Alabama and Mississippi Federation Anglers/Co-Anglers converged at Florence AL, to fish the waters of Pickwick Lake for the 2020 TBF District 4 National Semi-Finals Tournament.  The dates of the event were 17-18 October 2020, launching out of McFarland Park.  Anglers and Co-Anglers from each State Federation were fishing for the opportunity to advance to the TBF 2021 National Tournament to be scheduled during the spring of 2021.  Mother nature presented excellent weather conditions for the event.

Following two days of competition of the Mississippi Anglers, Scott Whitehead with a total weight of 29.13 remerged as the winning Mississippi Angler.  Alabama Angler, Keith Glasgow with a total weight of 19.73 was the winning Alabama Angler.  Both of these anglers earned at berth at the 2021 TBF National Championship Tournament.  Finishing in second place in the Angler Division was Jamie Long of Mississippi with 27.15, third place finisher was Edwin Gregory of Mississippi with 26.95. Keith Glasgow finished in fourth place with 19.73.  Jeremy Mabrey of Alabama rounded out the Angler Division with 18.95.

Sonny Woodward of Alabama was the top Alabama Co-Angler with a total weight of 25.40 and Kyle Hill of Mississippi with a weight of 19.78 was the top finishing Mississippi Co-Angler. Woodward and Hill are headed to the 2021 TBF National Championship Tournament.  Third place Co-Angler finisher was Matt Pearson of Mississippi with 15.19; Terry Pinkard of Alabama finished in fourth place with 14.30 and Neal Davis of Alabama finished in fifth place of the Co-Angler Division with 14.22.

The Team Pride competition of the tournament was won by Mississippi team members with a weight of 92.45.  Alabama’s team weight was 92.12.

Edwin Gregory of Mississippi was the Ranger Cup winner of the event.

Congratulations to the tournament competitors of this event for qualifying to participate and we hope the best for all.  Let’s all congratulate Scott Whitehead, Keith Glasgow, Sonny Woodward and Kyle Hill for their qualification to advance to the 2021 TBF National Tournament. For full results CLICK HERE

It was a wild ride for the competitors in District 15 Rhode island this season. We had a great SQT in the spring even with the challenges that presented due to Covid-19 restrictions. The teams that were supposed to be going up to the Hudson River were very much excited to go. Sadly Rhode island was added to the New York quarantine list just weeks before the event, forcing Rhode Island to hold its own NSF at the last minute. We were not thrilled but we managed to pull it off last minute and get two days at Webster Lake in Massachusetts. Webster setup in a challenging way for the anglers. Day 1 had high winds and tough fishing conditions, But most of the field had small limits. Day 2 was beautiful with light winds and chilly air but also post front fishing conditions.

Most of the field struggled but of course someone had to catch them and did! Overall it was a good experience considering the circumstances. Our top boater was Jeremy Sadowski. Top Co-angler was Guiseppe Andreoli.

We would like to wish them good luck at the 2021 TBF Federation National Championship. Onto next year!

To say that 2020 has been a unique year would be an understatement.  With the COVID-19 pandemic, nothing has been what could be considered “normal.”  This reality has affected nearly all aspects of our lives.  This included the District 15 TBF National Semi-Final held on October 10 and 11, 2020 on the Hudson River out of Catskill, New York hosted by the New Jersey Bass Federation.  The event was originally scheduled to involve anglers from New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island.  However, given current restrictions, Rhode Island anglers were not at the event.

Nevertheless, 24 anglers (12 Boaters and 12 Co-anglers) from New Jersey and 16 anglers (8 Boaters and 8 Co-anglers) from Connecticut participated in a challenging event.

Day 1 welcomed the anglers with multiple challenges.  Initially, the 15 to 25 mph south winds made navigating and fishing much of the river incredibly difficult.  Additionally, with the fish not quite yet on their fall feed, 15-inch keeper-sized largemouth and smallmouth were difficult to locate and catch.  Regardless, some anglers caught excellent Day 1 weights.

In the Boater Division, Day 1 was led by Connecticut’s Keith Cleary with a 5-fish limit weighing 13.71 pounds.  He was followed closely behind by Dexter Marshall of New Jersey with 4 fish weighing 13.49 pounds, including the Day 1 Boater lunker 5.56 pound largemouth.  Third place was held by Mike Czaplinski with a 5-fish limit weighing 12.10 pounds.

In the Co-angler Division, New Jersey’s Joe Casale posted an amazing 16.54 pound limit, anchored by the Co-angler Division Day 1 lunker 5.59 pound largemouth.  Behind Casale in second was Jon Cohl from New Jersey with 3 fish weighing 9.45 pounds.  Cohl was followed by Pete Longo of New Jersey who had 4 fish totaling 9.21 pounds.

As is often the case in upstate New York, Day 2 presented the anglers with 180-degree different conditions from Day 1 with 10 to 20 mph north winds.  These conditions did not deter many anglers from having a successful fishing day.

In the Boater Division, New Jersey’s Mike Czaplinski smashed them on Day 2 with a 17.63 pound 5-fish limit, including the Boater Division lunker 6.08 pound behemoth largemouth.  He was just ahead of Connecticut’s Jordon Doucette on the day who posted 17.22 pounds.  The third largest weight of the day was posted by Derick Olson from New Jersey with 15.89 pounds.

In the Co-angler Division, Day 2 was led by Joe Venuto from New Jersey whose 5-fish limit weighed 11.36 pounds.  He was followed by Joe Casale of New Jersey with 8.05 pounds and Terry Stevens of New Jersey with 6.68 pounds.  The big fish of the day, a beautiful 4.49 pound smallmouth, was caught by Chris Miller of New Jersey.

When all the dust cleared and all the numbers were crunched, the winners of the event were, in the Boater Division, Mike Czaplinski from New Jersey with 29.73 pounds and in the Co-angler Division, Joe Casale from New Jersey with 24.59 pounds.  These finishes also make them the New Jersey qualifiers for the 2021 TBF National Championship event.  The Connecticut qualifiers for that event were Keith Clearly in the Boater Division with 24.23 pounds and Josh Escobar in the Co-angler Division with 11.29 pounds.

In the State Pride category from this event, the designated 8-man team from New Jersey led the way with a total of 124.23 pounds.  The designated 8-man team from Connecticut posted a total of 76.52 pounds.

The New Jersey Bass Federation would like to sincerely thank the following individuals and organizations: Keitech USA – for providing tackle packages (@$50 value each) for all anglers as well as a $200 gift certificate as a raffle prize and additional cash prizes to the Boater ($200) and Co-Angler ($100) winners; Riot Baits – for providing two tackle packages (@100 value each) that were used as raffle prizes; Our intrepid trailer tower, Mike Aspinwall, Sr. for everything he does for us; Rebecca and Alexis Keller for their help during the event; Amy Perry of the Connecticut TBF for all her help during the event; All the other anglers and individuals who helped us make this event a successful one.

For all photos of this event CLICK HERE. For full results CLICK HERE