Shpack Attack on Webster

It’s widely accepted that when the cooler Fall weather arrives the bass will put the feedbag on, especially smallmouth. And that a 10 to 12-degree drop in water temperature over a two-week span might be a strong indicator that Fall 2011 has finally arrived at Webster Lake. Those features combined with mostly cloudy skies and a light breeze would make one think the fishing could be crazy good for a tournament held under such conditions.

Uh, not.

At least not for the 17 guys who partcpated in Avid’s last tournament of the 2011 calendar year anyway. Of course we head into every tournament with high expectations, often to find out the fish have other ideas. But this one was a real unexpected struggle for the entire field. The smallmouth were few and far between and a far cry from the ravenous, aggressive beasts that should have been fattening up for the winter ahead. The largemouth carried the day, in part because the smallie bite was so tough, but there were no big ones to be had. The largest green fish was just over 2 pounds. In fact, only two largemouth over two pounds were weighed. In short, all the fish were in a funk and made for a very tough day.

At the scales John Shpack came out on top, with a mixed limit weighing in at 8.30. His bag was filled out by the event’s lunker, a 2.88 pound smallmouth that came from the 59 degree water toward the very end of the day on topwater. The only other limit was had by second place finisher Bill Wright who had 2 of the contest’s 4 smallmouth. Bill’s total weight was 7.59 pounds. Bill’s fish came out of deep water while most others fished shallow. Third place was captured by Roger Bogosh, with 4 largies weighing 5.85 pounds. Overall, 17 anglers took 36 fish, of which only 4 were smallmouth.

Well, another long winter awaits, during which time we’ll all have plenty of opportunities to contemplate our approach the 2012 Easter Bunny Open. And plenty of time to rebuild those high expectations for each new tournament of the new year. See you on Long Pond Harwich!