Finally, the B.A.S.S. Federation Divisional we have all been waiting to
fish! September 14-19, 2003 had arrived. Ever since the Vermont
Federation came into existence in 1991, the 2003 Divisional had been
circled, as the year that Vermont would host the event and Lake
Champlain would be the venue. Widely held as one of the top fisheries
in the country, this event was being held during mid-September, a
perfect time of year to fish the "6th Great Lake". If the weather would
cooperate, it was certain that this event would break all the B.A.S.S.
Federation Divisional records.
Indeed, the records were all shattered: Most limits (345), most team
weight to win (497-2), largest 3-day individual weight (54-0), and
easily the largest total weight for ANY Federation Divisional (5569-8).
These were just some of the records broken this week. But with all of
this weight coming in, how would the New Hampshire Federation fare in
this event? Well, prior to the event, several of the State Team members
had spent significant pre-practice time looking around on Champlain,
searching for new spots and patterns that would pay-off come tournament
time. This year's team was talented and very deep. Since the Team
qualified the previous year on Lake Champlain, we all felt comfortable
on the big water and we all felt confident that we could make a run at
the Championship.
Wednesday, September 17, 2003 was the first day of the Tournament. The
weather was perfect, sunny skies with temperatures in the upper 70's,
light winds and water temperatures holding in the 67-70°F range.
Getting to the fish was not a problem today, and catching them wasn't
either. At the afternoon weigh-in in Mallets Bay, limit after limit was
checked-in by the 168 anglers fishing the event. The New Hampshire
Federation was holding it's own with big bags brought in by Jim Hanatow
(16 -12), Danny Peckham (16-1), Rob Frye (15-15) and Alan Denise (16-4).
Scott Leppanen of Back Bay Bassmasters led NH and stood in 7th place
overall with a mixed bag weighing 17 lbs. 13 oz. Overall, New Hampshire
found itself in third place but roughly 40 pounds off the lead held by
Vermont. The team met that night and discussed strategy. Captain Rob
Frye laid out the plan for the next day. Most of the team was focused
on smallmouth bass, and we would continue to chase the bronzebacks
hoping to climb up the leaderboard as the tournament progressed.
Thursday, Day 2, was one for the record books. Without a doubt, the
best singular day in B.A.S.S. Federation tournament history. Optimal
conditions remained in place. Sunny skies prevailed and the winds
stayed light all day, meaning anglers could get to their fish and move
around easily throughout the day, without worrying about making it back
to Mallets Bay for check-in. The continuation of the stable weather
pattern brought the smallmouth bass shallow and NH knew exactly how to
catch them. We made a huge push this day, with many of the state's
anglers checking in the biggest 5 fish limits of their fishing careers.
Manadnock anglers Danny Peckham (19-0) and Jim Hanatow (18-15) moved
into the top 10 with enormous smallmouth limits. John Breen, a
non-boater, put up a huge 18 lbs. 11 oz. bag. Mark Miner (17-10) and
Dave Andrews (17-1) bounced back with heavy limits. Bill Vierzen
(13-13), Joe Lucarelli (13-10) and Dave LeBlanc (13-10) remained steady
and consistent again on Day 2. In fact, the entire NH team brought in 5
fish limits, except Bob Hurst who managed his personal daily limit of 4
fish for 11 lbs. It should be noted that Bob took a lot of good natured
ribbing for being the only angler in the event that weighed 4 fish (one
shy of the limit) each of the 3 competition days. Bob finished with a
respectable 32 lbs. 4 oz.
Everything seemed to be going New Hampshire's way. We remained in third
place, but had closed the gap on new leader Connecticut to a mere 7 lbs.
and ALL of our anglers were on fish and confident we could bring home
our first ever Divisional Championship. As was the case last year, in
Hartford, trouble loomed on the horizon. Like last year, it took the
form of a Hurricane that had been spinning off the Eastern Coastline for
over a week. Landfall from Hurricane Isabelle took place in the
Virginia/Maryland region on Wednesday and troubled many of the
contestants from those areas. Many would later come home to find their
homes severely damaged from high winds and flooding. Far, far inland at
Lake Champlain, the affects of Isabelle were to be in the form of strong
winds forecast to hit the region at high Noon on Friday, the final
competition day.
