The big pond on the course attracts Eagle Claw fisherman!

However, one of the stipulations of this unique tournament is to find a golf course with the correct type of “hazards” because there is another contest built into the Eagle Claw event, a Fishing Contest. What sense would it make for a fishing tackle company not to do some kind of fishing event? That is why with the Eagle Claw golf tournament, there is a separate fishing event that takes place too! Golfers smuggle in tackle and rods into their golf bags, and make a couple casts at the ponds in between holes. As in any fishing trip, first fish, biggest fish, number of species, and most fish are common awards that anglers (I mean, golfers) try to accomplish!

Team TroKar!!

This year, the tournament was held at Pelican Lakes Golf Course in Windsor, Colorado. A course with more water on it than any other course in Colorado. Throughout the day, bass, crappie, and some big catfish and carp over 10 pounds were caught on the course ponds. Chris Russell caught the first fish with a good sized Largemouth at 8:21 in the morning, right after tee time!

first fish of the day.

Chris Russell shows off his crappie!

As the day went on, more fish were caught, including some nice smallmouth bass by Mike Chaney and Mike Jackson! Sometimes we wonder ourselves, “Whats more important, the golf tournament, or the fishing contests that take place in between the golfing…?”

Mike Jackson and Mike Chaney double up on smallies!

Big Fish went to Garrett Marquez with a 12 plus pound catfish.

After it was all said and done, through the entry fees and donations, Eagle Claw was able to raise enough money to donate $3000 to the Future Fisherman’s Foundation Association (FFFA). Everybody had a great time, and some decent fish were caught.

Jackson's glove gets some fish slime on it!

And of course, we have to mention, the golfing was good and the team of John Jilling – the President of Eagle Claw, finished in first!

Matt Gray goes classic!

By the way, no fish, drink girls, pelicans, or humans were harmed in the Eagle Claw Golf Tournament!

“It was now nearing dawn; the first tinges of gray and pink were seeping into the horizon. We had been on the water since 5:30. Six o’clock was rolling around, and the water was eerily calm, without a single ripple. It was like being surrounded by glass in the darkness. All of a sudden, my client, a very large man I should add, rose out of his chair like it had caught fire, rod in hand. I realized now that he had a hit, and it was a big one. I ran to the remote for the trolling motor and had to whirl the boat around to keep the line from snapping and to follow his prospective catch. I was instantly relieved that I use Eagle Claw “Water Eagle” rods and “Lazer Sharp” hooks, because anything of lesser quality couldn’t have stood up to this beast. It took me and my client several minutes (and grunts) to haul our striper up out of the water. When we finally brought it in, we knew it was a large one. When we weighed it in, the scale topped at 42 pounds! The record on the lake is 55 pounds. I am very glad that I use such high-end Eagle Claw fishing gear, or my client and I would have missed out on a beast of a catch.”

Congrats on the big catch guys!!

A crew of volunteers get ready for the event!

The day started off with thirty children showing up at a local mall. They boarded a chartered bus to a private lake in West Mobile County. The kids were escorted by blue lights from the Mobile Police Department and Motorcycles from the Marine Corps League; most of them found this pretty cool!

Children enjoyed catching fish all day long!

Once at the lake they were presented rods & reels from Eagle Claw, tackle boxes and a goody bag full of tackle and school supplies. The kids caught fish, helped rig bait, and became accostomed to a day of fishing. After a morning of fishing and fun the children were treated to a hamburger and hot dog lunch with all the trimmings, while they listened and danced to a DJ playing their favorite music.  

Fish were hounded by the youngsters!

A great many of the children had never caught a fish and were ecstatic when they reeled in their first fish with the help of professional anglers. These Pro’s were there to help and instruct the children on the basic’s of fishing. A great many of these children exclaimed, ” I am going to fish for the rest of my life.” After all, that’s why all of the adults volunteer every year just to see the faces of these children catch their first fish. Teach a kid to fish and never forget the memories that will last forever!

Eagle Claw is proud to be able to help out the community and have the privilege to supply such a great kids event with rods, reels, terminal, tackle, and more!!

