The 911 Bass Anglers Halloween
Spook-tacular on Van Sciver
October 31, 2015
Sponsored By:
911 Bass Anglers of Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Dateline: Van Sciver Lake, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Music & Lyrics by: Scoop D. Fisher
October 31, 2015
Water temperature: 58º
Air temperature at blastoff: 55º
Weather: mostly cloudy
Saturday, October 31, 2015, was Halloween day and the bass appropriately enough would prove to be a little “spooked”. At least for many of the 911 Bass Anglers competing this morning, and if not that it could be reasonably said that it would be a trick, for most of these angler's to receive the treat, of locating and catching these illusive Halloween morsels.
Although the overnight skies were clear and cool by the time blast off rolled around this Halloween morning, the skies had turned from clear to partly cloudy, and from there to mostly cloudy. Moreover, as is typical with all the lakes of the Penn Warner chain of lakes, there was a steady breeze blowing out of the west at about 5 mph, with gusts up to ten.
Prior to the competition most anglers believed that the bass would be feeding-up for the winter. Many also felt that because of that, the bass would be in a more positive feeding mode, and that reaction baits would be a good option for catching these trick or treat delights.
In fact, most anglers I spoke with prior to the tournament figured to be throwing squarebill crankbaits shallow at some point during the event. Many felt that baits like the Cotton Cordell Big O would be thrown to these fall bass in the shallow water bays of Van Sciver; or in cases where the bass were located in water over 10 feet deep, something like Rick Clunn’s The Freak, which is sold by Luck-E-Strike; or in lieu of that, the always dependable DT series of crankbaits, manufactured by Rapala Bait Company, figured also to be in the mix.
Personally, I believe you can never go wrong with a Rapala lure. Rapala lure’s are high quality lures that run straight and true right out of the box. It’s also the reason why Rapala makes 20 million Rapala lures every year and why their baits are sold in over 140 countries globally.
Beside these offerings, swimbaits, swimming jigs, spinnerbaits, and as always, some form of topwater bait early in the day, all seem to be in the pre-derby mix for active feeders. However, as is always the case, success has many fathers while failure is an orphan; and it was Chad Neuman who fathered today’s bag of prize bass "treats" to those at the weigh-in stand this Halloween day in 2015.
Chad landed 4 bass that weighed 14.26 pounds, which was one fish shy of a limit. He caught his bass in a 50 yard area in Lower Van Sciver. Chad, fishing solo today, also landed today’s lunker. A gargantuan pig that was 20 inches long, and that weighed 4.65 pounds.
Finishing behind Chad Neuman was the team of Cirard & Cirard. Allen “AC” Cirard and his son Brian brought in 2 bass that weighed 5.47 pounds. AC tells this reporter that he and Brian beat the banks throughout the lake in order to catch both their fish.
In third place were Mike Ziegler and Drew Cutler. Ziggy and Cut also landed two fish. Their day’s creel totaled a mere tenth of an ounce behind AC and Brian. Mike and Drew caught their fish by throwing Strike King crankbaits in various spots all around Van Sciver Lake as well.
The rest of the best finished up like this. Forth place went to Scott and Jim Goddard with 3 fish that weighted in at 4.52 pounds; fifth place was taken by Jason Bresnen and John “the gambler” Ramaglia who had a single fish that weighed 3.23 pounds; and finally, finishing in sixth place, Tracker Joe Alimenti and Aaron “Pony Boy” Grogan who also landed a single fish that weighed 1.37 pounds.
Rounding out the field were Brandon Mattingly and his partner Scott, Joe Metzger (fishing solo), Jimmy Mulholland & Bill Everett and Bob “the roofer” Kersch (also fishing solo), all of whom came back to the ramp empty handed.
Before closing out this report I want to remind all 911 Bass Anglers that a new points system has been instituted for this year's club derbies. Angler of the Year points will be accrued as follows:
1st: 150 points, 2nd place: 125 points, 3rd place: 100 points, 4th place: 90 points, 5th place: 85 points, 6th place: 80 points, 7th place: 75 points, 8th place: 70 points, 9th place: 65 points, 10th place: 60 points, 11th place: 55 points, 12th place: 50 points, 13th place: 45 points, 14th place: 40 points, 15th place: 35 points. The team catching the tournament lunker will receive an additional 10 points, as will a team that catches their full creel limit.
Well, that’s it for now. We’ll see everybody in March... God willing. Keep warm and stay on the fish.
Until next time everybody, tight lines and bass wishes.
