	0	0	144
66	3152		0	0	0	0	0	144
67	3153	Joseph Lemmerman Chris Zakashefski	0	0	0	0	0	144
68	2612		0	0	0	0	0	144
69	2613		0	0	0	0	0	144
70	2603	Jerry Lesley Rick Randolph	0	0	0	0	0	144
71	2618	Tony Goff	0	0	0	0	0	144
72	5972		0	0	0	0	0	144
73	5973		0	0	0	0	0	144
74	5974		0	0	0	0	0	144
75	5965		0	0	0	0	0	144
76	5968		0	0	0	0	0	144
77	5940		0	0	0	0	0	144
78	5963		0	0	0	0	0	144
79	5958		0	0	0	0	0	144
80	5936		0	0	0	0	0	144
81	5937		0	0	0	0	0	144
82	5938		0	0	0	0	0	144
83	5944		0	0	0	0	0	144
84	5945		0	0	0	0	0	144
85	5775		0	0	0	0	0	144
86	5826		0	0	0	0	0	144
87	5827		0	0	0	0	0	144
88	5828		0	0	0	0	0	144
89	5832		0	0	0	0	0	144
90	5833		0	0	0	0	0	144
91	5835		0	0	0	0	0	144
92	5836		0	0	0	0	0	144
93	6002		0	0	0	0	0	144
94	6005		0	0	0	0	0	144
95	6007		0	0	0	0	0	144
96	6008		0	0	0	0	0	144
97	6012		0	0	0	0	0	144
98	6015		0	0	0	0	0	144
99	6016		0	0	0	0	0	144
100	5982		0	0	0	0	0	144
101	5983		0	0	0	0	0	144
102	5979		0	0	0	0	0	144
103	5980		0	0	0	0	0	144
104	5990		0	0	0	0	0	144
105	5991		0	0	0	0	0	144
106	5987		0	0	0	0	0	144
107	5994		0	0	0	0	0	144
108	5995		0	0	0	0	0	144
109	5996		0	0	0	0	0	144
2007 Midwest Regional Champions Mike Mayan & Jim Barkzak 2nd Place team - Howie Lee & Karen Savik 3rd place team - Jeff Eggert & Scott Lischefski 4th place team - Travis Rosciszewski & Chris Wolfe Top Adult/Junior Team - Todd & Dave Saterbak Top Male/Female Team - Marlan & Debbie Brown