Maryland was the host for this year’s TBF semi-finals on September 26^th and 27^th.  Delaware, District of Columbia, and Maryland anglers fished out of Tydings Park in Havre-de-Grace on the Susquehanna River.  Rainy, overcast weather and water temperatures that dropped 10 degrees in one week created challenges for all anglers.  Some boaters ran up to 40 miles away while others stayed close by.

This has certainly been a year unlike any other with Covid19 mitigation measures that would not allow us to have a staging area for the weigh in or gathering of family and friends to cheer on the anglers.  None the less, we were able to get the job done and celebrate with the top anglers.

Peter Yanni was the winner of the Ranger Cup with best weight.  His first bag was a beautiful example of what the Upper Chesapeake Bay has to offer bass fisherman.  Both small mouth and large mouth bass made up his first days catch of 18.79 lbs.  His two day weight was 29.36 lbs. however; angler Mike Morris surpassed him by 0.59 lbs. for a total weight of 29.95 lbs. and overall winner.   Congratulations Mike Morris!!!

Big fish for day one went to boater Jim Short at 6.75 lbs. and co-angler Matt Felty at 4.26 lbs.

Day two went to boater Brian Barnes 5.87 lbs. and co-

angler Chris Huffman at 4.90 lbs.

At the District 12 NSF the 110 anglers converged on Kerr Lake in South Hill, Virginia only to be greeted with the remnants of Hurricane Sally during practice. The anglers saw high winds and torrential rainfall that dropped 5 inches of rain on the 2^nd day of practice. The storm cleared on Friday ushering in a cold front that dropped the temperature into the upper 40’s and brought North winds sustained at 15-20mph. Everything learned from practice was now thrown out to adapt to the changing conditions.

On day 1 the anglers dealt with high winds and rough water pushing the anglers off the main lake into creeks. This made for tougher fishing than what the anglers found in practice. At the Day 1 weigh-in Virginia Boater Chris Fiore brought 13.67lbs to the scales to grab the lead along with big fish for the day with a 5.04lb largemouth. On the Co-angler side Virginia’s Kevin Camden brought 10.09lbs to the scales to grab the lead.

Day two once again provided colder temperatures and Northeast winds to start the day. However as the day warmed up so did the fish with some bigger fish starting to bite. Day two saw numerous fish from 5-7lbs come to the scales with Virginia’s Mitch Camden bringing in a 7.05lb largemouth to claim big fish of the tournament. When the dust had settled on Day 2 Virginia’s Chris Fiore had claimed the victory on the Boater side with 25.05lbs closely followed by West Virginia’s Josh Balser with 24.43lbs.

On the Co-angler side Virginia’s Craig Ferguson moved into 1^st place to claim the win with a two day total of 15.68lbs followed by Virginia’s David Jeter with 14.66lbs.

William “Ed” Posey was the highest finishing Co-angler for West Virginia joining Chris, Josh and Craig for a trip to the 2021 TBF National Championship. This win was the second NSF win for Virginia’s Chris Fiore as he is a back to back champion winning last year’s NSF on West Virginia’s Stonewall Jackson Lake. Chris has spent 2020 enjoying his living the dream package he was awarded at this year’s National Championship which has allowed him to fish BFLs and the Toyota Series.

Virginia’s James Vick Sr. was the highest finishing Ranger Cup Angler.

Virginia came out on top in the State Pride competition by a 81.20lbs to 65.07lbs margin.

For full results CLICK HERE

Another tournament for the NSF record book and there will be 4 more anglers qualifying for the TBF Nationals Tournament next spring in 2021. It was a tale of good fortune and bad but in the end there were 4 that prevailed.

Lake McConaughy proved to show off a little for some but not so much for others. Anglers were met with good temps but the wind proved to be an issue for many on day 1 as wind gusts push up to 30mph making travel harsh but worth the effort for those that chose to travel. Day 1 had both South Dakota and Nebraska leaders showing up with over 14.5 pounds each.

Day 2 had light winds and the boats went west to catch their fortunes. With travel easy, more anglers both caught more fish and also had heavier weights. On day 2 there was several bags over 14 pounds but big bag of the tournament went to Dave Thomsen with 17.02 pounds of smallmouth.

We want to say congratulations to the overall winner, Kent Priel with 27.96. He just edged out two others with a spread of 0.23 pounds between 1^st and 3^rd.

On the Co-angler side congrats to the winner was Ronald Dillon with a final weight of 19.74.

The Ranger Cup winner was Lee Wubbles who finished 3^rd overall with a final weight of 27.73.

Boaters:               Nebraska – Kent Priel                     South Dakota – Troy Diede

Co-Anglers:        Nebraska – Michael Hansen        South Dakota – Ronald Dillon

The 2020 TBF District 16 National Semi-Final between Massachusetts Bass Federation and The Vermont TBF was held on Lake Champlain, South Hero, Vermont.  The host was the Anchorage, South Hero, Vermont.  Dave and his crew are always there for what we need.  Also thanks to Apple Island Marina for the use of their facilities.  As has happened twice in the past due to severe wind 28-34 MPH out of the south with gusts to 45, the second day of the tournament was canceled.  All of the anglers going into day one knew that day 2 was most likely going to be canceled with the forecast for bad winds, so everyone knew to get on their fish on Saturday and bring in the most weight they could find.

Brian Carmichael from the Massachusetts Bass Federation found the magic fish to break 20 pounds.  Brian weighed in 20.02 with 5 smallmouth bass to take 1^st place and secure the boaters spot going to the TBF Nationals in 2021 for Massachusetts.

Second place and the first place Co-Angler was Joey McKinnon of the Massachusetts Bass Federation.  Joey weighed in 18.49 pounds of smallmouth.  Joey will represent Massachusetts as a Co-Angler at the 2021 TBF Nationals.

Tom Waltz of the Vermont TBF finished 6^th overall with 17.90 pounds and won the Boaters spot for Vermont in a really close finish with 5 Vermont boaters.  Tom’s 17.90 beat out Scott Green 17.78, Cole Harris 17.40, Tim Weatherell 17.35, and Chris Adams 17.26.  Tough competition!  The Co-Angler winner going to the 2021 TBF Nationals for Vermont TBF is Andrew Goodrich a High School angler for Vermont with 15.46 pounds.  Great job Andrew!

The Ranger Cup winner was Scott Green from the Vermont TBF.

The State Pride award goes to the Vermont TBF team of Scott Green, Cole Harris, Tim Weatherell, Chris Adams, Scott McKay, Andrew Goodrich, Matt Safer and Chris Weber. Vermont weighed-in 114.65 pounds of bass.  Great job Vermont!

I would like to thank the entire group of angler for all their patience and for the great job they all did with fish care.  With the water down everyone did a great job.  There was only 1 dead fish.