Salt City Bassmasters Compete In Tournament On Oneida Lake

[Jen Cardinale]

On Saturday September 17, 2011 thirty six SCBM members competed in a club tournament on Oneida Lake. It was their fifth points event of the 2011 season. The tournament was rescheduled from its original date of August 28 due to the threatening forecast courtesy of Hurricane Irene. Rather than contending with each other and a hurricane, the anglers blasted off at 7am on the 17th out of the South Shore access site and met a day of overcast skies, steady NE winds at 10-15mph, and temperatures in the low 60’s.

Boater Division:

Brian Kelly finished in first place weighing in 14 pounds 12 ounces. Kelly targeted schooling smallmouth on main lake shoals. He took long casts with a ½ ounce double willow War Eagle spinnerbait. Eventually, the spinnerbait would meet up with a school and trigger a bite. Kelly was able to cull throughout the day and landed about 10 fish.

Ralph Alexander finished second weighing in 14 pounds 1 ounce. Alexander’s original plan was to target largemouth all day, however, his partner; Lenny Potts, had located smallmouth during practice so they began by going after them. Alexander had about 12 pounds in the boat by 10am and left the area to find largemouth. Unfortunately, he was unable to find the fish. Returning to fish a bar in 8-17 feet of water with a drop shot rig, Alexander was able to cull a few times to better his weight.

Brian Eisch finished third weighing in 13 pounds 14 ounces. Eisch fished spinnerbaits and swimbaits around shoals.

Division Lunker went to Steve Balyszak, who landed a 3 pound 10 ounce smallmouth.

Co-Angler Division:

Lenny Potts finished in first place weighing in 12 pounds 12 ounces. Potts fished in 8-20 feet of water for smallmouth he had found during practice. His spot held fish for most of the day and the better bass came out of about 17 feet of water. The bite was slow but consistent. Potts used soft plastics on a drop shot rig all day.

Eric Barker finished second weighing in 11 pounds 8 ounces. Barker spent the day fishing spinnerbaits around shoals.

Rich Mattison finished third weighing in 11 pounds 5 ounces. Mattison was only able to catch 5 fish, a limit, and they came on a variety of lures. Mattison caught 3 largemouth early in the day on a ‘Roumba’ wake bait and a smallmouth on a swimbait. He would then go hours without a bite. Finally, near the end of the tournament he was able to land another smallmouth on a swimbait for his limit.

Jim Chmielewski and Tom Pavlot Jr tied for division Lunker, both weighing in 3 pound 9 ounce smallmouths. Chmielewski’s Lunker came on a senko in about 10 feet of water. Pavlot caught his Lunker on an all chartreuse War Eagle spinnerbait, which he landed on a Nerus spinnerbait rod outfitted with a Quantum reel.

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.

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