Jen Cardinale

On Sunday August 12, 2012 24 SCBM members competed in a tournament on Cayuga Lake. The 12 boat field blasted at 6am from the Long Point ramp and returned at 2pm for the weigh in. Boater Division: Pat Grady finished in first place weighing in 15.72 lbs. Grady’s winning bag also contained the boater division Lunker. The Lunker bass weighed in at 5.72 lbs. Grady landed all his fish on crankbaits. Dave Ottman finished in second place weighing in 15.39 lbs. Ottman did not respond with further comments. Randy Lamanche finished in third place weighing in 13.76 lbs. Lamanche started out targeting shallow largemouths with a spinner bait, he caught a couple keepers doing this in 4-8 feet of water. Later he switched to deeper water throwing crank baits, and finesse plastics. This deeper pattern didn't pan out the way that he had hoped so he spent the afternoon shallow again 3-6 feet of water with a 5" black stick worm. Co-Angler Division: Curtis Waterman finished in first place weighing in 13.46 lbs. Waterman practiced and came up with a small plastics/crankbait pattern. On tournament day crankbaits still worked but small plastics were catching small fish. Waterman decided to try a 10" Berkley worm in "plum" with a 5/8oz tungsten screw in weight, just to see if bigger fish would hit it. They seemed to like it and he used that worm all day. Waterman did try small drop shot baits but caught small fish including rockbass and sun fish. Mike Fragola finished in second place weighing in 8.52 lbs. Fragola did not respond with further comments. Pat Ponto finished in third place weighing in 7.69 lbs. Ponto’s winning bag also contained the co-angler division Lunker. The Lunker bass weighed in at 3.88 lbs and was caught on drop shot. Ponto fished drop shot, senkos, and crankbaits in 12-16 feet of water. About Salt City Bassmasters: Salt City Bassmasters is an organization dedicated to helping its members become better bass anglers through discussion, seminars, and interactive learning. Salt City strives to provide a competitive bass fishing tournament trail that encourages sportsmanship, fun, and learning. Lastly, Salt City Bassmasters wants to improve the knowledge of all anglers, promote ethical behavior and sportsmanship, and increase environmental awareness. www.saltcitybass.com

Salt City Bassmasters Compete On Oneida Lake In Partner’s Tournament On Sunday July 15, 2012 eight Salt City teams [of two] competed on Oneida Lake in a partner’s tournament sponsored by Trappers Pizza Pub. Contrary to traditional partner events participants were not allowed to bring their own partners or form their own teams, they were partnered up by blind draw which follows SCBM’s tournament format. In addition, each member of the team could only contribute 3 fish to the 6 fish team limit, and they could only cull their own fish, not their partner’s. This rule made the partners focus on teamwork and the sharing of techniques to ensure each angler got the best 3 fish limit they could to contribute to their team’s total weight. Also, each bag of six fish brought to the scales was required to have at least one bass that was of a different species. No team could bring in a bag of all largemouth or all smallmouth without being penalized. The teams blasted at 6am from the South Shore Launch and returned at 2pm to weigh in. The team of Fred Chilluffo and Kim Moran finished in first place with only 5 fish, weighing in 14lbs 9oz. They also brought the tournament Lunker smallmouth to the scales which weighed 3lbs 14oz. The team of Brian Eisch and Curtis Waterman finished in second place with 6 fish, weighing in 14 lbs 5oz. The team fished in 5-6 feet of water which dropped off to 10-12 feet of water. The smallmouth were feeding on small perch fry. Purple colored Senkos worked the best by just leaving them on the bottom and waiting for the smallmouth to pick them up. Waterman needed to cull his last fish to potentially make up the 4oz to move into first place, unfortunately for his team the fish didn’t cooperate in the time allotted. The team of Joe Koeting and Joe Dixie finished in third place with 6 fish, weighing in 12lbs 14oz. The team started on a spot where they expected to find Smallmouth; rock and weeds in 3-4 feet of water. And while their first two fish were Smallmouth (one decent, one a small keeper) they thought the area felt a little beat-up and decided to try a little shallower. The next fish took them out of the game for about 15 minutes battling a huge carp to the boat which they estimated to be between 20 and 25 lbs. The next two shallow fish were decent largemouth caught in 1-3 feet of water, with rock and scattered weeds. A fifth fish (Largemouth) filled one limit at about 8:15am. Fish there were caught on soft stick-baits, a spinner, and a soft swimbait. Their action seemed to really cool off and they soon left to try a few largemouth spots. Heavy weeds around a small shoal in 7 feet of water failed to produce, as did the end of one of the islands in 3-5 feet of water with weeds and some large rocks. So, they moved out to a weed line in about 7-9 feet of water and filled out the second limit by 11:15am. Not long after they culled the smaller Smallmouth giving them most of their weight with 5 Largemouth and 1 Smallmouth. They were able to cull one of the largemouth but only gained a fraction. Fish were caught there on flipping baits. Finally, they moved to scattered rock piles in 4 - 5 feet of water. They were able to cull two more of their largemouth, but only by fractions of ounces each. Soft stick-baits did most of the damage there. The tournament Lunker largemouth was brought to the scales by the team of Mike Cusano and Joe Fey. It weighed in at 4lbs 1oz. About Salt City Bassmasters: Salt City Bassmasters is an organization dedicated to helping its members become better bass anglers through discussion, seminars, and interactive learning. Salt City strives to provide a competitive bass fishing tournament trail that encourages sportsmanship, fun, and learning. Lastly, Salt City Bassmasters wants to improve the knowledge of all anglers, promote ethical behavior and sportsmanship, and increase environmental awareness. www.saltcitybass.com

