Category: Western Division

Boobs on Top!

November 7, 2021 0 Comment

Unless we get a day of unseasonably warm weather, yesterday will likely have been the last MAKB event of the season.

Each year, after the regular season is over, we run at least one fun event, try a different format and such. Yesterday, we went with two: a mystery lake, randomly chosen Friday evening, and a team format.

We chose the lake from a list of fifteen, with some smaller locations being combined for a split lake event. Two of the smaller lakes on the list were A-1 and Chauncy Lake, which were chosen. We’ve fished with a full field at A-1 before, but once the weeds come up, the fishable portion of the lake shrinks quite a bit, so we paired it with Chauncy for this event.

Seven anglers fished at each location, one from each team, and with the temperature being about 28 degrees at the start of the tournament, fishing was tough for most. Thankfully, the “light and variable” wind forecasted was accurate for a change, so after the first hour or two, it wasn’t so bad. Overall, a really nice day out there.

We introduced the Double Down option for this one, which is a winner-takes-all side pot. We’ll be doing that at each live event next season.

We also had our standard optional pickerel lunker pool, which was won by Valber Santos, with a 21.75.

Gerard Elias took down the lunker bass prize, with a healthy 18.75.

As mentioned, this was a team event. Instead of the normal five-fish limit, we went with eight for this one, making it a bit more challenging, which it was. Only two teams filled a limit, but if we’d had the traditional five-fish limit, only three teams would have achieved that.

Second and third place would have swapped, though.

This time, however, third went to team Shake and Bake, consisting of John Ferreira and Nate Chagnon, who put up six bass for 95 inches.

The second-place team, The Green Machine, comprised Shawn Dominik and Scott Rhodes. They had a full limit that went for 111.50.

Promising your kids that they could name your team probably isn’t wise, as Ray Figueroa and I ended up on team Banana Boobs, courtesy of my goofball kids. I feel like they’re telling me I need to hit the gym. But a promise is a promise, and we took that name to the top with 123.75!

I was also fortunate enough to put up the biggest five-fish limit and take home the Double Down prize with 84.75.

Great job, everyone! Had a great time out there.

Check out the full results and the rest of the “very professional” team names here.

If this is our final event of 2021, it’s been a great season. Looking forward to next year, and hopefully we can finally pull off some ice-fishing events before the start of the 2022 season.

There’s a New King in Town

October 28, 2021 0 Comment

This past Saturday, Massachusetts Kayak Bassin’ closed out the regular season with our first-ever championship! With few big bodies of water to choose from in the state, and even fewer somewhat central to both the eastern and western divisions, we settled on Webster Lake, which is most famous for having the longest name of any geographic feature in the country.

No, not Webster Lake; the tongue-twisting Lake Char­gogg­a­gogg­man­chaugg­a­gogg­chau­bun­a­gung­a­maugg, which roughly translates to: “Whoever named this lake clearly had a drinking problem.”

Leading up to the event, pre-fishing reports indicated it would be a tough bite. A few people did well, like Nelson da Costa and John Ferreira, the latter of whom apparently put up close to ninety inches the Wednesday before the event.

For the most part, though, people struggled, and the cold front that dropped in Friday night didn’t do us any favors.

But that didn’t deter anyone, as we had nearly a full field of thirty-seven out of thirty-nine qualified anglers show up tournament morning!

Ramp-cooked breakfast sandwiches were provided by John Ferreira up north and Shawn Dominik down south, and I’m not saying I’d like them to do that at every event, but…I wouldn’t complain if they did. Either way, thanks, fellas!

At 7:45 AM, we hit the water. Lines in at 8 AM.

Heading across the lake, Valber Santos and I found that we were heading toward the same weedy cove. Gerard Elias had shot past us, then doubled back. As we passed each other, he said, “Overshot my spot.”

Valber and I laughed, and then a few minutes later realized we’d done the same damn thing. When we finally got to the weedy cove, Gerard was there, and now, over the course of the winter, we’re going to learn how to read maps better.

Just entering the cove, from the shore end of a point, I tossed out a ned rig and quickly hooked up with my first fish—a solid 17.25. I was pumped! But I wouldn’t catch another fish until 2:14 PM.

John Ferreira took a quick lead with three fish. A few other anglers had fish on the board, but only one apiece, if I recall correctly. John had a limit not long after and got to work culling. It looked like the rest of us were fishing for second.

