Dave Waugh Wins First At Quinsig Mystery T

Avid’s annual Mystery Tournament was held at Lake Quinsigamond from the Flint Pond ramp on October 9. Only five anglers participated, vying for the three paid places and lunker payout ... meaning the odds of cashing a check were pretty good. At stake was a total of $600.

Avid had never visited Quinsigamond on its tournament schedule so anglers all had little or no experience on this body of water. Couple this with an overnight cold front, crisp Fall breeze, changing seasonal conditons, and a recent weed treatment, and it was clear the bite was going to be tough. Indeed, anglers reported going hours between bites.

Weather was generally cooperative for fishermen, with overcast skies most of the day, and occasional short peeks of sun. The wind blew from the east-northeast all day between 8-10 mph with gusts higher. The air temperature at takeoff was 54 degrees and peaked at 59 at weigh-in. Water temps hovered around 66 all day.

In all, only 15 keepers were caught (and only 13 weighed) and all of those came from Flint Pond. All were largemouth and none of them giants. Fish were caught on a variety of methods/lures so no one pattern was a sure thing.

At the scale, 2021 Angler of the Year John Shpack claimed the third place check with 4 largemouth that weighed 5.73 lbs. Second place went to Jeff Jenness who caught the day’s only limit which weighed 6.15 lbs after a dead fish penalty of .25 lbs. In first place and claiming the lunker award was Dave Waugh whose 4 fish weighed 7.36 lbs., anchored by a 3.20 lb. big fish. This was Dave’s first Avid win after many years with the club.

Next up is 2022 and a quiet winter off. So change up your line, clean those reels, and ask Santa for some new toys. Spring and the Easter Bunny Open will be here before you know it!