The New Hampshire B.A.S.S. Federation held its annual Spring Open on Sunday April 25, 2004 out of Ames Farm on Lake Winnipesaukee. A record crowd of 77 teams showed up to kickoff another tournament season at what has become one of the favorite tournaments for the entire year. The ice officially left the big lake 5 days before, but water temps had already rose into the low 50's in the back waters while the main lake stayed a chilly 40-42 F. Following big winds and huge waves on Saturday, the competitors arrived on Sunday morning to find a slight breeze with small chops on the lake and air temperatures in the mid 40's. The wind would die off all together in mid-morning and cloudy skies prevailed. Prior to the start of competition, the NHBF held a moment of silence for Vermont's Ray Sprano who died in his sleep while attending the B.A.S.S. Federation National Championship earlier in the week.
Fishing was good to excellent for most of the field with many 4 fish limits being brought to the scales, but kicker fish were hard to come by and many teams had weights in the 11 lb. range. Smallmouth bass, as usual, dominated the event and figured heavily in the winners bags. Picking up where they left off in 2003 was the Father and Son Team of Jim and Tyler Hanatow from Alstead NH. The Team of the Year for last season brought 4 smallies to the scales that weighed 13.34 lbs. and gave them a close victory. Jim claimed that the pair started on largemouth bass in a backwater cove and using a black jig and pig quickly secured a 10 lb. limit, then proceeded to cull all of these fish by targeting smallmouth bass that were holding on sharp main lake breaklines. They used Bass Pro Shops Tender Tubes and Silver Buddies to boat their quality fish. The pair collected $1610 in cash, another $200 in paid entry fees to the upcoming STQT, plus a $500 Lowrance unit complete with free installation from Irwin Marine for their efforts.
The second place team of Bill Vierzen and Bill Kuslaka also brought in a straight smallmouth limit that weighed 13.24 lbs. This team focused on deep humps and breaklines and found cooperative fish in most places they fished. They caught roughly 50 keepers on the day, mainly with ¾ oz. Silver Buddies and Norman DD22 crankbaits. Vierzen and Kuslaka cashed a check for $1120 and also received a $250 Gift Certificate courtesy of Irwin Marine (Hudson NH).
The Windham Hill Bassmasters team of Danny and Lynne Todd weighed in 4 smallmouth bass for a total weight of 12.98 lbs. to finish in 3rd place. This veteran husband and wife team struggled to find keeper bites, but by targeting bigger fish was able to cash a nice check. They had a morning bite and boated a quick limit then went searching for a kicker largemouth. They reported seeing a few nice largemouth cruising the shallows but were not able to entice them into striking. The smallies that they caught came from 15-20 feet of water along sand breaklines and were caught using Silver Buddies. Danny and Lynne received 3rd place money totaling $980 and they also received a $100 gift certificate courtesy of Irwin Marine.
The 4th place team was also a husband and wife duo. Jon and Cindy Rogers of Loudon NH weighed in a mixed bag of fish that totaled 12.90 lbs. Their limit included the tournament lunker, a beautiful (and valuable) 5.14 lb. largemouth bass. The team caught all of their fish in one spot that featured a mix of rock and weed and 6 to 8 feet of water. Their fish came quickly in the morning, then the bite got tough. Jigs and Silver Buddies were their weapons of choice.
Finishing in 5th place with a total weight of 12.82 lbs. was the team of Smith and Leslie. This team worked (you guessed it) Silver Buddies in 18-20 feet of water along a sand channel and caught roughly 20 keeper-sized smallmouth bass on the day. They collected $630 for their efforts.
Lunker largemouth went to the team of Jon and Cindy Rogers from Honky Tonk who boated a 5.14 lb. fish.
Lunker smallmouth went to the Honky Tonk team of Kurt Damery and Joe Oslizlo who weighed a 4.20 lb. fish that fell victim to a ½ oz. Silver Buddy.
With a field of 77 boats, the NH B.A.S.S. Federation paid out 11 spots and the following teams finished in the money:
6th Place: Manchester/Hasken: 12.79 lbs.
7th Place: Fales/Hume: 12.66 lbs.
8th Place: Sinclair/Roux: 12.38 lbs.
9th Place: Damery/Oslizlo: 12.30 lbs.
10th Place: Frye/Acox: 12.30 lbs.
11th Place: Carr/Carr: 12.24 lbs.
The tournament staff including new Tournament Director Bob Hurst had another amazing performance, with help from the cool water and good care from the anglers, the release boats returned 100% of the fish back into Lake Winnipesaukee alive and well.
Overall, the 2004 NH Federation Irwin Marine Spring Open was a tremendous success. Special thanks go out to our main sponsor Irwin Marine In Hudson NH, Poor Boyz Inc, and It's a Wrap and also to all of our sponsors for their continued support: Red Bull, The Alliance (Triton Boats/Mercury Outboards, Skeeter Boats/Yamaha Outboards), Pennzoil Marine, Quantum/Motorguide, Lowrance Electronics, Flowmaster, Berkley Powerbait, Citgo, Northern BASS Supply, Keep Alive, Mepps/Mister Twister, Lucky Craft, Luhr Jenson, Stealth Stik, Plano Molding Company, Zylas, Yamamoto Custom Baits, Ultimate Lure Saver, Hotspots Outfitters, Hog Sticker, Lil Hustler Tackle, Extreme Bass, Xtreme Marine, Stealth Charging Systems, Netters Inc, J&D Screenprinting and Embroidery, Cull-m-Rite, Rocky Ledge, Havoc Lures.
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