Official Statement Regarding the Three Lake Throwdown

July 22, 2019 0 Comment

On Saturday evening, July 20, 2019, it was determined that the winner of the Massachusetts Kayak Bassin’ (MAKB) Three Lake Throwdown, Renato Serrocha, from Rhode Island, submitted two photos of the same bass, using photos taken two minutes apart but submitted four hours apart. Independent reviews by MAKB, Kayak Bass Fishing, LLC (KBF), and an impartial third-party reached the same conclusion: the double submission was intentional, representing a deliberate attempt to defraud.

In keeping with KBF policy, Serrocha’s competition privileges as well as his social media privileges have been indefinitely revoked. As the matter has been referred to law enforcement officials for investigation, no further details will be publicly provided at this time.

Serrocha has refunded his winnings, the tournament standings have been corrected, and the true winners of the event have been paid what they rightfully earned.

The viability of kayak bass fishing competition depends on the integrity and honor of each person involved. Participation in such events is a privilege. Anglers who abuse that privilege—who break faith with the kayak fishing community by intentionally falsifying results or skirting rules and regulations in order to create unfair advantages for themselves—have that privilege revoked.

Renato Serrocha has been permanently banned from fishing MAKB and KBF events. It is recommended that other New England kayak fishing trails follow suit. If you are a local tournament director and wish to see the evidence we gathered, please message me and I will privately share it with you in confidence.

A Sweet Victory Turned Sour

July 13, 2019 0 Comment

Thirty anglers fished our annual Three Lake Throwdown today, nine of which were at Lake Sabbatia, ten at Lake Nippenicket, and eleven at Neponset Reservoir.

The weather was hot, mostly sunny, but at least at Nippenicket it was pretty windy at times, which took the sting off the heat somewhat.

I don’t know all the details on how the other lakes fished, but it seemed like there was a decent bite going on at all three lakes until about 9:45 AM, when it just shut off. It was a struggle after that (and before it for some).

But for three lakes known to be tough, 125 bass were put on the board. And a few pickerel.

(For the love of God, stop submitting pics of pickerel! Sarah texts me every time to make sure it’s not a bass! Haha.)

Speaking of pickerel, Lee Kennon had to leave early due to a work emergency, but not before he landed a state-pin-length pickerel at 25 inches, which was more than big enough to take the pickerel lunker prize.

Big bass of the day went to John Ferreira and his 19.50! Good job, fellas!

Sitting on a weedbed for most of the day paid off for Donald Davis, who hauled up from the depths 73 inches of Sabbatia bass. In the money for the first time since his win at Neponset Reservoir last year. Congrats, bud!

And never placing in the money with MAKB before, Chris LaCourse worked the far back channel and river outlet at the Nip to the tune of 74.25 inches and a fourth place finish. Great job, man!

John Ferreira is having a great year in KBF events and he’s making a habit of finishing in the money at our events, either by landing in the top five, winning one of the lunker pools, or, like today, doing both. John frogged his way into third place with 74.75 inches. Awesome!

My kids like to use my soft plastic baits as toys. At first they were content with my ripped and torn baits discarded after tournaments, but eventually they wanted to “go shopping” in my tackle closet. Instead of continuously giving them baits I liked and used, I started letting them each pick out a cheap pack when at Walmart or Bass Pro. Whatever they wanted, usually the brightest, ugliest baits on the shelf.

Well, as many of you saw from my post yesterday, my daughter made me promise to use her “beautiful worms” (aka ugly, sparkly silver senkos) today. I pinky swore because she said they would “make me win.” Well, after an hour and a half with no bites, I grabbed that rod and tossed that beautiful worm to the edge of some weeds and—KAPOW!—I had 16.50 on the board.

I proceeded to catch at least a dozen more bass on those senkos before the last one broke in half (I only had two). I caught one other fish on a frog, and another on a chatterbait. The rest came on those two senkos—which I’ve since learned were Yum Dingers, “tinfoil” color. I know this because I now own three packs. Haha.

Anyway, I didn’t win it all, but I did win second place with 78.50, all thanks to my daughter. The most joy I’ve ever gotten from throwing a damn senko!

And it was all ruined by a cheater…

Originally this part detailed someone else’s win, but due to some questionable submissions and an extensive investigation later that day, it was determined that the angler in question willfully and shamefully cheated. Ultimately, when all was said and done, this gave me a rightfully earned victory, and a sweet one it should have been. Should have, but wasn’t…

Check out the full adjusted results here.

