A Condensed Playing Field, As Well As Fewer Anglers

That was the setting today at West Neck Marina as our next to last event of the year kicked off. A total of 11 anglers in seven boats were on hand to help put this low-water contest in the 2013 record books. The best part of the whole day was the fact that everyone who participated caught and weighed fish--and, too, that there still was enough water at the ramp for all of us to recover our boats at the end of the day.

Here are the anglers who took home a payday:

Chris Napier (left) claimed 1st-place honors with a five-fish limit weighing 11.23 lbs. He also walked away with the big-fish pot with a bass that tipped the scales at 3.30 lbs.

The team of (from left) Al Napier and Red Bruun took 2nd place with a five-fish limit weighing 10.77 lbs. Their big bass weighed 3.06 lbs.







Here is how everyone else finished today's 17th tourney of the current season:

     * The team of Chris and Caleb Carmell had a five-fish limit weighing 10.27 lbs. Their big fish weighed 3.18 lbs.
     * Jesse Munden had a five-fish limit weighing 9.51 lbs. His big fish weighed 2.95 lbs.
     * The team of Rob Chatham and Ken Testorff had a five-fish limit weighing 7.45 lbs. Their big fish weighed 2.17 lbs.
     * Jim Wilder had a five-fish limit weighing 7.28 lbs. His big fish weighed 1.50 lbs.
     * The team of Randy Conkle and Bob Gloass had four fish weighing 5.02 lbs. Their big fish weighed 2.53 lbs.

These 11 anglers caught 34 fish with a combined total weight of 61.53 lbs., for an average of 1.80 lbs. per fish.

Three more guys had their tickets punched today for our season-ending two-day Classic on Oct. 12-13 by virtue of having fished four tourneys this year. The newest additions to the list of 38 qualified entrants are Mark Cable, Red Bruun and Chris Carmell. This coming two-day contest could prove to be our biggest and best yet, since only 21 anglers fished the 2012 Classic.

Winner of the free T-shirt in today's raffle drawing was my partner, Rob Chatham. However, he insisted that I take one in his place, even though I didn't want to. If you want to know the story involved, you'll have to hear it from Rob because I can't bring myself to put him on the spot in this forum. He's a super guy and a darned good partner.

For planning purposes, our Classic Day 1 is scheduled to kick off at 7 a.m., with a 4 p.m weigh-in. Meanwhile, Day 2 is slated to start at 7 a.m., with a 1 p.m. weigh-in and cookout to follow.