The Season Opens with Strong Wind and Big Waves

April 18, 2017 0 Comment

Our first tournament of 2017 is in the books.

The day started off fairly nice. A little chilly, a little windy, but comfortable. Then it just got worse and worse, and I’m pretty sure there were two-foot waves at the end of the day. Crazy.

Anyway, we had 15 anglers. The bite was fairly tough, but fish were caught.

Taking third place and lunker: Donald Davis. His five went 57.25 inches, and his biggest was 19.25.

Ken Wood took second place with 60.50 inches. His biggest fish of the day was a fat 15-inch crappie. Haha.

And taking first place: Bruce Levy. His best five went an even 67 inches.

You can check out the full results here

Congrats, fellas!

And thanks for coming out, everyone. Robert, we hope you’re doing all right.

Next tournament is Glen Charlie Pond on May 6. Hope to see you there!

In the ZONE!

October 29, 2016 0 Comment

We couldn’t resist doing it one more time!

Seven of us ventured out to Canton Reservoir today for a “zone” tournmanet, where we were all restricted to one zone every two hours. It was an interesting format on a pretty tough day.

We used TourneyX for the first time. Some have used it in KBF online tourneys, but it was different using it in a live tournament, where you can check the standings and see how good—or bad—you’re doing. It adds a nice new element of stress to a tournament, that’s for sure. Haha.

We’ll be using TourneyX for all our events in 2017.

From the start, Chris Diranian was killing it. Before most of us even had a fish, he had three bass for 50+ inches. By the time some of us caught our first bass, he had over 63. That jumped to 78 shortly after. Talk about demoralizing!

Donald Davis once again placed in the money, taking lunker with an 18.25-incher.

Moving baits were getting Ken Wood nothing but pickerel, so he managed to slow things down and get a limit. Just five, and it took all day (his fifth was caught in the last hour). They went for 68.25 inches and nabbed him third place.

Second place went to Domenic Eno, who hauled in a solid 72.25 inches of bass on a variety of baits.

As mentioned above, Chris was on fire today, fishing extremely shallow with a fluke. His five went for 80.75, which was more than enough to best the field.

You can view the complete results here on TourneyX.

Congrats, everyone! And thanks for coming out. Good times as usual.

A Foggy Start to a Fantastic End

October 8, 2016 0 Comment

Well, that does it. Our first ever tournament series is done!

Ten of us fished Norton Reservoir today. Great turnout! The weather was nice (for October). The day started calm and extremely foggy…and stayed that way for about three hours. When the fog cleared, I think all of us were surprised to find out where we actually were compared to where we thought we were! Ken Wood said he was about a half-mile off course. Haha.

The bite was tough if you were looking for bass. Only two limits were caught. Some of us found plenty of pickerel, though. Valber caught 14!

We paid out three spots, but Donald Davis was kind enough to donate a $25 Bass Pro Shops gift card, so that went to the 4th place angler, which was Chris Diranian. He had three fish for 43.75 inches.

Third place went to Michael Andreasen, who hauled in four bass that went 57.5 inches.

If we had an Angler of the Year category this year, Donald Davis would certainly take the crown. He’s won three regular tournaments, plus our night tournament. He placed second once, as well as third, and he took lunker four times!

Well, add another second place finish to that list! Don not only caught a limit, but he culled a few times. His five went 75.5 inches.

Hell of year, bud!

Ken Wood caught his fifth fish with about two hours left in the tournament—and then his phone died. He had about 67 inches at the time, which he thought might be good for second place. He contemplated heading back to the launch to charge the phone for a bit, but decided to keep fishing and see what happens. That was a good call, because shortly after he hooked up with a 20.75-inch swamp donkey that went 4.11lb.

Luckily Don was nearby and he was kind enough to let Ken borrow his phone to take a photo.  (Deep down he probably kind of hates himself for it. Haha.) That fish bumped Ken up to 77.5 inches, good enough for 1st place and lunker!

And there you have it.

This was a great first year! A huge THANK YOU to everyone who came out to one of our events! No drama, no fights, no egos. You’re all awesome!

As mentioned before, we still have more tournaments planned. If the weather cooperates, the next one will be on October 22. It’ll be a “zone” tournament, meaning that we’ll quarter the lake, and each angler will be restricted to one zone every two hours. It’ll be a random draw. If you start in section A, you’ll move to B after two hours. If you start in C, you’ll move to D, then A, then B, etc.