We left  on Tuesday night and met up with Bernie Keefe, a popular and prestigious guide on Lake Granby. He told us about the bite, the recent weather patterns and how the fishing had been the last week or so. Everything was set up to be a great day on the water, to kick back and enjoy time with friends and family, and hopefully, catch some nice fish.

We got out on the lake by 6 a.m. and arrived to the first spot by 6:15.  As Bernie loaded up the rods and got us ready, the entire crew dropped down the heavy, green jigs.  It took everybody a little while to get used to the bite, but eventually the whole boat managed to get a feel for the consistent jigging motion. Up, down, feel the bottom. Up, down, feel the bottom. Over and over again! Within about an hour, my son, Scott, had hooked up onto a nice fish, the first one of the day. After a few minutes the fish surfaced and Bernie netted the 20 pound trout!

My Son, Scott, catches this 20 pound Lake Trout early in the morning!

We moved on to the next hump, where we fished some more. The bite was tough, all that was felt was a tiny little tap of the rod. Between the 4 anglers on the boat, I can’t tell you how many missed hooksets! However, everybody ended up with a fish, as Kyndra, my daughter, and Christie, my wife, both caught about an 8 pound fish. I bottomed out of the group with the smallest lake trout I have ever seen of about 8 inches long!

Kyndra, my daughter, enjoys her 8 pound catch!

Bernie is a Lazer Sharp and Wright & McGill ProStaff guy for Colorado. He uses the Sabolos spinning reels on all of his rods. Eagle Claw is very thankful to have such a generous and very knowledgeable pro so close to Denver!

More than anything, we were out there to have fun, just goofing around with family and some long time friends! Thanks to Bernie Keefe, we were able to get on some fish and enjoy a warm day on the water!

Bernie guides on Lake Granby and Grand Lake year round. In the winter, Bernie takes clients ice fishing and has a blast on the ice! To contact Bernie, call 970-531-2318 or email him at berniekeefe@hotmail.com. You can also visit his website for more pictures and contact info at www.fishingwithbernie.com.

Here’s what Henry had to say!

“About 26 years ago, we built a 26 acre watershed lake on our property and stocked it with both Florida and Northern strain largemouth. Four years ago, I took out 26 bass over 6 pounds from the lake. It is obviously doing quite well.

Last winter I rolled 4 large concrete culverts off the lake dam and they sank in about 10-12 feel of water. I was attempting to create some good harborage for the bass. Here in the deep South, bass get lethargic during the heat of the summer and seek the coolest and shadiest spot they can find and just sit there waiting for a meal. They prefer something big and easy to catch. I thought that this spot might be the place to coax one into making a mistake.

As it is way too hot and bright to fish until about 6:30 pm, that is when this trip started. Using a quiet electric motor, I drifted into range of the submerged culverts. I was using a Gander Mountain rod with some purple worm attached on some 2/0 Eagle Claw hooks. I bumbed the worm over the culvert, and on the fall it started to head sideways and into deeper water. As I set the hook, I knew it was a big fish, and soon the drag on the reel confirmed my thoughts. It was a good fight but I had the gear on him and once I got my thumb and forefinger in his mouth I did not let him go! I will leave the weight of this big fellow up to everyone’s imagination…

Yesterday afternoon, I almost repeated the exact same story over again except for the fact that the fish was larger and the hook pulled loose from soft tissue about 6 feet from the boat. Never fear, I have this bass’ zip code.

I thought you might want to hear something good about your products. Keep them sharp, keep them strong, keep making them in the United States!”

Henrys Big Bass

Thank you Henry for such a great story! Now go land that monster that barely escaped you last time!

He had been on the water four to five days a week through June but had come up empty. Maybe today would be the day. Soon enough, McKinnon spotted a dark shadow in the water, then the white-splotched fish. He cast his bait, a piece of yellow perch and, with growing tension, waited. The fish moved toward the bait. The bobber went under. McKinnon set the hook, and the battle was on.

“I pulled up my anchor, and it was pulling the boat around,” McKinnon said. “I had it on for what seemed like 20 minutes — you can’t be sure when you’re in a situation like that — and it was extremely fun. When I finally got it in, I was flabbergasted. But I was pretty confident I might have a state record.”

Daris McKinnon takes the record 35 pound, 8 ounce catfish from Aurora Reservoir.

In due time, it became official.

