Paintball and Panfish by slabsrus

As I woke Sunday at five in the morning, I can honestly say that a couple of years ago I would never have imagined getting up so early just to take a group of boys to a paintball tournament. But today I can say I am so glad that I do, and I actually look forward to our monthly trip to Fremont, Michigan to participate in the Great Lakes Series paintball. The only thing different this week was that I was taking two teams from Beaverton, and my parents and wife, along with one of our regular players family, all showed up to support the Beaverton Blaze paintball teams.



All six players from Beaverton played hard and each scored at least one kill throughout the day with Bryan Krajenka leading the way with nine kills and a flag pull. Garrett Ramer made a great move in the final game to capture the flag for 15 points to go along with points he scored earlier in the tournament for a kill on one of the opponents. Greg Massaro was a key player on the snake side and was able to score a couple kills along with Greg Willette and Josiah Hunt each scoring kills and providing great assistance to their teams. Josh Coffey was once again one of the longest survivors in each game and also scored couple kills working the Doritos side of the field.

Once again the boys all played their hardest and showed improvements in many aspects of the game. Beaverton Blaze finished in 6^th place for the day and hold onto 3^rd place for the season with just two events left in the series. Beaverton Blaze 2 finished in ninth and did great when you consider they have never played together before.

When we arrived back in Beaverton, with a little encouragement from my wife pointing out that there was still a couple hours of daylight, I decided to grab the kayak and hit the water for some crappie and bluegill fishing.



I quickly paddled to one of my favorite bays and was into fish in no time. The fall bite was in full swing and fish were on my hooks one after another. Just about every cast was taken by a good crappie in the 10 – 11 inch range or a bluegill in the 7 – 9 inch size. There was just a slight breeze pushing me around the bay and helping me cover as much water as possible in the short time I had before dark set in. However, I never made it until dark because my bucket was filling up fast.

As I prepared to leave the lake I remembered my wife saying not to bring home any fish to stink up her kitchen that evening. So I paddled over near a pontoon with three older folks who I had noticed not having much luck. When I asked them if they wanted a few fish to take home they were more than happy to accept and were very appreciative.

There could not have been a better way to end a day that I thought could not have gotten any better.