The New Hampshire B.A.S.S. Federation held its State Championship on Lake Cobbosseecontee in Winthrop Maine on September 11 and 12, 2004. One hundred and forty seven anglers competed in this event for a birth on the State Team and the opportunity to fish the Eastern Division Championship in 2005. This year's event featured a new lake in a new state. The host sight for the Championship was Lakeside Resort and it proved to be an outstanding venue for this event. Many of the competitors had been pre-fishing for weeks prior to the start of competition and reports of lunker largemouth and heavy bags were not hard to find. The first competition day featured classic post-front conditions; bluebird skies, no wind and high pressure. This coupled with rapidly falling water levels due to an annual drawdown and the beginning of the fall transition period led to pretty tough fishing for most anglers.
As the boats began to check in for the afternoon weigh-in, it was clear that the big bags that Cobbee is known for would not come to pass on this day. Still, there were several nice Largemouth weighed in and not surprisingly former State Champion Scott Parker had the biggest limit of the first day. Parker, from Manchester Bass Club, posted a five fish limit that weighed 15.97 pounds. Jason O'Connell used a 4.85 lb. kicker to anchor his second place weight of 15.36 lbs. Mike Lytle held down third place with 15.13 lbs. including the day one Lunker of 6.46 lbs. The cut weight after day one was 11.66 lbs.
Sunday, day two dawned clear and windless and temperatures would eventually climb into the high seventies with a light breeze. The bite on day two was better and the weights reflected that trend. Checking in early with another solid limit was Scott Parker who posted a 13.89 lb. catch to give him nearly 30 pounds for the event. He would sweat out a major push by Granite State's Dave Debellis who brought in the largest limit of the tournament at 16.87 lbs., to capture his third State Championship Title and earn his seventh trip to Regionals. Parker fished shallow cover featuring grass and wood in 1 to 5 foot depths to catch approximately 15 keepers each day. He fished exclusively with a black-red flake Lake Fork Tackle Tube on 65 lb. Test Spiderwire. He used a run and gun pattern and targeted isolated pieces of cover.
Dave Debellis grabbed second place with a total weight of 28.78 lbs. Debellis worked two different crankbaits to make his first ever State Team. He fished white perch colored Lucky Craft baits and Storm Wiggle Warts over grass flats in 10 to 12 feet of water. He caught all largemouth bass and boated 15-20 keepers each day.
Larry Bornheimer placed third with a total weight of 26.94 lbs. Larry had consistent creels of 12.75 and 14.19 pounds that he enticed by pitching black-blue Yamamoto Senkos and pumpkin-candy Hi-Tek jigs to shallow docks and wood cover. This is the first State Team for Bornheimer who fishes with the Bass Cullers.
Chris Jean placed forth overall with a mixed bag of bass that totaled 26.69 lbs. Jean fished Yamamoto watermelon colored Hula Grubs on a 3/8 oz. Head to catch most of his bass. He worked break-lines with rock/weed combinations in 20-25 feet of water to catch most of his fish. The biggest fish of the tournament, a 7.10 lb largemouth bass, anchored Jean's creel. This will be Jean's first trip to the Regional Championship.
Nate Tsao from Newburyport Massachusetts and the Bubba Bassin Club took fifth place and earned his first ever birth onto the State Team. He flipped and pitched brown colored Hi-Tek jigs to rock and weed combos in 6 to 8 foot depths to catch a total of 24.95 lbs.
Steve Hosken grabbed the final boater spot on the State Team with a two-day total of 24.75 lbs. He caught mostly largemouth bass and targeted shoreline rock/weed combinations in 6 to 10 feet of water. He fished a black Yamamoto Hula Grub and boated 6 to 8 keepers each day. This will be Hosken's first trip to the Regional Championship.
Bass Cullers angler and Federation Secretary Jack Henry placed seventh and earned his first trip to the Regional Championship by virtue of a big day two limit of 15.19 lbs. His total weight for both days pushed the scales to 24.51 lbs. and included a 5.32 lb. Largemouth on day two. Henry stayed shallow all tournament and fished a ¼ oz. green pumpkin Hi-Tek jig along weed lines that featured wood cover.
