Bruce and McDonaugh are Sunday’s Champions
Seems like nothing can dampen the heart and soul of the Oneida Teams
Division of the U.S. Angler’s Choice Tournament Trail. Heavy rains
fell from Friday evening into most of Saturday’s 3rd qualifying
event on Oneida Lake in Onondaga County, NY. As the front finally passed
through, the winds strengthened whipping the eastern half of the lake
into a froth for the remainder of the tournament hours.
A large NY BASS Federation tournament was scheduled for this weekend,
also, so our tournaments were relocated to the Brewerton Boatyard in the
canal. This helped avoid confusion and parking issues for both tournaments,
especially since Oneida Shores County Park is undergoing its planned ramp
renovations. Park Superintendent Judy Talbot has us excited about what’s
underway for Oneida Shores.
28 teams participated in Saturday’s event, and Sunday saw 24 teams
entered in the tournament. Thanks to all of the teams for their support
of Angler’s Choice and participation in growing the Oneida Teams
Division!
Saturday night produced the cold front that had been forecast earlier
in the week and the teams awoke Sunday morning to air temperatures in
the high 40’s. Undaunted, all teams left at blast-off in anticipation
of a heavy 5 bass limit each day.
In 5th place on Saturday was the veteran Angler’s Choice team of
Chuck Slater and Connie Koch, who made the 6 ½ hour journey from
Baltimore. They fell in love with the lake after seeing it on Friday for
the first time and brought in a mixed bag of large and smallmouth weighing
14.50 pounds. Their tally was good for $300 and valuable points toward
their Traveler’s/Choice Division points.
Finishing in 4th place was Al Repsher and David Compton. Al and Dave had
a great limit of bass totaling 14.65 pounds to earn them $380 for the
day. Good work! Our 3rd place winners are tough to beat on Oneida, or
anywhere else they fish. Give them clear, deep lakes or the muddy tidal
water of the Potomac River and they’ll find the bass. Pennsylvania’s
Rick Ash and Chris Swearer stuck with their smallmouth pattern and it
paid off to the tune of 15.34 pounds on the scale and $500 in their pockets.
Second place on Saturday belonged to Rich Bruce and Bill McDonaugh. They
found heavier fish feeding in their selected areas and carried a beautiful
limit of bass to the scales that weighed 16.47 pounds. They were awarded
$620 for their efforts and as you will see ended the weekend in fine fashion.
Claiming victory on Saturday was Pennsylvania’s John Schoener and
John Detweiler. They had a super day on Oneida, ignoring the bad weather
and crowded conditions on the lake. John and John took home all the marbles
as well as $1250 for their limit of bass which weighed 17.61…enough
for the victory! Congratulations to these 2 fine fishermen!
Bryce Melchior and Ed Gardner landed the big bass of the tournament, a
beautiful 4.55 smallie that reportedly exploded on a topwater bait in
the middle of the day’s heaviest rain. Bryce and Ed won $280 for
that bass. Way to go!
Sunday morning’s chill was a cruel reminder of the approaching
cooler months, and the first cold blast would affect the largemouth pattern
of more than one team. Chuck Slater and Connie Koch again weighed in a
nice limit of fish to finish in 5th place for the second consecutive day
with 13.33 pounds. Our steady 4th place team also took over the lead (narrowly)
in the coveted AOY race. Andy Hammond and Kyle Kimball’s limit of
bass totaled 13.45 lbs…good enough for $380.
3rd place , for the second day in a row belonged to Rick Ash and Chris
Swearer, whose 14.14 bag of smallmouth earned them $440, giving them a
$940 weekend! Great job!
Pennsylvania’s Stan Sypek and Bob Makarewicz were able to figure
out the post-cold front largemouth as they found a great limit of bass
that weighed 15.07 pounds. Stan and Bob were presented with $600 for winding
up in second place!
Talk about your productive weekends! Fresh off of a 2nd place finish yesterday,
Rich Bruce and Bill McDonaugh took home the gold on Sunday with a first
place weight of 16.47lbs. As winners, they took the $1200 first place
money, $620 on Saturday, and did I forget to mention they also had Big
Bass on Sunday at 4.01 pounds worth another $240? Add it all up guys,
and that’s a weekend with earnings of over $2000 for Rich and Bruce.
That’s Effective multi-tasking at its finest! Congratulations to
these two fine champions. Thanks to Wayne and his staff at Brewerton Boatyard
for the efforts in hosting this tournament at their busy facility.
The next Oneida teams tournament is Saturday, August 28 at Oneida Shores
County Park. See you there!
