“A Week I Will Never Forget” (Sept 13-20th 2008)
A Personal Account of Being Part of Team Ontario for the First Time”
By Brian Curry
The Big Day
Today was the big day; off to Lake Winnipesaukee for the BASS Federation Eastern Divisional. My clock read 2:55am and I knew there was no more chance for sleep. I was already so excited and my mind was racing (with all those little things you want to make sure you don’t forget on a big trip). After going over everything for what seemed to be the 200th time, my ride showed up around 10am that morning and I was ready to go.
I was picked up by Dave Rochette of the Muskoka Bassmasters and our OBFN president Ken Hamilton. We had a pleasant 12 hr drive going through Quebec, Vermont and finally New Hampshire. My first visit to this scenic state coincided with a gorgeous sunset that illuminated the mountains and accentuated the splendid scenery. The glamour of our surroundings soon faded away as darkness fell and we had to look for a place to stay the first night.
After searching in vain for about two hours we decided to stop and have a bite to eat and then just drive all the way to the Margate Hotel in Laconia. (This was our final stop anyway… so it all worked out in the end). We met up with some more members of the team, Sherman Davis of the North Bay Bassmasters and Gary Mansholt from the Lindsay Bassmasterswho also stayed with us the first night.
Day one pre-fish:
We had a leisurely start with a big breakfast and a quick trip to the Walmart down the road for some basic drink and food supplies for on the water. We then met up with Mark Cavanaugh and Dave Richards from the Port Perry Club. After a little car juggling I was getting a lift down to our tournament lake for the first time. I met up with my fishing partner Frank Ramsay, from the Petawawa Bassmasters. Frank is a friendly, down to earth guy, whose personality made me feel at ease right away and I knew we’d have fun on the water. We launched his boat (which was a beautiful ride), and took off up Lake Winnipesaukee for the first time. All I can say about big bass boats … is can they ever move!
He was using many different set ups and I was shocked to realize how much I could learn from him about his fishing styles and presentations. For instance simply adding a metal clacker on a Carolina rig can add more noise. Just so that I wouldn’t forget these, I began writing a fishing log, with all the pointers I was given during the trip. We got back after a long day and most of the team went out for Chinese food for dinner. Here I got to meet a few more of my teammates and their wives and have a good meal while listening to the days’ ups and downs on the lake. I finally got back to my room and started to get everything ready for the next day.
We decided to try a shoal on the side of one of the first islands we came to and I finally got to throw out the first cast. BAM! A nice 2.5lb-3lb smallmouth caught on top water (Rapala Skitter Pop).
Was this a sign of good or bad things to come … as normally a fish on the first cast can spell disaster. But as the day went on I caught numerous fish (mostly chain pickerel which is like a small pike) in some back bays while we were looking for largemouth. We also got into a smallmouth or two while looking at a few other island drop-offs and humps out in the lake. Frank really was doing well as he caught several more fish … including a largemouth about 2 lbs and lots of pretty good sized smallmouth.
Frank Ramsey
Team Ontario 2006 & 2007
I was staying with one of Canada best anglers …Mike Desforges. He has been fishing hard for about a month now in various locations in the states and back in Ontario and doing quite well with his finishes at these tournaments. I found out that he is a quiet person but his drive is incredible. (He was up before almost anyone, and came back at the end of each day a few hours after most people were already back).Needless to say I enjoyed the conversations we had about fishing and some tactics he had been using to find some of his fish.
Lake Winnipesaukee - Site of the 2007
B.A.S.S. Eastern Divisional Qualifier
Team Ontario 2008
Day 2 pre-fish:
I really couldn’t sleep again and was going out today with Dave Rochette. I was a little worried as the weather reports were calling for 40-60 mph wind gusts and some interesting weather changes as the day went on. Well Dave and I decided to launch at a different location than I had the day before, because we wanted to check a little bit of water that might be protected from the winds. We launched at a place called Ames and started to fish.
Mike Desforges
2008 Contender
The weather had become quite bad in the afternoon and we had been riding some fun waves in the 4-6ft class, but I didn’t have any worries as Dave seemed to know how to drive over these huge waves with confidence and without slamming me around too much on each set.
