Watkins Wins Eastern Divisional on Lake Ontario

Russell Watkins, of Aurora, Canada made a steady climb, up the leader board and became the overall champion on Friday at Lake Ontario, at the TBF Eastern Divisional.  His Day 1 weight of 14-13 pounds left him in 30^th place after most all anglers had a pretty good catch on Wednesday.  He stepped it up a notch on Thursday and brought in one of the heaviest bags of the day, which tipped the scales at 23-02 pounds.  That weight left him sitting in 4^th place, just seven ounces out of first place.  He sealed the deal on Friday by bringing in 18-15 pounds to give him a final weight of 56-14 and the championship.

All of the top five finishers were separated by less than four pounds.  Matt Thoin of New Hampshire took runner up honors as he finished with 55-10 pounds.  Matt weighed in 19-06 on Friday, which was the third largest bag of the final day.  Third place was taken by Donald Gagnon, also of New Hampshire with 54-03 pounds.  New Hampshire put three guys in the top five as Tim Dube finished in fifth place with 53-04 pounds.

The heaviest bag on the final day went to Alex Wetherell, from Connecticut with his 23-04 pound monster bag of bass.

The biggest bass on Friday was claimed by Jim Hanatow of New Hampshire with a nice smallmouth that weighed 5-11 pounds.  Friday saw 335 fish weighed in for a combined weight of 916-13 pounds and there were 46 limits on the final day.

The state to state competition went back and forth just about as each angler weighed, as five of the eight states were within five to ten pounds of each other all the way to the end of the weigh in.  Coming out on top was the team from Massachusetts with 437-09 pounds for the week.  Ontario (CBAF) was the runner up with 418-01 pounds.  Connecticut finished third with 416-14 pounds.  Vermont took fourth with 412-15 pounds.  New Hampshire took fifth with 410-08 pounds.  Maine was sixth with 344-00 pounds.  New York had 335-15 pounds and Rhode Island had 164-10 pounds.

We qualified the top two anglers from each of the eight states to advance to the 2017 TBF Federation National Championship next spring.

For full results Click Here

To view Final days photos Click Here

The 2017 National Contenders from the Eastern Divisional :

Ounces Separate Top Five Anglers For Final Day of Eastern Divisional

Curtis Richardson of Canada holds a two ounce lead, heading into the final day of the TBF Eastern Divisional Championship on Lake Ontario, in Kingston,Ontario Canada.  After weighing in the second largest bag on Day One, with 21-05 pounds, he followed it up on Thursday with 17-01 pounds.  His total of 38-06 pounds is just two ounces better than Cory Baright of New York who has 38-04 pounds.  Baright weighed in one of the five bags that weighed over twenty pounds today, with a 20-15 pound sack.  Just a mere three ounces separates second and third place as well.  Herb Meyer of Maine, weighed 20-06 pounds today to jump to 38-01 pounds.  Fourth place is 37-15 pounds, just two ounces out of third place.  Russell Watkins of Canada, weighed the second heaviest bag on Day 2 with a big 20-06 sack.  Matt Thoin, of New Hampshire, weighed 17-06 pounds to bring his total to 36-04 pounds, to round out the top five anglers.

A total of 356 fish were brought to the scales on Thursday, which weighed 1051-07 pounds.  Out of 94 anglers, a total of 53 limits were recorded and 77 anglers brought at least one fish to the scales on Thursday.  The daily big bass was won by Andrew Shufelt of Canada, with a beautiful smallmouth that weighed 5-11 pounds.

In the state to state competition, Massachusetts leads the pack with 305-09 pounds.  Vermont is close behind with 289-06 pounds.  Connecticut sits in third with 278-01 pounds.  Canada is in fourth with 271-06 pounds.  Fifth belongs to New Hampshire with 268-02 pounds.  New York has 247-13 pounds while Maine has 239-10 pounds and Rhode Island has 123-12 pounds.

The top two weights in each state is a very close race in nearly every state.  It will all come down to who finds the right big bite on Friday.

For full results and standings CLICK HERE

Phillips Jumps Into Lead at Eastern Divisonal

Russell Phillips of Connecticut surged to the top of the 94 angler field, on Day 1 of the Eastern Divisional being held at Kingston, Ontario Canada.  His bag of five smallmouth tipped the scales at 21-08 pounds.  Nipping at his heels with 21-05 pounds is Curtis Richardson, of Canada, in second place.  In third place is the New Hampshire angler, Garry Woodruff with a big sack that weighed 19-06 pounds.  In fourth place sits Matt Thoin of New Hampshire with a limit weighing 18-14 pounds.  THe final spot in the top five goes to David Barnes Sr, of Maine, who turned in 18-10 pounds today.

The big bass pot for Wednesday went to Maine angler, Jason Kervin with a beautiful 6.00 pound lunker smallmouth.   A total of 90 out of 94 anglers weighed at least one fish on Wednesday which totaled 972-04 pounds.  There were a total of 48 limits brought to the scales today.

The team from Vermont jumped out to the early lead in the state to state competition.  Their team weighed in 158-11 pounds on Wednesday among the twelve man team.  Massachusetts sits in second place with 144-03 pounds for their team.  Connecticut stands in third place with 140-01 pounds.  The remainder of the states look like this.  New York 121-05 pounds.  Ontario, Canada 120-13 pounds.  New Hampshire 112-11 pounds.  Maine 101-06 pounds and Rhode Island 73-02 pounds.

After one day of competition, the race for the top two anglers from each state, is a tight one.  Several states have as many as three or four guys who are within a pound or two of the top slot in their state.

For full results CLICK HERE