LAKE CHAMPLAIN (PLATTSBURGH) TOURNAMENT
New York The Bass Federation (NYTBF) held their first points tournament of the 2015 season on Lake Champlain with launch and afternoon weigh-in out of the Plattsburgh Dock Street Boat Ramp. Lake Champlain continually rates as one of the top bass fishing destinations in the country and this weekend was no exception.
Due to excessive rainfall leading up to tournament day the lake was a bit muddier than usual and littered with floating debris. The lake conditions were tougher than usual for this time of year but plenty of five fish limits crossed the scales with the majority of anglers reporting bed fishing as their primary technique.
Boater Division
Casey Casamento took top honors with a limit of smallmouth weighing 19.05 lbs. Casamento reports a successful practice period where he found multiple locations holds bedding fish. He had every intention of fishing south of Plattsburgh, but on Saturday’s practice session he found his primary areas blown out with muddy water so he scrapped that and fished north of Plattsburgh to catch all of this fish. Casamento used a Keitech Swing Impact on a lead head jig to catch fish in the 3-14 ft. zone.
Newcomer to the NYTBF tournament trail Charles Sim of Ontario Canada took second place with a weight of 18.20 lbs. Sim reports catching all of his fish off beds. He located 12-15 fish in practice and said when he got them the boat he was surprised that they were much bigger than he originally thought. Sim also took home the Ranger Cup contingency money.
Third place went to Jason Karol with a weight of 17.85 lbs. who won the tiebreaker (via big bass) over Mike Czaplinski. Karol reports during practice he found post spawn fish on main lake shoals with a jerkbait, but tournament morning his fish weren’t hitting well so he fished a bit deeper off the edges in 18-24 ft. with a drop shot and he quickly re-located his fish culling up to his final weight.
Rounding out the top five were Mike Czaplinski 17.85 lbs. and Jim Schneider with 17.75 lbs. The Boater Division Lunker went to Dale Brown with a solid 4.85 lb. smallmouth. 2
Co-Angler Division
Matthew Yankowski, Plattsburgh Fishing Team took top honors with a weight of 16.30 lbs. Yankowski reports fishing a 4 inch grub on a lead head near the bottom between 9-15 ft. to catch his fish. He also thanked his boater Dave Blankenship Sr. for locating the fish.
Taking second place with a weight of 16.20 lbs. was Andrew Bechard. Bechard reports fishing with Jason Karol and using a jerkbait early in the morning then switching to a drop shot off the edge of shoals to close out his limit.
Brendon Bolis brought in 15.75 lbs. to take third place Rounding out the top five were Ted Appleton 15.10 lbs. and Ricky Lee with 14.75 lbs.& lunker 4.95 lbs.
TFO Rod Winner
At each tournament NYTBF holds a participants draw for a Temple Fork Outfitters rod and today’s lucky winner was Gary Woodruff. Woodruff was also recognized as the NYTBF 2014 Sportsman of the Year for his dedicated service to the organization
NYTBF Sponsors
Minnkota, Lowrance, LANZ’s, Keitech, Cabelas, Evinrude E-Tec, Berkley, Humminbird, Ranger Boats, FLW Outdoors, Temple Fork Outfitter (TFO) rods, The BASS University, DICK’S Sporting Goods, STORMMR, Power-Pole, T&H Marine, Angler’s Choice Marine, Ticonderoga Chamber of Commerce, Cape Vincent Chamber of Commerce, Clayton Chamber of Commerce, City of Plattsburgh, Adirondack Coast, Jak’s Baits, D2Fishing.com, Reynolds’ Garage & Marine.
For additional information on the NYTBF tournaments contact President Bobby Williams at 315.408.8472 or Tournament Director Brian Winchill at 518.222.2503.
By: Burnie Haney
