The New Hampshire Bass Federation (TBF) held it's annual Spring Open on Sunday, April 27, 2008. As it has for the last 20-something years, the NHBF held this Spring rite of passage on Lake Winnipesaukee, but for the first time in our long history, we utilized the launch facility at Center Harbor on the North end of the lake for this event. The Center Harbor Inn was the host housing facility and we used their beach area for our take-off and weigh in. Considering the high price of gas and the overall stagnant economy, we were pleased to see a big crowd of winter-weary anglers assemble for this first event of the 2008 season. Anglers came from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont and a total of fifty teams made up the field.
The weather was a bit dreary in the morning and official Ice Out on the big lake took place only four days prior to the Sunday event. A steady rain fell all morning and temperatures held in the low 50's throughout the day. Water temperatures were in the 41 to 44 degree range on the main lake and as high as 60 degrees in certain backwaters. The limit for the tournament was four fish at 12 inches and as usual the contestants would have to decide whether to go brown or go green. The morning take-off went seamlessly and the launch site at Center Harbor appeared to be perfect for our needs.
The steady rain would taper to drizzle and then to just clouds throughout the day. The anglers spilled back into Center Harbor at 3:00 p.m. for the afternoon weigh-in. New Tournament Director and veteran NHBF angler Jim Hanatow, along with his son Tyler, weighed in first and set the pace with a terrific limit of smallmouth bass that stretched the scales to 13.49 lbs. Anchoring their catch was a beautiful 4.47 lb. bronzeback. It appeared for a while that this smallmouth limit might hold up, but defending Spring Open Champion Scott Canelas would have something to say about this. Without his long-time partner Alan Denise who was in North Carolina fishing the TBF National Championship, he partnered with Mike McNamara and together they brought a four fish limit of largemouth bass to the scales that totaled 14.43 lbs. and included a 5.19 lb. kicker fish.
Many of the biggest names in New Hampshire tournament fishing were still to weigh-in, but none would challenge Canelas and McNamara. Their largemouth limit held up and it made them a cool $1550. Scott reported targeting largemouth bass exclusively and utilizing the whole lake with a run and gun strategy to get the victory. Docks and laydowns were this teams primary targets and a black and blue jig/pig caught all of their keeper fish.
Finishing in second place was the Dover Marine/Nitro team of Tod Alberto and Mike Ring. Tod and Mike focused on smallmouth bass early and caught a limit without trouble, but wound up culling all of the smallies when they discovered a solid largemouth bite that resulted in a four fish limit worth 13.59 lbs. Anchoring their catch was a nice largie that weighed 4.90 lbs. Their largemouth pattern centered on rock/wood combinations and they utilized a pumpkin colored jig and pig to entice the pre-spawn bass. Their runner up finish netted them a check for $1130.
The Back Bay Bassmaster team of Jim and Tyler Hanatow hung onto third place with their 13.49 lb. limit of smallmouth bass. Jim and Tyler caught a limit early on Silver Buddies in 25 feet of water. They culled these fish later in the day while throwing green pumpkin tubes to rocky drop-offs for their weigh-in fish. Team Hanatow added $800 to their checking account with the third place finish.
Fourth place went to the Manchester Bass Club team of Rob Morin and Brian Dexter. This team checked in with a nice limit of four smallmouth bass that totaled 13.27 lbs. Morin and Dexter reportedly threw ¾ oz. Silver Buddies along breaklines in 15 to 18 feet of water to catch their fish. They caught keepers all day long and boated roughly 20 fish on the day. Their fourth place finish was worth $565.
Finishing in fifth place was the team of Jason Faro and Dan Morin. Jason and Dan caught a small limit of smallmouth bass early on Silver Buddies, but decided they would need a big bite to get a check, so they switched over to targeting largies in the afternoon. The decision proved to be a good one as a beautiful 6.79 lb. largemouth bass grabbed Jason's Lucky Craft Jerkbait. The big fish rocketed them into the top five and also secured them lunker of the tournament. Faro and Morin weighed 13.25 lbs.
The NHBF paid out 7 spots and the following teams finished in the money:
6th place: Dave Andrews/Scott Leppanen - 12.59 lbs.
7th place: Danny Peckham/Mike Costa - 12.58 lbs.
Lunker smallmouth for the event went to the team of Jim and Tyler Hanatow with their 4.47 lb. beauty and of course the team of Jason Faro and Dan Morin won the prize for lunker largemouth with their 6.79 lb. beast. Each team received $255 in lunker money.
There was a total of 159 bass that were weighed in during the Spring Open and all were released alive back into the deep water of Center Harbor. There are a lot of people who really helped make this event work and they need to be recognized. First off, the folks at the Center Harbor Inn were fantastic to deal with and are anxious to work with NHBF again. In fact, they offered a free stay if the winning team at the 2009 Spring Open stays at the Inn. Also, big thanks to Northern Bass Supply owner Sandy Oja for running the Minn Kota Trolling Motor Raffle. Also thanks to Jean Columbe, Mark Miner and Dave Tsao for working the weigh-in. Thanks also to Rob O'Brian at Keepsake Quilting in Center Harbor for providing us overflow trailer parking. Thanks also goes out to Wayne Frost for coordinating with the town of Center Harbor and the NHBF. The 2008 NHBF State Team did an excellent job providing manpower throughout the event.
The NHBF ran a raffle for a brand new 80# Minn Kota Maxim trolling motor. Following the event, the lucky winner was selected. The winner was Danny Peckham from the Manadnock Valley Bassmasters. Incidentally, there were 37 Minn Kota trolling motors in use out of the 50 participating boats. The team of Tom Sinclair and Cory Roux won $500 for finishing highest in the Ranger Cup Program.
The NHBF wishes to also thank it's National and Local sponsors. Without their help, our organization would cease to exist: Ranger Boats, Chevy, Yamaha, Evinrude, Walmart, Solar Bat, Lowrance, Berkley, Castrol, National Guard, Minn Kota, Kittery Trading Post, Granite State Glass and Lil' Hustler Tackle.
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