The annual NJBF six-man Team Tournament pits six members from each club against one another to see which club gets bragging rights for the year as the top club. This year’s event was held on the mighty St. Lawrence River on July 9 and 10. This legendary fishery is the land of the giant smallmouth bass, and even with variable wind conditions, and mostly post-spawn fish, the fishing did not disappoint!
Making it a Three-Peat was the Big D Valley Bassmasters (BDVB). This team showed impressive balance and overall, weighed in 60 fish totaling 207.88 pounds, winning by over 16 pounds over the second-place team. Although, it was not easy as going into Day 2 of the event, the BDVB was in third place, more than 7 pounds behind. But on Day 2, they had four anglers post 20+ pound bags. Leading the team in weight was Donny Diggs, who finished third individually in the Boater Division with 38.89 pounds. The other BDVB Boaters also finished in good stead, with Ian Martin in fifth place, Dave Williams in sixth place and Nick Angiulo in seventh place. Equally impressive was BDVB’s Co-Anglers. In that regard, Joe Venuto won the Co-Angler Division posting a huge Day 2 weight, and a two-day total of 36.89 pounds. Desmond Byfield contributed an additional 22.73 pounds.
The second-place team, Blazin Bass also brought impressive weight to the scales. In all, that club weighed in 59 fish weighing 191.16.
Other individual accomplishments of note were the overall big fish for the event. In the Boater Division Dan Goykhman weighed in a 5.53 pound beast, and in the Co-Angler Division Adam Pruzansky weighed in the 5.09 pound big fish.
Along with a team event, this event is used to qualify anglers for both the 2026 TBF District 15 National Semi-Final (NSF) and the 2027 TBF National Championship. The NSF qualifiers are, in the Boater Division – Dan Goykhman, Mike Zampese, and Donny Diggs: and in the Co-Angler Division – Joe Venuto, Adam Pruzansky, and Bob Zeleny.
By virtue of their first-place finishes, Dan Goykhman and Joe Venuto are considered the 2026 NJ State Champions and are automatically qualified for the 2027 TBF National Championship in the Boater Division and Co-Angler Division, respectively.
Winning BDVB team(l/r): Nick Angiulo, Desmond Byfield, Dave Williams, Joe Venuto, Ian Martin, Donny Diggs
Individual Boater and Co-Angler winners Dan Goykhman and Joe Venuto
Co-Angler qualifiers
