Another Typical August "Barn Burner" Contest Today

To clarify, I'm not using "barn burner" in its usual meaning (an intense competition) here but rather to say we had a mighty hot day (temperature-wise). Granted, it didn't start that way. As a matter of fact, it was pretty pleasant until about mid-morning, but then the sun really kicked into overdrive.

To make matters worse, yours truly neglected to don his fingerless gloves as usual today, which allowed the back of my hands to burn. My face looks pretty rosy as well...and that's even though I used a generous application of suntan lotion before leaving the house this morning. With any luck, these "neon signs" will abate somewhat before my next appointment with the skin doctor on Sept. 15th. He thoroughly enjoys beating me up about not taking better precautions when I'm out on the water. I've now heard his spiel so often I nearly can repeat it back to him in reverse order.

So much for my drivel, though. Let me get to what's important here, and that's today's bass tournament...our next to last qualifying event for the annual Classic contest in October. Seventeen anglers in 10 boats showed up this morning. At the end of the day, they collectively brought 34 bass to the scales, weighing a combined total of 60.6 pounds, for an average weight per fish of 1.78 pounds.

Following is a list of those anglers who finished in the money today:

In 1st place, with 10.05 pounds, was solo competitor Gary Coderre, who had a five-fish limit. He also claimed the big-fish pot with a bass weighing 3.71 pounds, as well as the side pot.

As a side note, we all wish Gary nothing but the very best when he undergoes shoulder surgery on Sept. 1st. He doesn't anticipate having doctor's clearance to fish any of the remaining Dewey's events this year, but as he noted, it was nice to end the season on a very positive note today.

Landing the 2nd place prize money, with five fish weighing 9.94 pounds, was the team of (from left) Skip Schaible and Dave Anderson. Their big fish weighed 3.11 pounds.

Rounding out the winners, in 3rd place, was the team of (from left) Bobby Moore and J. P. Twohig, who had five fish weighing 9.21 pounds. Their big fish weighed 2.54 pounds.










Here is how everyone else finished the day in the grand scheme of things:
     * Solo competitor Don Carter had five fish weighing 9.08 pounds, with a kicker that tipped the scales at 3.69 pounds.
     * The father-son team of Ralph and Ryan Land brought five fish to the scales with a weight of 8.09 pounds. Their kicker weighed 2 pounds even.
     * The team of Tommy Dewitt and Matt Greschak had five fish weighing 7.42 pounds. They didn't have a big fish.
     * Solo competitor Jim Leavis weighed four fish, one of which was dead, for a total of 4.80 pounds (after a deduction of 0.25).
     * Next came the team of Wayne Hayes and Ken Testorff, who weighed only one fish, for a total of 2.01 pounds.
     * The team of Rob Chatham and Craig Jones, as well as the team of Jim Crist and Eric Killian, didn't weigh any fish.

There were no new additions to the list of those anglers who have qualified to fish our season-ending one-day Classic.

Congratulations to all of today's winners, and thanks to everyone who came out to participate. For planning purposes, our final qualifying event of the current season is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 17th. Starting and weigh-in times will be announced at a later date.

In conclusion, I would hope none of our group were responsible for the mess left behind today in the extra-vehicle parking area at West Neck Marina. Specifically, someone dumped a number of empty beer cans on the ground, rather than carrying them around and putting them in the trashcan. If not for one of the tournament anglers, the mess likely would have been allowed to lie where it was dumped. Let us all be diligent about policing ourselves when we're at West Neck, so that we don't wear out our welcome with the owners.

Current Overall Statistics