As always, thanks for coming out. Great to see some new anglers fishing with us—Liriano John, Medicen Rexx, Jim Silva, Derek Ramsey, and Angelo David. Hope you had a good time and come back and fish with us again!

Thanks to Sarah for judging once again! You rock!


Cheater removed courtesy of Photoshop.

We venture to the north shore (or as close as we’ve ever been to it) for our next event at Upper/Lower Mystic Ponds on August 3. Hope to see you there!

First MAKB Victory

June 29, 2019 0 Comment

I’m exhausted. And depressed. Who picked this damn lake?

Anyway, twenty-three of us fished Long Pond in Freetown/Lakeville today. Eleven anglers had limits. Bruce, who is laid up with a back injury, judged today, and said mid-lake seemed to be the most productive area.

Whatever the case, five anglers put enough fish on the board to walk away with some cash. =)

We ran an optional pickerel lunker pool today, and [a cheater] took home close to $200 for his 23-inch snot rocket.

There was a tie for overall lunker between Paulo DeMorais and Kevin Amaral Jr. Per KBF rules, ties are broken by upload time. Can’t say I’m a big fan of this rule (think we’ll change it next year), but this time it went to Paulo, who caught his fish early while Kevin caught his in the last hour.

But hey, Kevin’s 18.75 was a seven-inch upgrade, bumping him up six places to fifth with 73.75. Not bad!

Lee Kennon also surged up the leader board in the final hours, finding a sweet spot in a small cove and putting a number of upgrades on the board. His 75 inches of bass was good enough for fourth place.

Mike Elrick took a page out of John Ferreira’s playbook and pulled off a third-place finish by tossing a ned rig in weeds. I can’t figure out how to make this technique work, but it certainly does. Mike had 75.75 inches. Great job, man!

Also putting 75.75 inches on the board, with a bigger fish being the tie breaker—Bruno Casagrande! Good enough for second place.

Anyone who pays attention to the various local fishing groups knows that Paulo DeMorais is a hell of a fisherman. He’s been in the money twice already this year, and today makes three and his first MAKB victory! Paulo won by four inches, with 79.75. Congrats, sir. Well done!

Full results here.

As always, thanks for coming out. We had a new angler, Chris Nardi, join us today, along with Chris Catucci. Don’t think Nardi has a Facebook account, but if you see this, Chris, it was great meeting you (should have said this at the end, but I was distracted as always). Hope to see you at another one! You too, Catucci.

Thanks to Bruce for judging and giving Sarah a well-deserved break.

Our next event is the Three Lake Throwdown. Random draw “mystery” event, though you’ll get one of three lakes—Norton Reservoir, Lake Sabbatia, or Lake Nippenicket. With plenty of room for all, registration will open TOMORROW night.

Experience Pays Off

June 15, 2019 0 Comment

Thirty-three anglers fished Lake Cochituate today, our second biggest turnout ever, and our biggest turnout for a single-lake event (we had 37 fish our Lake Rico/Neponset Reservoir season opener).

It was a great day to fish, with a little wind that only really kicked up at the end of the day, as we all sat there and watched those renting kayaks struggle against the gusts and waves. Pretty irresponsible of that company to continue renting to people in that kind of wind.

Anyway, the wind didn’t really affect us much, and it was to some of our backs on the way in, so that was nice for a change.

We paid out five spots and also had optional buy-ins for pickerel and trout lunker. Most only opted in for the pickerel pool, which was smart because no trout were caught and the six of us who tried got our money back.

Pickerel lunker went to Jake Schur, who had a 21.75.

Domenicio Enos took an early lead and it seemed like he was going to pull off his third win of the year, but as the day progressed other anglers started putting fish on the board and things changed.

Coming in fifth place and, I believe, placing in the money for the first time ever—Bruno Casagrande! He had 71.25. Great job, man!

Just ahead of him with an even 72 inches, Paulo DeMorais took fourth place, finishing in the money for the second tournament in a row. Awesome.

At noon, when I turned off the standings, Shawn Renes, always a contender, was leading and seemed poised to win it all. Two other anglers had different plans, though, and Shawn finished in third place with a respectable 73.50.

John Ferreira has been making waves in MAKB and KBF this year, currently sitting in third place for KBF’s Regional Angler of the Year title. It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that he finished second today (unless you’re John, who was surprised). He had 76.75, less than an inch away from the win.

