Monthly archives: August, 2019

Brazil Takes the Win (and Thanks, Sarah)

August 24, 2019 0 Comment

Twenty-three of us hit Lake Massapoag early this morning for the second to last regular-season event of the year, and the lake was in a giving mood. Everyone caught at least one fish! Cool.

First, thanks for judging, Sarah.

We paid out five spots, the 50/50 raffle, plus lunker pools for largemouth, smallmouth, and pickerel.

Gerard won the 50/50 raffle. Second time this year!

Ari Stonehill smashed a massive 27-inch, 5-plus-pound pickerel, which was more than enough to win that lunker pool. What a fish!

The biggest smallmouth was put up by Mike Elrick, but he failed to get in on the optional lunker pool. I’m pretty sure I hooked one bigger, but failed to land it. Lame for us, but great for Lee Kennon who walked away with a cool $180 for his 15.50-inch smallie.

(I fished the hell out of this place as a kid and never once caught a smallie. I barely believed they were in there, but I caught about seven of them today. Crazy.)

Gabe Portes caught some big fish pre-fishing, and he followed that up with a giant 20.50 today, which nabbed him the largemouth lunker cash.

Great stuff, fellas!

Let’s take a moment to thank Sarah for judging. Thanks, Sarah! You’re the best.

Here’s your top five…

In his little sit-in, Donald Davis braved the wind and waves, spending most of his day fishing offshore. When I passed him he was throwing a little crankbait, but that was probably a decoy. Haha. Whatever he was throwing, it netted him 81.50 inches of Massapoag bass and fifth place!

With two weddings to attend today, John Ferreira still managed to fish all eight hours, haul in a solid 85.25 inches, and rake in some fourth-place cash. Kick ass!

Before I forget. Thanks for judging, Sarah. You’re awesome!

I have lost fish in two recent events, all of which would have put me in the money. I lost two more today. Bruno Casagrande watched me lose a good-size smallie, and Gerard Elias witnessed my agony as a big largemouth spit the frog in the pads. Luckily I still pulled out a third-place finish with 86 inches. Phew!

Chris Catucci has been dropping the hammer at Ocean State Kayak Bassin’ and Rhode Island Kayak Bassin’ events this season, so it’s no surprise to see him at the top of our standings. Chris grabbed the second-place spot with 86.50!

Pre-fishing and a “magic” dock paid off for Gabe Portes, who killed it today, winning by five inches with 91.50 inches, tying our all-time second-best limit! Excellent job, bud. Brasil! Porra sim!

Or something like that. Haha.

Check out the full standings here.

And thank Sarah for judging.

Great job, everyone, especially those in the money. Always good seeing those who don’t often fish with us—Tyler, George, and Steve in particular.

I’m often distracted at the end of these things. Fairly common thing—SQUIRREL!—but I appreciate everyone coming out and all those who lend a hand to me or others. Thank you!

Speaking of thanking people… Sarah, thanks for doing all the judging. You rock!

With the KBF Regional Trail Championship coming up on Lake Erie, our last regular-season event of the year is nearly a month away. We’ll be fishing Long Pond in Plymouth on September 21. We have two permits for this one, as we’re including Little Long Pond, so let’s hit 30 anglers and make this one a National Championship qualifying event!

By the way, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Sarah for judging the fish today. Thanks, Sarah!

Crushing the Competition

August 5, 2019 0 Comment

This past Saturday Massachusetts Kayak Bassin’ ventured north of Boston to Upper and Lower Mystic Lakes in Medford. Twenty-two anglers made the trip.

We made this one a roadrunner event, which allowed anglers to launch from any public launch area on either lake, but most dropped into Upper Mystic from the main ramp, while four of us gave Lower a go.

The baitfish were going crazy in the morning, right at the ramp and along the dam on both sides, so much so that it looked like it was raining. And the bigger fish were feasting. I expected everyone to start there, but from what I saw, only three—one on Upper and two on Lower—chose to fish those spots.

Like most tournaments, this one came down to making the right decisions, and while many of us did well, two absolutely CRUSHED it!

Smallies are present in Lower Mystic, so Troy and I opted into that lunker pool since we started on that side. We both got our money back. Had Donald Davis got in on that he’d have won himself a big fat $20.

We also had an optional pickerel lunker pool, as we often do, and out of 22 anglers only Gerard Elias caught a pickerel, right before the end of the tournament. Nice!

Lunker largemouth went to both Kevin Amaral Jr. and Bruno Casagrande, both of whom tied with a 20.25. Technically, per KBF rules, it should have all gone to Kevin (because he had the next biggest fish), but at a previous event I mistakenly announced that the tie-breaker goes to the fish uploaded first. That’s an old KBF rule, one I’ve always hated, but for some reason I had a brain fart at that event. The right angler got the lunker money then, but this time Bruno was expecting to win it based on what I’d previously said but Kevin had the next biggest fish. Thankfully they were both gracious enough to split the winnings. Thank you for that! And sorry once again for making that mistake.

And speaking of lunkers, Donald caught himself a giant carp and Paulo DeMorais landed a big ol’ striper! Not what they were looking for, but a fun ride I’m sure.

Mike Elrick stuck it out in the lower pond the entire day, the only one not to switch over to or from Upper Mystic. His 76.50 inches of Mystic bass scored him a fifth-place finish!

Coming in fourth place—and placing in the top five for his fourth time this year—was Lee Kennon with an even 77 inches.

After catching four fish in Lower Mystic, I jumped over to Upper just before noon. I’d planned to shoot up to the north end where it was shallow and weedy, but decided to try the dam first. I had a shaky head setup ready to go, something I haven’t fished since I flipped my yak in 2018 and lost all my shaky head hooks. It was the right decision.

At 11:49 AM I caught my fifth fish, then got a small upgrade at 11:53, and then another at 11:56, all just left of the spillway, all on the shaky head, on back to back to back casts. Those three fish bumped me up to third place with 78.75.

Had I started in Upper Mystic, I would have gone north, to the two small, shallow, weedy “ponds.” My kind of fishing. Part of me regrets not doing so because Bruce Levy did, and we both fish so similar and like the same kind of stuff that we often end up in the same areas. And Bruce killed it!

Just after 10 AM I got a text from Lee that said: “Wtf Bruce?!” I thought: “Huh? I’m not Bruce.” And then thought: “That bastard just caught a tank!” Haha. Nope. He caught three—a 20, an 18.75, and an 18.25—in roughly 30 minutes, and out of nowhere was in the lead with 89 inches.

By what everyone else was catching, it seemed like Bruce had it in the bag, but Kevin Amaral Jr. was fishing up north and slaying giants as well…

At the end of the day, Bruce was able to cull up a half inch to 89.50, but it wasn’t enough to best Kevin who dropped a hefty 90-inches on the board for his second win of the year!

Congrats to both of you! You beat the field by 10+ inches! Hell of a job.

The top five also received MAKB hats kindly donated by Bruno and Krazy Kats Embroidery, all featuring the MAKB logo on the front and their placing and lake name on the back. Very cool gesture, man. Much appreciated!

Great job to everyone else, and thanks for coming out, as always. Chris Kincade joined us for the first time as well. Great meeting you, man, and I hope everything goes smoothly wherever you’re deploying to. We’ll see you next year!

Full results can be found at this link.

Our next event is on August 24 at Lake Massapoag in Sharon. Hope to see you there!