I didn’t pay much attention to the standings for a good part of the day since I wasn’t catching fish. At one point, though, anglers began figuring things out and making moves, and John’s lead began to shrink.

When the standings went offline, Joseph Daddeo had taken the lead, but anglers were still putting the pieces together and fish on the board…

For this event, we paid out five spots, event lunker, smallmouth lunker, and pickerel lunker. The angler with the biggest bass also took home the Old Glory Outdoors Big Bass Bonus prize. The top five anglers also won a gift certificate to YakAttack!

There was a two-way tie for pickerel lunker, with both Ari Stonehill and Nick Ringgard putting up a 22.50-incher. Because we don’t measure every pickerel we catch, we can’t go by the next biggest pickerel for a tie-breaker, so they split the $250 pot.

John Ferreira nabbed an 18-inch smallmouth just four minutes after lines in, which would remain the biggest smallie of the day.

For the overall event lunker, we had a three-way tie between Steve Hedges, Joseph Daddeo, and Derek Brundle, all of whom caught an 18.50-inch largemouth. For bass tie-breakers, we go by the next biggest fish, which was Derek Brundle’s 16-incher, giving him the pot and the Old Glory Outdoors prize pack—which included tackle from 6th Sense Fishing, Googan Squad, Fresh Baitz, Z-Man Fishing Products and others, as well as a rod from Ark Fishing and some hats and stickers.

Like many anglers, Shawn Dominik struggled out there. With just a 12.5-incher on the board for most of the day, he made some moves that proved fruitful in the last few hours, catching seven bass that ultimately pushed him from the back of the pack all the way up into fifth place with 71.50 inches.

Though leading for a good portion of the day, culling throughout, John’s offshore bite changed and, unfortunately, he was unable to make the necessary adjustments. However, his is 73.50 was still enough for 4th place and a solid payday.

Scott Rhodes had a bit of luck on his side, getting blown off course on the way to his first spot and finding a small piece of structure that was holding fish in 25 feet of water. When his first spot produced just one fish, he moved back to what he’d seen earlier and quickly put a good one on the board. He would stay there for the rest of the day, grinding out a very respectable 74.50-inch bag on a tough day.

With no pre-fishing, and having never fished the lake before, I launched south and zig-zagged all across the lake, all the way up into the creek by the northern ramp, with only one fish to show for it in the first six hours.

On my way back south, I stopped on the humps out in the middle basin, which are obviously a community hole. I’d fished them pretty good earlier in the day, but couldn’t get a bite. On my way back through, though, I changed my Megabass Vision 110 from a trout color to a perch color, and immediately started catching fish.

I caught at least twenty smallmouth out there in those last hours, and by my math, my 76.25 had surpassed what Joe had when the standings went offline at 3 PM. But Joe is a stud and never quits…

While I spent most of my day fishing offshore, Joe stayed shallow, focusing on two marinas, targeting largemouth feeding on bait, of which there was plenty. My late-day run did have Joe’s 3 PM total beat by an inch, but at 3:12, Joe laid a 15.75—a 2.5-inch upgrade—on the board, which bumped him up into first place and sealed the deal on becoming the very first Massachusetts Kayak Bassin’ Champion!

Congrats, buddy! Very happy for you. Well-deserved!

And congrats to the rest of the anglers in the top, as well to anyone who caught fight this day. It was tough out there, even for John, who was making it look easy in the morning.

Check out the full standings here over on Fishing Chaos.

It’s been a great season, and I hope next year is even better. Thanks to Shawn and Nelson for taking the reins and running the Western Division, and a big shout-out to all the anglers who fished it. It can only grow from here! And to the rest of the staff—Donald Davis, Bruce Levy, John Ferreira, and Kevin Amaral—thank you!

Our “annual” awards banquet is scheduled for March 19, 2020. We checked out the venue today, and it should be a good time. We’ll have three years of trophies to award at this one! So make sure you mark it on your calendars, especially if you won an event in 2019, 2020, or 2021 (seriously, I don’t want to have to mail a dang trophy).

Thanks, everyone, and congrats again to the winners! Great job this season!

The Grind of All Grinds

September 19, 2021 0 Comment

The Western Division wrapped up its first season yesterday with the grind of all grinds at Lake Garfield in the mountain town of Monterey.

