 Scott Leppanen, know to most as just plain "Lepp" currently resides in Byfield, Massachusetts, but he was born in California and grew up in Nashua, New Hampshire where he discovered fishing at an early age. At the age of twelve, he joined the New Hampshire Hawg Hunter's youth club and got his first taste of competitive fishing. When he turned 16, he graduated into the Hawg Hunter's adult club and presently, at age 33, is still in the NHBF with the Back Bay Bassmasters. Scott has won many tournaments along the way and has made five NH B.A.S.S. Federation State Teams. He placed in the top 10 overall on the New Hampshire team that placed third at the 1998 Regionals on Lake Winnipesaukee. With all his tournament accomplishments, Scott still claims that his favorite moment in fishing came at age 14, when standing on shore at a local pond he caught an 8 lb. 10 oz. Largemouth Bass, his largest to date. Incidentally, his biggest smallmouth was a 5 lb. 1 oz. fish taken from Lake Ossipee, which took Federation Smallmouth Lunker of the Year in 2002.
Scott stayed active in the NHBF even through his college years where he earned a BS in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of New Hampshire and then a MS in Pharmacology and Bioinformatics from Northeastern University. He is presently employed as a Genetic Research Scientist at Affymetrix in Bedford, Massachusetts. He has been married to wife Karin for five years and has no children. Scott's science background often comes in handy in tournaments as he is applies what he has learned to fish behavior, activity levels, and natural trends in nature. He takes copious notes and keeps a log whenever he is on the water.
When not competing in tournaments, Scott enjoys chasing saltwater species such as Stripers, Cod and Tuna up and down the New England coastline. He owns a 23-foot Key West Center Console and prefers a light tackle approach. Other interests include lure design and exotic travel. Scott lists Lake Champlain and Lake Ossipee as his favorite bodies of water. He is well-known as a smallmouth bass expert and prefers power fishing with jerkbaits and spinnerbaits over more finesse approaches. His favorite technique is rippin' a hand-tuned Gold Bomber Long-A along sharp break-lines for active smallmouth bass.
Scott is thrilled to be a part of the 2003 New Hampshire B.A.S.S. Federation State Team and is looking forward to competing at B.A.S.S. Regionals with his teammates on Lake Champlain in September.
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