The 2022 NJBF Team Tournament was held at venerable Lake Champlain and pitted the top anglers from the NJBF clubs in a two-day shootout. As usual, and despite the windy conditions, Lake Champlain did not disappoint.
The winning team, in dominating fashion, was the North Jersey Bass Anglers. This team, which also won the events help on Lake Champlain in 2018 and 2020 basically lapped the field by winning by nearly 23 pounds. The team consisted of Boaters Ralph Campitello, Jarrett Kuipers and Travis Pizzulo; Co-Anglers Joe Casale, Bill Garcia and Charlie Rother.
Taking second place was the East Coast Bass Anglers. This team persevered notwithstanding one of their anglers Day 1 weights being discounted based on a boat break down/late check in. That team did just enough to take second place by 0.72 pounds over the third place team. That team was Boaters Mike Mapes, John Holda, Greg Ryback and Bob Zeleny; Co-Anglers Tom Presnell and Anthony Simone.
The third place team was the Clearwater Bassmasters. That team consisted of Boaters Pete Longo, Ray Szmyd, Rick Vann and Brian Wisniewski; Co-Anglers Mike Aspinwall and Ed Szmyd.
The overall individual winners in the event were Pete Longo with 35.73 pounds; Rick Vann with 34.74 pounds and Travis Pizzulo with 33.47 pounds. These three boaters, along with the top three co-anglers (Bill Garcia – 32.72 pounds; Mike Paulicelli [Essex County Bassmasters] – 29.91 pounds; Scott Kirkpatrick [Warren County Bassmasters] -29.44 pounds), qualify to fish in the 2022 District 15 TBF National Semi-Final to be help in September 2022 on the St. Lawrence River.
Special thanks to:
The Ticonderoga Chamber of Commerce – https://ticonderogany.com/ticonderoga/
The Town of Ticonderoga – https://www.townofticonderoga.org/
The Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism – Lake Champlain Region – https://www.roostadk.com/lake-champlain
The Lake Champlain Region – https://www.lakechamplainregion.com/