And taking the win for the first time ever—Steve Scott! Growing up fishing the lake paid off big time today. Not only did Steve win with a solid 77.25 inches, that total was anchored by a hefty 19-incher, which was also lunker for the day! Congrats on your first win, bro!

Full results can be found here.

Thanks for coming out, everyone, especially Steve Napolitano and George Valentine, who were fishing with us for the first time. Hope you both make it out to another one soon.

Once again, thanks to Sarah for judging, and thanks to Donald Davis, Bruce Levy, and Mike Elrick for all the help in the morning.

Our next event will be at Long Pond in Lakeville on June 29. We will be implementing a new early launch format at this one, so be on the lookout for those details soon.

Green Giants!

June 1, 2019 0 Comment

Another one down!

We hit Wequaquet Lake with a full field of 24 anglers today, and while no one knocked it out of the park, we all scored fish. Like our Cook Pond event, one or two decent upgrades for more than half the field would have been an express pass to the top of the leader board.

The weather was partly sunny and the wind wasn’t an issue at all. The water temps were 64 to 66 degrees, which is ridiculous for June 1. Some fish were still on beds! Unreal.

Anyway, we like to mix it up from time to time and offer an optional lunker pool for a non-bass species—pickerel, crappie, etc. Today we did a pike/pickerel pool. If no one caught a pike, it would default to the biggest pickerel. Well, no one caught a pike. But get this…

Eight anglers caught a state-pin-sized pickerel over 25 inches today. That’s right, EIGHT of us caught a monster pickerel big enough for a state pin. Ridiculous!

The biggest of those eight was Allan Seniuk’s 25.75-inch snot rocket. With some slight adjustments, it probably would have touched 26 inches. Congrats, man, and to anyone else who’s submitting their catch for a pin.

With smallmouth present, we had an optional smallie lunker pool. No giants were caught, but Domenicio Enos’s 15.75 got the job done well enough. Cha-ching!

He also hauled in a 19.50-inch largemouth, which, due to an unfortunate deduction given to another angler, also gave him lunker largemouth (it would have been a tie otherwise, and he would have lost the tie-breaker). Cha-ching!

As I mentioned previously, if any angler down to probably sixteenth place (68.50 inches) caught one or two solid upgrades, they’d have risen to the top or very close to it. Just 2.5 inches separated first place with fifth place, the lowest paying spot.

Troy Brown took that fifth spot with 76.25. Way to go, bud!

I spoke with Lee Kennon late in the day after he’d put a solid 17.50 on the board. He expected a top ten finish, but the lower half. He was wrong. That late-day 4.5-inch upgrade bumped him up into the fourth-place spot with 76.50! A nice surprise, I’m sure.

After a second-place finish at Cook Pond last week, Peter Arruda still had some tricks up his sleeve, resulting in 76.75 inches of bass and a third-place finish. Great job!

An inch ahead of Peter, Paulo DeMorais took second place with a solid sack of largemouth, one small upgrade away from the top. Great stuff, man!

And then there was first…

With 79 inches and his second first-place finish of the year—Domenicio Enos! CHA-CHING! Hell of a job out there, sir! Congrats again.

Click here for the full results.

Nearly 200 fish were submitted today, and that doesn’t count all the fish we didn’t measure/submit. Most of us went home empty-handed, but speaking for myself, I had a great time.

Well, except when I donated a spinning rod to the Goddess of the Lake. That part kind of sucked. Really sucked, actually.

Thank you, Sarah, for judging all those fish! And thanks to Donald for the help with payouts and everyone who helped make the unloading and loading go as smoothly as possible. We lucked out in that I don’t think the Cape Cod season is in full swing just yet. Can’t complain about that.

And no one got yelled at! At least, I don’t think anyone did. That’s a rare fine day on that lake. Haha.

Anyway, fellas, thanks for coming out! Our next event is in two weeks, June 15, on Lake Cochituate. We have two permits for this one, two different launches, allowing for 40 anglers total, and I’m working on getting access to another launch. I’ll probably open up registration for this one early, as we’ll have plenty of room.

Post-Spawn Funk

May 25, 2019 0 Comment

Cook Pond is in the books and…well, it was a close one. And when I say close, I mean one big upgrade or two decent upgrades could have bumped someone up to the top from nearly 20 places down. That close.

But those bigger fish were hard to come by.

We had 22 anglers show up for this one. The weather was great (and the water was pretty clear, believe it or not), but the fish were in a bit of a post-spawn funk (though there were still some bass on beds). There was no shortage of 12- to 15-inch bass today, but separating yourself from the pack was difficult.