Major League Fishing does something similar. Should be a good time! We’ll probably run it mid-morning till late afternoon, like 10 AM till 6 PM. Something like that. We’ll nail down the details soon.

Anyway, thanks again, fellas! It’s been a great year!

Night Tournament Nightmare

September 23, 2016 0 Comment

So our first night tournament was—how you say?—terrible. Haha.

Leading up to today, the weather was looking pretty bleak: thunder, lightning, rain. But then, today, the forecast just kept getting better and better. Seemed like it was going to be a great night!

As the sun was going down, the wind kicked up, as it does at sunset sometimes. Only it never stopped. And it was brutal!

It calmed briefly around 10 PM or so, which was nice. But then it picked back up again, worse than before, and the temperature dropped with it. All of a sudden it felt like it was late November. Frigid!

Anyway, we had a nice turnout: 10 anglers. Unfortunately, only four of us caught bass, and only one of us caught more than one. Nothing big.

Craig Page took third with a hard-won 14-incher.

Ken Wood’s 14.5-inch bass, which he caught early, on a Whopper Plopper 190 (the giant one, go figure), landed him in second place.

Donald Davis also caught his two fish early, before the bite died. He caught both on a frog. One was 14.25 inches, and the other 15.5. Small fish, but enough to take first place and lunker.

Congrats, guys! And congrats Miles, for catching the only other bass of the night.

And thanks to everyone for coming out!

Maybe we’ll start the night tournaments earlier in the season next year. Haha.

A-Whoppin’ and A-Ploppin’

September 17, 2016 0 Comment

Tournament #9 is in the rearview!

It was a calm, chilly, foggy start on Lake Nippenicket this morning. We had six anglers, including newcomer Justin Rollo, who joined us for his first tournament ever. We paid out two spots plus lunker.

As usual at the Nip, some of us struggled, while others caught a lot of small fish. Water levels were extremely low, but the fish were biting, at least. It wasn’t on fire or anything, but everyone caught fish.

Donald Davis and Bruce Levy both caught a lot of fish, but they couldn’t find any kicker bass. Don’s biggest five went 73 inches even, which was enough to squeak past Bruce’s 71.75 for a second-place finish.

Chris Diranian struggled for the first four hours with no bites—until he took off the perch-colored Whopper Plopper and tied on, I think, the blue gill Munky Butt color. Today, that’s what the big girls wanted. A couple of them, anyway.

Chris’s biggest fish went 20.5 inches, while his five went 75.5, good enough for both lunker and first place!

Congrats again, guys! Well deserved on a tough day. And as always, thanks for coming out!

Our next tournament—and final “official” tournament of the year—will be at Norton Reservoir on October 8.

From Whine to Shine

August 27, 2016 0 Comment

Dudley Pond is in the can!

We had 12 anglers today for the eighth stop on this year’s trail. The weather was good and the fish were biting. Everyone caught bass, on all kinds of different baits, and nearly everyone had a limit. Unfortunately for most of us the fish weren’t very big.

Overall, 58 bass were submitted, for a grand total length of 818.75 inches.

Troy Brown and Domenic Eno caught the biggest fish of the day, both hauling in a fat 21-inch largemouth, with the tie-breaker for lunker ultimately going to Dom. He took third place as well with his biggest five going 73.25 inches.

Second place went to Bruce Levy, who had a solid 78.25 inches of bass. A nice little comeback after a rough start.

And then there was Edmar Junior, who said he had maybe a fifteen percent chance of winning because, as he said-complained-whined (we love you, Edmar!), in the seven times he’d been to Dudley, he “never caught anything bigger than a 2.5-pounder.” Well, that experience paid off, and his 79.75 inches of bass got him first place, a fat wad of cash, and a sexy trophy.

His first ever tournament win! Congrats, sir.

And congrats to Dom and Bruce! And Troy!

Thanks again to all who came out today, especially the first timers! Great meeting you, Dave and Joseph! Hope you join us again.

Next tournament is in three weeks, September 17, at the Nip.

Back to Back, Baby!

July 23, 2016 0 Comment

We fished Neponset Reservoir today for the seventh stop on this year’s trail. We had 12 anglers show up, which was great considering the forecast.

Luckily there were no thunderstorms, though rain probably would have been nice. It was pretty hot out there. Definitely not as hot as expected, though, thanks to a strong breeze.

Plenty of fish were caught today, but it was a dinkfest in general, which is somewhat typical of Neponset. In between all those dinks, however, some guys found the bigger fish.

