GALLERY ARCHIVE 2009/2010 Season

GALLERY ARCHIVE 2008/2009 Season

Spring Time Fun 2010

(Casey Self with his 24 inch Trout estimated Weight 9 lbs)

Spring time for some means to put the decoys away, clean out layout blinds, hang up the calls, and start putting the extra fat on the retriever. For us at Tribal Outdoors it means time for some more fun!! I started trout fishing with my dad and brothers when I was about 6 years old on a fathers day weekend. We went to a place called Bennett Springs in South Central Missouri (a state Trout park) with some friends of our family. The first year we went we tried using crappie poles and 8 lb test line and had very limited success. But we started a family tradition that still goes on today 23 years later and with our wives and kids now involved in the Self tradition. We have since changed the weekend dates here and there but we go every summer for about 5 or 6 days. It didn't take us long to trade in our Crappie poles for ultra light set ups and 2 lb test line. After I moved to Kansas in 1999 I found that we were less then 2 hours from my favorite fishing hole along with several other Missouri Streams like Taneycomo, Roaring River, Crain Creek, and several others. Over the years I developed the love for fly fishing and later hand tying my own flies. Something that makes fishing even more rewarding and much more challenging. Now I take more then a dozen fly fishing trips a summer starting with March 1st when we do a guys fishing trip and then at least once or twice a month until Duck season starts up. May 1st, 2010 my dreams came true when we found out about a secluded stream on the Arkansas boarder while staying down in Southern Missouri at Big Cedar Lodge near Branson. My buddy Dave Franco and I were with our wives on a weekend get away and slipped out for a couple hours of fishing on Saturday afternoon. We pulled up to this beautiful stream and as I walked down to the water I spotted a lunker swimming by himself in some shallow very very clear water just before some falls. After getting my 5 wieght fly rod ready to go and tying my hand tied size 12 brown Wooly Bugger I headed down toward the big fish I had found. Dave stopped me as I was storming that way "Your not going right for that big fish are you?" Dave Said! I yelled hell yes I am and kept on walking. Dave laughed a bit and headed up toward some falls where the trout were rising up to dries. When I got down to the fish a bunch of smaller trout were surrounding him so I had to float my fly perfectly to get it in his sites. When it hit the water on the first cast, he went strait for it but a smaller fish bumped him as soon as he tried sucking it up and he vanished into the shadows. After a few minutes I decided to play around with the normal sized trout and caught a nice sized Rainbow. Right after I turned him back I noticed a big shadow creeping out, typically once you miss the chance on a lunker they escape and its almost impossible to catch them, for this fish he was on a mission to eat! Since he was coming out from further away this time, I was able to perfectly set my fly about 2 feet in front of him away from other fish. After a couple small twitches of my line I watched him creep up, make one turn and BOOM he was on. I immediately raised my rod high setting the hook and getting rid of all my casting line and went strait to the reel. This fish fought like no other fish I've ever had on, he first took off about 20 feet away, jumped and then swam strait toward me. I've never reeled and let line out so much in my life. After about 15 minutes of this fish taking me for a ride and a couple jumps I was able to land the 24 inch Rainbow with a 18 inch girth which records my biggest trout to date. I didn't have time to weigh him before I turned him back into the stream for fear of him dieing, but per girth/length calculations he would have been somewhere between 8.5 and 10.5 lbs, not bad for 2 lb line and a hand tied fly I crafted. After I had some fun with the rest of the fish in that part of the stream I ran up to fish with Dave and show him the pics. Dave and I enjoyed the rest of the time fishing next to each other on a full out fishing derby for trout. After my cheeks started hurting from smiling so much we headed back to camp to share the story with the Misses.

Tribal Outdoors and Team Fowl Pursuit Beat Down

(From left to right: Zach White, Shawn Stahl, Nick Lisic, Zach Simon, Casey Self, Ben Smolen)

It was an abnormally warm Wednesday evening after a single digit morning that we met up with Shawn Stahl and his Cameraman Brian as we headed down to South Western Kansas for a few days of filming for Fowl Pursuit 8. The phone call came in around 10pm that the birds were using this small river that Avery Prostaffer Zach White and Tribal Outdoors Pro-Teamer Zach Simon had for the morning. We met up at 530am from the hotel and headed out to carry in off some private land down to the river bed. The set was about 10 dozen GHG Sleeper Shells, 3 dozen Full Body FFDs, and about a dozen Floaters. At first light we were scrambling to get the blinds brushed and the geese where circling wanting to come drop down for a drink. We got set and started to work the birds over. Big canada geese would circle around this spot like mallards in the timber and singles and pairs would drop strait in finishing in the hole doing the ole body builder as Simon explained with the wing tips folding until they almost touched to get down without making a pass. It was a cool site to see drop in there and with picking off mostly singles and pairs and only a couple times getting bigger bunches we were able to stretch the hunt out for a longer morning of fun. About 10:30am we finished the hunt off after Stahl's Lab Trace made a 5 foot vertical jump to get up the hill side to pick up the last goose, was pretty awesome! After getting our share at the china buffet we headed about 2 hours west for some Spec and Cackler action. Continues below....