Federation Tournament Director Don Corcoran, back at the helm after a 3
year absence, warned the anglers that we might not fish the final day if
conditions deteriorated prior to the Day 3 start, so all boats launched
in Mallets Bay and awaited Don's decision. With eerily calm conditions
that morning, we all waited anxiously with a hope that we would get a
chance to fish that day. Don had presented three scenarios to the
anglers the day before. They would cancel the last day, restrict
anglers to Mallets Bay only, or shorten the competition day to 5 hours
and hopefully bring everyone in safely before the storm hit.
New Hampshire had planned for each scenario at the meeting the previous
evening. Some members of the team had not fished in Mallets Bay before,
so maps were brought out and those anglers with experience in the Bay
offered up their spots and techniques in case we were restricted to
Mallets Bay. We broke down nearly every piece of cover and had a very
good plan had this scenario been picked. Conversely, if the decision
was to let us go and bring us back early, it was business as usual, but
we would need to catch them quick and then get back to the safety of the
Bay before the storm hit.
Don consulted with the Marine Patrol and got the very latest weather
information before wisely choosing this last option. It was the proper
decision, and New Hampshire would have its chance to take the gold. The
impending storm was on everyone's mind. It was a race against time to
get 5 fish in the boat and get back safely. Ominous clouds and a slowly
freshening breeze approached from the South as the mornings fishing
commenced. Most of the team headed back to their key areas, some as far
away as 35 miles while others stayed close and tried to spend what
little time they had fishing instead of driving. Like clockwork, as
noon approached and the first flight was due to check in, the relatively
calm Lake began to churn as 2 to 3 footers became 4 to 5 footers and the
trees began to sway heavily along the shore. Wind speeds climbed to 40
to 45 MPH with higher gusts and even the relative safety of Mallets Bay
had 4 footers rolling through it. Fortunately, most anglers had heeded
the pre-tournament warning and had gotten back early. Those that pushed
it paid the price.
The New Hampshire Team found the changing weather, mainly the cloud
cover and low light conditions, to be a detriment to their established
patterns, and with limited time to make adjustments, the team struggled
on Day 3. There were however plenty of bright spots, and the sizeable
lead we held over the fourth place New Jersey team, virtually ensured
that we could finish no worse then third. Jim Hanatow of Manadnock Bass
Masters, who entered the final day in first place in the state,
struggled to catch 9 lbs. 4 oz. and finished 12th overall with a 3-day
total of 44 lbs. 15 oz. Dave Andrews of Back Bay took a beating getting
back but had a 14 lb. 13 oz limit in his livewell. Clearly, it was
Danny Peckham's day (and week) as he paced New Hampshire again on Day 3
with 15 lbs. 6 oz. to finish the event with 15 smallmouth bass that
weighed an amazing 50 lbs. 7 oz. Danny would finish 3rd overall and
first in the State. He will represent New Hampshire at the
Citgo/B.A.S.S. National Championship to be held in April, 2004.
The New Hampshire Team eventually settled on third place, right where it
had been since the tournament started. New Hampshire closed the event
with a total weight of 444 lbs. 4 oz. Connecticut held off Vermont and
won the Team Championship with a total weight of 497 lbs. 2 oz. A
record setting weight that will probably last forever (or until we make
it back to Lake Champlain again). It was a pleasure to fish as a part
of the 2003 NH State Team. It was a very strong team that worked well
together. This is New Hampshire's third Top 3 finish in the last 6
years. The NH team brought home a check for $6035 for their third place
finish. Congratulations to Danny Peckham for fishing a near flawless
tournament and good luck at Nationals. A big THANK YOU to all of our
sponsors that contributed to this team effort. Special thanks to
Northern Bass Supply and our daily clothing sponsors, Strike-On,
Yamamoto and The Federation Alliance (Triton, Skeeter, Yamaha, Mercury).
The following anglers made up the 2003 NH State Team:
Danny Peckham 50- 7
James Hanatow 44-15
Alan Denise 41- 1
Dave Andrews 40- 6
Joe Lucarelli 38-15
Edward M Miner 34- 9
Scott Leppanen 34- 2
Bill Vierzen 33- 9
John Breen 33- 2
Rob Frye 32- 6
Robert Hurst 32- 4
David Leblanc 28- 8
Steve Lucarelli Alternate
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
1 Connecticut 497- 2
2 Vermont 473- 8
3 New Hampshire 444- 4
4 New Jersey 426- 7
5 New York 413-14
6 Delaware 398- 9
7 Massachusetts 381- 5
8 Maine 381- 1
9 Pennsylvania 369-12
10 Virginia 368-12
11 West Virginia 364-11
12 Maryland 352-13
13 District of Columbus 350- 1
14 Rhode Island 347- 5
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