Monthly archives: October, 2018

Big Win on a Tough Day

Yesterday concluded our official 2018 season!

Twenty-three anglers braved a very windy day on the notoriously stingy Singletary Lake. And it lived up to its reputation: the fishing was tough.

Only seven limits were caught!

With a talented field of anglers, even on tough days there are usually a few good fish caught. Chris Diranian and Chris LaCourse caught the two biggest bass of the tournament, both of which were largemouth and clocked in at 18.25 inches. The tie-breaker went to Diranian, whose second biggest fish went 16.50 to LaCourse’s 15.25. Tough break, but both deserve a tip of the hat.

We ran an optional smallmouth pool and 20 anglers opted in. Ari Stonehill took home that prize with a solid 15.50 smallie, which bested my 14.50 that had been the biggest for most of the day. So rude! Haha.

One thing I love (and hate) about our tournaments is turning off the standings two hours before the end of the tournament. It’s great being able to see where you stand throughout the day, but at the same time leaving the last few hours a mystery adds a bit more excitement to the day because everything changes in those last two hours.

Prior to 1 PM, I was sitting in third place and just two inches or so separated me from second. Right before I turned off the standings, though, I’d been bumped down to fourth. Ultimately, I landed in fifth with 61.75. Not great, not going to pay for my Toledo Bend trip this week, but I did manage to catch a limit, which was my minimum goal for the day. I caught a limit in all but the Neponset Reservoir tournament this year, which I didn’t fish. I think that’s pretty cool!

John Ferreira was having a good day right from the start, sitting in first, then second for most of the day. But in those last two hours he was booted down two spots to fourth place. He had a very respectable 67.50.

The person who initially bumped me down to fourth was Bruce Levy, courtesy of a 17.75 largie. Well, karma is real, folks, and in the final two hours he was bumped down to third. He had a pathetic 68.75 inches.

I kid! I kid! Good job, man.

Hot off his victory at Neponset Reservoir, out of nowhere Donald Davis sprinted into the top five in the last two hours with a few key bass. Not enough for the win, but 70 inches was enough for second place!

Besting the field by six inches is quite a feat on a good day of fishing, but even more so when the fish aren’t in the mood to chew. Chris Diranian did just that with a hefty 76 inches of Singletary bass, a spinnerbait being the unlikely hero of the day. Congrats, sir! Excellent win!

And everyone else, great job, and thanks for coming out on a less-than-pleasant day. Much appreciated!

Check out the full results here

We had a great season this year! It started off on a sour note, but we rose above the childish nonsense and exemplified what a fishing group, a community, SHOULD be about: respect, honesty, camaraderie, and fun, among other things. So thank you all for that!

A huge thank-you to everyone who chipped in for the gifts! Unnecessary, but Sarah and I appreciated it all very much.

Speaking of Sarah, I have failed to thank her so much this year it’s kind of a running joke at this point. Haha. But Sarah has saved us so much time by judging the majority of the fish we have submitted to TourneyX—over 16,000 inches of bass. Her contribution to this group may happen behind the scenes, but the impact is immeasurable. So THANK YOU, Sarah! Finally.

Anyway, I’ll put up a year-end stats threads, like I did last year, soon. Some pretty impressive numbers overall.

In the meantime, be on the lookout for an upcoming tournament notification. We’d like to run another one or two before it gets too cold, all depending on the weather. So it’ll probably be a last-minute kind of deal, but we should be able to get at least one more in. We’ll do a team format for the first one, random draw for teams. Something different. Hopefully we can do another after that. We’ll see.

Again, thanks for another kick-ass year! Already looking forward to 2019. We have some cool things planned.


Back on Top!

Our twelfth tournament of the season was held this past Saturday at Neponset Reservoir. Twenty-two anglers showed up and we submitted 80 fish on the day.

The weather started off cool and cloudy with a slight breeze that constantly changed directions. The sun came out for a couple hours, then the clouds came back. I don’t think anyone had a great day, myself included. The bite was just plain tough.

Bob Pierce caught a nice one early—20.50 inches—and took home lunker, while Troy Brown caught a five-fish limit of 62.75 inches for fifth place.

Chris Diranian had a five-fish limit of 64.75 inches for fourth place. Gerard Elias also had 64.75 inches, but his next biggest was a 19.75, bumping him to third place.

Gabe Portes hauled in 65.75 inches for second place, and my five fish went 68.50, good enough for 1st place—my first MAKB victory since 2016!

Full standings can be found here.

Thanks for coming out!

—Don Davis