At 8:00 this past Sunday morning the 2016 UBFL season officially started with two time defending champion Mike "Ike" Magnani throwing the ceremonial first cast as his partner and him let two Pats Perch fly into the morning sky! Promptly followed by 24 additional large swimbaits consisting of a rough mix of Tsunamis (Bless you Stratos), Pats Perchs, a new big swimbait called a Tiger, Slammers and of course one Chatterbait with a tricked out trailer.
The weather was beautiful Sunday as bright bluebird sky's and no wind greeted 13 teams and 26 anglers competing in the first UBFL event of the year. Add to that a nice high pressure system and gin clear water with 14 ft of visibility and we were set up for tough fishing conditions.
That said, we did manage to catch 397 +/- fish.......26 really good fisherman brought 13 bass to scale......26 really good fishermen also released 384 pickerel unharmed with no torn lips. I didn't hear of any world class ones either...:-/ (Most were the 9 inch size)....I would like to nominate Farm Pond for the Pickerel contest that has been discussed. Easy to catch them.....all you had was twitch a Jerkbait...any style....any size....any brand. Or, throw a Spinnerbait, Crankbait, or Chatterbait or anything else that moved and you were guaranteed a bite. Take a kid fishing for Bites?????
There is always the wonderful thought that the bass were full of pickerel??????
Anyways……….Bringing home lots of bacon and taking home “The Belt†yesterday was the father son team of Ben "Bonefish" Bailey ad his son, Mason "Cuda" Bailey. Another protégé out of the famous Bailey stable of “ready to win fishermanâ€(I'm sure the girls would say he was also the better looking of bonefish's sons) ....The team managed to pick through the pickerel and land a pretty pickerel pouncer/ fat mama with child weighing 5lbs 5oz. The gorgeous bass fell to a scarred, rather beat up, and chewed on Jerkbait early on and had a pleasant boat ride in the back of the Pond Prowler for most of the day. Add that to a 1lb 7 oz monster and you get the winning weight of 6lbs 12oz. ). The win vaults them to the top of the season standings with only 12 tourneys to go lol.
Seriously though ...not the first time Bonefish has walked away with a bit of scratch in his pocket.....good job Ben and Mason.
Second place went to the Bed, Bass, and Beyond team of Make “Ike†Magnani teaming up this week with Joel “Big Stick†Almeida while his regular partner was attending to family business. The boys stuck to tossing jigs and were the only team to weigh three fish totaling 6.6 lbs. Not surprised…..he’s the Champ because he’s always finding a way to bring fish to the scale when others don’t.
Third place went to the “Young Gunsâ€. A veteran team featuring the other half of the Bonefish Bailey’s brood………Griffin “Bluegill†Bailey. Bluegill teamed up with Nick “The King†Queen (the lucky guy of facebook fame who won two pats perches in 2 different raffles fame) to bring home some more money to be used towards there purchase of more raffle tickets. They evidently threw everything in there boxes to catch two rather sickly, skinny, yet short fish weighing 4lbs 12 oz…rumor at the dock was that the crafty fisherman finally settled in on the â€heave and prayer†pattern with a Pink Mepps #2 to whack the snot out of them. Way to go boys!
Six or Seven of these teams can easily call Farm their home pond with years and years of fishing this pond in all seasons.........but, she was not in a giving mood and barely showed her teeth as most of the baitfish and bass got lock jaw and dropped below the 2 foot layer of bottom mat that exists everywhere in the pond. There was a collective murmer heard all over the lake......Just one fish ...just one fish...just one fish. Since all experienced anglers knew that one nice fish could carry the day. Throwing jigs to get below the mat was hit or miss...mostly miss since you had to knock it off there head to get them to bite since they weren't chasing........Continuing to throw anything moving guaranteed a pickerel but the hope with most was that a bass might beat the pickerel to the lure……..this was eventually how this tourney was won as bonefish picked off the fatty to carry the day!
