Craig De Fronzo grew up fishing for bass on Long Island in New York. This area was known more for its saltwater fishery than its bass fishing. Craig has helped introduce people to the excellent fishing that Long Island provides with tremendous catches and a string of tournament victories that spanned more than 6 years.
Starting out as a power fisherman, Craig focused his attention to light tackle after capturing a 13.9-pound bass in the Ocala National Forest on 6-pound line. Craig began to adopt all of the "new" west coast methods and re-applied them to his fishing in New York. Not only did he discover he could get more bites when scaling down his tackle, he saw that he was catching far more large fish as well. He has documented through the NYDEC Diary program an outlandish number of bass over 5 pound all on light tackle. To date he has landed more than 30 bass over 7 pound on Long Island including 3 bonafide 9-pounders. When he is not chasing largemouth bass, he can be found out in Montauk looking for big stripers.
Nicknamed "The Surgeon" by several of his friends and club mates, for his meticulous eye for detail and scientific approaches, Craig has written articles that appear regularly on BassResource.com as well as several other fishing sites in addition to the Fisherman magazine and NYDEC Sweetwater Angler. He has had 51 articles published within the last 36 months. Craig starred in the pilot episode of the now acclaimed and award winning Sportsman's network TV Show LunkerVille.
Craig has given several presentations on light tackle jig and tube fishing for the South Jersey Bass Busters and Suffolk County Bassmasters and New York Bass University. He is known for his technical approach to fishing and finding patterns. He has been fishing competitively since 1999 and has more than 40 tournament victories to his credit. Craig believes that confidence and his unorthodox approaches often give him the advantage out on the water.
He is part owner of Micro Munch Tackle and is sponsored by Kistler Custom Rods, Hookerz Terminal, Sea King, Mizmo Baits, Kick N Bass, BBQ Team Coyote Roadkill, Jerky Hut, Fish For Free.com and Mr. B's Tackle. He is also on the staff of NYbass.
Each fishing season Craig hosts a charity bass tournament dedicated in the memory of is childhood friend Tom Aylward who was killed in an auto wreck in North Carolina in 2000. The event draws some big name sponsors and 100% of the fees and donations generated make their way to the Aylward family.
Craig has written over 300 articles that are bass fishing related within the past decade or several of the top bass fishing web sites and periodicals. He is the author of over 12 books and eBooks on bass fishing and is the creator of Micro Munch Tackle. He started a small bait company based on the belief that unique custom tackle would be more appealing to bass that are continuously bombarded by the same commercial baits every day. Custom baits and lighter tackle have helped him achieve success in competition. For more information on custom handmade baits and more articles and Craig's ebooks visit Micro Munch Tackle
Angling Accomplishments and Achievements
6-20-04 first place Loon Lake - 14.69lbs 3 LMB 1 SMB
7-31-04 first place Upper Mills - 5LMB 18.79lbs
8-07-04 first place Hither Hills - 5LMB 18.10lbs
8-28-04 second place Bryant Lake - 5 LMB 12.45lbs
10-24-04 first place Classic Forge Pond - 10.37lbs
2004 Anglers of The Year: R.Fisher/C.DeFronzo: 74.40lbs
Mr Bass - 4.89 Smallmouth
Club MVP
Classic Champs: R.Fisher/C.DeFronzo
6-15-03 second place Hither Hills 11.88lbs
6-22-03 first place Maratooka Pond 9.55lbs
6-28-03 first place Upper Mills 13.80lbs
7-20-03 first place Forge Pond 11.96lbs
7-13-03 first place Swan Pond 10.72lbs
7-27-03 first place West Lake 12.69lbs
8-10-03 second place Hither Hills 8.15lbs
9-7-03 first place Forge Pond 16.93lbs Tom Aylward Memorial Event Craig DeFronzo/Paul Ritchie
9-14-03 first place Upper Mills 6.48lbs
2003 films pilot episode of Lunkerville
2003 ESBA Team Anglers of the Year Craig DeFronzo/Rob Fisher 86.54lbs 72pts out of 80 for the 2003 season
Mr. Bass ESBA 2003 season - 4.89lb largemouth
2003 ESBA Club MVP
6-2-02- first place Forge Pond 12.48lbs
6-9-02 second place Zone 1 4.66lbs
6-21-02 second place Swan Pond 7.87lbs
7-7-02 first place Upper Mills 11.50lbs
8-11-02 second place Forge pond 9.70lbs
8-25-02 second Place Hither Hills 7.74lbs
9-15-02 first place Swan Pond 7.59lbs
9-22-02 first place Maratooka pond 9.50lbs
10-02/ 10-03 -02 ESBA Classic first place 16.79lbs
2002 Team anglers of the Year Craig DeFronzo and Rob Fisher
2002 overall angler of the year
2002 club MVP
2001 Helps establish Green Eyes Worm Works and Wicked Tubes, hand poured baits
2000 Forms Micro Munch Tackle
1995 Invented the proto type of the Micro Munch Jig
1995 co-Founder Harlem Outreach Fishing with Inner city Kids Program
1995 Runner Up Big Bass World Championship for New York 8.16lbs
1994 Runner Up Big Bass World Championship for New York 7.34lbs
Pro Staff Affiliations
BASSIN' USA™
Mr. B's Bait and Tackle
Hookerz Terminal Tackle
Sea King Line
Micro Munch Tackle
Kistler Custom Rods
Kick N Bass
Fish For Free.com
Jerky Hut
BBQ Team Coyote Roadkill
Mizmo Baits
Micro Munch Tackle Blue Label
Key Stats :
Largest Largemouth Bass 13 pounds 9 ounces Ocala National Forest
Largest New York Largemouth Bass 9 pounds 14 ounces Wildwood lake
Largest New York Smallmouth Bass 6 pounds 2 ounces Hudson River Catskill Creek
Largest Long Island Largemouth (2) 9 pounds 3 ounces Largemouth Bass Peconic River both Zone II
Largest tournament 5 bass total 22 pounds 14 ounces Mahopac New York 2000
Largest Long Island 5 bass total 32 pounds 4 ounces Millers Pond 1991
Craig De Fronzo grew up fishing for bass on Long Island in New York. This area was known more for its saltwater fishery than its bass fishing. Craig has helped introduce people to the excellent fishing that Long Island provides with tremendous catches and a string of tournament victories that spanned more than 6 years.
Craig has given several presentations on light tackle jig and tube fishing for the South Jersey Bass Busters and Suffolk County Bassmasters and New York Bass University. He is known for his technical approach to fishing and finding patterns. He has been fishing competitively since 1999 and has more than 40 tournament victories to his credit. Craig believes that confidence and his unorthodox approaches often give him the advantage out on the water.