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Due to a late notice date change, it was difficult to schedule a large group of Bergen Bassmasters to assist at our annual Camp Sebago Fishing Clinic. Nevertheless, a few members took time from work and volunteered to help Jose “Lou Rod” Rodriguez and the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club with continued support. On Monday, August 16th, Bob Murphy, Bill Vella, Ryan Vella, Frank Freguletti, Alvin Walters and I utilized four boats, with trolling motors, to take out a good number of NYC youngsters out on Lake Stahahe in Harriman State Park. The fishing was great and one of my youngsters caught the biggest bass of the day on his very first cast with an artificial lure (one of my Pop R’s). His name is Mohammed and his largemouth was close to four pounds. His buddy, Ahmed, caught a two pounder. All of the other kids caught sunnies and bass and I thank the guys who helped out. Bob Murphy and Ramsey Outdoors supplied live bait and Frank and I utilized our own trolling motors. The Bergen Bassmasters assisted with the June 30th pre-opening “clean up” and the August 16th fishing clinic and will to be on board for 2011! The mission of Kips Bay Boys and Girls club is to improve and enhance the quality of life for all young people, ages 6 to 18 with special emphasis on those who need it most. Catch and release fishing is a great wholesome activity and the Bergen Bassmasters are glad to help. Nick Albano |
Billy
Bass conquers a tough Candlewood
for his 2nd
Win of the Year
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Bergen's
5th point’s event was held on 8/7-8, an all-nighter
on Candlewood. Normally, night events on Candlewood produce some of
the heaviest bags of the year. Just last year, John Hayden and
Mark Scocco nearly broke the twenty pound level with two great
bags. Perhaps an abnormally hot summer affected the August fishing
but this year, for whatever reason, it was difficult to even weigh in
a limit. Only four limits were weighed in and 6th place
was taken with only two fish.
Smartly pre-fishing more times than I can recall, Bill Vella earned his 2nd victory of the season and nearly took lunker as well. Although he used a couple of stock lures to nail two bass, all of his final keepers were caught on his custom made black spinnerbaits. Bill had no competition and his 15-3 weight outdistanced the next angler by 4 ½ pounds (many anglers did not even weigh in 4 ½ pounds). Bill weighed in 3 SMB and 2 LMB with the larger bass going 4-2. Nice Going Bill! Our reigning Bergen Champ, Pat Van Wettering, returns to pick up a check with 5 largemouths’s totaling 10-14. For a hard earned limit, Pat used his own black spinnerbaits and did not pre-fish. A Candlewood veteran, Pat frequented his favorite spots and simply plugged away all night. John Hart and Steve Rusert using different techniques, had limits of 9-3 each. John used jigs worked in weedy areas and Steve used senkos in shallow water. Both of these anglers are quite familiar with Candlewood and like Pat, they simply worked hard in areas which produced in the past. John had 2 SMB and 3 SMB while Steve had 3 LMB and 2 SMB. Scott Mitchell, another top Bergen angler, found the going tough but managed to bag 4 chunky keepers at 8-4. Scotty caught 2 LMB and 2 SMB on his favorite Spider Grub. Until trying a steep shoreline with no weeds, I did not catch a fish until 3AM. Helicoptering 1 ounce black spinnerbaits tossed next to shore, I nailed the tournament lunker, a 4-7 smallie. Aside from the less than Candy like fishing, Jason Mordhorst and the tournament committee ran another good event without any issues or mishaps. We had a 100% survival rate and except for Billy and Edie, everyone made it home OK. These guys drove up to Champlain and after a cat nap, were frogging for bucketmouths Sunday afternoon.