Larry Shirk was the model of consistency as he qualified for his third State Team in the number 8 slot. The Coastal Six angler weighed exactly 11.66 lbs. each day of the tournament. He fished green pumpkin Yamamoto Senkos and Yum Willy Hawg-tails on a split shot rig to catch his bass from scattered grass lines and shoreline cover in 4 to 8 foot depths.
Another first time qualifier took the ninth spot on the State Team. Karl Kingbolts worked shallow weed cover for a two-day total of 23.08 lbs. Most of his fish came in the afternoons by flipping' a green pumpkin Hi-Tek jig and a black Yamamoto Senkos to shoreline cover. His day two bag was anchored by a beautiful 4.01 small mouth bass.
Fred Anderson placed 10th and qualified for his fourth State Team. Anderson had a big second day and finished with 22.79 lbs. He caught most of his fish from shallow weed/rock cover by pitching a black-neon Strike King Tube. He also caught a few keepers on a Mann's Baby Minus One Crank bait.
Finishing in 11th place and earning a birth onto his first state team was Bass Fanatics angler Mike Lytle. Lytle had a monster bag on day one that weighed 15.13 lbs and contained the day one lunker of 6.46 lb. That fish and most of his others came on a red-shad Yamamoto Senkos. Lytle also caught fish early in the morning on a top water plug. All of his fish came from shallow, shoreline cover. Mike wanted to thank Roger Urban ski for the use of boat during the Fish-off.
Mark Ham el, from Sabena Bass Anglers got the 12th spot on the State Team. He had a total weight of 22.62 lbs. and qualified for his third Regional Championship. He worked various colors of Yamamoto Hula Grubs in weed/rock cover in 8 to 10 feet of water. When the wind finally came up late in the afternoon on day two he picked up a purple-gold Rocky Ledge spinner bait and caught a few key fish.
Alan Denise qualified as the alternate by catching 22.49 lbs. The Wind ham Hill Angler earned his ninth trip to Regionals by fishing deep humps with a Yamamoto Hula Grub. His humps featured both rock and weed and were 20-25 feet on top. He caught both largemouth and small mouth bass.
Day one Lunker Small mouth was caught by Jim Flanders and weighed 3.30 lbs. Mike Lytle had the Lunker Largemouth at 6.46 lbs. The big fish of day two belonged to Chris Jean with a 7.10 lb. Largemouth Bass. Hard working Tournament Director Bob Hurst captured the lunker Sallie at 4.21 lbs.
The New Hampshire B.A.S.S. Federation utilized several tanks filled with chemicals and ice in the weigh-in line to minimize stress on the fish. Also, several Federation members including Dave Duffy, Ryan Roy, Nate Tsao, and Scott Lebanon aided with fizzing bass prior to release. All of this added up to a very successful release program. A total of 951 bass were caught and only 9 fish were not released healthy back into Lake Cobbosseecontee.
The NH Federation is very grateful to the state of Maine for welcoming us to sample some of their great fishing opportunities. We would also like to thank Andy and Shoetree Weiss at Lakeside Motel and Cabins for hosting this Championship event. Everything ran very smoothly and the facility was excellent. Big thanks also go out to The Bass Cullers for hosting the event, and Tournament Director Bob Hurst.
As always we appreciate the support of our Federation sponsors: Penn Marine, Plano Molding Company, Poor Boy Scent, Red bull, Sweeter, Ranger, Yamaha, Quantum/Motor guide, Lawrence Electronics, Flow master, Beckley Power bait, Cit go, Northern BASS Supply, Keep Alive, Maps/Mister Twister, Lucky Craft, Luther Jens on, Stealth Stick, Bylaws, Yamamoto Custom Baits, Ultimate Lure Saver, Hotspots Outfitters, Hog Sticker, Lila Hustler Tackle, Extreme Bass, Extreme Marine, Stealth Charging Systems, Netter Inc, JD Screen printing and Embroidery, Cull-m-Rite, Rocky Ledge, Havoc Lures.
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