The New Hampshire BASS Federation continues its phenomenal
growth as a
record crowd of 63 teams gathered to wrap up the Tournament
season on Sunday
October 6, 2002. Sarge's Landing on Lake Winnisquam in Belmont
NH was the
launch facility for the NH BASS Federation Pennzoil-Marine Fall
Open. Lake
Winnisquam is a new site for the NH BASS Federation and certainly
lived up
to its reputation as a tough autumn fishery. Only one eight
fish limit was
brought to the scales, but what a limit it was! The weather
may have been
partly responsible for the tough bite, as a series of classic
New England
cold fronts passed through the Lakes Region prior to the tournament
leaving
Sunday with bluebird skies, high pressure and no wind. Many
teams reported
seeing lots of smallmouth and largemouth bass cruising the shallows
with
absolutely no interest in feeding. Air temps went into the mid
sixties
following a very cool start, and water temps also ranged in
the 64 to 66 F
range. It was a frustrating day of fishing for most.
Although the fishing was tough, there were many quality fish
brought to the
scales during the weigh in. Clearly one team out-shined all
the rest as
they brought the only limit of the day to check in. The team
of Chad and
Alan Barcomb finished the day with 8 beautiful smallmouth bass
that
stretched the scales to 24.63 lbs. Their big fish weighed 3.79
lbs. but
most of their catch was over 3 lbs. The father and son team
reported
catching only 8 fish on the day, and claimed they picked up
their last fish
with only 20 minutes remaining in the day. They worked a 200-yard
stretch
of shoreline for an all day bite. The team fished Zara Spooks
over 20-22
feet of scattered grass and rock to catch their monster bag.
They collected
$1300 for first place including a ton of oil from Pennzoil-Marine
and 2 paid
slots for next year's State Qualifying Tournament.
Finishing a distant second with 6 fish weighing 16.88 lbs. was
the team of
Sean Curtis and Kevin Mullaney. This team fished deep cabbage
lines in
10-12 feet to catch most of their fish. They had a mixed bag
of three
smallies and three largemouth. They relied mostly on 5 inch
green pumpkin
colored Yamamoto Senkos. They did catch a fish on a spinnerbait
when a
slight breeze temporarily came up. The team reported fishing
extremely
slowly and enjoyed an all day bite. They collected $800 and
a raft of
Pennzoil-Marine products for their second place finish.
Joe Lucarelli and Travis Williams teamed up to take third place
with 5
smallies that weighed 14.84 lbs. Joe claimed that they got 2
big fish right
off the bat on a 1/2 oz. Yamamoto green pumpkin Hula Grub
in 25 feet of water.
After the hot start, things got tough and the team had to slow
down and work
5 inch green pumpkin Yamamoto Senkos over 10 foot breaklines
to catch the
remainder of their fish. Joe and Travis received $640 in cash
for their
efforts as well as product from Pennzoil-Marine.
Fourth place went to Skeeter Pro Scott Smith and his partner
Pat Pilcher.
The team worked quarter ounce Hi-Tek Jigs coupled with green
pumpkin
Yamamoto double tails through scattered grass in 15 feet of
water to catch
most of their 5 fish, which tipped the scales at 11.55 lbs.
Scott did relay
their big fish grabbed a top-water Sammy first thing in the
morning.
Skeeter Pro Scott Parker and Triton Pro Scott Canelas teamed
up to take
fifth place with 6 fish for 10.84 lbs. Team Scott fished sand
bar drops in
20-22 feet with 1/2 oz. green pumpkin Arkie Spider Jigs
to catch most of their
fish. Late in the afternoon, the team switched to sight fishing
watermelon
tubes along shallow flats to catch cruising smallmouth bass.
Congratulations to Parker and Canelas as they also finished
the year in
first place in the point standings and thus are named NH BASS
Federation
Team of the Year.
Lunker Largemouth went to Eric Bouldin and Dave Debalis for
their 3.75 lb.
fish. The fish was caught in cabbage over 12 feet of water on
a cinnamon
colored Yamamoto Hula Grub. The team of Giraurd and Germain
who boated a
4.21 lb. smallmouth on a Yamamoto Senko captured lunker smallmouth.
Both
teams received $315 for their big fish.
Finishing in sixth through tenth place and receiving paychecks
are the
following teams:
6th Place: Girourd/Germain 10.52 lbs.
7th Place: Rivera/Lamb 10.24 lbs.
8th Place: Todd/Todd 9.92 lbs.
9th Place: Andrews/Leppanen 9.91 lbs.
10th Place: Vierzen/Orrok 9.80 lbs.
The 2002 Pennzoil-Marine Fall Open was a tremendous success
as a total of
107 fish were weighed in for a total weight of 243.5 lbs. That
is an
impressive 2.28 lb. average. Only one dead fish was checked
in for an
equally impressive 99 % survival rate for tournament caught
fish. The New
Hampshire BASS Federation would like to thank the Tournament
headquarters
(Sarge's), and all the State Team members and volunteers who
helped run this
event.
Special thanks go out to our name sponsor Pennzoil-Marine and
all of our
sponsors: Red Bull, The Alliance (Triton Boats/Mercury Outboards,
Skeeter
Boats/Yamaha Outboards), Strike On!, Marine, Quantam/Motorguide,
Lowrance
Electronics, Flowmaster, Berkley Powerbait, Citgo, Chevy, Kumho
Tires, Eagle
Claw, Armstrong Tools, Northern BASS Supply, Keep Alive, Lucky
Strike,
Mepps-Mister Twister.
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