Supporting Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund
Right up until Saturday night – it was unclear if this tournament would actually get off the ground. On Friday, the water level was way beyond the end of the concrete ramp. With a drop off of a few feet from the concrete to the mud, launching was impossible. Nevertheless, the lock supervisor insisted that we would be good to go on Sunday. On Saturday morning the level was up the concrete ramp by 3 feet – still much too little for safe launching. Bergenites John E, John H, Eddie and Eric decided to fish Sacandaga for fun on Saturday and caught a mix bag of smallies, two muskies, many walleyes and one 3 ½ lb largemouth. I stayed behind to keep tabs on the Mohawk water levels and to pick up some household items at Walmart – I also thought of launching at Schoharie if the water level came up by mid afternoon – it was rising but only inched up a few more feet by 3PM. One more check at nightfall Saturday revealed that all was looking good for Sunday morning.
Sunday was cold and windy, but dry. Air temp was around 38 and water temps hovered at 49. We registered ten hearty teams and blasted off on time at 7AM. In anticipation of Hurricane Sandy, the river was lowered then raised within one week. This must have turned off the usual great Mohawk bass action but as there was no pre-fishing, the playing field was level. I was sucking cold wind until I discovered a school of big bass in a deep part of the river. In a short period of time I had four big smallies in the livewell but lost twice that many at or near the boat. When the action died, I left the area but boated one small keeper further down the river. All of my bass were caught on drop shot rigs. Fishing deep was the ticket but given normal water levels, the usual fall Mohawk action should peak out soon. Congratulations to the top finishers!
This tournament would not be possible without the help of Bergenites John Ernest, John Hayden, Eric Lehman and Eddie Schickman. For waiving the launch fee, special thanks go out to Janice Fontanella with Schoharie Crossing, Tom the Lock Supervisor for accurate water level info and Hal with Schoharie Crossing for photographing the weigh-in. I also thank all of the anglers who showed up and we will be sending 20% of all entry fees to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. The Bergen Bassmaster managed Bassin’ Lane Open will return to Schoharie on 11/3/13.
Results follow:
1. Timothy Morrison/Anthony Raimo 5 bass 15.37
2. Dan and Jim Morgan 5 bass 14.52
3. Bryan Gudd and John Olsen 5 bass 14.19
4. Nick Albano (solo) 5 bass 12.99
5. John Ernest and John Hayden 5 bass 10.63
6. Larry Andrews (solo) 3 bass 8.60
7. Gary and Greg Menchen 3 bass 8.16
8. Jim and Ted Underhill 3 bass 7.64
Eris Lehman and Ed Schickman DNW
Dale Brown and Greg Strait DNW
Lunker – Nick Albano 4.08
All bass were smallies and all released alive
