Tales of the Tape

USA Ice Team World Champions

Rhinelander, Wisconsin was the site of the 7th annual World Ice Fishing Championships held this past weekend. 10 teams from all over the globe came to compete in the WIFC not for cash prizes, but for trophies, medals and bragging rights till the waters ice up again next year. Held at Boom Lake, part of the Wisconsin River waterway, anglers were challenged to catch the most weight consisting only of panfish. But, this wasn't your typical fishing tournement. The fishermen were not allowed to use any electronices, power augers or to fish anytime other than the tournement hours. But, the US team had a distinct advantage because most had competed last year on this lake.

Going into the tourney, the US hoped to put the previous year's last place finish in the distant past. Held in Poland in 2009, the US couldn't quite figure out the foreign bite which consisted mainly of golden shiners and smelt species. The europeans also have a much different approach to fishing which ultimately, may have lead to their demise in this year's WIFC. Using micro equipment like 1/4-1/2lb line, 1/80th oz jigs and tiny rods, the euro anglers usually encounter a bottom bite. The key to winning the  Rhinelander event was a suspended crappie bite. The US team consisted of Mike Boedecker (Lansing, MI), Myron Gilbert (Brooklyn, MI), Doug Bussian (Columbus, Wisconsin), Tony Boshold (Carol Stream, Illinois), Bill Whiteside (Eau Claire, Wisconsin) and Bob Esbensen (Palatine, Illinois). The team also included coach Greg Wilcznski (Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin) and team captain Mike McNett (Lombard, Illinois).

Mike Boedecker took home the individual gold medal in the tournement and helped the US pull out to an early lead the first day. The lead proved to be insurmountable by Poland and Russia. The Poland, Russian and Ukrainian teams are always perennial favorites. But, it seems that even though they were informed of the crappie bite, it doesn't look like they took advantage of it. Boedecker edged out Folke Andersson of Sweden and Tomasz Nysztal of Poland to sweep the medals for the US.

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