Chris Diranian found five good ones for a total of 71.5 inches, which put him in the winner’s circle at third place.

Edward Neely reeled in 77 inches of bass, anchored by a 19.5-inch slob. Both good enough for second place and lunker.

Late in the day, Evan McCarthy tied on a Whopper Plopper and launched a Hail Mary cast, hooked up, and then tossed it some more. It paid off. All that whopping and plopping was like a dinner bell to some of the bigger fish buried down in the weeds. He took first place—and back-to-back victories—with 77.5 inches.

Good work, fellas! Congrats!

As always, thanks for coming out, everyone. Good to see some new faces out there as well.

The next tournament is on August 27 at Dudley Pond.

Battle of the 6-Pounders

July 9, 2016 0 Comment

Hell of a day today.

Eleven of us braved the potentially bad weather and fished Stump Pond and its neighbor, Robbins Pond, for the sixth MAKB tournament of the year.

The day started with some mist and a bit of a spring chill in the air. Luckily it never really rained on us. Always a good thing. And no lightning! Even better.

Some people caught fish early, but the rest of the day was a grind. Despite this, a lot of quality fish were caught. It was a quality over quantity kind of day.

How about two 6-pounders? Paul Reed caught a 6.4-pound slob on a white spinnerbait. Not to be outdone, Craig Page landed a beastly 6.2-pounder, also on a spinnerbait.

Though Paul technically caught the bigger bass, as happens in by-length tournaments, his 21.25-incher lost out to Craig’s 21.50. Lunker by a quarter of an inch—and the big bass of the year so far!

Congrats, Craig and Paul!

Ken Wood caught one bass on a spinnerbait, also white, but the rest came on frogs—one on the Damiki Air Frog, one on a Yamafrog, and the rest on a Culprit Marsh Frog. His five went 82.5 inches, good enough for third place.

Though he lost lunker, Paul slung his trusty spinnerbait out over deeper weeds and hauled in a hefty five that went 85.75 inches. A little second-place redemption.

First place went to newcomer Evan McCarthy. This was his first kayak tournament! If I remember correctly, most if not all of his fish came on a chatterbait. His biggest five went 88.75 inches, the second biggest limit of the year.

Congrats, Evan!

Collectively, we caught a ridiculous 700.25 inches of bass! Outstanding job, fellas!

As always, thanks for coming out. It is very much appreciated!

The next tournament is in two weeks, July 23, at Neponset Reservoir. Hope to see you there!

It’s Good to Be King

June 11, 2016 0 Comment

And so tournament #4 is in the books!

The day started foggy and ended rainy. The forecast called for rain at 3 PM. But of course it started at 1 PM—and it was cold! It also stopped the moment we got off the water. Figures.

Edward Neely had a pretty good day, catching all his on topwater. He had five fish for 74 inches, which got him third place. Unfortunately, with just six people showing up we only paid out two spots.

Donald Davis and his brother-in-law, Jim Coleman, found them out “deep” and they both came in with 85.5 inches apiece.

And so the tie-breaker went to the angler with the biggest fish, which happened to be Donald Davis. Again. Don’s big fish went 21 inches, which also nabbed him the lunker pool!

Since we only paid out two spots, that means Jim took second. Congrats, fellas!

Thanks to everyone who came out! Despite the final hour downpour, it was a damn good time.

Next one is Snipatuit. Hope to see you there!

Fishing Was Good—Pleasure Boaters, Not So Much

May 28, 2016 0 Comment

Ye Olde Ham is a wrap! We had eight anglers. Weather was great. Hot, but breezy enough that it wasn’t unbearable. Can’t say the same about the pleasure boaters. Maniacs, all of them! One of our guys was knocked out of his yak thanks to a boat that nearly hit him. Another angler helped a couple who were knocked from their canoe for the same reason. And at the end of the day, by the ramp, we watched as two swimmers were nearly decapitated by a boat.

That said…

Ken Wood started out fishing docks, but caught nothing but a giant crappie. He worked his way down the shoreline toward the back of the pond, picking up a few bass along the way. When all was said and done, his best five went 76.50 inches, which landed him in third place.

First-timer Craig Page hauled in 78.25 inches for second place. Congrats, Craig! Good too see some new blood out there.

Then there was first…

And Donald Davis did it once again! With a hefty “bag” of five bass that went 82.75 inches! He also took lunker with an 18.25-inch chunk.

So there you have it. Another successful tournament! Thanks a ton for coming out, guys. We appreciate it! And congrats!

Ponkapoag is next! June 11.