The day ended with a quick meal at T Bones, and some retying and tackle prepping for the next day. I spent a little more time getting to know the team and their wives, which was a blast as some people had some very interesting fish stories, and tactics I could use to improve my own fishing. One offered by Sherman – aka Cooter, was to use a tube jig instead of a drop shot weight , so you would have two baits in the water instead of one. I updated my log, and then it was bedtime.
Day 3 pre-fish: I once again slept about 2 ½ hours as the big registration day was today and I was going to meet the entire team and get to meet all the big wigs in the BASS world later this afternoon. I started the day fishing with Gerry Heels. He was another very interesting fishing partner who gave me some great pointers on Lowrance fish finders and Navionics as he used almost all drop shot rigs and knew how to drop his bait to fish he would see on his fish finder.
This was a new concept to me (again) and I picked up his tactic and ended up catching four nice keepers during the day using this style of fishing. Gerry had a really good day and would have ended up with about 11-13lbs for his best five of the day. We came up with a plan to hit shoals in 18-27ft of water that really started to get better as the day went on. We then had to get back to the hotel and get ready for the big meeting that night.
The meeting and registration was a blast. We got to meet many other anglers from the seven Eastern based states. They gave us a BASS 40th anniversary hat and commemorative coin and I bought a T-shirt that had our whole team on it. We listened to a Federation Nation Update and tournament instructions from Don Corkran and his staff, (while eating pizza), and got to meet our partners for the next day. Tim Morrison would be my first days’ partner and from our little discussion it was going to be a fun day. I went and quickly prepped the last of my equipment for the 1st day of the tourney and tried to sleep … again with little success.
I caught another nice smallmouth on the second cast of the day dragging a Carolina rigged lizard (with my added clacker – Thanks Frank). Boy did this fish hit hard. I almost had the rod pulled out of my hands! We continued to fish with various drop shot set ups and we got blow down the lake quite quickly (we actually saw about four water spouts as they tore across the various bays we were coming in to fish).
We had a really good day, experimenting with various tactics and techniques and again I learned a great deal from Dave (another very skilled fisherman). He showed me a variety of sizes of drop shot baits and how they worked, and I hope he learned a little from me. By the end of the day we had caught about 20 keeper fish (greater than 12”) and about 10 more that were just a little small. Things were improving steadily everyday.
Day One
I was up early (about 4 am) and was down having a coffee when most of the team came out to prep and hook up their boats. I met Tim at the blast off site and we talked awhile about what we would do and where we would go. It was then that I turned and noticed the stage and weigh in area … and suddenly I got a little nervous; it was really happening! Everyone boarded their boats and tied down their rods. Then, almost upon cue, and with great pride all the anglers stood up, removed their caps, placed them next to their hearts. I guess we’re going to hear the American National Anthem, I thought. Well, we did … but not before we all heard our own Canadian National Anthem first sung beautifully by a female singer who made all the Canadians present gleam with pride. Out of the corner of my eye near the weigh-in stage, I could see Frank’s wife holding high our Canadian Flag blowing in the wind. How cool was that!
After the American anthem we had a trickle start and the tourney was on!! We both had quite a few fish on day one. I had a bleeding fish (about 14”) that would have weighed about 1.25lbs but if it died I would not be able to cull it and I finally decided that since we had caught three fish in the first hour that it would be better off to let it go. (This would later be a mistake). We fished a lot of spots and I finally came in with only three fish for the day for 5.4 lbs (I wish I had kept the 4th one… Oh well I learn something every day). My partner came in with five fish for just over nine lbs. He was using small tubes and spider grubs all day.
Well the fun thing about the first day of the tournament was going up on stage and to be in line with all the people and their bags of fish. I saw teammate Wil Wegman of the Aurora Bassmasters and asked him how he did and he said three fish …just like me. I’ve fished plenty of fairly big tournaments back home in Ontario but here in New Hampshire, at this major event I was so nervous I could actually feel my knees shake before I got up in front of the crowd. After I was on stage the MC made me feel comfortable and I had a smile on my face that lasted for a few hours. After the weigh-in, I realized Wil and I were tied with the exact same weight. What an experience. I then got my partners name for the second day … Frank McCormick.