On June 24, 2012 38 SCBM members competed in a tournament on Sandy Pond. The boats blasted at 6am from The Wigwam and returned at 2pm for the weigh in. Sandy Pond began the series of six points tournaments for the 2012 season. Boater Division: Dave Ottman finished in first place weighing in 17lbs 10oz. Ottman found fish in their post spawn pattern during practice with more quality fish holding in 6-12 feet of water. On tournament day those fish seemed to had disappeared. After 8:30am and still no fish in the boat Ottman scrambled to catch a 9lbs limit fishing a spinnerbait on a weed flat in about 4-6 feet of water. The rest of the day was spent flipping shallow heavy cover to upgrade. That decision to go shallow was the game changer as Ottman landed the 6lbs 2oz Tournament Lunker and two 4lbs bass to cull out a few remaining rats in his live well. His 6lbs 2oz Lunker will prove to be a tough fish to beat for the 2012 SCBM Lunker of the Year Award. Ralph Alexander finished in second place weighing in 16lbs 6oz. Alexander fished weedy areas in 8-12 feet of water using three baits throughout the day; a black or black and red finesse worm rigged with a 1/4oz weight, a 10” Jumbo Ribbon Tail in ‘Red Shad’ rigged on a ½ oz weight, and a 7/8oz [bill Alexander] jig rigged with a 4” chigger craw in black and blue. Randy LaManche finished in third place weighing in 15lbs 7oz. LaManche’s first bite of the day came on an XPS top water bait and was estimated to be about 3lbs. However, LaManche caught most of his fish in 3-9 feet of water using a 4" black and blue senko with a 3/16oz bullet weight. As the day went on he was able to upgrade his fish by pitching a 1oz Texas rig using a Havoc creature bait into heavy cover and by skipping a 5" black and blue senko into shaded areas. Co-Angler Division: Dereck Bigford finished in first place weighing in 19lbs 8oz. Bigford fished jigs, beavers, and senkos in 6-10 feet of water. Jim Chmielewski finished in second place weighing in 16lbs 15oz. Chmielewski fished in 7-12 feet of water using numerous different plastic worms and creature baits. The spinner bait was slow but did add a few fish as well. Craig Terpening finished in third place weighing in 13lbs 10oz. Terpening filled a co-angler spot to even the field out at Sandy. He was paired with Joe Koetting who only got one day of pre-fishing in. Terpening didn’t have the opportunity to get out at all. Needless to say they had no game plan in effect for Sandy. Joe felt he had some frog fish, but that didn’t pan out. The pair then opted to take a walk down memory lane which was a weed bed that Terpening caught fish in 5 years ago. They started off with Joe putting a good keeper in the box on a Senko, followed by two that Terpening boated using a tube. Three decent fish made Terpening confident enough to grind out that area all day and suggested to Joe that they do so. Terpening primarily worked clean milfoil in 6- 8 feet of water. The bait of choice was a 3/8 oz Texas rigged 5” magnum flipping tube until the bite died off, then he switched to a Texas rigged Senko. Terpening says that the clean milfoil was the main ingredient for their fishing success. Both Ed Flick and Jeff Thousands both landed and weighed in a 5lbs 9oz bass which resulted in a tie for Co-Angler division Lunker. About Salt City Bassmasters: Salt City Bassmasters is an organization dedicated to helping its members become better bass anglers through discussion, seminars, and interactive learning. Salt City strives to provide a competitive bass fishing tournament trail that encourages sportsmanship, fun, and learning. Lastly, Salt City Bassmasters wants to improve the knowledge of all anglers, promote ethical behavior and sportsmanship, and increase environmental awareness. www.saltcitybass.com

