Maine Bass Tournament Results

Idling up to the Pine Tree Camp docks, an array of activity encompassed the large grassy area adjacent to the camps large dinning hall. Under sunny skies and warm seventy degree temperatures, Heath Morris a dedicated member of the Maine B.A.S.S. Federation shouted a hearty welcome as he made his way to meet me!

Morris and several other Maine B.A.S.S. Federation volunteers were busy setting up the weigh-in site in preparation for the 4th and final Regional NEPVA Bass Trail Tournament of the 2005 season. For the Maine B.A.S.S. Federation it was Maine's 3rd Annual NEPVA Bass Tournament, which has been held each October on North Pond.

Pine Tree Camp is an ideal location for the New England Paralyzed Veterans of America Bass Tournament format. As a totally Handicap accessible facility Pine Tree Camp (www.pinetreesociety.org) caters to wheelchair anglers, allowing them to move around the entire area on their own unobstructed. As an added bonus for the NEPVA Anglers, Pine Tree has a huge boat dock area, four pontoon boats plus a newly constructed handicap fishing pier.

With 295 acres of fishable water, North Pond harvests an abundance of both smallmouth and largemouth bass, not to mention the Maine state record Northern Pike came from this fishing hot spot!

"NEPVA angler Rick Nelson won this tournament last year with one of Maine's Top-Federation Anglers, Jeff Rafuse and they also had the Lunker Largemouth which weighed over five pounds," recalled Morris as we surveyed the camp in preparation for the arriving NEPVA Anglers and their Federation Boat Captains. Then, adding with a wry smile, "The weather channel is calling for rain, beginning tonight right into our scheduled tournament for tomorrow!"

While anglers slept comfortably during the night, Morris's forecast became a reality. Awaking anglers were greeted with fifty degree temperatures accompanied with increasing winds, as they headed to the camps dinning hall for the morning breakfast and tournament pairings.

After they enjoyed a warm breakfast, a random Boater/Non-Boater pairing for the Boater Division drawing was held, while Pontoon Boat Captain Tom Lee signed on five NEPVA Anglers for the Bank/Pontoon Division.

As nineteen NEPVA anglers and their B.A.S.S. Federation partners gathered together sharing tournament strategies, NEPVA Tournament Director Tiny Lafontaine and Bob Campbell announced that there would be a delay in the starting-time of the tournament due to high winds and heavy rains. After waiting over an hour and evaluating the lake conditions, the tournament committee made the decision to cancel the Pontoon Boat, but allow any Bank/Pontoon Division anglers to fish from the handicap pier. In addition the committee shortened the Boater Division's weigh-in time to 1:00 PM., with an automatic Tournament Cancellation at the first sign of any thunder and/or lighting.

"Electric wheelchairs and rain are not very compatible, so I think I'll stay inside sip on some warm coffee and enjoy the panoramic view of the lake from the dinning hall windows," smiled Karen Butler, the 2004 North Pond Bank/Pontoon Division Champion. Several other anglers with electric chairs followed suit, while two anglers in the Boater/Non-Boater Division withdrew from the tournament due to weather conditions overriding their medical requirements.

As the hours ticked away the 'Dock-Talk-Chatter-Box' grew in proportion as to the success of Bank Division Angler Mike Guilbault, and his five gallon bucket of fish! With the help of Anheuser-Bush's volunteer employee Paul Marquette to carry his bucket to the scales, Guilbault was all smiles when weigh-master Dwayne Turnage announced Guilbault's winning 6.82 lb ten-fish creel of white perch anchored with the Bank Division Big Fish weighing 1.24 lbs!

(Marquette also carried a check for $1,000 to the awards banquet as a donation from Anheuser-Bush to help off-set the operating cost of NEPVA Bass Trail.)

"I just kept casting a rattle trap from the fishing pier and changed my retrieve speeds when the bite slowed. I must have culled at least another ten-fish limit during the day," said an excited Mike Guilbault as he accepted his Bank Division Championship Plaques during the awards banquet.

It's said, "The fish bite better when it's raining!" With water temperatures in the mid-sixties, air temperatures idling just above fifty degrees, wind speeds ranging from 10-15 mph, over one-half of the Boater Division Teams managed to secure five-bass limits making for an exciting weigh-in under an umbrella of rain!

Third place finishers Boat Captain Charles Wilson and NEPVA Angler Frank Vogeli, spent their time on the water throwing Yamamoto Senko's to fill Charlie's Triton Bass Boat's livewell with a five-bass limit totaling 13.35 lbs. "We culled several bass today, but they all wanted to eat Senko's…….So we kept feeding them Senko's!"

Maine B.A.S.S. Federation's Charlie Wilson and NEPVA Angler Frank Vogeli's 'Senko Pattern' also earned them 5.48 lb Lunker Largemouth bragging rights, along with handcrafted NEPVA Bass Trail wooden plaques.

Federation Angler Jeff Morris and NEPVA Angler Don Candage landed Smallmouth Lunker Honors when their 3.86 lb Bronze-Back fell victim to a ¾ oz white/chartreuse Ledge Buster spinnerbait teamed with double willow leaf blades. "That smallie jumped on the blade as soon as it came across the 4-10 foot breakline," said Morris.

Call it the 'Luck-of-the-Draw' or whatever, but NEPVA Angler Lloyd Jones of Harpswell, Maine managed to pull off another outstanding day on the water! This time paired with Maine B.A.S.S. Federation Angler Randy Veilleux. "This is unbelievable! I won the Charles River tournament, placed 4th on Lake Winniepesaukee and today Randy and I just squeezed out a 2nd place finish on North Pond by .01 lbs!"

Veilleux and Jones worked spinnerbaits, rattle traps and slow falling Senko's throughout the day culling their way to a five-bass mixed-bag limit of smallmouths and largemouths tipping the scales at 13.36 lbs.

Tournament Champions NEPVA Angler David Sawyer and Rhode Island B.A.S.S. Federation Angler Russ Woods disclosed their wining patterns. "We basically had a 'One-Two-Punch.....Spinnerbaits & Senko's'!"

Wood and Sawyer started their day working Hog Sticker Spinnerbaits (www.Spinnerbaits.com) chartreuse/white with tandem willow-leaf blades along wind blown shallow wood laden shorelines, utilizing Yamamoto Senko's as follow-up baits enticing enough largemouth bass to secure a tournament victory with 15.44 lbs.

"Russ Wood, owner of Wood Boat & Motor (www.woodboatandmotor.org) out of Warwick, RI, offered to haul a Champion Bass Boat up to Maine, and volunteer as a Boat Captain just to get a feel for what the NEPVA Bass Trail is all about," announced Tiny LaFontaine. With Russ Wood and NEPVA partner Dave Sawyer on the stage LaFontaine asked, "Was it worth the long haul?"

"Definitely……And, not because Dave and I won the tournament, but because all the people involved with the NEPVA Bass Trail, including the Maine B.A.S.S. Federation, do it for all the right reasons," answered Russ Wood. "It's because of this that my wife Deb and I have decided that Wood Boat & Motor will be a sponsor of the NEPVA Bass Trail for the 2006 tournament season!"

God Bless and Best Bass'n