We had a dozen anglers, a foggy start, and a tough bass bite. The juvenile Pickerel bite, however, was on fire.

Garfield has both largemouth and smallmouth, but by the midway point of the day, just over a handful of fish had been submitted. Nelson da Costa took an early lead with a 15.75 and a 17.75 (the eventual lunker), while myself, Jerry Howes, and Scott Rhodes stayed within striking distance.

There was a flurry of action after noon, when Nick Ringgard and Michael Williams both caught their second fish to join the leaders, but a third fish submitted by Scott with about fifteen minutes left in the day earned him the win. Huge congrats to him for outlasting the field!

Nelson, as mentioned above, took lunker with his 17.75 and finished in second for the day. Congrats to him!

Michael landed a 20.75 Pickerel to snag the lunker there. Nice job!

Finally, Nelson and I would like to thank everyone that participated in the trail this year. We weren’t quite sure what the turnout would be but were happy to have so many folks consistently make it to the events. Also HUGE thanks to Ken Wood, John Ferreira, Kevin Amaral, Donald Davis, and Bruce Levy for the support and help throughout the year! This was our first year doing this, and their experience made it much easier on us!

The list of championship qualifiers will be out soon, so hope to see you then!

First Early, Second Late

August 28, 2021 0 Comment

Saturday, eight of us journeyed to the northwest corner of the state for the sixth Western Division event at Cheshire Reservoir. Big fish were at a premium there, but the race for second place literally came down to the last minute.

Cheshire Reservoir has two fishable basins (north and middle), but we weren’t allowed to portage across the road separating them. If any of us wanted to switch basins during the day, we would have to load our boats and drive from ramp to ramp.

Dan Johnson Jr. was the only of us to start at the middle basin, a decision that served him well. Dan was the only angler to break 80 inches (by a quarter inch) on the back of the event lunker (18.75) and closed the door early. Congrats and nice job Dan!

Second place was occupied throughout the day by myself, Jerry Howes, Eric Graves, and Nelson da Costa. But by 1:30, Nelson looked like he had wrapped the spot up behind a 72.75-inch bag.

Then the magic happened!

At 1:45, Dan was in first, Nelson in second, Jerry in third, Eric in fourth, and I was in fifth. I returned to a wind-sheltered side of an island and caught my second biggest fish of the day, which bumped me up to a tie with Nelson. I followed that one, at 1:56, with another cull that got me to 74 inches even, and in sole possession of second place. Then I turned my phone off and headed back…

As I came around the island, I saw Jerry heading my way, and I threw my arms up and gave him a “Whooo!” Then he did the same, and I thought, Why’s he cheering about me taking second place at the buzzer? Well, it turns out he wasn’t. He was cheering for himself for breaking 77 inches, dropping me to third, and taking second for himself at 1:59.

Jerry also won the “Toothy Bastard” pool—which includes northern pike and pickerel—with an 18-inch Northern. Congrats to him on a couple exciting scores and an insane way to end a nibbler-ific day!

Waiting for us at the launch was Nelson, who had now been bumped down to fourth in the last four minutes, and he had a professional greeting for us. I also had no idea of the moon phase to that point, but was not impressed to learn that it was, in fact, full at the launch.

Great day out there, and thanks to everyone involved! Hope to see you all at Lake Garfield to close out the Western Division regular season in a couple weeks.

For now, check out the full results over on Fishing Chaos.

Traveling Route 57 to the Championship

July 25, 2021 0 Comment

After a couple venue changes thanks to the US Army Corps of Engineers and Mother Nature, Nelson and I slapped together a list of ponds that are located pretty closely to each other on or near Route 57 up da’ ‘Shires…

And The Route 57 Run was born!

Noyes Pond, Twining Pond, Upper and Lower Spectacle Ponds, West Lake, York Pond, and Thousand Acre Pond hosted thirteen anglers today under bluebird skies and a setting full moon.

It ended up being a relatively close contest, even between the different waters. And while everyone put fish on the board, two camps emerged: anglers with rounded limits and no large fish, and anglers with large fish and nibblers filling limits.

I had a mediocre day, so I’m skipping my own recap. Meh.

Dan Johnson (Thousand Acre Pond) and Jerry Howes (Twining Pond) tied for third place at 73.75, with Jerry breaking the tie and claiming it solely behind a 19.25-inch largemouth. Nice job, Jerry!