(From left to right: Zach White, Shawn Stahl, Zach Simon, Nick Lisic, Phil Freeman, Casey Self, Ben Smolen)

By the time we got into town it was too late to see the field we would be hunting the next day, but friend Phil Freeman assured us he had the X for us. When we got out in the morning to set up 3 trailer loads full of Lesser and Honker deeks we couldn't find a square inch to the field that didn't have little green piles from our feathered friends. The weather had taken a huge warm up, and with highs reaching in the 40s after single digit days earlier in the week the birds had started preferring the winter wheat. The field we set up in was a thick corn field that touched a wheat field. So we set the blinds in the corn and the majority of the deeks out in the wheat stubble. About 7:30am the sky erupted with Snows, Specks, and Cacklers. We were able to pick out 5 specks but the real treat was watching a group of about 50 to 75 cacklers that finished in the hole with another 150 waiting their turn above. When the all too famous (SHOOTEM) command came out of Stahl's blind we watched 12 cacklers fall out of the sky and soon we were only 4 birds shy to finish our limit. About 10 minutes later a group of 6 came in and we put the last 4 on the ground in time to make it for breakfast. Now after dealing with those squeakers I'm ready to get back to KC to hit some big honkers and only needing 1 trailer full of decoys, but boy was it a treat! Zach and Zach are in the stages of starting their own guide service next year so keep them in mind if you want in on some of this action as you won't be dissapointed. Contact Zach Simon at 316-258-8989 to book your hunt.

TRIBAL OUTDOORS PRO-TEAM MEMBERS WIN BOTH
DUCK AND GOOSE WORLD TITLES!!

Well I'm pleased to announce the addition of 2 more World Champion Callers to the growing list of World Champion Callers on the Tribal Outdoors Pro-Team Mike Anderson and Robbie Iverson, both of who were proud members of the team long before gaining the World titles. Mike and I have been friends for about 8 years now after meeting on the contest trail, me being the goose caller and him being a duck caller. He actually talked me into blowing in a duck contest once and after some of his words of wisdom I some how came out in second place! We have traveled around and put our nickels together to save on hotel rooms just to try and win a contest, and was the one that convinced me to join the RNT Team 2 years ago, so when I got the news Saturday November 28th after getting home from a duck hunt that he was tied for 1st place going into the 3rd round I was pretty excited to get on the internet and see how this thing would turn out! I hit the refresh button on the PC about 50 times before I saw the final scores come in and Mike was crowned the 2009 World Duck Calling Champion!! A title that will not only give him a lifetime of fame and glory, it will also give him an automatic ticket to defend his title in the 2010 World Duck Contest and a chance to compete in the Champion of Champions contest that is only held every 5 years if he wishes to do so. See more below about his win from ESPNOUTDOORS.COM and help us congratulate Mike on his great victory as it couldn't of happened to a more humble and great guy!!

STUTTGART, Ark. — A new call gave Mike Anderson the confidence he needed.

Larry TowellMike Anderson

The 29-year-old from Mankato, Minn., outperformed 66 other competitors on a crisp evening to win the World's Championship Duck Calling Contest.

"It's numbing," Anderson said as he stood on the stage at the Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce clutching the huge trophy. "It means the world ... Obviously, it's the world's trophy."

Anderson had not made it past the second round in previous World's Championship, but he went down to Butch Richenback's Rich-N-Tone call company in January and received his winning duck call.

"If you don't have the right duck call in your hands, you can be the best in the world and it might not resonate on this stage," he said. "It made me feel in my heart that I could do it."

He qualified for his third World's Championship by winning the Illinois River Regional. He has now won nine calling events and is ranked No. 14 in the Duck Calling Power Rankings.

Saturday, the first cut knocked the field down to 31, and only 11 were left for the third round. People in the crowd of several hundred yelled out the names of their favorites as they waited for the results.

Starting with local favorite J.D. Stanley as 10th runner-up, the finalists were named and moved off the stage onto the steps below. Previous champion Jim Ronquest of Hazen, Ark., was sixth runner-up, and another former champion Todd Copley of Des Moines, Iowa., was fourth runner-up.

A man in the crowd, noticing all the fidgeting of the remaining contenders said, "Oh man, there's some nervous dudes up there." With an $8,000 check and a list of prizes as well as the title that can propel them far in the business world of duck calling, it stood to reason.

Daniel Duke of Stuttgart was called as third runner-up. When Trevor Shannahan of Millington, Md., left the stage as second runner-up, the crowd let out a big cheer. Anderson and Tyler Merritt of El Paso, Ark., were the last two men standing.

When Merritt was named first runner-up, a mob scene ensued. The announcement of Anderson as 2009 World's Champion was barely audible over the buzz. Anderson was quickly surrounded by well-wishers. Richenback went up and got his moment with Anderson, whose tears flowed as he hugged his wife. Friends congratulated him, embracing him, yelling their joy for him.

"That's my boy!— he won it!" was one high-fiver's scream.

A phone was shoved into his face. A call from home.

"Thank you, dad" he said with an audible blubber. "Let me talk to Ben (his 9-year-old son). Hey, buddy, I won World's. I wish you were here."

"Dad, I have to let you go. I love you, dad. I love you, mom."

Mobs of friends still pushed to get to him. Cameras flashed to get a shot of him carrying the massive trophy with a huge duck call as its centerpiece.

"I don't know what to say. All I know is it's an awesome feeling. Each and every one of us is a big family. I wish every competitor could be up here because it's an awesome feeling being World Champion," he said.

When asked what he would do with the trophy, Anderson joked that he wanted to strap it to the hood on his 900-mile drive home. "If not, I'm going to set it up in the back seat and strap it in a seatbelt."  http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/hunting/news/story?id=4696639