Mahopac Shocker!!!

watershed bassmasters

Watershed bassmasters takes 3 of the 4 top spots. Gary menchen called this one and was on the money with Paladine and Nick A. I was on the money saying look out for Team Menchan because Gary is A great fisherman and is dangerous in deep water. And I was on the money again with Mr Joe Mahood ( the finesse king ) and Matt Dadio who lives in mahopac . And congrats to the dan morgan team . Dan told me he was a last second entry . Well I bet There was a few teams who wished he did not have that entry into the tourney. LOL. As far as my fishing went the fish where in our spots but getting them to bite was the problem . What bothers you after A tourney like this is that me and my partner did everything the winners did but without the same results.I am back on Mahopac this Sat with the midweek trail and then On the hudson on sun for the orange county open.Hopefully I can break out of this Maho slump 4 trips to this lake in the past 3 weeks and I have only caught about 6 fish. It is not fun losing but when a couple of friends kick butt it makes you feel alot better .I also got to meet John G and woody and I must say these two guys are class acts. 5bass

Congrats to my fellow Watershed Boyz!

Gary Menchen was right with his pick for top dawgs...

Everyone that fishes with Paladin knows the numbers that he could put up. This has been a great year for him. Then add Captain Nick to the mix and you have a team that can do some serious damage.

Also, Congrats to Gary and his son Greg on their fine showing.

Fished with Nick last weekend at Zoar...he is the MAN!

Nick...show me the money!

JoeyB

Thanks to Big Blue

you run a great T. Our team was very fortunate to take first having dropped several limit fish; two of them heavy; one VERY heavy! Despite the first place money, I was extremely proud that our club, Watershed Bassmaters; fared so well. Even more impressive to me is that fact that the two top Watershed Teams from the Alliance Classic last weekend did NOT fish today. Mahopac was terribly stingy today and for us the fish were neither very deep or shallow. We did not get a lot of bites, only seven keepers, three of which we dropped and we worked real hard all day. Every time I saw that Skeeter jump up and move to another off shore spot I said "all-right...Pat's deep fish are not biting" followed by ten seconds later .saying .."Pat has good fish and they are biting one at a time. get one then move". Just goes to show you that you need to fish YOUR fish and not worry about what everyone else is doing. For the record the last time Nick or I were on the lake was July 5th. We caught all our fish on cranks and more importantly we dredged up some MILFOIL!!!! I suggest a carp T next, kill and release .

Congrats to the winners...Paladin and Nick A....my partner Woody spoke very highly of this team and sure enough, they came out on top.

As far as Woody and I were concerned, our day started with high expectations. After a great practise, I convinced Woody our fish MUST come out from 20 ft and down, and nothing shallow. 30 mins into the tx, we scored 2 fish almost back to back. First a 4lber SM which decided to hit a senko in 25 ft. Then Wood followed up wth a keeper on a hair jig.

A fast start made our hearts go pitter patter, and spirits high. Unfortunately for us, that was the END, LOL. Going back and forth to the same spot which produced our 2 fish brought nothing to the table.

My main technique was dropshotting, wacky style. I had 3 dropshot rigs set up, the golden Jewel, a 3 inch senko and a Berkely drop shot minnow.

Great turnout, great anglers. Kudos to Ray and my Atlantic brothers for a well run tx.

Id like to thank my partner Woody for inviting me on his awesome Skeeter. Excellent angler, great guy to be with, Wood is a joy to fish with. Now I know what John G is talking about....

Tired...lack of sleep.....again....great job, guys......

Joe

GREAT TOURNAMENT

Blue, as always , ran a GREAT tournament...

It was so nice to see a turnout with such a caliber of talent.
Better yet was seeing my boyz Blue, PatX, Junior, Nicky and Kenny, JP, MY BERGEN BROTHERS (Congrats again Nick), GaryM , Dom and meeting Skeet and the "Wild Man" 5 bass. (Two really nice guys who I have heard mentioned alot ... regarding their fishing skills ) One of the last people I saw...besides my buds Kenny and Nicholi and "new" bud 5 bass ...was the MAN himself.
Doc...I now hope you can finally set aside some of that "Anti" Tournament sentiment. Yesterday was a showing of camaraderie and talent that is representative of a well run Tournament (Thanks again Blue) and although some people did not fare well...They all had smiles on their faces.
Take into consideration that PatX and MJdel17 ,"Mr. Bailey" , and Terry Baksay were in the lineup ..Blue still had to turn away folks.
THAT IS WHAT IT IS WHAT IT IS ABOUT...CHALLENGE AND F-U-N !!

