April 24, 2004 Arrowhead, ME
Danis And Parenteau Win Maine Opener

Wind, rain and several big fish were the order of the day at the Angler's Choice Maine-Dirigo Team Trail's opening tournament on Arrowhead Lake Saturday April 24. Despite the morning's soggy conditions, thirty teams registered to compete for top honors and cash prizes.

Prior to blast-off, all boats were subjected to rigorous inspections by Maine certified boat inspectors to ensure that none of the contestants boats carried any invasive aquatic plants. After boat inspections and a pre-tournament meeting, blast-off commenced at approximately 7:15am under cloudy but clearing skies. As the morning progressed the sun did show itself but with that sun came blustery winds. For the most part however, these adverse conditions did not have a negative effect on fish activity. By the 3:30pm weigh-in, a total 136 bass were brought to the scales. Included in that lot was the tournament largemouth lunker, a 7.39lb largemouth caught by the team of Danis & Parenteau. In addition to that big fish, a 6.13lb largemouth was caught by the team of Walker & Hill and a 7.18lb largemouth was caught by Aube & Nadeau. Smallmouth honors went to the team of McClellan & Pelletier with a 3.41lb smallie. The top five teams are as follows: 1)Danis/Parenteau 15.67lbs 2) Walker/Hill 12.25lbs, 3)Aube/Nadeau 11.61, 4) Cilley/Berounsky and 5) Bartlett/Tremblay. Nice work to all of you!!!

Of particular note during the weigh in, was the debut of both a life support tank and a salt dip. I am proud to announce that the Angler's Choice Maine-Dirigo Team Trail is the first and currently the only trail in Maine to take such measures to protect and care for the fish we catch. All contestants were required to place their fish (in perforated bags) in a fully aerated life support tank containing Rejuvenade while waiting to weigh their catch. The handling of fish was kept to an absolute minimum by the use of several identical weigh baskets. After a team's weight had been recorded, every fish was subject to a 10-15 second salt dip to help replace lost slime coat and to offer additional protection against disease or infection. Proudly, 100% of the fish brought to the scales were relaesed back into Lake Arrohead alive!

In closing, I would like to thank the following: the teams of Swett & Swett and Bradford & Creps for your tremendous help. If it were not for the help from the four of you, I could not have done this. To Al Smith for your help with everything and especially for helping to lug water. And of course a big "thank you" to all those that sponor Angler's Choice.

John Heutz
Tournament Director
Angler's Choice Maine-Dirigo Team Trail