The Big Show
1st Place: Chad Neuman (fishing solo)
2nd Place: Allen "AC" & Brian Cirard
3rd Place: Mike Ziegler & Drew Cutler
Spook-tacular on Van Sciver
October 31, 2015
Sponsored By:
911 Bass Anglers of Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Dateline: Van Sciver Lake, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Music & Lyrics by: Scoop D. Fisher
October 31, 2015
Water temperature: 58º
Air temperature at blastoff: 55º
Weather: mostly cloudy
Saturday, October 31, 2015, was Halloween day and the bass appropriately enough would prove to be a little “spooked”. At least for many of the 911 Bass Anglers competing this morning, and if not that it could be reasonably said that it would be a trick, for most of these angler's to receive the treat, of locating and catching these illusive Halloween morsels.
Although the overnight skies were clear and cool by the time blast off rolled around this Halloween morning, the skies had turned from clear to partly cloudy, and from there to mostly cloudy. Moreover, as is typical with all the lakes of the Penn Warner chain of lakes, there was a steady breeze blowing out of the west at about 5 mph, with gusts up to ten.
Prior to the competition most anglers believed that the bass would be feeding-up for the winter. Many also felt that because of that, the bass would be in a more positive feeding mode, and that reaction baits would be a good option for catching these trick or treat delights.
In fact, most anglers I spoke with prior to the tournament figured to be throwing squarebill crankbaits shallow at some point during the event. Many felt that baits like the Cotton Cordell Big O would be thrown to these fall bass in the shallow water bays of Van Sciver; or in cases where the bass were located in water over 10 feet deep, something like Rick Clunn’s The Freak, which is sold by Luck-E-Strike; or in lieu of that, the always dependable DT series of crankbaits, manufactured by Rapala Bait Company, figured also to be in the mix.
Personally, I believe you can never go wrong with a Rapala lure. Rapala lure’s are high quality lures that run straight and true right out of the box. It’s also the reason why Rapala makes 20 million Rapala lures every year and why their baits are sold in over 140 countries globally.
Beside these offerings, swimbaits, swimming jigs, spinnerbaits, and as always, some form of topwater bait early in the day, all seem to be in the pre-derby mix for active feeders. However, as is always the case, success has many fathers while failure is an orphan; and it was Chad Neuman who fathered today’s bag of prize bass "treats" to those at the weigh-in stand this Halloween day in 2015.
Chad landed 4 bass that weighed 14.26 pounds, which was one fish shy of a limit. He caught his bass in a 50 yard area in Lower Van Sciver. Chad, fishing solo today, also landed today’s lunker. A gargantuan pig that was 20 inches long, and that weighed 4.65 pounds.
Finishing behind Chad Neuman was the team of Cirard & Cirard. Allen “AC” Cirard and his son Brian brought in 2 bass that weighed 5.47 pounds. AC tells this reporter that he and Brian beat the banks throughout the lake in order to catch both their fish.
In third place were Mike Ziegler and Drew Cutler. Ziggy and Cut also landed two fish. Their day’s creel totaled a mere tenth of an ounce behind AC and Brian. Mike and Drew caught their fish by throwing Strike King crankbaits in various spots all around Van Sciver Lake as well.
The rest of the best finished up like this. Forth place went to Scott and Jim Goddard with 3 fish that weighted in at 4.52 pounds; fifth place was taken by Jason Bresnen and John “the gambler” Ramaglia who had a single fish that weighed 3.23 pounds; and finally, finishing in sixth place, Tracker Joe Alimenti and Aaron “Pony Boy” Grogan who also landed a single fish that weighed 1.37 pounds.
Rounding out the field were Brandon Mattingly and his partner Scott, Joe Metzger (fishing solo), Jimmy Mulholland & Bill Everett and Bob “the roofer” Kersch (also fishing solo), all of whom came back to the ramp empty handed.
Before closing out this report I want to remind all 911 Bass Anglers that a new points system has been instituted for this year's club derbies. Angler of the Year points will be accrued as follows:
1st: 150 points, 2nd place: 125 points, 3rd place: 100 points, 4th place: 90 points, 5th place: 85 points, 6th place: 80 points, 7th place: 75 points, 8th place: 70 points, 9th place: 65 points, 10th place: 60 points, 11th place: 55 points, 12th place: 50 points, 13th place: 45 points, 14th place: 40 points, 15th place: 35 points. The team catching the tournament lunker will receive an additional 10 points, as will a team that catches their full creel limit.
Well, that’s it for now. We’ll see everybody in March... God willing. Keep warm and stay on the fish.
Until next time everybody, tight lines and bass wishes.
The Big Show
1st Place: Chad Neuman (fishing solo)
2nd Place: Allen "AC" & Brian Cirard
3rd Place: Mike Ziegler & Drew Cutler
911 Bass Anglers Season Opener
Tournament # 1 of 2016
October 3, 2015
Sponsored By:
911 Bass Anglers of Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Dateline: Morrisville Lake, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Music & Lyrics by: Scoop D. Fisher
October 3, 2015
Water temperature: 66º
Air temperature at blastoff: 49º
Weather: Hurricane Flags Were Flying
Havoc in Hurricane Joaquin... The 911 Bass-Cats
As the boats were launched this dreary fall morning, air temperatures hovered in the upper 40s. It was raining, as it had been for the last several days, and a steady wind was blowing relentlessly out of the northeast at 20mph with gusts ranging up to 45. The sky was a bruised colored gray color, trimmed in a patina of deep indigo.
