TRENTON, Mich. —
Cade Laufenberg
skipped football
camp to fish in a
tournament this
week. The
17-year-old high
school senior
expected to take a
lot of heat from his
buddies when he got
home to Stoddard,
Wis.
Instead, Laufenberg
will get a hearty
round of
congratulations for
winning the
Co-angler Division
of the Stren Series
Central Division
tournament on the
Detroit River. He
did it with a
three-day weight of
45 pounds, 4 ounces
and soon will take
delivery of a new
Ranger 177TR , which
should qualify as
one of the hotter
rides among his
fishing peers in the
La Crosse, Wis.,
area.
“I’m going to go
from sneak-floating
on the river to
fishing the BFLs as
a boater,” said
Laufenberg, whose
current boat is much
older, smaller and
slower. “It’s got a
leak from a stump I
hit a couple times.”
Laufenberg started
the tournament with
a day-one limit
weighing 18 pounds,
12 ounces, which had
him in third place.
On day two he pulled
11-3 and slipped to
fifth.
But on day three the
co-anglers in front
of him all
struggled.
First-place John
Leader weighed two
fish at 3-10 and
finished seventh.
Second-place Erik
Jacques weighed two
fish at 8-1 and
finished fifth.
Third-place David
Matual weighed five
fish at 12-7 to
maintain third,
while fourth-place
Ron Norris brought
in four fish at 10-6
and ended up sixth.
The door was open
for Laufenberg, and
he went through it
big time, weighing a
five-fish limit at
15-5 to take over
the top spot when it
mattered most. But
he didn’t have the
heaviest sack of the
day among
co-anglers. That
distinction went to
Kenny Woods of
Hazard, Ky., who had
15-7.
Behind
every successful
young fisherman are
the people who got
him started and
excited about the
sport. For
Laufenberg, those
people include, in
order, his father,
who first took him
fishing; Bill Dance,
whose TV shows he
watched; two
friends, who took
him fishing; and the
Internet. He joined
a local junior
fishing club and has
moved steadily up
the tournament
ladder, from five
BFL tournaments to
this, his first
Stren Series
tournament.
“Knowing I can
compete with 163
other anglers, who
are from five to 30
years older than me,
definitely gets me
pumped,” Laufenberg
said. “Everyone has
that dream of going
pro, and hopefully
one day I can make
it. I have the
drive. I’m willing
to do whatever it
takes to get there.”
That new Ranger will
certainly help.
