(Jun. 20, 2012 - Calcium, NY)... This past Sunday the NY BASS Chapter Federation (NYBCF) hit the waters of Cayuga Lake to start their 2012 season where 204 anglers assembled for their share of the $22,650 prize money. During tournament registration anglers reported catching bass in all three phases, pre-spawn, spawn and post spawn finding both large and smallmouth bass in relatively shallow water.
The weekend set up nicely with summer air temperatures in the 80s and water temperatures around 63 in the morning warming to 68 by the last afternoon. Cayuga Lake has certainly seen its share of tournaments and this weekend was no exception. Along with the NYBCF anglers from the Pennsylvania Bass Federation and two local bass clubs along with participants of the Chamber of Commerce bass derby all fished the annual NY season opener for Black Bass. As with any bass tournament there are always a handful of anglers that seem to put the pieces of the puzzle together better than the rest of the field and we sat down with the top three anglers in each division (boater and non-boater) to learn how they did it.
Boater Division:
Winning the event was 2007 NYBCF Angler of the Year Frank Giner from Connecticut who’s no stranger to winning big tournaments. Giner topped the 102 boat field with a mixed bag five fish limit that pulled the scales to 17.91 lbs. anchored by a 4.69 lb. largemouth. Giner piloted his Triton south to Ithaca where during the practice period he’d located some smallmouth on the beds and a few largemouths around shallow docks. Giner reports starting with top water lures looking for bigger smallmouth, but that didn’t produce, so he quickly moved to his bedded smallies and put two in the boat using a Sausteki Craw (green pumpkin) by Jackall and he rotated that bait with a Sugpo (Blue Craw) by Dischoco Custom Baits. Giner then shifted his efforts to his dock fish and the first one he boater was his 4.69 lb. kicker and he reports closing out his winning limit by 7:30 just 90 minutes into the event and he was headed back north to the weigh-in before the 20 mph winds kicked into full gear. Giner felt his winning edge was a combination of confidence in his area and his bait selection that enabled him to coax those pressured fish into biting.
Taking second place with a weight of 17.24 lbs. was Jonathan Evans from Horseheads NY. Evans reports catching bedded largemouth on the south end of the lake using a Zoom Super Fluke, Texas rigged with a _ oz. weight. Evans thanked Terry from Pelican Point Marina for getting his boat ready and keeping him on the water, because without Pelican Point Marina he couldn’t do what he does on the water.
Tim Thompson, Watershed Bassmasters (Milford CT) secured third place honors with a 17.06 lb. limit and also took home the Boater Division US Reel Lunker Award with a largemouth weighing 5.57 lbs. Thompson reports locating bedded bass on Friday but due waves generated by 20 mph winds he couldn’t see them so he was forced to make blind casts to the general areas with a 6 inch Robo worm Texas rigged on _ oz. weight. Thompson says he got just six bites during the tournament, but they were the six right bites.
Rounding out the top five were Ron Williamson, After Breakfast Bass Anglers with 16.69 lbs. and Ken Golub, Rochester Bassmasters in the Allstate Insurance wrapped boat with 15.96 lbs.
Non-Boater Division:
Kevin Seymour, Port City Bassmasters took first place with a weight of 13.78 lbs. Seymour reports fishing in 10-12 ft. flippin a Sweet Beaver in weeds using a _ and _ oz. weight. When he saw thicker weeds on the graph he’d use the _ oz. and when the weeds thinned out he dropped down to the _ oz. weight. This makes the first NYBCF win for Seymour and he says he’s ready to do it again real soon.
Second place winner Jamie Antoine, Ottawa Valley South Bassmasters brought it a five fish limit weighing 13.59 lbs. Antoine reports dragging an El Grande tube with a heavy weight to catch his fish. He says the bite was slow until around 11 AM and then the last two hours of the event he was able to cull four times to reach his final weight.
Tricky Phish Pro Staffer Greg Pavlic reports using a Phish Stick bait in 6-10 ft. rigged weightless to catch his fish. He fished with boater Jeff Edgarton and said they fished within sight of the launch ramp all day long. The bite was not fast paced, but it was steady and enough to win third place so he’s satisfied with those results.
Rounding out the top five were Dave Nobles, After Breakfast Bass Anglers with 12.79 lbs. and Louis Griesmyer with a weight of 11.59 lbs.
The Non-Boater US Reel Lunker Award went to John Whaley, Capital District Bassmasters with a 4.67 lb. largemouth caught on a black Senko fished in 12 ft.
Sponsors
Bass Pro Shops, Minnkota, Humminbird, Lowrance, US Reel, Rapsody Rod, Allstate Insurance, Ticonderoga Chamber of Commerce, Massena Chamber of Commerce, Anderson Boats, Team E Outdoors, SFTackle, Aztec Bass Fishing, North Jersey Marine, Adirondack Reel Service, Triton Boats and Mercury Motors.
For additional information on NYBCF tournaments contact Peter Knight at 315.598.2971 or tournaments@nybassfed.com