We paid out five spots, plus smallmouth and largemouth lunker. We also held a 50/50 raffle, which was won by Gerard “Gerald” Elias. Congrats!

The smallmouth were a bit more tight-lipped than the buck largies today, but Peter Arruda threw a solid 16.50 on the board, the biggest of the day, thus good enough for lunker.

Troy Brown plucked from the lake the day’s biggest largemouth, an 18.75 on a Tokyo rig. Well done, bud!

The top half of leaderboard changed all day, with anglers jumping several spots with every small upgrade. John Ferreira hauled out a quintet of 15-inchers and 77 inches—a quarter inch over Donald Davis—taking fifth place.

Troy Brown added to his lunker winnings by nabbing a fourth place finish with 78 inches.

When I turned the standings off at noontime, Valber Santos had jumped up into first place. Two other anglers scored some late-game upgrades, though, knocking Valber down to third. A great finish either way.

It is sometimes difficult judging fish on a phone—small screen, glare, etc—and anglers have the same problem when submitting fish. One of Peter Arruda’s bass was entered as a 17.50, but to me it looked like a 17.75, which would have tied him with the leader (though it wouldn’t have changed the outcome, so I didn’t worry about it there at the ramp).

After I got home, though, I verified the fish on my computer, and it is indeed a 17.75, giving Peter a second place total of 80.25. His knowledge of the lake paid off today!

But Peter wasn’t the only angler fishing today who knew the lake well. Kevin Amaral Jr. is very familiar with this body of water as well, and, like Peter, he put 80.25 inches of bass on the board—but with an 18.25 kicker caught in the last two hours, giving him the tie-breaking victory!

(EDIT: Scratch that. I made a mistake on another one of Peter’s fish. He’s back down to 80 inches. Haha.)

And there you have it! Congrats, everyone. Great job out there today.

Check out the full results here.

The top five also received a pair of sunglasses, a hat, and a bag of soft plastics courtesy of Michael Sales and MGC Fishing Equipment and Supplies. Mike has always been good to us, so please return the favor when you’re in the need for new gear or tackle—especially swimbaits. Thanks again, Mike!

Thanks to Sarah for helping out with the judging today, even though she was out with the kids and family and certainly didn’t have to.

And thanks to Donald and Bruce and Mike and everyone else who helps out before and after the tournaments. It is greatly appreciated.

Anyway, it was good seeing everyone again. Always is. Great to finally meet you, Paulo!

Our next event is this coming Saturday (not sure how I managed to schedule two in a row) at Wequaquet Lake in Barnstable. A bit of a haul, but an excellent lake! HUGE pike in there as well. Please read the tournament description as we cannot park at the ramp.

We will have a back-up location in mind, though, because Wequaquet can get nasty if it’s windy. Either way, registration will go live tomorrow night at 7 PM.

Thanks again, fellas!

Etiquette on the Water

May 23, 2019 0 Comment

As we grow as a community and tournament organization, I think it’s time we discuss something that’s come up many times over the years.

But first, I want to make it clear that although there have been some minor complaints and I have spoken to some individuals about this in the past, this post is NOT about any one person, or even a few people. This is a general discussion intended for any and all kayak anglers.

This is about etiquette on the water.

We have maxed out every tournament thus far this year. I don’t know if that will continue throughout the season, but it’s very possible. Since we fish such small bodies of water, it’s only inevitable that anglers are going to come into close proximity with each other during tournaments. Though we can’t restrict anglers from fishing where they want to fish (as long as it’s in bounds), there are some unwritten rules when it comes to fishing near other anglers…

The most important “rule” is a simple one: give people space, respect their area.

No, an angler cannot reasonably expect have an entire cove or shoreline to himself. In most instances, anyway. If you’re fishing a tiny cove, like the one by the ramp at Lake Maspenock, to the left of the beach, you shouldn’t have to worry about an angler rolling up beside you and casting.

But again, it’s not something we can enforce, so that’s where common sense and respect come into play.

Another common sense “rule” is, don’t cast into a spot from which an angler just caught a fish. This has happened before, one time resulting in a catch by the other angler, a young kid, who had previously been spoken to about encroaching on this person’s spot. Some words were exchanged, and the kid never fished with us again.

That’s unfortunate, of course. We don’t want to see that happen. Ever. But sometimes it’s unavoidable. I think most of us would have reacted in the same manner given the circumstances.

