New Jersey’s largest lake, Lake Hopatcong can be a challenging place to fish on a normal day.  But add high, off-colored water, and the “Atlantic Fleet” of pleasure crafts on the lake, and the 28 New Jersy Bass Federation anglers who fished the July 23 event, truly were tested.  And nearly all responded as the fields in both the Boater and Co-Angler Division were bunched up creating an exciting finish to the NJBF’s 2023 point tournament season.

The Boater Division winner of the event was Brian Wittig of the Essex County Bassmasters.  Wittig caught enough bigger than average sized fish to post a 12.20 pound five-fish limit, enough to hold off the second and third place finishers.

Second in the Boater Division by .03 of an ounce was Craig Townsend, whose 11.64 pound limit also cemented his finish as the Boater Angler of the Year.

Just behind in third place was Wally Peer, whose five best fish weighed 11.61 pounds.

The Boater Division lunker, a 4.79 pound largemouth was caught by Bob Stock.

In the Co-Angler Division one angler dominated.  That angler, Mike Wotanowski of the Warren County Bassmasters posted a stellar 9.74 pound three-fish limit, enough to win by nearly three ful pounds.  Anchoring his weight was the 3.75 pound Co-Angler Division lunker.

Second place went to the venerable Frank McMahon, who, despite injuring his back early in the morning, managed three chucky fish weighing 6.84 pounds, just enough to hold off Mike Lee who had 6.43 pounds.  Regardless, Lee’s finish clinched his status as Co-Angler of the Year.

LAKE HOPATCONG – ONLINE REGISTRATION OPEN!

Online registration is open for our last 2023 point event, our season-ending Lake Hopatcong event on July 23.

The deadline to register is 11:59 p.m. on July 15, 2023.  Click on the tournaments tab to access the online application.

REGISTER EARLY!  This should be a great event!

To be eligible to fish, you must be a NJBF member.  Not a member?  Contact Secretary Nick Angiulo at nickangiulo@verizon.net.

New York State has some of the finest bass fishing waters in the country.  Any avid bass fisherman can tick off their names off the top of their head, Lake Champlain, St. Lawrence River, Cayuga Lake, Oneida Lake, and so many others.  But an overlooked gem is Saratoga Lake.  While generally lacking the overall size of fish as several of those other more famous lakes, there are not many lakes where up to 100 fish days can happen, but at Saratoga, it could be a daily occurrence.

With that in mind, the second NJBF event of the year, a two-day extravaganza took place on Saratoga Lake on June 23 and 24.  And the lake did not disappoint.

Boater Division

The winner in the Boater Division basically lapped the field, winning by almost three pounds on a lake that bunches up every angler.  That angler, Dave Williams of the Big D Valley Bassmasters, had an impressive two-day weight of 28.18 pounds which included the Boater Division 4.46 pound big fish.

The rest of the Boater Division field was separated by less than five pounds, making the race for second and third highly competitive.  Taking second was Craig Townsend with a two-day total of 25.31 pounds.  Just behind in third place was Brain Wisniewski with 24.67 pounds.

Co-Angler Division

The three fish daily limit in the Co-Angler Division put a premium on catching at least one big fish.  And that is what the top two anglers in that division did.

The winner, Mike Lee of the Essex County Bassmasters had a two-day total of 17.87 pound, anchored by his 4.54 pound Co-Angler Division lunker winning fish.  Not far behind was Dan Heiss with 16.36 pounds.  Heiss also posted a fish nearing 4.50 pounds.  Third place with 15.77 pounds was Joe Venuto.

Full results are posted on the results page.