Results: Scbm Partner's Tournament On Oneida Lake

[Jen Cardinale]

Salt City Bassmasters Compete On Oneida Lake In Partner’s Tournament

On Sunday July 15, 2012 eight Salt City teams [of two] competed on Oneida Lake in a partner’s tournament sponsored by Trappers Pizza Pub.

Contrary to traditional partner events participants were not allowed to bring their own partners or form their own teams, they were partnered up by blind draw which follows SCBM’s tournament format. In addition, each member of the team could only contribute 3 fish to the 6 fish team limit, and they could only cull their own fish, not their partner’s. This rule made the partners focus on teamwork and the sharing of techniques to ensure each angler got the best 3 fish limit they could to contribute to their team’s total weight. Also, each bag of six fish brought to the scales was required to have at least one bass that was of a different species. No team could bring in a bag of all largemouth or all smallmouth without being penalized.

The teams blasted at 6am from the South Shore Launch and returned at 2pm to weigh in.

The team of Fred Chilluffo and Kim Moran finished in first place with only 5 fish, weighing in 14lbs 9oz. They also brought the tournament Lunker smallmouth to the scales which weighed 3lbs 14oz.

The team of Brian Eisch and Curtis Waterman finished in second place with 6 fish, weighing in 14 lbs 5oz. The team fished in 5-6 feet of water which dropped off to 10-12 feet of water. The smallmouth were feeding on small perch fry. Purple colored Senkos worked the best by just leaving them on the bottom and waiting for the smallmouth to pick them up. Waterman needed to cull his last fish to potentially make up the 4oz to move into first place, unfortunately for his team the fish didn’t cooperate in the time allotted.

The team of Joe Koeting and Joe Dixie finished in third place with 6 fish, weighing in

12lbs 14oz. The team started on a spot where they expected to find Smallmouth; rock and weeds in 3-4 feet of water. And while their first two fish were Smallmouth (one decent, one a small keeper) they thought the area felt a little beat-up and decided to try a little shallower. The next fish took them out of the game for about 15 minutes battling a huge carp to the boat which they estimated to be between 20 and 25 lbs. The next two shallow fish were decent largemouth caught in 1-3 feet of water, with rock and scattered weeds. A fifth fish (Largemouth) filled one limit at about 8:15am. Fish there were caught on soft stick-baits, a spinner, and a soft swimbait. Their action seemed to really cool off and they soon left to try a few largemouth spots. Heavy weeds around a small shoal in 7 feet of water failed to produce, as did the end of one of the islands in 3-5 feet of water with weeds and some large rocks. So, they moved out to a weed line in about 7-9 feet of water and filled out the second limit by 11:15am. Not long after they culled the smaller Smallmouth giving them most of their weight with 5 Largemouth and 1 Smallmouth. They were able to cull one of the largemouth but only gained a fraction. Fish were caught there on flipping baits. Finally, they moved to scattered rock piles in 4 - 5 feet of water. They were able to cull two more of their largemouth, but only by fractions of ounces each. Soft stick-baits did most of the damage there.

The tournament Lunker largemouth was brought to the scales by the team of Mike Cusano and Joe Fey. It weighed in at 4lbs 1oz.

About Salt City Bassmasters:

Salt City Bassmasters is an organization dedicated to helping its members become better bass anglers through discussion, seminars, and interactive learning. Salt City strives to provide a competitive bass fishing tournament trail that encourages sportsmanship, fun, and learning. Lastly, Salt City Bassmasters wants to improve the knowledge of all anglers, promote ethical behavior and sportsmanship, and increase environmental awareness.

www.saltcitybass.com