Colchester, Vt. (Sept. 13, 2012) – The winds were calmer and the waves not so tall today which made it a little easier on the Eastern anglers today for day two of the 2012 TBF Eastern Division Championship, presented by Berkley on Lake Champlain.
Standing his ground and still in 1st place overall is Vermont angler, Jason Stoddard of St. Albans, Vt. He weighed in another impressive sack today with 17 lbs 5 oz, making his two day total 35 lbs 7 oz. “Yesterday I weighed in 4 smallmouth and 1 largemouth. Today I switched it up and weighed 4 largemouth and 1 smallmouth!” said Stoddard. He had an impressive largemouth kicker that weighed 5 lbs 9 oz. “I was running a couple different patterns in the inland sea. I’m going to go out and basically do the same thing tomorrow and hope for good bites.” Stoddard takes a 3lb lead over his 2nd place teammate, 2012 TBF National Champion, Gilbert Gagner.
Jumping up into 2nd place overall from 8th place yesterday is Mass Bass’s Paul Carvalho of New Bedford, Mass. He was an ounce shy of having big sack of the day today weighing in 17 lbs 11 oz. His two day total weight is 33 lbs 13 oz. “I started out smallie fishing, then went north to the inland sea. It took me til almost 11 to get a limit. I headed back, worked back to Mallets Bay and ended up culling up a couple more largemouth fish,” said Carvalho. Teammate Michael McNary is 5 lbs behind at 28 lbs 14 oz.
Carvalho has helped launch his Mass Bass State team into 1st place overall in the state team standings. Yesterday, Mass was only behind by ounces; today, they took a 20lb lead over Vermont with 292 lbs 2 oz. Vermont dropped 10 lbs from yesterday’s total, today they have a two-day total weight of 272 lbs 6 oz. Maine is holding in there in 3rd place with 258 lbs 11 oz.
Gary Kurensky of Bridgeport, CT and the Connecticut State team claimed the big sack of the day with 17 lbs 12 oz. That puts him into the lead for his state in team standings with a two day total of 29 lbs 9 oz, just edging out yesterday’s team leader, Dominic Gambardella. Both anglers are no strangers to qualifying for the TBF National Championship. Kurensky just finished out the 2012 season having a good showing at the BFL All-American. He advanced to the All-American by being crowned the Eastern Division Co-Angler Champion at the 2012 TBF National Championship on Bull Shoals.
Rhode Island has been plagued with boat problems this week and is really struggling. Between trolling motor and boat motor issues, they are down 6 boats. But hanging in there for his state, and hoping for another bid into the TBF National Championship, is Leo Bevelaqua. He had another strong day today with 14 lbs 2 oz, making his two day total 31 lbs 5 oz. He’s sitting in 5th place overall. “I’m throwing a 
Carolina Rig and a drop shot, just like everybody else. The weather may cripple us tomorrow and we may have to stay in the bay. That will determine how things will go tomorrow,” Bevelaqua said. In 2nd place of the Rhode Island State Team standings is Dillon Falardeau of North Smithfield, RI. He has a two day weight of 27 lbs 8 oz.
There is a 30% chance of storms tomorrow evening for the area. The weather should be about the same as it has been all week. Winds will be out of the South during the day around 10-15 mph and switching to the WSW in the evening.
Tomorrow 16 anglers will qualify for the 2013 TBF National Championship. The details were announced today, the event will be held at Grand Lake, Okla. in conjunction with the FLW Tour Event at Beaver Lake, Ark. April 8-13.
Daily takeoffs and weigh-ins are at Mallets Bay at 6:30am and 3pm EST. They are free and open to the public.
For more information about The Bass Federation, visit BassFederation.com, join us on www.Facebook.com/TheBassFederation and follow us on Twitter @bassfederation. Be sure to check out our Facebook page for updates of the tournament.