The lake for its part was turbid as compared to the first time I had fished it this past summer, and at some points throughout the day there were actually small white-caps and intermittent rogue rollers hitting the gunwale of each and every bass boat that stationed itself on the main body of Morrisville lake.
It was against this backdrop of harsh cool conditions that 6 boats, containing some of the most elite members of the 911 Bass Anglers club moved out onto the Lake, during what turned out to be the most severe hurricanes to hit the east coast of the United States since Hurricane Sandy back in October of 2012.
Prior to blastoff it was felt by some talking around the dock that it would be a finesse type bite which would catch the most bass today, allowing that the angler used enough weight to get his offerings to the bottom. Others felt it didn’t matter so much the lure, rather it was finding a place to fish were one could control the boat out of the wind, which would be a greater determining factor in catching fish this day.
Joe Metz told us, “Our first fish came at about 7:25 in the morning. ”Big Show got him. It was a 14-1/2 largemouth that was legal and weighed 1.87 ounces. My bro Bshow really took the pressure off us.” Catching such a beautiful keeper early, allowed us to settle in, so that we could slog it out for the rest of the match... if we had to.
The next fish they caught was almost identical in size to the first, but didn’t hit until after 10am. Metz got this one on a straight tail watermelon colored 4" finesse worm with a chartreuse tail, Texas rigged behind an 1/8 bullet sinker.
Metz said, “It came off a grass patch near the ramp that I regularly fish whenever I go to Morrisville.” He said he pitched the worm out and allowed it to drop into the holes in the grass. He would let it sink to the bottom, and bam the deed was done.
Big Show noted after the first fish was caught, which by the way came off a wood pile, “I felt the bass might be telling us that they were holding on wood, a wood pattern; and that Team Juce should try to use the wind to our advantage if we could, by concentrating our fishing efforts on the windward areas of the lake”... and he was right on point.
Metz said, “I also felt, after the way that last bass hit my worm in that grass bed, that it had changed to a more aggressive bite.” So after noticing Scott Goddard throwing a spinnerbait earlier in the day, he decided to integrate the two pieces of information, the Big Show’s wood/wind pattern, and the Scott Goddard’s spinnerbait pattern, and combined the two.
Hence, Team Juce’s tournament winning largemouth came off the lay-down filled, windblown bank that paralleled the small access road leading to the boat ramp at Morrisville Lake. This little chunker hit a 1/2 oz spinnerbait, dressed with an off-white and goldish colored skirt that carried tandem willowleaf blades.
That said, here’s how the derby played out on Morrisville Lake during the 911 Bass Anglers inaugural 2016, season opener. Remember, today’s tournament was a single big fish derby, i.e., a TEAM lunker tournament.
1st place: Joe Metz & The Big Show @ 2.65 lbs
2nd place: Scott & Jim Goddard @ 2.30 lbs
3rd place: Brandon Mattingly (fishing solo) @ 2.20 lbs
4th place: Tracker Joe Alimenti (fishing solo) @ 1.85 lbs
5th place: Jason Bresnen (fishing solo) @ 0.0 lbs
5th place: Drew Cutler (fishing solo) @ 0.0 lbs
Before closing out this piece on last Saturday’s derby, I also want to welcome a new member to the 911 Bass Anglers’ nation: Brandon Mattingly.
Brandon joined the club this week, and fished his first 911 tournament Saturday. During Saturday’s derby Brandon threw a vibrating blade bait, which as all of you know, is a classic cold water bait for vertical jigging. However, it’s recently made a comeback of sorts in recent years on the pro circuit, as an all season bait when an angler is looking to throw something different. Brandon told me he retrieved his vibrating blade bait using a yo-yo retrieve.
To learn more about this lure, and how to work it, check out the Fish Sense Lures web page at: http://www.fishsenselures.com/fish_sense_lures_how_to.htm
Brandon is also a mechanic who works on both automobile and boat engines.
So, on behalf of all the club members, then, we say... welcome aboard Brandon Mattingly!
Next time out, it’s on to Van Sciver for the second tournament of the 2016 tournament season, and the final derby of the 2015 calendar year.
Until next time everybody, tight lines and bass wishes.
