Jeff-Widgnwhacker-Wallis
07-29-2006, 03:10 PM
http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/571/prostaffnewsheader1dd.jpg
Avery Pro-Staffer Kevin Addy and John Graves lose tie breaker on the Hudson River Classic
Avery Pro-Staffer Kevin Addy had been looking forward to fishing the ABA bass tournament on the Hudson River out of Catskill, New York all year. A week before the tournament they got storms that dumped inches of rain in the northeast causing flooding and debris to make most bodies of water hard to fish. Days before the tournament he was hearing reports that the river was still a mess, and very few fish were being caught. Kevin said, while I really like tough tournaments I thought maybe I had made a mistake.
We left Pennsylvania on Friday morning to practice for the Sunday tournament. I decide to fish North on Friday and South on Saturday to see if there is clearer water at either end. After 2 days on the water my partner and I decide to go south on tournament day.
We started the day off in a water chestnut bed after a 20 mile run. The fish are blowing up on the frog and missing it just like the north fish on the 1st day of practice. We put 2 small largemouths in the boat but had seen 4 good ones that would swat at the frog but wouldn’t eat it. We tried a few things with no success and it was time to run another 10 miles south to our best spot.
The tide was about to turn and we figured the small mouths should be there. We get there and proceed to put small mouth after small mouth in the boat for 40 minutes. We’ve culled all of the fish from the 1st stop but one largemouth and he should be gone but, we had lost 2 good small mouths. We now need 1 big fish and I think we should have a chance to win it. The tide gets higher and the bite stops.
We take off and run back to our 1st spot. We ease in to the spot were a 4 pounder missed my frog 3 times and my partner pitches a jig in one of the holes in the chestnut. The line starts moving, he sets the hook and it looks to be a big fish but has him tangled up in the chestnut. I put the tolling motor on high and crash in to the chestnut. I’m about to reach in to the chestnut and grab on to the fish thinking this fish will win the tournament when a giant snapping turtle pokes his head through the weeds with the jig in his mouth.
My heart stops pounding and I’m irritated it wasn’t the fish that missed my frog earlier but thankful I still have a hand. I’ve pulled countless fish out of the chestnut during tournaments with my hand but in the future I may not be so eager to do it anymore. Usually its 4lbs of fish and 10lbs of weeds, this time it was 35lbs of turtle and 4lbs of weed.
We ran all over the river hitting every place I know looking for a big fish but every fish we caught wasn’t any bigger than our smallest fish. We end the day with running 103 miles total and catching a lot of fish but nothing real big. We get to the scales with a limit of 7 small mouths and 1 largemouth for a total of 15.20 pounds. That puts us tied for 3rd place and the 3rd place team’s largest fish is bigger than ours so the tie breaker puts us in 4th place.
The 3rd place team is the same team that beat me and another friend of mine out for 1st place on the Potomac by a few hundredths of an ounce earlier in the year. I’d be heading to Vegas if I were them.
Next stop Lake Hopatcong to see if we can win one of these things.
Avery Pro-Staffer Kevin Addy and John Graves lose tie breaker on the Hudson River Classic
Avery Pro-Staffer Kevin Addy had been looking forward to fishing the ABA bass tournament on the Hudson River out of Catskill, New York all year. A week before the tournament they got storms that dumped inches of rain in the northeast causing flooding and debris to make most bodies of water hard to fish. Days before the tournament he was hearing reports that the river was still a mess, and very few fish were being caught. Kevin said, while I really like tough tournaments I thought maybe I had made a mistake.
We left Pennsylvania on Friday morning to practice for the Sunday tournament. I decide to fish North on Friday and South on Saturday to see if there is clearer water at either end. After 2 days on the water my partner and I decide to go south on tournament day.
We started the day off in a water chestnut bed after a 20 mile run. The fish are blowing up on the frog and missing it just like the north fish on the 1st day of practice. We put 2 small largemouths in the boat but had seen 4 good ones that would swat at the frog but wouldn’t eat it. We tried a few things with no success and it was time to run another 10 miles south to our best spot.
The tide was about to turn and we figured the small mouths should be there. We get there and proceed to put small mouth after small mouth in the boat for 40 minutes. We’ve culled all of the fish from the 1st stop but one largemouth and he should be gone but, we had lost 2 good small mouths. We now need 1 big fish and I think we should have a chance to win it. The tide gets higher and the bite stops.
We take off and run back to our 1st spot. We ease in to the spot were a 4 pounder missed my frog 3 times and my partner pitches a jig in one of the holes in the chestnut. The line starts moving, he sets the hook and it looks to be a big fish but has him tangled up in the chestnut. I put the tolling motor on high and crash in to the chestnut. I’m about to reach in to the chestnut and grab on to the fish thinking this fish will win the tournament when a giant snapping turtle pokes his head through the weeds with the jig in his mouth.
My heart stops pounding and I’m irritated it wasn’t the fish that missed my frog earlier but thankful I still have a hand. I’ve pulled countless fish out of the chestnut during tournaments with my hand but in the future I may not be so eager to do it anymore. Usually its 4lbs of fish and 10lbs of weeds, this time it was 35lbs of turtle and 4lbs of weed.
We ran all over the river hitting every place I know looking for a big fish but every fish we caught wasn’t any bigger than our smallest fish. We end the day with running 103 miles total and catching a lot of fish but nothing real big. We get to the scales with a limit of 7 small mouths and 1 largemouth for a total of 15.20 pounds. That puts us tied for 3rd place and the 3rd place team’s largest fish is bigger than ours so the tie breaker puts us in 4th place.
The 3rd place team is the same team that beat me and another friend of mine out for 1st place on the Potomac by a few hundredths of an ounce earlier in the year. I’d be heading to Vegas if I were them.
Next stop Lake Hopatcong to see if we can win one of these things.