The next event is an open event at Whitehall on April 1st. should be a good crowd and heavy bags…
A big welcome to all the new Quality teams that joined us at Farm….Thanks guys and we all look forward to competing against you again.
Weedman
The weather was beautiful Sunday as bright bluebird sky's and no wind greeted 13 teams and 26 anglers competing in the first UBFL event of the year. Add to that a nice high pressure system and gin clear water with 14 ft of visibility and we were set up for tough fishing conditions.
That said, we did manage to catch 397 +/- fish.......26 really good fisherman brought 13 bass to scale......26 really good fishermen also released 384 pickerel unharmed with no torn lips. I didn't hear of any world class ones either...:-/ (Most were the 9 inch size)....I would like to nominate Farm Pond for the Pickerel contest that has been discussed. Easy to catch them.....all you had was twitch a Jerkbait...any style....any size....any brand. Or, throw a Spinnerbait, Crankbait, or Chatterbait or anything else that moved and you were guaranteed a bite. Take a kid fishing for Bites?????
There is always the wonderful thought that the bass were full of pickerel??????
Anyways……….Bringing home lots of bacon and taking home “The Belt†yesterday was the father son team of Ben "Bonefish" Bailey ad his son, Mason "Cuda" Bailey. Another protégé out of the famous Bailey stable of “ready to win fishermanâ€(I'm sure the girls would say he was also the better looking of bonefish's sons) ....The team managed to pick through the pickerel and land a pretty pickerel pouncer/ fat mama with child weighing 5lbs 5oz. The gorgeous bass fell to a scarred, rather beat up, and chewed on Jerkbait early on and had a pleasant boat ride in the back of the Pond Prowler for most of the day. Add that to a 1lb 7 oz monster and you get the winning weight of 6lbs 12oz. ). The win vaults them to the top of the season standings with only 12 tourneys to go lol.
Seriously though ...not the first time Bonefish has walked away with a bit of scratch in his pocket.....good job Ben and Mason.
Second place went to the Bed, Bass, and Beyond team of Make “Ike†Magnani teaming up this week with Joel “Big Stick†Almeida while his regular partner was attending to family business. The boys stuck to tossing jigs and were the only team to weigh three fish totaling 6.6 lbs. Not surprised…..he’s the Champ because he’s always finding a way to bring fish to the scale when others don’t.
Third place went to the “Young Gunsâ€. A veteran team featuring the other half of the Bonefish Bailey’s brood………Griffin “Bluegill†Bailey. Bluegill teamed up with Nick “The King†Queen (the lucky guy of facebook fame who won two pats perches in 2 different raffles fame) to bring home some more money to be used towards there purchase of more raffle tickets. They evidently threw everything in there boxes to catch two rather sickly, skinny, yet short fish weighing 4lbs 12 oz…rumor at the dock was that the crafty fisherman finally settled in on the â€heave and prayer†pattern with a Pink Mepps #2 to whack the snot out of them. Way to go boys!
Six or Seven of these teams can easily call Farm their home pond with years and years of fishing this pond in all seasons.........but, she was not in a giving mood and barely showed her teeth as most of the baitfish and bass got lock jaw and dropped below the 2 foot layer of bottom mat that exists everywhere in the pond. There was a collective murmer heard all over the lake......Just one fish ...just one fish...just one fish. Since all experienced anglers knew that one nice fish could carry the day. Throwing jigs to get below the mat was hit or miss...mostly miss since you had to knock it off there head to get them to bite since they weren't chasing........Continuing to throw anything moving guaranteed a pickerel but the hope with most was that a bass might beat the pickerel to the lure……..this was eventually how this tourney was won as bonefish picked off the fatty to carry the day!
The next event is an open event at Whitehall on April 1st. should be a good crowd and heavy bags…
A big welcome to all the new Quality teams that joined us at Farm….Thanks guys and we all look forward to competing against you again.
Weedman