NEPVA Charles River Bass Tournament

For the third tournament in a row, sunny skies paired with 80-degree temperatures greeted the New England Paralyzed Veterans and their Volunteer Boat Captains, at The Newton Yacht Club on the Charles River for the Annual Charles River NEPVA Bass Tournament.

 The volunteer Boat Captains came from The BASS Federation Nation    (www.bassofMass.com) and the TBF of Mass Federation (www.massbass.com) along with Boat Captain Eric Lowe of Maine and New Hampshire’s Gary Clawson and Travis Foster. NEPVA volunteers kept the launching operations running smoothly, as they helped with launching, parking of rigs and also the morning registration.

As usual the Newton Yacht Club members greeted the fishermen with freshly made coffee and donuts. Plenty of water, soda and ice was also available to take out on the boats.

 As the clock ticked its way towards the starting time, between sips of coffee and donuts, the Boat Captains met their NEPVA angler’s and were given their boat numbers, T-Shirts, Commemorative Towels and a Tackle Pack.

After a brief Captain’s meeting, the tournament began. In numeric order paralyzed anglers were loaded into their partners’ bass boats by Nam Knights representing two New Hampshire Chapters (www.namknights.com).

With the tournament underway, all volunteers were served an appreciation breakfast, courtesy of the Newton Yacht Club (www.NewtonYachtClub.com), before resuming their NEPVA Bass Trail setup responsibilities.

Not long after the aroma of bacon and eggs disappeared, Newton Yacht Club’s chefs enticed arriving anglers with their famous Clam Chowder, Hamburgers, Grilled Sweet Sausage and all the fixings. The anglers quickly weighed in their catches before sitting down to the luncheon tables.

First to weigh in was Alex O’Brien and Boat Captain Jack O‘Donnell of the Federation Nation of Mass. Jack is the Web master for the Federation’s web site, and much to the delight of the crowd they weighted in 4 bass for 7.69 lbs and had the lead for a little while. Alex is one of our steady contestants on this tournament trail; the little man with a big heart rarely misses one. (see pic. of Alex’s fish on the Charles)

After all the boats had checked in and the weigh in slips were added up, the following results were announced by Tournament Director Tiny LaFontaine:

3^rd place went to the team of Billy Church and Kevin Quinn with 5 fish for 7.79lbs

Billy and Kevin caught their fish on Senco’s and Spinnerbaits working Storm drains and bridge pilings.

2^nd   Place went to the team of John Peterson of Boston Bass and Paul Reed with 5 fish for 9.12 lbs. John and Paul tricked the bass into biting with black Yamamoto Senco’s targeting bridge’s and old pilings as they worked up and down the Charles.

1^st Place went to Rob Ramasci and Dave Sawyer with a 5 bass limit of 9.23 lbs which included the tournament big fish, a 2.94 lb largemouth. Rob and Dave fished Berkley Chigger Craws and Yamamoto Senco’s near the DCR Memorial Hatch Shell fishing nearby trees & rocks with deep water nearby.

Lunker went to Rob Ramasci and Dave Sawyer with a nice Largemouth of 2.94 lbs.

The NEPVA Bass Trail would like to thank their Charles River sponsors; The Newton Yacht Club and it’s members, Mass BASS Federation Nation, TBF of Mass., Yankee Bait & Tackle, Tournament Force Tackle (www.TFBass.com), Northern Bass Supply, Nam Knights, Tibby's Harley Davidson (www.tibbysharley.com), Marine USA, Inc., Gary Yamamoto Baits (www.baits.com), and a very special thanks to Eric Lowe, Gary Clawson, and Travis Foster who came down from Maine and New Hampshire to be boat captains.