CHAMPLAIN DOES NOT DISAPPOINT!
Submitted by: Nick Angiulo
The great debate regarding what lake provides the best bass fishing in America has heated up in recent years with the focus moving to Texas lakes such as Falcon Lake which holds behemoth largemouth. However, a good argument can be made that the best overall bass fishing lake in the country in terms of fish quality and quantity lies in the upper north east corner of New York State. Lake Champlain, with its 110 miles of water chocked full of trophy sized largemouth and smallmouth bass, affords an angler many options. Whether it’s running north to catch the huge bronzebacks, or staying south and fishing the massive weed beds in search of lunker largemouth, days of 30 to 50 fish, with many topping four pounds, are commonplace. Against this backdrop, the New Jersey Bass Federation returned to Champlain on June 24th-25th, 2010, for the second time in three years, to hold its annual Team Tournament. The Team Tournament, which pits the top six anglers from each participating New Jersey Bass Federation club against one another in a two-day, cumulative weight event, brings New Jersey’s best bass anglers out to compete. At the end of the event, the 168 anglers who participated posted several new Team Tournament records, and a new club, made up of many of the same individuals who have won the past two team tournaments, took the incredibly close event. Also, on the individual side, where the top six individual finishers get a berth on the 2011 New Jersey State Team, one angler showed consistency is the key and took the event by almost two pounds.
This year’s winning team, the Back to Back Bassmasters, a spinoff club, is a conglomerate composed on several of the same individuals from the United Bass Anglers, who won the 2008 Team Tournament at Lake Champlain and the 2009 Team Tournament at Kerr Reservoir. The team consisted of Manny Cruz, Bill Kanwisher, John Garbarini, Mike Avery, Andrew Bornn and Alberto Velez. In winning the event, this team managed to eclipse the total weight record for a Team Tournament set by United in 2008. In doing so, the team weighed in 60 fish for a two-day total weight of 168.72 pounds, besting 2008’s total by 1.50 pounds. In translation, that comes out to a truly impressive 14.06 pounds of fish per angler per day! Leading the way for the team was Manny Cruz, the winner of the last two Team Tournaments. Cruz did not win this year, but finished in 8TH place with an overall total of 33.88 pounds. Cruz was consistent on both tournament days, bringing 16.26 pounds to the scales on Day 1 and 17.62 pounds to the scales on Day 2. The next highest individual finisher was Andrew Bornn, who finished in 10TH place with 33.14 pounds. Bornn posted a stout Day 1 limit of 18.62 pounds. Finding Day 2 slightly more difficult, Bornn still managed to bring 14.52 pounds to the scales. Next, in 44TH place was Mike Avery with 28.74 pounds. Avery had a relatively small 12.50 pounds on Day 1 but followed it up with a strong Day 2 limit weighing 16.24 pounds. Close behind, in 48TH place was Bill Kanwisher. Kanwisher posted a Day 1 limit totaling 13.20 pounds, and followed it up with a better Day 2 weight of 15.16 pounds, giving him a total weight of 28.36 pounds. Alberto Velez was next, posting consistent weights of 11.44 and 11.34 pounds, respectively, giving him 22.78 pounds and placing him in 96TH place. Rounding out the team’s weight was John Garbarini, who posted a Day 1 weight of 9.10 pounds, and a Day 2 weight of 12.74 pounds, giving him 21.84 pounds and placing him in 108TH place.
At the 2008 event held on the lake, the winning team easily won the event by nearly 12 pounds. Not so this year, with no less than seven teams within nine pounds of taking the title, and the second and third place finishing teams narrowly missing taking the title by only 1.32 and 1.62 pounds, respectively. With that said, taking second in the event, with a total weight of 167.40 pounds, which also eclipsed the former overall weight record, was the North Jersey Bassmasters. To put in perspective how close this team came to the title, its overall weight equals an average of 13.95 pounds of fish per day per angler, or merely two ounces less per angler, per day, than the winning team! Leading this team was Bill Garcia who posted two consistent weights. Garcia’s Day 1 weight of 15.84 pounds, coupled with his Day 2 weight of 16.18 pounds gave him a two-day total of 32.02 pounds, good enough for 21ST place. Placing next was Dave Tierney who posted 29.04 pounds, placing him in 40TH place. Tierney posted an excellent Day 1 weight of 17.02 pounds, but could only manage 12.02 on Day 2. In contrast to Tierney, Ralph Campitello posted only 10.90 pounds on Day 1, but followed it up with a whopping 18.00 pounds on Day 2, giving him 28.90 pounds overall and placing him in 43RD place. Next in line was Joe Pulice who totaled 27.14 pounds over two days placing him in 56TH place. Pulice posted two consistent weights of 13.66 pounds and 13.48 pounds, respectively. Close behind was Lou Palmintieri in 59TH place. Palmintieri had a small 10.78 pound limit on Day 1 but upgraded to 15.78 pounds on Day 2, giving him 26.56 pounds overall. Joe Casale posted a Day 1 weight of 11.04 pounds, and a Day 2 weight of 12.70 pounds, giving him 23.74 pounds and placing him in 84TH place.