On June 10, 2012 eight SCBM members competed in a paper tournament on Otisco Lake. The participants blasted at 6am from Ryfun’s Marina and returned at 2pm to tally their results and determine the winners. Boater Division: Brian Eisch finished in first place with 13lbs 3oz. Eisch spent his fishing day flipping jigs and soft plastics around docks and trees. Ralph Alexander finished in second place with 12lbs 2oz. Alexander fished a 7/8oz black and purple jig [made by Bill Alexander] rigged with a 4” chigger craw in black and blue around docks and trees. Steve Balyczak finished in third place with 11lbs 7oz. Co-Angler Division: Tom Pavlot finished in first place with 12lbs 5oz. Pavlot spent his day fishing senkos around docks. Butch Kritsberg finshed in second place with 11lbs. Dereck Bigford finished in third place with 9lbs 5oz. Bigford fished jigs around docks and trees. About Salt City Bassmasters: Salt City Bassmasters is an organization dedicated to helping its members become better bass anglers through discussion, seminars, and interactive learning. Salt City strives to provide a competitive bass fishing tournament trail that encourages sportsmanship, fun, and learning. Lastly, Salt City Bassmasters wants to improve the knowledge of all anglers, promote ethical behavior and sportsmanship, and increase environmental awareness. www.saltcitybass.com

Salt City Bassmasters currently has openings for new members for the 2012 season. The club fishes under a pro/am format. Boaters (“pros“) will enter the tournaments and compete against other boaters. Non-boaters (“amateurs” or “co-anglers“) will be paired with a boater but will compete in their own division against other non-boaters. Both new boaters and non-boaters are welcome to join, as members are not required to own a boat. Salt City Bassmasters is an organization dedicated to helping its members become better bass anglers through discussion, seminars, and interactive learning. Salt City strives to provide a competitive bass fishing tournament trail that encourages sportsmanship, fun, and learning. In addition, Salt City Bassmasters wishes to improve the knowledge of all anglers, promote ethical behavior and sportsmanship, and increase environmental awareness. As a Salt City member you will be paired with different members throughout the tournament season. By fishing with different people you will see first hand their approach to bass fishing, and they will see yours. The 2012 Tournament Trail is as follows: Paper Tournaments: April 29- Oswego River May 12- Redfield Reservoir June 10- Otisco Lake Points Tournaments: June 24- Sandy Pond July 28- Oneida Lake July 29- Cross Lake August 12- Cayuga Lake September 9- Chaumont Bay September 22 & 23- 1000 Islands Annual Walleye Tournament: May 20- Oneida Lake For more information and club contacts please visit the Salt City website at www.saltcitybass.com

On Sunday October 30th, Salt City Bassmasters hosted their annual Brian Rayle Go- Anywhere [on Oneida Lake] tournament. Ten teams of 2, which included at least 1 SCBM member, met that morning at ‘Thee Diner,’ paid their entry fees, and learned of an anonymous donation of $400. The donation was to be paid out to the teams at the end of the tournament who placed in top positions, as well as to participants who earned certain specified achievements during the tournament. The tournament began at 7am, and the individual teams were able to choose where they launched from. At 4pm the teams all met at South Shore for the weigh in. First place went to the team of Dereck Bigford and Joe Kazlauskas who weighed in 20.54 pounds. According to Bigford, Kazlauskas caught most of the big fish that day. The team fished tubes, spinner baits, and jerkbaits in 8 to 10 feet of water. Second place went to the team of Mike Cusano and Craig Terpening who weighed in 20.32 pounds. The two fished in 11 to 18 feet of water and targeted smallmouths. They threw green and brown colored tubes, swimbaits, and used drop shot. They also had some action on an Alabama rig early in the morning, but the bites died off as the sun came up. Third place went to the team of Brett Milliken and Jeff Edgarton who weighed in 19.52 pounds. The team fished crankbaits in 13 to 15 feet of water for the majority of the day. Tom Pavlot landed the tournament Lunker smallmouth which weighed 4.8 pounds. The bass was caught on a Carolina rigged minnow bait thrown in the current. Last place was also awarded a prize this year thanks to the anonymous donor. Barb Elliott and Rich Mattison finished at the bottom of the bunch weighing in 15.19 pounds. The two caught all their fish before 10 am and went without a bite for the rest of the day. Their bass came on senkos and soft plastic shad baits in 8 to 10 feet of water.