McKinnon’s channel catfish, taken with an Eagle Claw Red Hook on 65-pound-test braided line weighed 35 pounds, 8 ounces. It was 36 1/4 inches long and had a girth of 27 ¼ inches. It edged past the old record, taken one year ago almost to the day from Aurora Reservoir by Mike Stone, by 4 ounces.

“It feels fantastic, and I’m relishing it,” McKinnon said. “I hope it stands for a while, but records are made to be broken. Someone’s going to break mine.”

Having two state-record fish taken in a short time from the same reservoir is rare, certainly, but not a total surprise to Ken Kehmeier, senior aquatic biologist for the Colorado Division of Wildlife’s northeast region, which includes the greater Denver area.  

“It’s a pretty productive body of water,” he said of Aurora Reservoir. “It gets mostly good, mountain water, and when that warms up, they (catfish) start to grow well there. We have a number of reservoirs along the Front Range that have some large catfish. I know of big catfish in Boyd Lake, Lon Hagler, Lonetree . . .the big ones are there, but they’re an underutilized resource. They’re not fished for very much. You have to target the bigger fish and spend some time on the lake fishing for them.”

Big cats mostly prowl at night, and traditionally, fishing for them means fishing after dark. That is not possible at Aurora Reservoir, which is open from dawn to dusk, making McKinnon’s catch all the more exceptional. He believes timing was among the key factors.

“The water’s pretty cold in the spring, and they come into the shallows for a short time, looking to warm up,” McKinnon said. “They’ll be lying in the weeds sunning themselves. That’s when you can see them, and if you make a quiet approach, maybe you can catch one. It’s too late this year; they’re gone already. But they should be back next spring — maybe sometime in May.”

McKinnon, a concrete cutter by trade, is not about to give up fishing for the season. After a couple of fruitless return trips to Aurora Reservoir in pursuit of channel cats, he’s turning his attention to smallmouth bass and possibly blue catfish.

“I just enjoy fishing,” he said. “I think Aurora has some blue catfish, and it would be kind of neat if I could get a big one of those.”

The state record for blue catfish, taken from a private pond in Lincoln County in 1976, is 20 pounds, 1 ounce.

McKinnon already has four DOW Master Angler certificates for smallmouth bass, one for largemouth bass and hopes of catching a state-record smallmouth.

He’ll keep trying for other big channel cats but says he probably won’t keep one unless someone beats the current record.

“My record won’t stand,” he said. “Someone else can catch another one if he’s dedicated and goes after it. I just hope it doesn’t happen real soon.”

Congrats to Daris on the monster fish!! Continue the good work and keep making Eagle Claw proud!!

Kids line up and await the start of the tournament.

Heres what Jason had to say…

“The New Brunswick Sportsfishing Association just finishing holding their 7th Annual Kids Fishing for Charity Event on July 10, 2010. All money raised is donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. I am pleased to say we raised $2000.00 and the New Brunswick Government just announced that they will contribute $2.00 for every dollar we raised. Juvenile Diabetes strikes far too many of our children and each donation, no matter the size, takes us one step closer to finding a cure for this terrible disease. In 2010, the event collected and donated $6000.00 to this worth-while cause. 

Out of all the tournaments throughout the year this is the one I enjoy the most. Just to see all of the smiles on of all the kids’ faces. This event also gives kids a chance that they might not normally get: a chance to go fishing and to get in a fancy bass boat and experience the thrill of fishing.

We have Angel boaters that do not have their own children to take. So they volunteer their time and boat for such a worthy event. Angel boaters are willing to take one (1) child and their parent/guardian into this event. The entry fee is $25.00 per boat which goes towards our donation. 

The kids are split up into 3 groups for this event. The group’s ages are 6 to 8, 9 to 11, and 12 to 15. The first group was set at 6 to 8 but every year we see more and more eager anglers under 6 signing up for this event. 

Until 2 years ago, I was an Angel Boater. At that time my daughter was 4 and she decided she was old enough to start fishing tournaments. She has won a trophy both years she has fished. The way she is going I might have to expand my fishing room to hold all her trophies. Rumor has it that the Eagle Claw scouts have their eye on her. 

