History was made on Lake Champlain as the first ever TBF Eastern Divisional was recently completed during the week of September 10-17, 2007. Vermont hosted this historic event out of the Malletts Bay Ramp in Colchester. Six TBF States representing the Eastern Division sent their top 12-member teams to compete for over $7000 in cash and prizes and each state would also send their top two anglers to the $100,000 TBF National Championship. The NH team was solid, having qualified the previous September on the Northern end of Lake Champlain. The team descended on the Champlain valley late on Sunday night, most having just fished the NHBF STQT on Ossipee Lake. This would limit the team to two practice days and force the anglers to find viable patterns quickly for this event.
Monday and Tuesday practice days would feature mostly sunny and calm conditions as the team paired up and hit the big water looking for groups of fish. Practice results were cautiously favorable as most of the guys got on some fish and got comfortable again on Lake Champlain. The Vermont Federation and TBF joined forces and hosted an excellent kick-off banquet and the team met at the pairings briefing and went over game plans for the first competition day. Big changes were in the air.
Wednesday, September 13 dawned cloudy and windy with rain forecast for the afternoon. Strong South winds in the 15-20 MPH range whipped up the Lake and forced many anglers to abandon their primary areas. Those on deep fish struggled with the cloud cover and 3 to 4 foot waves. The shallow bite had yet to develop with water temperatures still in the upper 60's. The weights were way off across the board at the afternoon weigh-in. New Hampshire's team held it together and closed the day in 2nd place, just 7 pounds behind the Vermont Federation. Dave Andrews led the way with a 15-9 limit of largemouth bass which left him in 2nd place overall. Dave LeBlanc (15-2) and Scott Parker (14-9) also fished their way into the top 10.
The 72-angler field took a beating on Day 1, and Thursday's weather was supposed to be even worse. Tournament Director Donnie Keeton made the call to limit the tournament waters to inner and outer Mallett's Bay for Day 2. Strong South winds howled across the Lake and piled up 3 footers in the outer bay. Clouds and rain dominated the weather throughout the day. Many NH anglers had not ever fished in Mallett's Bay before, but again the team held it together and made the best of the situation. Dave Andrews again paced the NH team with a 13-12 mixed bag limit. Martin Look checked in with 13-1 and jumped into the top 10 overall. Dave LeBlanc and Scott Parker both brought solid 10 lb bags to the scales as New Hampshire held onto second place, but fell nearly 27 pounds behind the host Vermont team.
The anglers awoke to good news on Friday's final competition day. The storm had finally pushed through and the competitors would have full access to the Lake and favorable running conditions. Warm, cloudy conditions gave way to partially sunny skies and light winds in the afternoon. The bite picked up and most of the NH team posted their best weights of the tournament. Brian Morin (14-8) and Vic Walker (14-4) checked in with solid limits. Martin Look whacked a 15-7 limit of smallmouth bass and jumped into second place on the NH team and sixth place overall with a three-day total of 38-8. NHBF Team Captain Dave Andrews brought a 16-9 limit of bass to the scale to win the overall Championship with a three-day total of 45-14. Andrews targeted smallmouth exclusively on Day 3 and caught his fish on 1 oz. Gold Lil' Hustler spinnerbaits and black Lucky Craft Sammy's. Dave used 14 Gamma Co-polymer line for both his spinnerbait and topwater presentations. The thin diameter of the Gamma #14 allowed for extra long casts which where crucial to getting bites in the ultra-clear water. Dave (Pro division) and Martin (Co-angler division) qualified for the TBF National Championship, which will be held in April on Lake Wylie in Charlotte North Carolina.
The New Hampshire Team finished with their best day, weight-wise, and held onto second place overall. Vermont cruised to victory by nearly 32 lbs. over NH, with Massachusetts finishing a distant third. The New Hampshire team earned $1700 for their second place finish. Congratulations to all of the New Hampshire Team for competing in this momentous event. Good things are in the future for the TBF and NHBF partnership. The New Hampshire Team would like to thank it sponsors for this Championship event. Ranger Boats for providing team uniforms, Minn Kota for helping with product and clothing, J and D Embroidery, Berkley, Lowrance, Quantum, Castrol and Lil' Hustler for generously helping the team with it's tackle needs.
Place |
State |
Total fish |
lbs-oz |
1 |
Vermont |
147 |
362-00 |
2 |
New Hampshire |
135 |
325-09 |
3 |
Massachusetts |
124 |
294-11 |
4 |
Maine |
114 |
272-00 |
5 |
Connecticut |
97 |
221-07 |
6 |
Rhode Island |
101 |
209-08 |
Place |
Angler |
City/State |
Total Fish |
lbs-oz |
1 |
Dave Andrews |
Bolton, MA |
15 |
45-14 |
2 |
Martin Look |
Newbury Port, NH |
15 |
38-08 |
3 |
David LaBlanc |
Springfield, NH |
14 |
36-14 |
4 |
Scott Parker |
Londonderry, NH |
15 |
35-12 |
5 |
Vic Walker |
Mount Vernon, NH |
15 |
35-01 |
6 |
Brian Morin |
Manchester, NH |
13 |
30-10 |
7 |
Phil Breen |
Dracut, MA |
13 |
28-00 |
8 |
Rob Frye |
Sandown, NH |
11 |
25-12 |
9 |
Brian Lytle |
Dover, NH |
8 |
17-01 |
10 |
Mark Anthony |
Wolfeboro Falls, NH |
8 |
16-08 |
11 |
Al Smith |
Litchifield, NH |
7 |
11-00 |
12 |
Mark Goodniss |
Westfield, MA |
1 |
4-09 |
|