Finishing in third place in the event by a mere five ounces, with a weight of 167.10 pounds, was the Quickfire Bassmasters. This team secured its third place finish with some impressive angler placings. Leading the team was Derick Olson who weighed in 10 fish over the two days totaling 35.16 pounds, which included a tournament leading 19.92 pound Day 1 limit. This total placed him in 4TH place overall and secured his spot on the 2011 State Team. Second from the club was Brandon Sitzler, whose two-day total of 32.10 pounds placed 20TH in the event. Finishing 38TH was Jason Orrechio who brought a total of 29.22 pounds to the scales. Next was Cliff Tienken, who posted a 27.48 pound total, placing him in 53RD place. Stew Orrechio finished in 107TH place with a two-day total weight of 21.92 pounds. Vince Troiano completed the team’s weight with 21.22 pounds. He finished in 118TH place.
Aside from the team aspect of the event, as previously mentioned, the top six individual finishers make the 2011 New Jersey State Team. Positions one through three get Boater slots, and positions four through six receive Co-Angler slots. The winner of the event, in impressive fashion, was Craig Townsend of the Bucketmouth Brigade. Townsend posted two huge limits in winning the event by almost two pounds. On Day 1, Townsend brought 18.12 pounds to the scales, placing him in 5TH for the day and poised to make a run at the title. Day 2 proved even better for Townsend, who weighed in 20.26 pounds, giving him his final weight of 38.38 pounds. This total weight was only one-half pound off the Federation Team Tournament record of 38.88 posted at the 2008 event. Second place went to Dave Frost of the Limiters. Frost also improved from Day 1 to Day 2, posting 17.76 on Day 1 and 18.88 on Day two, giving him 36.64 overall. Finishing third was Russ Cannici of the South Jersey Hawg Hunters. Cannici posted 16.64 on Day 1, but backed it up with 18.54 pounds, for a 35.18 pound total. As previously mentioned, Derick Olson of Quickfire took the fourth place spot with 35.16 pounds. Fifth place went to Federation Treasurer, and Central NJ Bassmasters’ member, Jim Bartolotto with 34.92 pounds. Bartolotto posted consistent weights of 17.70 pounds on Day 1 and 17.22 pounds on Day 2. The final State Team spot went to Alan Zenkert. Zenkert, a member of the Northern NJ Bassmasters posted 34.48 pounds, which includes 16.98 on Day 1 and 17.50 on Day 2. To illustrate the closeness in individual weights, no less than seven other anglers were within 1.50 pounds of the sixth, and last, State Team spot.
Tournament Notes
The Day 1 lunker for the event, a 6.12 pound largemouth, was caught by Wally Peer, of Blazin Bass. The Day 2 lunker, a 5.82 pound largemouth, was caught by Jim Bartolotto. There were innumerable other fish over five pounds brought to the scales over the two days.
Some adjectives to describe this event would be superlative, stupendous and exhausting. As previously mentioned, the overall team weight broke the record set at the 2008 Champlain event. Also, the winning individual weight also nearly broke the record. One other significant record that fell in the event was the overall weight for a Team Tournament. The previous record of 3,233.79 pounds, set at the 2008 Champlain Team Tournament, was bested by over 750 pounds. This year’s 168 anglers brought an incredible 3,989.00 pounds of bass to the scales. That equals an average of 23.74 pounds per angler over two days or an average of 11.87 pounds per angler per day! The number of fish weighed in was a whopping 1,540, or an average per angler of 9.22 fish (out of a possible 10). Equally impressive is the average weight per fish, which was 2.59 pounds. There were 34 anglers who weighed in a total more than 30 pounds over the two days, and there were four limits of more than 20 pounds weighed in, all on Day 2. The biggest limit of the event, totaling 21.52 pounds, was weighed in by Dan McGarry of the Bass Kickers.
