LAKE DUNMORE/SALISBURY, VT – Boater Jason Roberts paired with co-angler Finnegan Payne to hoist 14.86 pounds of bass to the scale for the win Thursday evening as the Rutland B.A.S.S. Club hosted its first Angler-of-the-Year event of 2023. Even with a one-pound dead fish penalty assessed, dropping their bag-weight to 13.86 lbs after weigh-in, the pair’s total managed to maintain first place with no other team of competitors coming within two pounds of the top spot. Robert’s tournament lunker 4.58-pound largemouth bass proved to be the difference that allowed them to carry the day.
According to Payne, the duo were around fish all evening and doing well, but they knew it was going to take a decent kicker to give them a real shot “We must’ve caught 30 or so fish,” Payne said. “And we know this can be a tough lake to catch ANY fish. Jason got the bite we needed and we lost a couple others that would have helped as well. Dude can fish.”
“It’s not like we didn’t get the bites we needed to get our five fish,” Roberts added. “We had plenty of bites. These fish here can be tough sometimes and there are not many big ones that are easily caught. Sometimes you can see them just sitting there all alone and it really is just luck to come across one.”
Roberts did admit that one of his favorite lures – the ZOOM Super Fluke did much of the work to bring fish in for both him and his partner. “Everyone knows that I throw that thing anywhere and everywhere the water is clear enough,” Roberts said. “It’s in my bag for a very good reason – it just catches fish.”
After a tough week fishing with Vermont B.A.S.S. Nation in the B.A.S.S. Nation Regional on the Potomac River the previous week, Roberts drove home from the nation’s capital to fish by himself in the Plunder Bay Open on June 10. He cashed himself a nice check with his fourth place bag of 19.62 pounds on his home water. But, Dunmore is A LOT different than Lake Champlain. As a perennial contender for the Rutland B.A.S.S. AOY trophy he appreciates the different bodies of water that the club puts on its schedule.
“I like this club because we have to fish different water,” Roberts explained. “We go to different places that most people only see a couple times a year, and only once during the AOY Series. It’s a nice change that many people don’t realize until they actually do it. It’s a challenge and that’s what keeps me coming back every year.”
The second-place team of boater Kris Martin and co-angler Andy Christofaris did their best to keep pace, but the pair just couldn’t get the big bite they needed, bringing in five largemouth for 11.66 pounds.
“I won here last year with former club member Jake Michaud and managed to figure a couple of things out in the process,” Martin said. “When we were waiting at the dock I told Andy what my plan was – we’d catch fish, but we might not get the big bite we needed. I was going with what worked for me last year, when I did get that bite. Things set up pretty much the same way. I was looking for consistent bites and just hoping one of us would bump in to a biggun’.”
Martin used a Strike-King swim jig with a Keitech trailer early on before switching to a Spro E Pop 80 later in the evening. Christofaris caught his early fish on an unnamed swimbait and later in the evening threw a River-2-Sea Whopper Plopper searching for that big blowup.
“I’ve caught a lot of fish on poppers and was looking to wake something big up, or, at least bigger than what we had,” Martin said. “I knew we had decent weight for this lake, but I also knew someone was going to have a real kicker fish to anchor their bag.”
“Unfortunately all we could get to the boat were cookie-cutter two to two-and-a-half pounders,” added Christofaris. “We managed to cull a few ounces in the last hour or so, but we knew we weren’t really gaining much.”
Rounding out the top three was the team of 2022 AOY champion Jeff Patch and co-angler Riley Disorda who brought 8.45 pounds to the scale. Interestingly, the team of Eddie and Bruce Staples would have taken the third spot with their 10.24-pound bag, but the two-pound dead fish penalty assessed at weigh-in dropped them to fifth place behind the team of Jacob Nichols and Jim White (8.38lbs). Eddie Staples did claim a bittersweet extra point in the standings with his lunker 3.63-pound smallmouth.
Yeah, those penalties can really matter and may make a big difference as the series continues.
Angler-of-the-Year #1, Dunmore final Results
Jason Roberts and Finn Payne 13.86lbs. (14.86). (Roberts, 101 points, Payne, 100 points)
Kris Martin and Andrew Christofaris 11.66lbs. (Martin, Christofaris, 97 points each)
Jeff Patch and Riley Disorda 8.45lbs. (Jeff Patch, Disorda, 95 points each
Jacob Nichols and Jim White 8.38lbs. (Nichols, White, 94 points each)
Eddie Staples and Bruce Staples 8.24lbs. (10.24). Eddie Staples, 94 points, Bruce Staples, 93 points)
Greg Decell and Olivia Baroffio 7.71lbs. (Decell, O. Baroffio, 92 points each)
Zach Patch and Dylan Stowe 6.79lbs. (Z. Patch, Stowe, 91 points each)
Jacob Patch and David Monte 5.20lbs. (Jacob Patch, Monte, 90 points each)
Casey Baroffio and Brian Dooley 1.1lbs. (C. Baroffio, Dooley, 89 points each)
Lunker Largemouth: Jason Roberts, 4.58lbs.
Lunker Smallmouth: Eddie Staples, 3.63lbs.
The next stop for the club will be July 6, 2023 from 4PM-8PM at Chittenden Reservoir.
Guests and new members are welcome and encouraged to register/join at www.rutlandbassclub.com
Comentarios