Nelson da Costa (West Lake) hit for 77.50 and scored the lunker with a 20.25-inch watermelon of a fish. Just massive. Congrats to Nelson (and also congrats to his parents, who are celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary today)!

Our winner today—fishing one of the creepiest, Friday the 13th, Silver Lake-esque western MA waters (Lower Spectacle)—was Steve Hedges, who knocked in 78.50 inches of largemouth bass while avoiding demonic possession, cryptids, and all matter of supernatural evils. Steve made the long trek from out east for one reason: to finish in the top three and qualify for the MAKB Championship at the end of the season. He did that and more! Congrats to him and glad to see he survived the experience.

If you want to take a peak at the full standings, you can do so here.

Our next Western Division event is scheduled for a pike-laden body of water, Cheshire Reservoir, on August 28th.

In the meantime, to scratch your collective competitive itch, there are a couple tourneys lined up: MAKB’s Catch ‘Em All Summer Brawl online event is a go for July 31 at waters across the state, and on August 14, Lake Winnipesaukee hosts the next Elite Kayak Fishing tournament.

And don’t forget our MAKB monthly online challenges! Get into them if you can.

Congrats again to all our winners!

Experience Pays Off

June 13, 2021 0 Comment

Saturday, the Western Division held it’s fourth event of the year, on the stretch of the Chicopee River in Chicopee that I grew up fishing. Access is extremely limited nowadays, but we were able to secure safe parking (thanks, Paul Bunyan’s Tree Farm) to risk our gear and health getting the boats down the banks of Cooley Brook to access the river.

The first three hours of the day were a complete drenching. The rain stopped between 9 and 10 AM and some clouds lingered, which kept the bite going.
Fortunately, everyone caught fish. Unfortunately, size was at a premium.

At the end of the day, Jeremey Andrews had secured third place by making a couple late culls to total 62.50 and get by Michael Williams.

Ronel Mullen caught 66.75 inches worth of bass to claim second place. He and I went back and forth for most of the morning until…I hit the lunker, a meager 18.25, and followed with a 16-incher to snag the W with 74.25!

There was only one pickerel caught, which I thought was out of character for the Chicopee, by Russ Hatch. A 14-inch fish, but more than enough to give him that lunker pool.

We all know there’s going to be some days when smaller fish matter a lot more than they should, and it keeps the competition exciting, which Saturday was. Thanks to everyone that made it out, helped each other in and out of the brook, and to grab a bite afterward!

Head over to Fishing Chaos for the official results.

Our next event is slated for late July at the Connecticut River. Hope to see everyone there!

A Battle Between East and West

May 16, 2021 0 Comment

Yesterday, an “angler’s choice” two-pond event went down at East and West Waushacum Ponds in Sterling. The water temps were about ten degrees apart, placing the fish in different stages of spawning, with the West Pond being more or less done and the East just beginning.

Thirteen anglers took to the water for this one, and with a couple exceptions, the field stayed packed together, with nearly everyone filling out limits.

Nelson da Costa was one of the exceptions: he was the only one of us to break the 90-inch barrier, and did so on the back of the 20-inch lunker of the day. He fished steep drops of the East pond to do so. Congrats to him on his first MAKB win!

Fresh on the heels of his Elite Kayak Fishing win at Cayuga Lake, Joseph D’Addeo returned to the West Pond. He has some history there, and was the only angler to break 80 inches for second place. Hammer, as always.

Also in the West Pond, Ronel Mullen stayed shallow to take third with 76.75, barely edging out Kelvin Nova (76.00). Nice job!

Third through eighth were separated by only 3.5 inches, showing how close the pack was, and that the bite was on at both ponds. John Liriano took the pickerel lunker with a 23.25-inch baseball bat of a fish. He fished the West Pond, and from talking with the East anglers, I don’t think anyone from that Pond landed any slime darts.

Great event, and thanks to all who came out to make it such!

Full results can be found here.

I’d also like to thank the town of Sterling’s Parks & Rec Department and their town officials that welcomed us to use the ponds. They went out of their way to make it a smooth experience, especially with the parking permits!

Our next event is at the Chicopee River in Chicopee—the stretch that I grew up fishing—and I’m excited to share the experience with the MAKB crew! Hope to see you there in June!

