Tournament Tactics And Trends

My first inclination was to discount him as a McNutt in need of medication—he, being Mike McNett, half of Team Prowler, champions of last winter’s North American Ice Fishing Championship presented by Gander Mountain. His partner is Tony Boshold, another Illinois angler who takes competitive ice fishing to a supernatural level.

They prep for Trap Attacks—qualifying events leading to the NAIFC—employing, as they say, “Mo-Jo.” By most competitors, it’s called being “In the Zone.” Team Prowler’s version of hocus-pocus and superstition includes eating KFC and watching Star Wars episodes, drawing parallels between the next day’s tournament and Jedi Knights preparing for battle. Team Prowler has gone from uncharted to ice-fishing rock stars in a few short years.

It started at the Illinois Trap Attack in Antioch on the Fox Chain of Lakes. McNett, carpet-repair expert, and Boshold, professional carpet cleaner, joined forces to—well, clean clocks at ice-fishing tourneys. McNett hit the ice with a history of “always doing well in shantytowns,” catching the most fish in a sea of anglers via finesse fishing, which means the acute interpretation of a spring-bobber, fishing small but heavy—and apparently using The Force.

For Boshold, it was his first winter on the ice, third or fourth outing ever. They finished in 20th place or so, a good showing for people who like Star Wars conventions.

The next year, the planets aligned to yield a fifth-place finish for this team at Antioch. “I think it was the match-fishing from the day before,” says McNett, crediting the fierce battle on the same body of water with Greg “The Prowler” Wilczynski, a European ice-fishing expert and product developer for St. Croix Rods and who created Legend Ice for the company, the pinnacle of spring-bobber poles. He’s also McNett’s mentor.

So on this day, seeing who could whack the most poundage in two hours, McNett took Wilczynski 17.2 pounds to 17.1, a victory nonetheless over his spring-bobber guru. McNett had won the impromptu match-fishing tournament to qualify at the next day’s Trap Attack by fishing small but heavy—and fishing smart. The bluegills accepted only tiny offerings, he says, so he made his smallest jigs “fish-heavy” by adding a short wrap of wire to the line above the lure, which gave him the weight necessary to load the spring-bobber. Moreover, he produced a clacking device. Astute locals tipped him to the fact that their bluegills liked noise, which proved to be true. Local angles are always good to listen to, whether you’re tournament fishing, or not.

That brings us to Championship weekend, Ice Team-style. The NAIFC, held annually in Alexandria, Minnesota, is a two-day, two-species tournament, where the top 50 teams nationwide vie for thousands of dollars. Last year, Day One was pegged for crappies, the heaviest team weight for 15 fish. McNett and Boshold smothered the field with over 14 pounds, with only four teams breaking the 10-pound mark.

Strategy In Action

The same mindset, adaptability, and attention to detail that got them to the Alexandria tourney bought the biggest crappies. They pounded the pavement during prefishing, contacting the DNR and local bait scoopers, learning as much as possible about the fishery. The best nugget of information was about “size structure,” as reported by actual creel guys. Before going in, McNett and Boshold knew exactly what to expect: Basically, how big the crappies and bluegills were, important knowledge in a tournament. Once on the water, they exercised Boshold’s summer “pattern-fishing” method, systematically eliminating unproductive water.

First, they focused on weeds. Tournament boundaries included a large bay which fished like a small lake, as well as its conduit to the much larger basin. The basin bottomed-out at 15 feet and maintained vegetation throughout its depth range, but only in select areas. Deadly data.