ThFollowing one of the harshest winters in recent memory
and one of the latest ice-outs
in the last century, The NH BASS
Federation finally held its rescheduled
11th annual Spring Open. After
a few days of unseasonably warm
temperatures, a severe cold front
greeted the 63-team field on Sunday
May 13, 2001 for the annual Lake
Winnipesaukee event. The cold
front featured cloudy skies, cool
temperatures and 20-30 MPH NW
winds, which whipped the main
lake into a sea of white caps.
The surface water temperatures
fell 7 to 8 degrees from the day
before down to a main lake low
of 51°F.
Despite the harsh conditions,
Lake Winnipesaukee lived up to
its reputation as one of the premiere
bass fisheries in the country.
Subject to a 4 fish, 14 inch minimum
size limit, the contestants had
little trouble catching keeper
smallmouth from the many main
lake rocky islands and shoals,
but establishing a winning pattern
would have to include finding
the more elusive yet heavier largemouth
bass. With backwater temperatures
in the mid 60's, largemouth bass
were moving shallow and preparing
to spawn. The team of Dave Swett
and Mark Miner, from Berwick Maine
checked in with a 4 fish limit
of largemouth that weighed an
impressive 18.25 lbs. Included
in their catch was the tournament's
heaviest bass at 5.45 lbs. The
team reported that they worked
black and blue Hi-Tek jigs in
2-4' depths to catch nearly 20
keepers throughout the day. They
spent most of their day working
a major shallow-water cove in
the north end of the Lake. The
big fish was caught in 10 foot
of water as it prepared to bed,
but most of their catch was caught
by spotting cruising fish and
casting the jig ahead of them.
The team earned $1500 for their
day's work.
Landing in 2nd place with a total
of 15.98 lbs. and winning $810
was the husband and wife team
of Danny and Lynne Todd, from
Windham NH. This Triton sponsored
team has won a few previous Spring
Opens and is widely regarded as
one of the best smallmouth fishing
teams in New England. However
this year, the Todd's focused
in on largemouth bass and proved
equally adept at catching them.
Once again, the bait of choice
was a 3/8 oz. black and blue Hi-Tek
jig with a black/blue Plastic
Netters chunk. The team fished
one cove all day for 10 keeper
bites. Danny reported that their
main pattern involved pre-spawn
fish that were staging in 2-4
foot depths and holding on bottom
structure that featured a mix
of rock and coontail.
The New Hampshire team of Pete
Mazilli and Dean Chase brought
in a limit of bass that weighed
14.92 lbs. and included the tournament
lunker smallmouth of 3.81 lbs.
Their pattern involved working
backwater areas for spawning largemouth
bass. They targeted mostly males,
which were guarding newly fanned
nests. They cast an assortment
of jigs, grubs and tubes to these
bass. The team's big fish was
caught from under a raft in 6
feet of water on a black jig and
pig.
Finishing in 4th place with a
14.07 lb. Limit was the team of
David Duffy and Ryan Roy. This
team weighed-in a mixed bag of
2 smallmouth and 2 largemouth.
They reported that the smallmouth
were caught by casting suspending
husky jerks over shallow gravel
flats, while the largemouth were
caught by split-shotting a 4 inch
watermelon Zoom worm in shallow
water. The team caught only 6
keepers on the day, but by focusing
on heavier pre-spawn fish was
able to cash a good check.
Finishing in the 5th spot was
the team of Brian Morin and Don
Gagnon. Their limit of bass weighed
13.97 lbs. and included a beautiful
4.87 lb. largemouth. This team
targeted spawning and pre-spawn
largemouth in shallow water. They
threw white Hildebrant spinnerbaits
for cruising fish and Bass Pro
Shops tubes and grubs for bedding
bass.
Finishing in places 6th *11th
and winning money were the following
teams:
6th: Denise/Denise 13.97 lbs.
7th: Lussier/Bellivue 13.69 lbs.
8th: Smith/Smith 13.39 lbs.
9th: Peckham/Antilla 13.06 lbs.
10th: Noel/Kaprelian 12.72 lbs.
11th: Andrews/Leppanen 12.63 lbs.
The NH BASS Federation would
like to thank its sponsors for
their support: Ranger Boats, Mercury
Outboards, Penzoil Marine, Quantam/Motorguide,
AC Delco, Flowmaster, Lowrance
Electronics, Berkely Powerbait
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