Submitted by: Nick Angiulo
The great debate regarding what lake provides the best bass fishing in America has heated up in recent years with the focus moving to Texas lakes such as Falcon Lake which holds behemoth largemouth. However, a good argument can be made that the best overall bass fishing lake in the country in terms of fish quality and quantity lies in the upper north east corner of New York State. Lake Champlain, with its 110 miles of water chocked full of trophy sized largemouth and smallmouth bass, affords an angler many options. Whether it’s running north to catch the huge bronzebacks, or staying south and fishing the massive weed beds in search of lunker largemouth, days of 30 to 50 fish, with many topping four pounds, are commonplace. Against this backdrop, the New Jersey Bass Federation returned to Champlain on June 24th-25th, 2010, for the second time in three years, to hold its annual Team Tournament. The Team Tournament, which pits the top six anglers from each participating New Jersey Bass Federation club against one another in a two-day, cumulative weight event, brings New Jersey’s best bass anglers out to compete. At the end of the event, the 168 anglers who participated posted several new Team Tournament records, and a new club, made up of many of the same individuals who have won the past two team tournaments, took the incredibly close event. Also, on the individual side, where the top six individual finishers get a berth on the 2011 New Jersey State Team, one angler showed consistency is the key and took the event by almost two pounds.
This year’s winning team, the Back to Back Bassmasters, a spinoff club, is a conglomerate composed on several of the same individuals from the United Bass Anglers, who won the 2008 Team Tournament at Lake Champlain and the 2009 Team Tournament at Kerr Reservoir. The team consisted of Manny Cruz, Bill Kanwisher, John Garbarini, Mike Avery, Andrew Bornn and Alberto Velez. In winning the event, this team managed to eclipse the total weight record for a Team Tournament set by United in 2008. In doing so, the team weighed in 60 fish for a two-day total weight of 168.72 pounds, besting 2008’s total by 1.50 pounds. In translation, that comes out to a truly impressive 14.06 pounds of fish per angler per day! Leading the way for the team was Manny Cruz, the winner of the last two Team Tournaments. Cruz did not win this year, but finished in 8TH place with an overall total of 33.88 pounds. Cruz was consistent on both tournament days, bringing 16.26 pounds to the scales on Day 1 and 17.62 pounds to the scales on Day 2. The next highest individual finisher was Andrew Bornn, who finished in 10TH place with 33.14 pounds. Bornn posted a stout Day 1 limit of 18.62 pounds. Finding Day 2 slightly more difficult, Bornn still managed to bring 14.52 pounds to the scales. Next, in 44TH place was Mike Avery with 28.74 pounds. Avery had a relatively small 12.50 pounds on Day 1 but followed it up with a strong Day 2 limit weighing 16.24 pounds. Close behind, in 48TH place was Bill Kanwisher. Kanwisher posted a Day 1 limit totaling 13.20 pounds, and followed it up with a better Day 2 weight of 15.16 pounds, giving him a total weight of 28.36 pounds. Alberto Velez was next, posting consistent weights of 11.44 and 11.34 pounds, respectively, giving him 22.78 pounds and placing him in 96TH place. Rounding out the team’s weight was John Garbarini, who posted a Day 1 weight of 9.10 pounds, and a Day 2 weight of 12.74 pounds, giving him 21.84 pounds and placing him in 108TH place.
At the 2008 event held on the lake, the winning team easily won the event by nearly 12 pounds. Not so this year, with no less than seven teams within nine pounds of taking the title, and the second and third place finishing teams narrowly missing taking the title by only 1.32 and 1.62 pounds, respectively. With that said, taking second in the event, with a total weight of 167.40 pounds, which also eclipsed the former overall weight record, was the North Jersey Bassmasters. To put in perspective how close this team came to the title, its overall weight equals an average of 13.95 pounds of fish per day per angler, or merely two ounces less per angler, per day, than the winning team! Leading this team was Bill Garcia who posted two consistent weights. Garcia’s Day 1 weight of 15.84 pounds, coupled with his Day 2 weight of 16.18 pounds gave him a two-day total of 32.02 pounds, good enough for 21ST place. Placing next was Dave Tierney who posted 29.04 pounds, placing him in 40TH place. Tierney posted an excellent Day 1 weight of 17.02 pounds, but could only manage 12.02 on Day 2. In contrast to Tierney, Ralph Campitello posted only 10.90 pounds on Day 1, but followed it up with a whopping 18.00 pounds on Day 2, giving him 28.90 pounds overall and placing him in 43RD place. Next in line was Joe Pulice who totaled 27.14 pounds over two days placing him in 56TH place. Pulice posted two consistent weights of 13.66 pounds and 13.48 pounds, respectively. Close behind was Lou Palmintieri in 59TH place. Palmintieri had a small 10.78 pound limit on Day 1 but upgraded to 15.78 pounds on Day 2, giving him 26.56 pounds overall. Joe Casale posted a Day 1 weight of 11.04 pounds, and a Day 2 weight of 12.70 pounds, giving him 23.74 pounds and placing him in 84TH place.