In general, however, this sort of thing is entirely avoidable through mutual respect. Just give people space. If someone is fishing docks along a shoreline, go around them…and keep going, don’t start fishing the next dock. No one likes a leap-frogger. Again, anglers can’t have all the docks, but paddle-pedal-motor 50 or 75 yards down the shoreline before tossing a line.

If you’re unsure where an angler is fishing, ask them. An angler can’t reasonably expect to lay claim to the shore and offshore, you know. So if they’re fishing offshore, go on and fish the shoreline as you pass. Just don’t cast out where they’re fishing, unless of course you’ve gone 50 or 75 yards past them. It’s game on at that point.

I mentioned common sense above, which a lot of this stuff is, but even common sense requires some sort of knowledge or experience as a foundation, so if you’re unsure (especially those new to tournament fishing), just ask someone. “Which way should I go around you, left or right?” “Mind if I fish this shoreline as I pass?” Don’t worry about it. I have no doubt that those who fish our tournaments will respond kindly. If you don’t ask, however…no guarantees. Words may fly.

We don’t want that, of course, so just be mindful of each other on the water, give each other a respectful berth when passing or fishing the same general area.

This is our fourth year and we’ve had very few instances where these unwritten rules have been broken. We’d like to keep it that way.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

P.S.
Stay the hell out of my spots!

Thirty-Two Anglers, Two Lakes, and…Two Limits

May 4, 2019 0 Comment

The second MAKB tournament of the year is over, and speaking on behalf of nearly everyone who fished today—praaaaaaaaaise Jeebus! Holy crap, what an awful day. Haha. Rainy, windy, cold. It’s spring, right?

We did another split-location event today, to accommodate everyone who wanted to fish, with 10 anglers choosing to fish Ashumet Pond, while the remaining 22 chose Johns Pond.


Ramp etiquette? What’s that?

One could argue choosing Johns was a better choice, and that was probably true today, but only for a few. Just three fish were caught at Ashumet, compared to 33 at Johns. But with twelve more anglers there, and 19 of those 33 bass belonging to the top 5, it’s safe to say it was a pretty brutal day at Johns as well.

Thirteen anglers caught one or two fish, while 15 blanked. But with as much talent we have in this group, someone always puts it together.

With just two fish—one being a hefty 19.50 and his new PB smallie—Kevin Amaral found himself in the winner’s circle for the second tournament in a row, this time nabbing fifth place. Not bad for two fish!

Sticking it out in a small back pond with giant, tight-lipped bass swimming all around him, Gerard Elias racked up 42.75 with three fish, which was enough for a fourth-place finish.

Bruce Levy got on them early and plucked four solid smallies off of beds by 10 AM, taking a commanding lead, which he was still holding when we turned the standings off at 1 PM.

As is often the case, though, in those last two hours some anglers made big moves, and ultimately Bruce fell to third place with 62.50.

Though that fifth bass eluded Bruce, he would have needed a big one for it to make a difference, because Kevin Amaral Jr. came on strong at the end. By shifting out to deeper water, he was able to pull out three bass for a limit, including an absolute TANK of a smallie, which went 20.75 and scored him a nice chunk of change for smallie lunker. Not to mention second place by nearly 20 inches.

Speaking of lunker and a nice chunk of change, Michael Curreri’s lone 19-inch largemouth scored him a thick wad of cash.

Domenicio Enos got everyone’s attention around mid-morning, when he slapped two big smallies on the board—a 20.25 and a 19.25. He added another 19 a few hours later, then rounded out his limit with two smaller largemouth. His five went 85.75, good enough for the victory!

Great job, fellas! Congrats!

Check out the full standings here.

With 32 anglers, we were able to award three KBF National Championship slots. Kevin previously qualified at our last event, so Domenicio and Bruce qualified this time. Awesome!

(The NC is on Guntersville next year. FYI. =) )

Thanks to everyone who came out, especially the new guys, under such less-than-pleasurable conditions. And of course Mike Oharra and Bruno Casagrande, who fished our last tournament but I failed to mention. Glad to see you guys again!

Our next event is on Cook Pond in Fall River on May 25. I am going to try to get a small increase to the number of anglers we can have at this one, but as of right now it’s capped at 24. Registration will go live on May 19 at 7 PM.

Dinkathon 2019

April 20, 2019 0 Comment

We had a great turnout for the first MAKB event of the year (aka Dinkathon 2019). I was afraid the weather forecast would have scared a lot of anglers away, but 37—18 on Lake Rico, 19 on Neponset Res—showed up to battle the wind and the rain.