The target species are Yellow Perch, Chain Pickerel, and Smallmouth Bass. Each child is allowed to bring one of each species in to be measured. Our Tournament Advisor also volunteers his time and experience to measure and release all the fish. 

Every child receives a participation medallion and a grab bag with goodies like Eagle Claw hooks, soft baits, books, and even a Dave Mercer Bobble head. Trophies are awarded for the three top fish in every category. Every child is giving a chance to pick one gift from the prize table that was donated from generous people and companies. The prizes ranged from rod and reel combos to a Super Soaker squirt gun. In addition to the prizes, five bikes were donated as a special draw for the kids. With 56 kids fishing this year, it made many children happy and enlightened a few people’s minds. 

After the kids weighed in their fish they were treated to a BBQ, snacks, and cake. 

I would like to thank everyone that helped make this Annual Event such a great success. My daughter is already making plans for next year.

I am grateful to be fortunate enough to belong to an organization that has the same passion about taking care of our sport and resources to provide our kids a chance to enjoy this sport for years to come.”          – Jason

Jason sits with his daughter while everybody enjoys a BBQ.

Do your part to help out when necessary. Eagle Claw is a proud partner of the Kids Fishing Derby and we understand the significance of the help we can give. Thank you, Jason, for such a wonderful and inspiring event that you dedicate so much of your time and efforts to. Eagle Claw, along with millions of other people, are proud and thankful for the determination and understanding you give to the children with Juvenile Diabetes.

Hook Location: Of all the fish they landed, only one fish had “swallowed” the hook and was hooked fairly deep. The hook removed relatively easy with no harm to the fish. Every other fish was hooked in the mouth.

Hook Removal: The small circle hooks were easy to remove, but forceps or a pair of needle-nose pliers could be helpful. The hooks have short shanks and are tough to handle with fingers. The barbed hooks were easy to remove with pliers or by hand after pinching the barb down.

Hook Sets: As with large circle hooks, no swift jerk is required, and attempting to set the hook (as if you were bass fishing) won’t catch many fish. In fact, the jerk usually pulls the hook out of the fishes mouth. Fishing in about 6-8 feet of water, simply lifting the rod is proven most effective.

Hooking Success: The group missed a few more fish than traditional hooks, but the fish were so plentiful it didn’t really matter. The bite was subtle on the test day, often only noticed by a slight twitch or tightening of the line while the bait was on the fall. The light bite may have been another factor in the number of missed fish.

Baits: The bluegill hit both baits consistently, but the Gulp! crickets won out on this day by a significant margin. The tiny legs on the plastic bugs may have attracted the fish, or a huge grasshopper crop in Central Texas may have played a role. The plastic crickets held up well, didn’t get dirt under the fingernails, and each bug was good for several bites and successful catches.

Overall: The tiny circle hooks were a big success. No fish were killed in attempting to remove hooks. No cutting the line and leaving the hook in the released fish hoping the fish would make it. The hooks are a definite plus for fishing with live bait, still fishing while anchored, or anywhere that fish populations are such that large numbers of fish are expected to be caught and released.

“We had a great trip to California, and I netted 4 muskies myself, the group did 11 total. All but 3 were 41-46″. The rain gear came in handy, especially day 1 and day 10. First day we got boated in with rain and the gear saved me! It rained a bit throughout the week but not downpours, and then on the last day we had a remarkable set of events: sunset, moonrise, full moon, rain storm, and wind change all at the same time! Which means an opportune feeding window. So I donned my gear and stayed out until ten. Good news was I picked up my last fish on what was my last cast, and the gear allowed me to do it! Thanks for the tough gear!”

Good job Matt…keep up the good work!!

“I would just like to say thanks for making a great product! On July 5th while fishing the Caney Fork river in Smithville TN I hooked into a monster brown trout! I was using ultra light gear and your number 6 pan fish hook and managed to land a 8.75 lb brown trout after a 2.5 hour fight! Thanks for the great product with outstanding quality!

Thanks Again!”

Faithful customer, Nickie Morton, stand with his 8.75 pound Brown Trout caught out of Smithville, Tennessee.

Our mission is to provide all of our customers with outstanding quality products that get the job done, every time! With affordable prices, we guarantee that the joy and excitement found in fishing is attainable by any and every customer! Thanks again Nickie for the story, and keep up the good work!