On Sunday September 18, 2011 SCBM participated in their sixth and final points event of the 2011 season. Thirty-two anglers competed in the tournament sponsored by The Alexander Law Offices. The anglers were met with a day of mostly sunny skies, light wind, and temperatures in the mid 60’s. Boater Division: Brian Eisch finished in first place weighing in 20 pounds 9 ounces. Eisch fished weed/rock mix areas with gobies and Gulp Alive shiners on a drop shot rig in 6-10 feet of water. Eisch states, “Thanks goes out to Craig Terpening [his co-angler] for his enthusiasm and tips. Teamwork allowed Craig and I to use each other’s tips during the day to get us each 20+ pound bags.” Brandon Schwoeppe finished second weighing in 19 pounds 2 ounces. Schwoeppe fished rock with scattered weeds in about 4-7 feet of water. He used tubes to land the majority of his bass, but one was caught on a crankbait and another came on drop shot. All of the fish Schwoeppe caught with the exception of 1 came within the last four hours of tournament time. Mike Donahue finished third and was able to secure the title: Angler of the Year, for the second consecutive year, weighing in 18 pounds 10 ounces. All of Donahue’s fish including his 5 pound 2 ounce division Lunker smallmouth were caught on a Mellon-pepper Texas-rigged tube flipped around weeds in 6-10 feet of water. Co-Angler Division: After taking a break from SCBM events, Craig Terpening returned to claim first place on Chaumont, weighing in 20 pounds even. Terpening also took the honors of catching the tournament Lunker smallmouth, also Lunker of the year, which weighed in at 5 pounds 5 ounces. Terpening fished his boater’s; Brian Eisch’s water all day, beginning on a shoal with scattered weeds in 6-10 feet of water. While fishing a tube, the day began with a slow start. However, once the sun got higher in the sky and shone on the calm water the bite turned on and by 8:30am Terpening had close to 16 pounds in the boat. When a breeze kicked up the bite slowed down and the two moved to a wind blown bank, where Terpening still fished a tube. When the tube didn’t produce big enough bass, Terpening switched to using Gulp Alive gobies and shiners on a drop shot rig (Eisch’s bait of choice) which contributed to quality fish that definitely helped increase his weight. Terpening said, “Brian Eisch really did his homework well, and as a rookie in the club he will be a potential threat to boaters in the future. He is an outstanding fisherman and person, and he learns very quickly. Lenny Potts finished second weighing in 18 pounds 15 ounces, his largest bag to date. Potts fished drop shot for smallmouth in 4-12 feet of water in a rock/weed mix. “The fish were there, but the fishing was tough,” Pots said. At noon Potts fished 12 feet of water for largemouth and had his limit by 12:30pm. When the largemouth quit biting he again focused on smallmouth and was able to cull all the largemouth out but one. Pat Ponto finished third weighing in 15 ponds 12 ounces. Ponto dragged tubes all day in 4-7 feet of water. Most of his fish were caught in the last 3-4 hours of the tournament when the wind changed direction and there was a slight ripple on the water. About Salt City Bassmasters: Salt City Bassmasters is an organization dedicated to helping its members become better bass anglers through discussion, seminars, and interactive learning. Salt City strives to provide a competitive bass fishing tournament trail that encourages sportsmanship, fun, and learning. Lastly, Salt City Bassmasters wants to improve the knowledge of all anglers, promote ethical behavior and sportsmanship, and increase environmental awareness. www.saltcitybass.com www.facebook.com/Salt.City.Bass

