The New Hampshire Bass Federation held it's final Open of the year on Sunday October 1, 2006. With another long season drawing to a close, only 33 teams braved the dreary forecast to fish Squam Lake out of Holderness NH. The weather forecasters were right on the money with this one. The morning take-off featured cloudy, raw conditions that turned into a steady, wind-blown rain by 10:00 a.m. and continued throughout the tournament hours. October and cold fronts usually spell trouble for anglers and today was no different. Many teams struggled to catch any fish at all, but with the year end points race being hotly contested, several teams fished hard right to the final gun. Still only five limits came to the scales.
Choosing to target Squam Lake's burgeoning largemouth bass population and scoring a 7 fish creel worth 22.20 lbs was the team of Ray Martineau and Mike Pierog. This Massachusetts team focused on largies exclusively and utilized spider jigs and Senkos in 5 to 10 feet of water in areas that had a combination of rock and wood. Their big fish came in at 4.07 lbs and helped them secure nearly a three-pound margin of victory. Their first place finish netted them $1140.
Employing a completely different strategy and targeting smallmouth bass, the team of John Fortier and Dave Fontane secured second place with an 8 fish limit that weighed 19.46 lbs. John and Dave employed Carolina rigged lizards and small worms on a drop-shot rig in 40-45 feet of water to catch their fish. They reported catching 25 keepers throughout the day. They earned $840 for their runner-up finish.
Bass Cat anglers Chris Bolduc and Jim Wolford utilized a similar strategy as Fortier and Fontane to take third place with an 8 fish limit of smallmouth that totaled 18.71 lbs. Chris and Jim also boated roughly 25 keepers and fished deep all day long. Their third place check was worth $530.
Finishing in fourth place with a mixed-bag limit of 4 smallies and 4 largies worth 17.57 lbs. was the team of Dave Andrews and Scott Leppanen from Back Bay Bassmasters. Dave and Scott caught 4 smallmouth on an early morning bite on a flat in 14-16 feet with top water plugs and hula-grubs. When the bite died, they switched over to largemouth and found them willing to bite in the rainy conditions. They worked rock/weed combinations in 5 to 10 feet of water and anchored their creel with the lunker of the tournament, a 4.23 lb. largemouth that grabbed a pumpkin colored Hula-grub.
Alan Denise and Scott Canelas secured 5th place with 7 smallmouth that dropped the scales to 16.03 lbs. This grizzled Federation duo targeted the smallies on rock humps that topped off in 18-20 feet of water. They too used hula-grubs in shades of green/brown to get their bites. Included in their bag was the big smallmouth of the event at 3.07 lbs.
Finishing just behind the 5th place team, but earning a few extra dollars was the team of Jim and Tyler Hanatow who won the first loser's pool and $320 with 7 fish for 16.02 lbs.
With the final tournament of the year in the books, the year-end awards were also determined at this event. Winning Team of the Year honors for the second year in a row was the team of Dave Andrews and Scott Leppanen who just beat out fellow Back Bay club-mates Jim and Tyler Hanatow who finished just 4 points behind. Tom Sinclair and Corey Roux finished in third place for the season.
Sinclair and Roux were also the highest finishing Ranger Cup participants and earned $500 for their 13th place finish in the Fall Open.
The Angler of the year for the second time in the last four years goes to Scott Leppanen of Byfield Massachusetts. Scott remained consistent all year long and sealed the title with his 4th place finish on Squam Lake. Scott will enjoy another year of fully paid entries in 2007 and will have to make room for another trophy on his mantle.
The Club Angler of the Year, actually earned at the Ossipee Lake STQT, goes to our new State Champion, Mark Anthony from the Castaways who will also enjoy a free year of entry fees in 2007 courtesy of the NHBF.
The NH Bass Federation continued its excellence in fish handling as an amazing 100% of the fish weighed in were returned alive and in good shape to Squam Lake.
As always we appreciate the support of our NHBF/TBF sponsors: Shimano, Castrol, Plano Molding Company, Poor Boyz Scent, Northeast Prop Repair, Ranger, Yamaha, Minn Kota, Quantum, Lowrance Electronics, Berkley Powerbait, Northern Bass Supply, Keep Alive, Mepps/Mister Twister, Lil Hustler Tackle, Extreme Bass, J&D Screenprinting and Embroidery, Tournament Force, Rocky Ledge, National Guard, Aqua View.
|