Day Two:
Frank had had an ok day on day one but was upset with his weight (~ 6 ½ lbs) He had a really nice Ranger and I was worried because the winds were already howling. We got into the open lake area and started hitting waves at 65+mph. While trying to keep my rods down I had a Rattletrap hook go right into my finger as we were bouncing along and had to pull it out on the fly without him noticing … cause I was sort of embarrassed. I had been dumb enough to put it close to my hand as we bounced around on the lake and smack, down on a wave and on into my finger that hook went. Well another lesson learned.
We got to our first spot and were quickly blown off the spot by the winds. It was going to be a challenge. Frank then took me to another one of his spots and we both started catching fish. The day went very well and I learned many things from him about presentations and lure modifications, (like drop shotting small wacky worms and grubs). He was another angler who loved to drop shot smallmouth and knew what he was doing.
Well with only a few minutes left in the day Frank said he really wanted me to get my five fish as I only had four. We pulled into the final bay (just about one mile away from weigh-in) and Frank knew of a hump where there could be fish. I had only one cast so I made it a good one , and within seconds I felt that great tap, tap and slammed the hook home on a nice 1 ½ lb smallie! We both had a limit and made it to the check-in with just a minute to spare. Wow what a finish!
I came in with 8.7lbs and was feeling a lot better after finally helping the team and myself in the leader board! I saw Wil again in line and he too had a five fish limit and in the end had 4 oz. more than me. ( I now knew who I really wanted to catch ...look out Wil !) I thanked Frank for all his help and met my partner for the next day …Skip Sojeck. He was in the lead for his state and said he had a few good spots to go hit the following day so I was really pumped up now. Sleep was long in coming but I actually slept about two-three hours.
Final Day
I was up early and was ready to go. I met up with Skip and we went over a few netting tactics and some areas we would both like to go. We launched 20th and ran down the lake at 73.4mph … not that I was keeping track! I was so amazed I had to take a picture of his console. We started our day with some top water and then off to drop shots and Carolina rigged lizards. Skip only had 6 bites all day but they were enough to and end up winning his state division and coming close to winning the whole thing. I ended up with two fish that weighed in at 5.4lbs. One came on a drop shot and another on a lizard.
My first fish didn’t come until 12:40 and let me tell you that is a long morning with no fish!! My last fish, and his, came with about six minutes left in the day. This was a really hard day and I gave it everything I had. As I got in I saw Wil again and he said he had … you guessed it two fish as well …so this was going to be close (but I thought I had him as both of my fish were good size and he was beating me by only four ounces.
After all was said and done I had a grand total for three days of 18.lbs 13oz, and even though on the third day Wil came in with the exact same weight as me … he still had that freakin four ounces from day two! Wow! He ended up beating me by just those four ounces overall … If I had only kept that one fish on day one. Oh well, yet another lesson learned).
Regardless, it was once again a great day on the water and all in all it was a remarkable experience to be a part of. We had a quick team picture and then ran back up to the hotel to pack and get back on the road, to get back in Ontario for early in the morning.
I drove back with Dave and Wil this time who was hitching a ride so that he could drive with us all night in time to fish another bass tournament early the next day up in Gravenhurst. I was navigator and in charge of talking to the driver to make sure they were awake and ok. We had some pretty interesting conversations about the environment, good and bad things from the week and just some more little tips and tactics for lakes and presentations that I could try.
This week- long fishing experience was one of the most amazing things I have ever done. I didn’t make the 2009 team, but I guarantee you I will put every last thing I have into making this team again for 2010. I strongly encourage all Ontario Bassmasters who may not have put their total energies into placing top 12 at our annual Hank Gibson Provincial Qualifier, to give it all they’ve got. Being a member of Team Ontario was truly a week I will never forget and I can guarantee if you’re ever fortunate enough to make – you’ll feel the same way!
Thanks again to all the team and wives that made this experience so educational and enjoyable. See you all on the water.