On Saturday September 17, 2011 thirty six SCBM members competed in a club tournament on Oneida Lake. It was their fifth points event of the 2011 season. The tournament was rescheduled from its original date of August 28 due to the threatening forecast courtesy of Hurricane Irene. Rather than contending with each other and a hurricane, the anglers blasted off at 7am on the 17th out of the South Shore access site and met a day of overcast skies, steady NE winds at 10-15mph, and temperatures in the low 60’s. Boater Division: Brian Kelly finished in first place weighing in 14 pounds 12 ounces. Kelly targeted schooling smallmouth on main lake shoals. He took long casts with a ½ ounce double willow War Eagle spinnerbait. Eventually, the spinnerbait would meet up with a school and trigger a bite. Kelly was able to cull throughout the day and landed about 10 fish. Ralph Alexander finished second weighing in 14 pounds 1 ounce. Alexander’s original plan was to target largemouth all day, however, his partner; Lenny Potts, had located smallmouth during practice so they began by going after them. Alexander had about 12 pounds in the boat by 10am and left the area to find largemouth. Unfortunately, he was unable to find the fish. Returning to fish a bar in 8-17 feet of water with a drop shot rig, Alexander was able to cull a few times to better his weight. Brian Eisch finished third weighing in 13 pounds 14 ounces. Eisch fished spinnerbaits and swimbaits around shoals. Division Lunker went to Steve Balyszak, who landed a 3 pound 10 ounce smallmouth. Co-Angler Division: Lenny Potts finished in first place weighing in 12 pounds 12 ounces. Potts fished in 8-20 feet of water for smallmouth he had found during practice. His spot held fish for most of the day and the better bass came out of about 17 feet of water. The bite was slow but consistent. Potts used soft plastics on a drop shot rig all day. Eric Barker finished second weighing in 11 pounds 8 ounces. Barker spent the day fishing spinnerbaits around shoals. Rich Mattison finished third weighing in 11 pounds 5 ounces. Mattison was only able to catch 5 fish, a limit, and they came on a variety of lures. Mattison caught 3 largemouth early in the day on a ‘Roumba’ wake bait and a smallmouth on a swimbait. He would then go hours without a bite. Finally, near the end of the tournament he was able to land another smallmouth on a swimbait for his limit. Jim Chmielewski and Tom Pavlot Jr tied for division Lunker, both weighing in 3 pound 9 ounce smallmouths. Chmielewski’s Lunker came on a senko in about 10 feet of water. Pavlot caught his Lunker on an all chartreuse War Eagle spinnerbait, which he landed on a Nerus spinnerbait rod outfitted with a Quantum reel. About Salt City Bassmasters: Salt City Bassmasters is an organization dedicated to helping its members become better bass anglers through discussion, seminars, and interactive learning. Salt City strives to provide a competitive bass fishing tournament trail that encourages sportsmanship, fun, and learning. Lastly, Salt City Bassmasters wants to improve the knowledge of all anglers, promote ethical behavior and sportsmanship, and increase environmental awareness. www.saltcitybass.com www.facebook.com/Salt.City.Bass

On Sunday August 7, 2011 twenty six Salt City members competed in the fourth points event of the 2011 season. The tournament anglers were met with a day of overcast skies, which produced an afternoon downpour, moderate winds, and temperatures in the low 80’s. Boater (Pro) Division: Mike Donahue placed first in the boater division weighing in 14 pounds 9 ounces. Donahue spent the entire day fishing a black and blue jig in 6 inches to 4 feet of water. Although he didn’t have any fish in the boat until after 9 am, Donahue caught about 20 fish throughout the day including his 3 pound 12 ounce division Lunker. Brian Kelly finished second weighing in 13 pounds 9 ounces. Kelly used a shallow diving crankbait over the top of and around the edges of weeds in 12 feet of water. The weeds were about 5 feet below the surface. Occasionally, he would slow down and fish a 7 inch Texas-rigged senko which contributed to one of his keepers. Steve Balyszak rounded out the Top 3, finishing third with 13 pounds even. Balyszak fished jigs in 8 to 12 feet of water. Co-Angler (Am) Division: Lenny Potts finished first in the co-angler division weighing in 13 pounds 12 ounces. Potts fished a jig in 8 feet of water until noon before moving to 12 feet of water to drop shot. Brent Lyons finished second weighing in 11 pounds 14 ounces. Lyons fished black and blue weighted senkos (Texas style) and jigs on a weed flat in 4 to 8 feet of water. Curtis Waterman finished third weighing in 11 pounds 7 ounces. Waterman fished fat, senko style worms with no weight along the break wall. Occasionally, he threw black and blue jigs. Co-Angler division Lunker went to Kim Moran, who weighed in a impressive 4 pound 10 ounce Largemouth. Moran’s tournament Lunker came out of less than 2 feet of water on a scum frog. About Salt City Bassmasters: Salt City Bassmasters is an organization dedicated to helping its members become better bass anglers through discussion, seminars, and interactive learning. Salt City strives to provide a competitive bass fishing tournament trail that encourages sportsmanship, fun, and learning. Lastly, Salt City Bassmasters wants to improve the knowledge of all anglers, promote ethical behavior and sportsmanship, and increase environmental awareness. www.saltcitybass.com www.facebook.com/Salt.City.Bass