Pfeifer and Pfeifer Win MTT Lindy Team of the Year
Category: npaa
Sep 23rd, 2014 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Sep 23rd, 2014 at 12:00 AM
The team of Dan Pfeifer (NPAA #916) and Rod Pfeifer finished 3rd place in the Minnesota Tournament Trail Championship (MTT) on Lake of the Woods Sept 11-12th and took home top honors for the Lindy Team of the Year. They bested over 150 teams that competed this year. The Team of the Year award is awarded to the team with the highest number of points in 5 one-day events, 1 two-day event, and the Championship. The team had 6 top 10 finishes including a 1st place finish on Lake of the Woods in June. With the Team of the Year win, they took home $3500 from Lindy Fishing Tackle, 2 Beckman nets, plaques, mugs, and jackets. They also won the top finishing father/son team award.
The team went into the championship in 2nd place for the Team of the Year title. On day 1 they brought in their 6 fish limit for 14.46 pounds landing them in 4th place and less than 2 pounds from the lead. On the second day they brought in their 6 fish, but they weren’t as big as the day before. Dan said “I guessed we had around 12 pounds and since the weights were so close I was hoping we could hold on to a top 10 finish.” They weighed 13.16 pounds giving them a 2 day total of 27.62 pounds landing them in 3rd place. “We were both excited to hear that we took 3rd, but it was even more special when we heard we had won the Team of the Year title as well.” The weights for the Championship were extremely close and the top 4 places were separated by less than a pound.
During the tournament they pulled spinners with crawler harnesses and jigged with frozen shiners, but they had their best luck trolling crankbaits. They were fishing a sand flat with many of the other tournament boats. With so much pressure in the area and weather conditions changing throughout the day, Rod stayed busy changing out crankbaits. He said “I would change out a crankbait and we would catch a few fish, but then the bite would slow down again and we would make another change.” Over the 2 days they caught fish on Berkley Flicker Shads and Flicker Minnows, Lindy River Rockers, Rapala Shad Raps, and Storm Smash Shads. In the afternoon both days they fished a small rock pile with Jolly Roger Tackle spinners and nightcrawlers hoping to find some upgrades.
The duo would like to thank the Minnesota Tournament Trail and all of their staff for another fun year of fishing. They would also like to thank Lindy Fishing Tackle, Skeeter Boats, and all of the sponsors of the MTT. The most important part of having a successful season is having quality equipment. They would like to thank Skeeter Boat Center and Lyback’s Marine for keeping the boat, motor, and electronics running smoothly all season.
Dan talked about how joining the NPAA has made him a better angler. “I attended the annual conference and learned so much. It was great to hear how the top angler’s in competitive fishing prepare for their time on the water, make the most of their prefishing, and make decisions during the tournament. We used these tips throughout our season. For years we have been using many of the products produced by the NPAA’s supporting partners, and we had success on some of the new products we tried this year as well.. Participating in the Future Angler events the NPAA sponsors are also a great way to enjoy a fun day of fishing and give back to the sport.”