2003
Tournaments Fished:
The
Citgo Bassmasters Northern Open
on Lake
Erie at Buffalo, N.Y. on September 10-12, 2003 was huge success for the area (promotion of
our great
fishery, the revenue for the local hotels, restaurants, tackle shops, convenient
stores, gas stations and NY State in tolls, launch & licenses fees). We need to
tip our hats to B.A.S.S and Thank them for coming here, as well as hope they
come back in the Future. Thanks, B.A.S.S, you deserve it, even though our local
media gave you little exposure.
This Tournament shows how great this Fishery is even when the fishing is
not at it's best. There was a total of 8,283 pounds of Bass caught in 3 days by
350 entrants (350 anglers the first 2 days & the top 100 the last day)! Yes,
8,283 pounds of Bass in 3 days with fishing just mediocre, what if it was
fantastic like it was earlier this year or if they could use live bait. I would
bet you could have seen 10,000 pounds then!
I finished in 26th place with 34-9 pounds on the non-boater side. It was
a fun, challenging, trying, rewarding and learning experience that I would recommend
to any Bass fisherman.
On Day 1, I was paired with Ray Craig from Crooksville, Ohio. We ran all the
way to a stretch
between Dunkirk and Barcelona. It took a full hour to get there at 50 mile per
hour, luckily the lake was flat. We fished 21-25' most of the day catching about 30 Bass
between us. He was using a green Texas rigged Trick Stick (Senko type bait) alternating
occasionally to a smoke Tube jig (both made by his company, New Age Baits) to
make up his 15-4 pound limit. While I used a green Cruncher Tube Jig, a
mellon-pepper Bass Pro Shops Tube Jig, drop-shotted Top Notch Tackle paddle
tails in mad shad and pumpkinseed to make up my 14-5 pound limit. It was my best
day over all because we had a very comparable fishing style. I had 14
Smallmouths, 3 Rock Bass and a couple Gobies, while only losing 2 Smallies that
weren't big ones. That put me in 25th place, 4-1 pounds behind the leader.
On Day 2, I was paired with Randy Yager of Syracuse, New York. We started
fishing a 35' hump in 39' of water off Myers Reef. He had good pod of fish
hanging around that hump early during practice but the last day they seem to
disappear. So, he didn't fish there on day one and did poorly where he fished
and was regretting not trying there now. He pulled most of his 17-1 pound limit
off of the spot on day 2. I had one of those days you hate to have; breaking off
3 fish (1 about 3#, another that was a hog 4#+ and not getting to see the third,
2 knots broke at drop shot hook and the other one broke at the blood knot to the
Floro-carbon leader) while losing another 4 fish at the boat (2 in the 3-3 1/2# range and 2
about 2#'s) and losing another Huge fish that took off screaming line out that
if it was a Bass was a monster but, I think it was a Catfish or Steelhead. I was
really struggling to get fish out of that deep water and only had 1 fish at
12:30. Randy was very unselfish and agreed to take me to one of my honey holes
off Silver Creek to see if I could catch a limit because he knew I had a shot to
make the cut. I was glad he did, I caught 4 keepers to finish my limit and lost
the screamer there, with Randy getting 3 and a cull fish, a 3 1/2-3 3/4 pounder
all in about 45 minutes. Then we went back to Myers to finish the day. We each
culled out a fish before we had to go in, he was alternating between
melon-pepper and smoke Tube Jigs while cruising about our buoy with his trolling
motor until he marked a fish on the graph. Then he would hold over them, drop
down and usually catch the fish. I caught most of my fish on Bass Pro Shops
Tubes in mellon-pepper and pumpkinseed, a couple fish on Top Notch Tackle Paddle
tails in mad shad and 1 on pumpkinseed that I drop-shotted to my 11-0
pound limit. That put me in 27th place after day 2 allowing me to make the cut and guaranteed
me a check. I know you have to get the fish you have on into boat against these
guys or you don't have a chance. I got a little lucky to make the cut, but if I
had landed the fish I lost I probably would have been easily in the Top 20.