Big Win Up da Shires

May 9, 2021 0 Comment

Yesterday was the second MAKB Western Division Trail stop, a two-lake random-draw event at Buckley Dunton Reservoir and nearby Yokum Pond in Becket.

Two very different water bodies. Buckley Dunton is timber filled, and the closest the west has in similarity with A-1 out east. Yokum is closer to a shallow kettle pond, but does harbor a population of smallmouth.

After pre-fishing both, my prediction was that numbers would come from Yokum, and lunker would come from Buckley Dunton. I was half right, as Yokum anglers struggled for limits, and a couple anglers found size and numbers at Buckley.

Twelve anglers participated (seven at Buckley, five at Yokum). Nelson da Costa was the highest finisher at Yokum, with four fish totaling 57.75 that he fought for with the light bite there.

I found a jig bite early, then found a flat with baitfish and bulldozed my way through a dozen and a half post-spawn perch (including a pin-sized one) for a couple decent largemouth and a good pickerel. I upgraded and finished in 2nd with 88 inches even.

Jeremey Andrews took first with a bladed jig/jerkbait/finesse plastics combination, finishing with 91.75 and lunker with a 19-inch fatty on the raw, cloudy day “up da ‘Shires.” Congrats and nice job, Jer!

Only two pickerel were caught on the day. Nate Chagnon hit an 18-incher over at Yokum, but the 19.75 I caught around the baitfish was the winner.

Congrats to all who placed in the money, and congrats to any KBF members that qualified for the National Championship through the MAY-hem event!

Check out the result here.

Dogfight at Quaboag Pond

April 11, 2021 0 Comment

Before I get going on how the first MAKB Western Division tourney played out, I’d just like to thank Ken Wood for letting Nelson da Costa and myself roll out a division on this side of the state. I’ve said it before, but if we manage to run things even half as smoothly as he does, then I’ll consider it a success. Also a huge thanks to Nelson for stepping up to help me out. Much appreciated!

We had nearly a full house at the launch Saturday at Quaboag Pond. Twenty-four of the 25 slots were filled! With 24 anglers, we paid out five spots, plus lunker bass and lunker pickerel.

I’ve fished the pond less than a handful of times over the past 10 years, and know that it can be a “feast or famine” type of water body. I even predicted to Nate Chagnon at some point in the previous week that I believed there would be one or two anglers with big bags, and the rest of the standings would be a dogfight.

When Saturday launch rolled around, my initial plan of heading into the incoming Brookfield River was shot in the foot, as no less than seven kayaks took off in that direction. I opted instead to fish into the outgoing Quaboag River.

I pedaled up alongside Ken, who had the same idea, but then watched him pull a U-turn and return to the launch for his Ketch Board.

The water was glass for the first couple hours, and my first two keepers were promptly thrown back without pictures—because I had forgotten about the eight-inch minimum, naturally. Luckily I rebounded and filled out a limit using topwater in the shallows for smaller bass.

A couple hours in, Ken moved into first on the backs of a couple 16-inch fish. The standings were filled with fish under 15 inches. I had moved downriver to a section I fished last year, and hooked two of my three biggest fish on a jig, which brought me to second place, a few inches behind Ken.

Right as the standings went offline at 1 PM, I downsized to a Ned-rigged creature bait and continued working the areas that earlier produced the 17-incher and an 18.75, and dug up a 15.5 and 19.5, which sealed the deal.

I placed first with 84 inches even, while Ken held second with 77.25. Charging into 3rd was Nick Rinngard with a solid 71.25. Nelson also made a late run behind a 19.25-inch pig, to end at 68.25. Sean Dwyer rounded out the paying slots with 65.75.

The largemouth lunker pool went to me, and Ray Figueroa for nabbed the pickerel pool with a 23.25!

Great job to everyone for grinding it out in the wind! What an awesome way to start this division, and I sincerely thank all who attended.

Finally, thanks to Joe Brown and his wife Meg for hosting the after-event food and drinks at Old Glory Outdoors!

For the full standings, click here.

Our next event is taking place WAY out west in the mountain town of Becket on May 8th. Buckley-Dunton Reservoir and nearby Yokum Pond will host the tourney, and there will be limited to the first 20 anglers to register! Registration goes live at 7 PM on May 2nd through Fishing Chaos.