Aug 29

PAPIERZ WINS at ONEIDA, DIAMANDAS, JR. is ANGLER of THE YEAR

PAPIERZ WINS at ONEIDA

DIAMANDAS, JR. is ANGLER of THE YEAR

Submitted by:  Nick Angiulo

The final event of the 2018 tournament season was shaping up to be an exciting affair.  With several anglers vying both for spots in the District 15 National Semi-Final and the Boater and Co-Angler of the Year awards, the August 18 and 19 two-day event at New York’s Oneida Lake was going to be eventful.  While the event lived up to the hype regarding the ramifications involved, the fishing was generally disappointing.  Oneida Lake is known as a fish factory for both smallmouth and largemouth.  However, the lake appeared to be undergoing a late summer/early fall transition and the small-mouth were very difficult to locate, leaving the less abundant largemouth as the more reliable targets.  With that in mind, Jim Papierz put two solid days together to take the Boater Division victory and Frank Hutchinson’s consistency in the Co-Angler Division proved enough to take the title.

Boater Division

Jim Papierz, a member of the Warren County Bassmasters, picked an opportune event to win his first-ever New Jersey Bass Federation event.  With the $2,500 Boater Division first prize on the line, Papierz rode a big fish bite each day to narrowly win the event over a hard charging Nick Diamandas, Jr.  Papierz had a two-day total weight of 25.96 pounds, just less than a pound more than Diamandas, Jr.  In a true rarity, Pap-ierz caught the largest bass on both tour-nament days, a Day 1 largemouth nearing four pounds and a Day 2 largemouth weighing 5.23 pounds. 

Jim Papierz Day 1 and 2

While second place is generally not some anglers preferred place to finish, Nick Diamandas, Jr.’s second place finish proved just enough for him to take both the Boater Angler of the Year title as well as the Boater Rookie of the Year title.  Diamandas, Jr., of the Raritan Valley Bassmasters, came into the event several points behind point leader Mike Keller, but his second-place weight of 25.12 pounds gave him just enough points for the Angler of the Year title.

Second place Boater & Angler of the Year Nick Diamandas, Jr.

Third place Boater was Ben Keysper.  Keysper, also a member of the Raritan Val-ley Bassmasters had a big Day 1 and was leading into Day 2.  However, he could only manage three keepers on Day 2.  Never-theless, he held on for third place in the Boater Division.

Third place Boater Ben Keysper

Co-Angler Division

The Co-Angler Division illustrated just how tough Oneida Lake was over the tour-nament weekend.  Normally, Co-Anglers have no problem patching together five-fish limits of bass at Oneida.  However, in this event, no Co-Angler could manage two days with five fish and only the winner managed to come in with eight fish over the two days.

Co-Angler Division winner Frank Hutchinson

Winning the Co-Angler Division was Frank Hutchinson, of the Mega Bass 6, with 17.78 pounds. Hutchinson’s consistency proved to be the difference as he brought four fish each day to the scales, providing a near three-pound margin over his closest competitor.  Aside from the Co-Angler Divi-sion first place plaque, Hutchinson received the $1,750 Co-Angler first prize.

The second place Co-Angler was Brian Snowman of the R-Unit chapter.  Snowman’s seven fish over the two days weighed 15.00 pounds.  Of note, Snowman weighed in the largest fish in the Co-Angler Division on Day 1, a 3.31-pound smallmouth.

Snowman with two solid smallmouth

The third place Co-Angler was Darren Sobel of the Big D Valley Bassmasters.  Sobel had a two-day weight of 12.73 pounds.  While he expressed general disappointment in his overall finish, he did more than enough to win the Co-Angler Rookie of the Year award.

Darren Sobel

The Co-Angler Division lunker on Day 2 was a 5.10 pound largemouth caught by Bob Kyriacos of the Big D Valley Bassmasters.

 

Anglers of the Year

      As previously mentioned, Nick Diaman-das, Jr. was the Boater Division Angler of the Year.  In the Co-Angler Division, Mike Lee dominated and took the Co-Angler of the Year award by over 20 points.

 

Rookie of the Year

 As mentioned previously, in the Boater Division the Rookie of the Year was Nick Diamandas, Jr., and in the Co-Angler Division the Rookie of the Year was Darren Sobel.

 2018 Points Race

 At the end of the season, the top five point-getters in both Divisions qualified for spots at the 2018 District 15 National Semi-Final.  Below is a listing of the qualifiers, by Division:

Boater Division

Nick Diamandas, Jr.        686.50 points

Mike Keller                      684.00 points

Jim Papierz                     679.00 points

Kevin Albright                 675.00 points

Nick Runo                        665.50 points

 

Co-Angler Division

Mike Lee                          682.00 points

Terry Stevens                  660.00 points

Bob Kyriacos                    631.50 points

Brian Snowman               630.50 points

Darren Sobel                    630.00 points

Miscellaneous Notes

  1. Only five anglers managed two five-fish limits in the event and only 176 fish totaling 382 pounds were weighed in. All but three fish were released alive.
  2. By virtue of being the highest placing eligible Ranger Boat owner in the event, George Hutchinson will receive $300 in Ranger Cup bonus money.
  1. The Federation anglers and Tourna-ment Staff are to be commended on their care of the fish brought to the weigh-ins during the 2018 point events. Of the 403 fish weighed, only four were brought to the scales dead and 01% were released alive.