On Day 3, I was paired with Gaspare Costabille of Niagara Falls,
Ontario, he was in 3rd place after day 2 and would remain there at days
end. We fished off Windmill Point on the Canadian side starting in 8- 15'
throwing white/chartreuse Spinnerbaits, he went 1 for 4, landing a 2 pounder and
losing a 4 pound plus Smallmouth. I didn't get a bite, that is one advantage of the front of the
boat, the fish see your lure first. Then we moved 300 yards straight out to a
drop off that went from 28-38'. He had his limit before I got a Smallie (had a
couple Gobies and a Rock Bass). He was dragging his Smoke Tube and
letting it sit on the bottom for long periods of time. When he would get bit he
would go there's one, he drop his rod tip for a couple seconds, then start to
pull up slowly until he would feel a little weight and set the hook. I tried
his technique, but couldn't learn it at the time, it takes a lot of patience
which I didn't have as the time was ticking and pressure was building to catch a
limit. I went back to what I do best, down wind casting a 1/4 oz Tube Jig in
smoke (that Gaspare gave me) and started catching fish. I wound up catching 7
Smallies (1 undersize and 6 keepers) and only losing 1- 2 pound fish, before
Gaspare decided we were going back in shallow to throw spinnerbaits again to try to get
a big kicker fish. It proved to be the right decision for him, he was going for the
Win, the same as I would have been. He went 2 for 3, both culling out smaller
fish and getting his biggest fish of the day on his last cast before we had to
run, a beautiful 4-5 Slob! This gave him a 17-15 pound string and giving him
$15,000 for 3rd place. I learned that he is definitely on to a big fish
technique that I will learn to do, all of his fish were bigger than mine, I got
as many bites just not big fish. I managed to have a 9-4 bag that moved me up one
place into 26th. I guess I should be happy with that finish against some of the
best Fisherman in the world, even though I know I should have done better (just
not having the break offs and lost fish would have put me easily in the top 20)
or if I could have fished some more of my areas. My weight would have put me in
48th on the Pro side with only getting to fish only one of my spots. Next time
they come to Lake Erie, I will fish Pro and control my own destiny. Click for a
complete results.
The
Fish Odyssey 2 day Bass Challenge
on Lake Erie (day 1) and Lake Ontario/Niagara River (day 2) was cancelled.
They said they were worried about the weather, but I think they didn't
have enough entrees. This allowed me to fish with my son most of the
week in the Fish Odyssey. Travis placed fourth in the Junior Bass Division
with a 4.91 pound Smallmouth. The Junior winner was Matt Cambell with a 5.14. I
was fishing with Joe Fonzi and Eric Elenfeld, when Joe got the winning
Smallmouth Bass that was 5.91 pounds on a Tube jig between the Round House and
Waverly Shoal. Unfortunately Joe didn't have a camera on the boat and we really
didn't think it would hold up all week so, no picture to show. While
Elenfeld Family did well also with Eric taking 2nd place in the Walleye Division
with 11.62, his dad Fred took 2nd in the Bass Division with a 5.82 and his son
Eric took 2nd in the Junior Sheepshead Division with a 6 pounder.
The
Bass Eye Tournament to benefit
Cystic Fibrosis was a huge success, raising $116,000 for a great cause!
The winners were led by Joe Cinelli with 2200 points, with my normal tournament
partner Joe Fonzi leading his crew to the most awards (most unusual catch; Rock
Bass, most bass releases - team 43, most celebrity releases 13, most individual
releases-17, biggest bass-21 1/8") and 2 nd place (if they would have
caught a Walleye they would have won! I had the same team (almost) as last year,
KC Bryan, her fiancé Justin White and Chuck Kriener to start with. We tried to
get our Walleye by trolling until 10 am when Chuck had to go in and go to a
meeting, we then picked up Rob Hess and his daughter Rachel. We headed back out
about 10:30 to find the Lake building from 1 footers to 2-4's so we didn't run
far and started off Smokes Creek. We picked up 2 - 14" + points fish and
lost a couple others before a few people started getting queasy, so we retreated
to inside the break walls. Which had been pounded all morning by a lot of boats.
We couldn't find any points fish in there, that's how it goes. You can't expect
to win under those circumstances, but it was for a Great Cause, everybody
had Fun and that's what's important!
The 3rd Annual
MAKE-A WISH Lake Erie Smallmouth Bass Challenge
on May 17, 2003 was another success raising about $4000 for the MAKE-A-WISH
Foundation from had 12.54 pounds for their 2 biggest
Smallmouths,
netting them $2000 for their efforts as well as the lunker award with a 6.68
pound SLOB!. They fished in about 26-29' off Hamburg
using smoke tubes. My partner Joe Fonzi and myself fished the same area, just
inside them in 21-24' to a 12th place finish with 11.14 pounds. I had a 6.02
pounder and had a heart breaker by loosing a twin 6#+ at the boat (although I
don't think it would have been big enough to help us win, it definitely would
have put us in the Top 5). We had our best luck on Cruncher Tubes in
green mist , Bass Pro Tubes in melon-pepper and a 3" Yamamoto Senko
in baby bass (that the 6.02 slob hit). The other top finishers came Myers
Reef, 18 Mile Creek, Smokes Creek and the humps in front of the Ford Plant.
The depths varied from 7- 35', while most of them were using Tubes in smokes,
melon-peppers, browns & white, with a few using jigging spoons and
stickbaits. Click here for complete Results !
Past Tournament Results:
2006
2005
2004
2002
2001
Schultz Sportfishing Home Page