As Joe stated earlier...After passing "Mr Bailey" and chatting with him...We had two and he had none up to that point...I came across Cub (Paladin) and Nick. They mentioned that they had two.. I said to Joe that I know both of them and if they had two nice fish at that point...The Team of Paladin and Nick would be the team to upset Pat and Blue..
Congrats again to the both of You !!!! Watershed & Bergen !!!!
Watershed continues to be the club to beat !!! Congrats to all the Watershed guys !!! Gary and Gang ....

I am so sorry I missed the weigh-in...There was a mixup and a ramp situation...(I saw my vehicle move...and was one of the last off of the water). I found out later why..as Joe handed me some Andy Jackson's and stated that his fish was 2nd place lunker...
NEED I SAY MORE... Joe was an TRUE partner in every sense of the word.

I had never fished with Joe prior to this outing and Pat gave me the heads up....He is a EXCELLENT ANGLER.

I had a MISERABLE prefish but one of the funniest days on the water with Kenny C so when Joe was on fish in the prefish..We went with his plan.
Now when Joe says 20' he means 20'+. I had a bunch of things tied on thinking we would go shallow at some point...But we caught our fish deep and that was the plan of the day. I threw a tube/Blade/Crank/Jerk/Craw/Hula but the ONLY bait that put fish on my line ...was of course...A PHIL'S HAIR JIG.(My lone fish in practice came on a Phil's creation)
Phil is STILL dealing with the reconstruction of his home in Missouri that he lost to the Tornado...He is living at another residence until his house is rebuilt and wishes everyone here the best.

My partner Joe P was an absolute pleasure to fish with..He is a very methodical fisherman and quite a serious guy when it comes to fishing.
His drop-shot technique is awesome to watch...I would put him up against ANYBODY...He had rods dedicated to drop-shot and was always tinkering with his setups..
I knew he had a nice fish when he called and said he had a nice largemouth on... I saw the rod bend and the fish stay down so I fgured...All right...Were IN...I think we were both surprised when we saw the Smallie come up...Shortly there after I was in... A couple of shorts and we thought all was good...
That first hour was the climax along with seeing a group of guys having fun !!!
Great Job all...

It was a pleasure seeing you all and meeting some new folks..

Joe...Anytime you need a partner...Give me a shout

Cub and Nick....WEEN Champions!!!!

Regards,
Woody

P.S. The Granola Bars and Orange Drink are history...I will give you back your thermos next time I see you .

you like those Andy Jacksons, huh, Wood?

My fish are your fish, Wood. Thats what's great about team tx's. It's all 50-50. Looking back, a couple of typical Maho 2 lb LM's would've put us into the money circle. But where the hell were the LM'S??????

Thanks for the kind words, Wood. Lets try going out more next year and share more info on the lakes our club's fish on.

Lost amidst the confusion, great to see Bassrat and Kenny C squeak in the money circle. I thought it was unusual to see you guys fishing in 20 ft , LOL. what happened to the wacky black/blue senko, Nick?

Hey Jp Bass....see you at Galyans...LOL

Great to see NYBass boss John G gracing the festivities. A good shoulder to cry on for us tired weary anglers....

THe ramp was just utterly horrible.......

Smooth running operation of the tx with about 20 boats. Ray and the Atlantic crew shure knows how to run a party.

That lunker SM is my biggest SM to date. Im just glad that the fish didnt fight like a true smallie. With 8 lb test, it would have been a scary ride to the top.

Just like Ray said to me after the tx , it was a nice big fish to end a big year. 2003 bass fishing for me was unbelievable. Looking forward to more next year.

Hey Pat X, are we doing the Hudson on Saturday or what?... Lets get an early jump for next year.....

Joe