    Oneida Photos CLICK HERE

May 25

BIG NEWS – 2019 Tournament Schedule

As alluded to at both prior 2018 quarterly meetings, the Board has decided, in an attempt to solve the problems associated with the requirement to register for the National Semi-Final 30 days before the event, to start its 2019 tournament schedule in 2018.

So, basically, we will have a “wrap-around” type schedule, with one event in late 2018 and two in 2019, with none later than the end of July 2019.

With that said, the first event of the 2019 point tournament season will be on the Delaware River on Sunday, October 12, 2018. We will be launching out of the Gloucester City Boat Ramp at 225 South King Street, Gloucester City, NJ, 08030. This should be a great event as the mid-fall river bite should be on. Once this event is posted on the website, the registration will be open. As always, register early and include your link if applicable. We have had excellent tournament participation this season and truly hope it continues as we try this new type of scheduling. Please come out and fish if you can!

We are already working on the rest of the 2019 schedule as discussed at the May 2018 meeting. Once it is finalized, it will be sent to the members.

This is important. If you know of anyone who is currently NOT a federation member but may be interested in being a member for 2019, spread the word to them. We do not want them to miss out on fishing in the October 2018 event. We will also post this information on the Facebook page. Any such individual should contact Nick Angiulo at nickangiulo@verizon.net who will give them details on how to become a member for 2019 this year, which would allow them to fish in the October 2018 event.

May 15

PHOTO FINISH ON FLATS!

Submitted by:  Nick Angiulo

The New Jersey Bass Federation’s second point event of the 2018 tournament season was held on Maryland’s vast Chesapeake Bay, where its northern sections hold the potential to break 25 pounds of bass in a day.  The fertile brackish river systems that make up this area, colloquially known as the Susquehanna Flats, are as rewarding as they are challenging.  In this regard, this event, held on May 6, 2018, did not produce the over 20 bags that are often seen in events there as the water is just now warming to spawning temperature.  However, it did produce one of the most exciting and close Boater Division finishes in recent memory as well as a Co-Angler Division winner who posted a weight that is likely an all-time record in that Division.

Boater Division

First Place Boater Mike Keller

Winning first place in the Boater Division by less than one ounce was New Jersey Bass Federation President Mike Keller.  Keller, of the Blazin Bass chapter, reported having a banner day, catching more than 20 keeper-sized bass, eventually culling up to his 19.32 pound winning weight.  He needed every hundredth of a pound as his winning margin of .04 pounds was razor thin.  While Keller did not have a bass over five pounds, his bag consisted of five “clones” in the four-pound range.  Keller was rewarded for his Boater Division victory with the guaranteed minimum first prize of $2,000.

Second Place Boater Todd Sages

The second place Boater has been missing from New Jersey Bass Federation events for many years.  A longtime former member, Todd Sages, returned to the Federation with a bang by nearly taking the event with 19.28 pounds.  Sages, a member of the Big D Valley Bassmasters, anchored his limit with a 4.67 pound largemouth.  For his second place finish, Sages received $1,040.  Sages’ weight was also enough to win the $250 Ranger Cup prize for this event.

 

Third Place Boater Jim Papierz

The third place Boater Division finisher also broke the 19-pound mark.  Jim Papierz, of the Warren County Bassmasters, brought 19.20 pounds to the scales, a weight that earned him the third place $705 Boater Division prize.

With all the bigger fish weighed in at the top of the Boater Division, it was a slight surprise that the lunker fish for the Division was not caught by one of the top finishers.  Rather, the lunker winning 6.11 pound largemouth was caught by B.P. Hurding of the Big D Valley Bassmasters.  He received $125 for his Boater Division winning lunker.

B.P. Hurding and his Boater Division lunker

Co-Angler Division

 

Co-Angler champ Scott Gropp and his “twin” five pounders

The Co-Angler Division anglers had much success on the day, but none had as epic a day as the winner.  In that regard, the Co-Angler winning weight is the largest posted in a point event since the Federation changed to its “pro-am” style events in 2016.  It may even be the largest weight ever posted by a co-angler in Federation history.  Regardless, the winner, Federation rookie Scott Gropp of the Big D Valley Bassmasters, brought a whopping 19.02 pounds of bass to the scales to obliterate the field by nearly a full five pounds.  Gropp’s creel included the Co-Angler Division lunker winning 5.57-pound fish as well as a second five pounder.  For the victory, Gropp received the minimum guaranteed one-day Co-Angler first prize of $1,250.  He also received an additional $100 for his Co-Angler Division lunker.