Finishing in third place in the event by a mere five ounces, with a weight of 167.10 pounds, was the Quickfire Bassmasters. This team secured its third place finish with some impressive angler placings. Leading the team was Derick Olson who weighed in 10 fish over the two days totaling 35.16 pounds, which included a tournament leading 19.92 pound Day 1 limit. This total placed him in 4TH place overall and secured his spot on the 2011 State Team. Second from the club was Brandon Sitzler, whose two-day total of 32.10 pounds placed 20TH in the event. Finishing 38TH was Jason Orrechio who brought a total of 29.22 pounds to the scales. Next was Cliff Tienken, who posted a 27.48 pound total, placing him in 53RD place. Stew Orrechio finished in 107TH place with a two-day total weight of 21.92 pounds. Vince Troiano completed the team’s weight with 21.22 pounds. He finished in 118TH place.
Aside from the team aspect of the event, as previously mentioned, the top six individual finishers make the 2011 New Jersey State Team. Positions one through three get Boater slots, and positions four through six receive Co-Angler slots. The winner of the event, in impressive fashion, was Craig Townsend of the Bucketmouth Brigade. Townsend posted two huge limits in winning the event by almost two pounds. On Day 1, Townsend brought 18.12 pounds to the scales, placing him in 5TH for the day and poised to make a run at the title. Day 2 proved even better for Townsend, who weighed in 20.26 pounds, giving him his final weight of 38.38 pounds. This total weight was only one-half pound off the Federation Team Tournament record of 38.88 posted at the 2008 event. Second place went to Dave Frost of the Limiters. Frost also improved from Day 1 to Day 2, posting 17.76 on Day 1 and 18.88 on Day two, giving him 36.64 overall. Finishing third was Russ Cannici of the South Jersey Hawg Hunters. Cannici posted 16.64 on Day 1, but backed it up with 18.54 pounds, for a 35.18 pound total. As previously mentioned, Derick Olson of Quickfire took the fourth place spot with 35.16 pounds. Fifth place went to Federation Treasurer, and Central NJ Bassmasters’ member, Jim Bartolotto with 34.92 pounds. Bartolotto posted consistent weights of 17.70 pounds on Day 1 and 17.22 pounds on Day 2. The final State Team spot went to Alan Zenkert. Zenkert, a member of the Northern NJ Bassmasters posted 34.48 pounds, which includes 16.98 on Day 1 and 17.50 on Day 2. To illustrate the closeness in individual weights, no less than seven other anglers were within 1.50 pounds of the sixth, and last, State Team spot.
Tournament Notes
The Day 1 lunker for the event, a 6.12 pound largemouth, was caught by Wally Peer, of Blazin Bass. The Day 2 lunker, a 5.82 pound largemouth, was caught by Jim Bartolotto. There were innumerable other fish over five pounds brought to the scales over the two days.
Some adjectives to describe this event would be superlative, stupendous and exhausting. As previously mentioned, the overall team weight broke the record set at the 2008 Champlain event. Also, the winning individual weight also nearly broke the record. One other significant record that fell in the event was the overall weight for a Team Tournament. The previous record of 3,233.79 pounds, set at the 2008 Champlain Team Tournament, was bested by over 750 pounds. This year’s 168 anglers brought an incredible 3,989.00 pounds of bass to the scales. That equals an average of 23.74 pounds per angler over two days or an average of 11.87 pounds per angler per day! The number of fish weighed in was a whopping 1,540, or an average per angler of 9.22 fish (out of a possible 10). Equally impressive is the average weight per fish, which was 2.59 pounds. There were 34 anglers who weighed in a total more than 30 pounds over the two days, and there were four limits of more than 20 pounds weighed in, all on Day 2. The biggest limit of the event, totaling 21.52 pounds, was weighed in by Dan McGarry of the Bass Kickers.
2010 NJ BASS FEDERATION
TOP SIX MAN TEAM TOURNAMENT
June 24th– 25th, 2010 Lake Champlaine, NY Report-Results - Chapter Results - Gallery
TOP SIX MAN TEAM TOURNAMENT
June 24th– 25th, 2010 Lake Champlaine, NY Report-Results - Chapter Results - Gallery
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2010 NJ Bass Federation Top Six Man Report
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