And despite the forecast, it wasn’t bad. The wind was awful—that was accurate—but it didn’t rain nearly as much as I expected.

The fishing forecast, however, was dead on. Dinks, dinks, and more dinks. Only three big fish were caught and, unfortunately, one was disqualified (more on that in another post).

We paid out five spots, lunker, and pickerel lunker (one pool for each pond).

Not a whole lot to write about when everyone is catching dinks, but five of those put Lee Kennon into the winner’s circle with 62 inches even (more on Lee’s day in another post as well).

One inch ahead of Lee, Joshua Jackson took fourth place. I think this is his first time placing in the money with us. Congrats, man!

A last-minute, 3.25-inch upgrade bumped Nick Booth up into third place with 64.75.

A big fish, even a 15-incher, would have made a big difference for a lot anglers today. That’s how tight things were.

Many thought Neponset Reservoir would put out bigger limits, but of the top ten, only one angler—Kevin Amaral Jr.—fished Neponset. Kevin put up a respectable (for these ponds) 65 inches for second place.

I lucked out today. My first two fish went 10.25 and 9.50, while my third went 12.50. Shortly after catching the latter, I just happened to find an area and a bait that both bass and pickerel were keying on: chatterbait slow rolled through partially dead, holdover lily pads. I first caught a pickerel, then another, and then one more, one of which was 18 inches—and I was pumped because I figured out a damn pickerel pattern and decided I’d shoot for winning the pickerel lunker pool.

In my excitement to catch pickerel, I laid into an absolute cow. When it rolled on me and I saw its belly, I thought it was a 10-pounder. Sadly, it was too short to be a 10, but it was fat. She went 20 inches and weighed 6.54 pounds. Full of eggs and food, ready to burst. That fish and a handful of others I caught later were enough to take lunker and first place. Though it is a bittersweet victory, which I’ll discuss later.

Because we had over 30 anglers, Nick, Josh, Kevin, and I also qualified for the 2020 KBF National Championship on Guntersville Lake in Alabama!

As mentioned, we held two separate pickerel lunker pools. I wasn’t sure how each lake compared when it came to pickerel, so I thought it was best to separate them. That said, Valber Santos took home the Neponset pool with a 23-something, and Gabe Portes nabbed the Rico pool with a giant over 25 inches!

Anyway, congrats to everyone who placed. And thank you to all who showed up under what promised to be an awful day. We appreciate you!

Check out the full results here.

Our next event is two weeks from now: Johns Pond in Mashpee on May 4. We’re looking to make this another split-location event to accommodate the demand, but we’re still trying to figure out if Ashumet is comparable to Johns.

The event pages will go up soon.

Thanks for all the help today Donald and Troy! And Sarah!

Hard-Earned and Well-Earned

November 10, 2018 0 Comment

With the weather forecast, it wasn’t surprising that we had a low turnout today at Lake Maspenock. Just seven of us were crazy enough to show up.

The morning started drizzly, but relatively calm. The wind didn’t pick up for a few hours, but when it did, it blew pretty hard. Billington Sea last year was far worse, but it still wasn’t all that fun out there today.

Worse, the bite was off. Nonexistent for most. I caught a pickerel and had a few nibbles from perch or sunfish on a dropshot, and that was it. I usually fish hard right till the end, but not today.

As I contemplated heading in early, around 1 PM, I saw three other anglers at the ramp, one of whom was in second place, just a small fish behind the leader. That should tell you all you need to know about how awful it was.

That second-place angler was John Ferreira. He had three fish for 42.25.

Shortly after I got out, two more anglers showed up, leaving just one out there on the lake: Chris Diranian. He was in the lead with four fish and 55.50 inches, so I texted him to come on in.

John got his fish on the ned rig, while Chris junk fished up in the northern section of the lake—which, ironically, was much calmer than the narrower section south of that. I did not expect that.

Chris also got took home lunker largemouth, a 15-incher; while Gerard, the only other angler to catch a fish, landed lunker smallie for the day, also 15-inches.

Check out the standings here: here.

Congrats, fellas! Hard-earned and well-earned!

Thanks for coming out! This will probably be it for the year. We’re looking to have a get-together (part potluck, part pig roast) mid-March, a kind of pre-season gathering and a KBF National Championship sendoff. We’ll also hand out trophies to the tournament winners from this year and Angler of the Year.

Should be a good time! Spouses and children will be welcome. Hope to see you there!