MAKBF Event #2 - Recap

The 2nd event took place this past weekend at the Occoquan Reservoir in Woodbridge, VA. The idea was to spread out the locations to hopefully allow more people to come to events that couldn't make another event that was further away. And to also fish different types of water to crown a  true Angler of the Year. Unfortunately this may need to be reconsidered as the turn at the 2nd event was much lower than the 1st event.

Anyways we all had a great time. Thirteen of us headed out into the reservoir in search for the longest aggregate length for 3 Largemouth or Smallmouth Bass (CPR of course). It turned out to be a tough day of fishing with less than half the crowd turning in the bag limit of 3 fish.

I fished mostly lay downs and underwater timber all day with my go to Rapala DT6 crankbait  in Smash color.  I had pre-fished the night before and caught 2 bass on cranks within an hour, so I knew if I was persistent all day I should be able to at least catch the limit, even if they weren't big fish. After winning the first event it put me in good running for Angler of the Year, so my goal for each event now is to 1st catch 3 fish, then worry about upgrading, because sometimes catching the limit and actually photo'ing the fish can be a challenge.

It was a slow tournament day, I set off with Shane (Reelaxin) and we both worked hard continuously casting to both only be rewarded with 22" blue cats on cranks and spinners. We both thought we had solid bass on at first and then we felt the death roll of the cats. What a Tease!!!

We pushed on... I made a move to further down the reservoir while Shane continued to work a big laydown where he was rewarded with a 17.5" beauty on a wacky rigged worm. At this point I had caught up with my Dad and we were fishing the same general area. He put one fish in the boat, so we both started working the same area hard with our cranks.. after 15 minutes at this spot I had my limit. Nothing huge but 3 fish in the boat.

A total of 39.75" was what I ended up with for the day.

 

I fish the rest of the day only to upgrade a 10" fish to a 10.5" fish. But I knew I had caught the limit and was hearing from a lot of the guys that they had either lost a big one or only had 2 fish. I did not know what my Dad finished with until we checked in the fish and sure enough he sneaked past me, but I was pumped for him as this was only his second tournament and probably only his tenth time in the kayak. Both mine and my Dad's fish were all caught on Overboard Rods paired with Crankbaits with brown and yellow coloration.

 

 

10th - Steve Sekula
9th - Dave Thompson "turtle135"
8th - Will Pezzuto
7th - Alberto Tabian "berto"
6th - Shane Clift "reelaxin"
5th - Jon Snyder "Jsnyd"
4th - Andy Gaiser
3rd - Matt Baden
2nd - Dave Baden
1st - Bryan Herndon "heardoncatch" (Big Bass Winner 18.5")

The big bass prize was sponsored by Power Team Lures, a local lure company located in VA. Bryan took home a $100 gift certificate for big bass on top of his winnings. He even caught the big bass on a Power Team Lure 7" Tickler worm.

Again we were also able to raise some more money for HOW - MD!!!

 

I can't wait for the next event June 22nd at Point of Rocks on the Upper Potomac River. It will for sure be my first time fishing these waters in a kayak and hopefully it will be at least my first 3 smallmouth bass in the yak. Look forward to seeing everyone there!!

 

Angler of the Year Standings

 

Matt Baden - 18

Jon Snyder - 11
Bryan Herndon - 10
Shane Clift - 9
Dave Baden - 9
Jeff Adlington - 9
Dave Thompson - 8
Mike Soudee - 8
Wayne Chimielewski -7
Andy Gaiser - 7
Alberto Tabian - 4
Will Pezzuto - 3
CJ Espey - 3
Dave Adlington - 2
Zach Huntington -1
Steve Sekula - 1