Big Show
1st Place: Joe Metz & Big Show
2nd Place: Scott & Jim Goddard
3rd Place: Brandon Mattingly
Tournament # 1 of 2016
October 3, 2015
Sponsored By:
911 Bass Anglers of Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Dateline: Morrisville Lake, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Music & Lyrics by: Scoop D. Fisher
October 3, 2015
Water temperature: 66º
Air temperature at blastoff: 49º
Weather: Hurricane Flags Were Flying
Havoc in Hurricane Joaquin... The 911 Bass-Cats
As the boats were launched this dreary fall morning, air temperatures hovered in the upper 40s. It was raining, as it had been for the last several days, and a steady wind was blowing relentlessly out of the northeast at 20mph with gusts ranging up to 45. The sky was a bruised colored gray color, trimmed in a patina of deep indigo.
The lake for its part was turbid as compared to the first time I had fished it this past summer, and at some points throughout the day there were actually small white-caps and intermittent rogue rollers hitting the gunwale of each and every bass boat that stationed itself on the main body of Morrisville lake.
It was against this backdrop of harsh cool conditions that 6 boats, containing some of the most elite members of the 911 Bass Anglers club moved out onto the Lake, during what turned out to be the most severe hurricanes to hit the east coast of the United States since Hurricane Sandy back in October of 2012.
Prior to blastoff it was felt by some talking around the dock that it would be a finesse type bite which would catch the most bass today, allowing that the angler used enough weight to get his offerings to the bottom. Others felt it didn’t matter so much the lure, rather it was finding a place to fish were one could control the boat out of the wind, which would be a greater determining factor in catching fish this day.
Joe Metz told us, “Our first fish came at about 7:25 in the morning. ”Big Show got him. It was a 14-1/2 largemouth that was legal and weighed 1.87 ounces. My bro Bshow really took the pressure off us.” Catching such a beautiful keeper early, allowed us to settle in, so that we could slog it out for the rest of the match... if we had to.
The next fish they caught was almost identical in size to the first, but didn’t hit until after 10am. Metz got this one on a straight tail watermelon colored 4" finesse worm with a chartreuse tail, Texas rigged behind an 1/8 bullet sinker.
Metz said, “It came off a grass patch near the ramp that I regularly fish whenever I go to Morrisville.” He said he pitched the worm out and allowed it to drop into the holes in the grass. He would let it sink to the bottom, and bam the deed was done.
Big Show noted after the first fish was caught, which by the way came off a wood pile, “I felt the bass might be telling us that they were holding on wood, a wood pattern; and that Team Juce should try to use the wind to our advantage if we could, by concentrating our fishing efforts on the windward areas of the lake”... and he was right on point.
Metz said, “I also felt, after the way that last bass hit my worm in that grass bed, that it had changed to a more aggressive bite.” So after noticing Scott Goddard throwing a spinnerbait earlier in the day, he decided to integrate the two pieces of information, the Big Show’s wood/wind pattern, and the Scott Goddard’s spinnerbait pattern, and combined the two.
Hence, Team Juce’s tournament winning largemouth came off the lay-down filled, windblown bank that paralleled the small access road leading to the boat ramp at Morrisville Lake. This little chunker hit a 1/2 oz spinnerbait, dressed with an off-white and goldish colored skirt that carried tandem willowleaf blades.
That said, here’s how the derby played out on Morrisville Lake during the 911 Bass Anglers inaugural 2016, season opener. Remember, today’s tournament was a single big fish derby, i.e., a TEAM lunker tournament.
1st place: Joe Metz & The Big Show @ 2.65 lbs
2nd place: Scott & Jim Goddard @ 2.30 lbs
3rd place: Brandon Mattingly (fishing solo) @ 2.20 lbs
4th place: Tracker Joe Alimenti (fishing solo) @ 1.85 lbs
5th place: Jason Bresnen (fishing solo) @ 0.0 lbs
5th place: Drew Cutler (fishing solo) @ 0.0 lbs
Before closing out this piece on last Saturday’s derby, I also want to welcome a new member to the 911 Bass Anglers’ nation: Brandon Mattingly.
Brandon joined the club this week, and fished his first 911 tournament Saturday. During Saturday’s derby Brandon threw a vibrating blade bait, which as all of you know, is a classic cold water bait for vertical jigging. However, it’s recently made a comeback of sorts in recent years on the pro circuit, as an all season bait when an angler is looking to throw something different. Brandon told me he retrieved his vibrating blade bait using a yo-yo retrieve.
To learn more about this lure, and how to work it, check out the Fish Sense Lures web page at: http://www.fishsenselures.com/fish_sense_lures_how_to.htm
Brandon is also a mechanic who works on both automobile and boat engines.
So, on behalf of all the club members, then, we say... welcome aboard Brandon Mattingly!
Next time out, it’s on to Van Sciver for the second tournament of the 2016 tournament season, and the final derby of the 2015 calendar year.
Until next time everybody, tight lines and bass wishes.
Big Show
1st Place: Joe Metz & Big Show
2nd Place: Scott & Jim Goddard
3rd Place: Brandon Mattingly