Second Place Co-Angler Bob Kyriacos

Finishing in a distant second place was Gropps’ Big D Valley club mate, Bob Kyriacos.  Kyriacos had four fish that came in at an impressive 14.18 pounds, which was enough to capture the second place Co-Angler Division prize of $425.

The third place Co-Angler also had four hefty fish, weighing 13.67 pounds.  That weight was brought to the scales by Frank Garcia of the North Jersey Bass Anglers and was worth $180.

 

Third Place Co-Angler Frank Garcia

 

Miscellaneous Notes

 

  1. There were 18 anglers (31%) who brought five fish limits to the scales. This is an impressive statistic given that there is a 15-inch size limit for bass in Maryland during this time of year.  A total of 157 fish totaling over 468 pounds were weighed in.  The per fish average weight was an impressive 2.98 pounds.  All but one fish (99.36%) were released alive.

 

  1. As mentioned previously, by being the highest placing eligible Ranger Boat owner in the event, Todd Sages will receive $250 in Ranger Cup bonus money.

 

FULL RESULTS

EVENT PHOTOS

Apr 18

PEER BLOWS FIELD AWAY AT HOPATCONG

Submitted by:  Nick Angiulo

Peer with his two best on the day

It looked like the stars were going to align for the New Jersey Bass Federation’s first event of the 2018 tournament season on April 14, 2018.  There were two consecutive warm days and the water was finally starting to rise from the mid-40-degree temperatures that were found earlier in the week.  With that in mind, a field of 37 Boater and 26 Co-Anglers anxiously took to the water.  However, as is often the case in bass fishing, there is no way to predict the mood of bass on a day-to-day basis and, unfortunately, the fish were particularly uncooperative for many of the participants.  Nevertheless, one angler found and caught the size bass needed to obliterate the rest of the field by almost eight pounds!

Boater Division

The Boater Division winner made this event a cake walk.  Wally Peer, of Blazin Bass, posted one of only three five-fish limits in the event.  However, unlike the other two limits, his was full of large and healthy Lake Hopatcong bass.  His total weight of 17.55 pounds, anchored by the 5.11-pound Boater lunker, was a full 7.81 pounds ahead of the second place Boater.  The win was worth $2,000 and Peer collected an additional $125 for his Boater Division lunker.

Second place Boater Mike Rinaldi

The battle for second place was close as two additional anglers with five-fish limits on the day tangled for that spot.  Coming out on top was Mike Rinaldi of the Bergen Bassmasters with 9.74 pounds.  Rinaldi’s second place finish was worth $1,190.  Rinaldi picked up an additional $250 as the highest finishing Ranger Cup qualified angler.

Third place Boater Mike McMahon

 

 

 

 

Finishing in a close third was Mike McMahon of the Warren County Bassmasters.  McMahon’s five fish limit weighed 9.25 pounds and was worth $795

Co-Angler Division

 

The Co-Angler Division proved to be a battle of attrition’s as most anglers struggled just to get bites.  Nevertheless, some fish were caught, and the top three anglers were separated by only 0.84 pounds.

The first-time NJBF Co-Angler winner of this event was Darren Sobel of the Big D Valley Bassmasters.  Sobel, who weighed in two fish weighing 3.57 pounds, was fishing in his first-ever New Jersey Bass Federation tournament.  His Co-Angler Division victory was worth $1,250.

Co-Angler Division winner Darren Sobel

Taking second in the Co-Angler Division was Brian Snowman. Snowman, a member of the R-Unit chapter, also managed two fish.  His two fish totaled 3.17 pounds and were worth $475.  Third place was captured by Akira Okuyama of the Big D Valley Bassmasters.  Okuyama’s two fish weighed 2.73 pounds and were worth $300.  The Co-Angler Division lunker winning fish only weighed 1.82 pounds and was caught by Randy Gillespie of Blazin Bass.  He received $100.

Miscellaneous Notes

  1. Only three anglers brought five-fish limits to the scales and only 70 fish totaling over 135 pounds were weighed in. All fish were released alive.
  2. By being the highest placing eligible Ranger Boat owner in the event, Mike Rinaldi will receive $250 in Ranger Cup bonus money.
  3. Thanks Just wanted to give a shout out to the Paul Schmidt and the Northeast Bassmasters who also had a large event today on Hopatcong. Everything went incredibly smooth both in the morning and afternoon and we saw no issues on the water.
  4.  A special thanks to the NJBF members who came to help out today. It is much appreciated!!! Those members and friends include Keith Kitson, Kris Lechman, Chris Miller, Mike Hart and Vice President Doug Peabody’s wife and daughter.

 

FULL RESULTS