Nick Albano |
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Joe Benevenia, pictured with John Williams, Bill Vella, Ryan Vella
and myself at Club 199 says hello and best wishes to all Bergen members and
enjoyed fishing with us in our 10th Annual Open Buddy Night Tournament. Thanks
to many Bergen members who ether fished or volunteered to help out, the Lake
Hopatcong event was a big success and many limits were weighed in. The weather
was perfect for night fishing and thanks to our good organization and
guidelines, there were no mishaps. Special thanks go out (again) to our
president, Bob Murphy. Bob assisted with the registration, blast off and
returned Sunday morning with coffee and pay out envelopes. Tom Framm assisted
during registration. Pat Van Wettering and Dave Bialer gave Jason Mordhorst a
break and ran the weigh in Sunday morning. Anglers who had good pulse on the
Lake or who lucked into active bass had great success. The big lake, much like
Candlewood at night, had hot and cold areas. As bass were caught using all kinds
of tactics, selecting the proper lure was not a factor. Although bass were
caught on buzzbaits, senkos, jigs, spinnerbaits, chug bugs, etc., the trick was
to locate active bass. The best of Bergen included Scott Mitchell and Jason
Mordhorst who placed in the money. Andy Karcich and brother Steve just missed a
pay check but won a Gift Pack from Frank’s Tackle. Remarkably, although nearly
every Team weighed in a limit of bass, we only had one DOA. Such a good release
rate, given warm mid-summer water temps, can best be attributed to a low creel
limit of 5 bass per boat.
1 Lindo and Plotts 5 bass 16-6 2 Appaluccio and Appaluccio 5 bass 16-1 3 Tierney and Schneider 5 bass 12-8 4 Tomeo and Kalinich 5 bass 11-11 5 Mitchell and Mordhorst 5 bass 11-8 6 Messa and Nagle 5 bass 10-13 7 Karcich and Karcich 5 bass 10-11 7 Palanteri and Caipitiello 5 bass 10-11 8 Bennet and Leary 5 bass 10-0 9 Izzi and Planer 5 bass 9-15 10 Colburn and Merle 5 bass 9-13 11 Amberg and Amberg 5 bass 9-10 12 Ernest and Hayden 5 bass 9-7 13 Diamanados and Diamonados 5 bass 8-14 14 Hart and Williams 5 bass 8-6 14 Liardo and Breen 5 bass 8-6 14 Stock and Davenport 5 bass 8-6 15 Brooks and Saullo 5 bass 8-4 16 Albano and Benevenia 5 bass 7-11 17 Ward and Farrell 5 bass 7-10 18 Rodonene and Sorg 3 bass 7-7 19 Ryan and Tompkins 4 bass 7-0 20 Avarella and Avarella 5 bass 6-10 21 Roche and Walters 5 bass 6-7 22 Presnell and Durant 4 bass 5-6 23 Murphy DNW 23 Kerr and McCloskey DNW Lunker 6-13 Largemouth caught by Appaluccio and Appaluccio Total 27 Boats Total Bass 121 Released Alive 120 (99.2%) |
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USO Hudson River Challenge Results 2010 USO Open News
Youth Pages
Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club at Camp Sebago
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Twenty years ago
Although I have been fishing for dozens of years, I started tournament fishing in earnest when I joined Bergen in 1989. On May 20, 1989 I was lucky enough to be drawn with a fishing dynamo named Bob Puente. I knew nothing about Twin Lakes CT and relied on Bob to provide me with some tournament tips. Bob was cool and was quick to learn that due to a cold front, the main lake bass were not very active. On a sunny day, he was the only angler to discover that a tiny pond between both lakes held active bass, sunning themselves in slightly warmer and shallow water. Using grubs and plastic worms, he picked up a decent limit of bass and easily won the tournament with over 11 pounds. From that day I learned that no matter how tough the fishing is, there is always something that will work, and someone will unlock the key. Bob was quick to help out other anglers and right from my start with Bergen, I credit him with teaching me two key tactics, don’t waste time with non-productive water and try to do what no one else is doing. I am sure that many Bergenites received a few bassin’ tips, boat/motor assistance or moral support from Bob and we will miss him dearly, may he rest in peace.
