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Club News 2010 to 2012
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Club News 2010 to 2012
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| Annual Club Get-together
Held on November 17 - 11/23/2012 (updated 1/8/13) The annual club get-together at Rick Lentz's home was another good one. Food was eaten, beverages were consumed, fishing stories were told, billiards were played and football games were watched. Good times! Thanks to Rick & Liz for hosting, to Ryan D for bartending and to everyone else for bringing food and participating. Click here for photos from this event. |
| Merlock & Oeser Sweep Classic
with Two Limits -
9/30/2012 Ken Merlock took the Hawg Hunters Classic lead on Day 1 with sub partner Rob Hurless, then sealed the big win on Day 2 with regular partner Chris Oeser. They followed up a decent Day 1 limit of 7.04 lbs at Salem Canal with a nice 11.11 lb limit on Day 2 at Lake Lenape (18.15 lbs total). Ken took the Canal lunker with a 2.74 lb bass. Second place overall was taken by Jim Miller & Mark Edmeads with four bass each day and a total weight of 11 pounds even. Zeke Zellman & Wade Schoonover took third place with seven total bass for 9.48 lbs. Scott Bowen took the Lenape lunker prize with a nice 4.33 lb bass. Nine of the ten eligible teams participated. Dave & Jerrod Lloyd took the club championship with a 13 point lead over second place team Jim Miller & Mark Edmeads. Congratulations. |
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| Merlock & Friend Lead Classic in
Close Contest -
9/29/2012 Ken Merlock, with sub partner Rob Hurless, leads the Hawg Hunters Classic after Day 1 at Salem Canal. Their 7.04 lb five-bass limit gave them a pound and a half lead over Zeke Zellman & Wade Schoonover's 5.57 lbs. And four other teams are close behind them. Ken's 2.74 lb kicker took the Day 1 lunker prize. Day 2 at Lake Lenape should prove to be very interesting. |
| No Limits at DOD -
9/22/2012 Whereas last year's ten bass tournament at DOD Lake saw lots of keepers weighed in (including a ten fish bag and a nine fish bag), they were pretty hard to come by this year. Jim Miller & Mark Edmeads brought in a five-bass bag weighing 10.78 lbs to take that team's second consecutive win. In a close race for second place, Dave & Jerrod Lloyd had four bass for 6.17 lbs while Zeke Zellman & Wade Schoonover had three for 6.16 lbs. Wade's 3.08 lb bass took the lunker prize. Six teams participated in the tourney. |
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| Small Crowd but a Bunch of Bass at
Cooper -
9/15/2012 Only five teams made it to this year's Cooper River tournament, but they averaged three keepers per team despite a pretty slow bite. Mark Edmeads, fishing with sub partner John Marino, took the easy win with a five-bass limt weighing 9.02 lbs. John took the lunker prize with a 2.37 lb fish. |
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| Lotsa Bass and one Big One at
Bargaintown -
9/8/2012 Seven of the eight participating teams brought in five-bass limits at Bargaintown Lake. The one team that didn't have a limit... set a lake lunker record by a wide margin. Dave & Jerrod Lloyd took the win, their sixth of the season, with an 11.15 lb bag. Zeke Zellman & Wade Schoonover and Rod Blomdahl & Dave Reeves both also had bags over ten pounds. The highlight of the tourney was Mark Edmeads' 6.66 lb lunker winner. (The previous record was Chris Oeser's 4.53 lb bass from 2007.) |
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| Classic Day 2 Moved to Lenape -
9/2/2012 Because we had everyone buy a launch ramp permit for our late June Lenape tournament that had to be moved due to storm damage, we're switching Day 2 of our Hawg Hunters Classic to Lake Lenape (from Union Lake). Times will be 7:30 am to 2:00 pm. Anyone who did not obtain a permit last time around, should do so prior to the day of the tournament. Members planning to use "high horsepower" outboards at Lenape should make arrangements with the park in advance. |
| Few Keepers at Stewart
- 8/25/2012 The seven teams participating in our Stewart Lake tournament only managed to bring in a total of eleven keeper bass and seven of those were in two boats. The team of Dave & Jerrod Lloyd took their fifth win of the season with a four-bass bag weighing 8.24 lbs. Jerrod's 2.97 lb bass took the lunker prize. The team of Fred Lentz & Joe Nemeth brought in three squeakers for 2.62 lbs to take second place. Zeke Zellman & Wade Schoonover's 2.31 lb lunker entry took third place. |
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| Lotta Shorts at the Canal
- 8/11/2012 Most teams complained about the high ratio of short fish to keepers at our Salem Canal tournament. The team of Fred Lentz & Joe Nemeth managed to catch enough keepers to cull once and eke out a win with their 6.09 lb limit. Zeke Zellman & Wade Schoonover were close behind with their 6.01 lb limit. Bill Duckardt took the lunker prize by a wide margin with his 3.63 lb kicker fish. Eight teams participated in the tourney and all of them managed to weigh in at least two keeper bass. The weigh-in was followed by Greg Lentz's annual hot dog & soda lunch. Thanks Greg! |
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| Fair Fishing at Malaga Evening
Tourney
- 8/4/2012 The fishing was a bit slower than expected for most of the teams at our evening tourney at Malaga Lake. Only two five-bass limits were weighed in by the eight teams that participated. Jerrod Lloyd and sub partner/wife Janine brought in a limit that weighed 9.28 lbs to take the win. Jim Miller and Mark Edmeads took second with their limit weighing 7.70 lbs. Jim's 3.04 lb kicker fish took the lunker prize, his fourth lunker win of the season. |
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| Tough at Cedarville, Better at Shaws
Mill
- 7/28/2012 For the second consecutive year, our Scramble saw relatively poor fishing at Cedarville and better fishing at Shaws Mill. Only ten keepers were weighed in at Cedarville, 19 were brought in at Shaws. Zeke Zellman, fishing solo, took first place with three bass at Cedarville and four at Shaws. His total weight was 9.91 lbs. Zeke also took the Cedarville lunker with a 2.73 lb fish (another fish was slightly heavier, but not alive). Dave & Jerrod Lloyd took second place with a total of six bass for 7.87 lbs. They edged out a solo Bill Duckardt who had six bass for 7.73 lbs. Jerrod and Duck tied for the Shaws Mill lunker with 1.49 lb bass (edging out Fred Lentz's 1.48 lb entry and Zeke's 1.47 lb entry). Eight teams participated. |
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| Pretty Good Day at Newton
- 7/21/2012 After a long hot spell in South Jersey, our tournament at Newton Lake saw much cooler air and water temperatures. That may have helped turn the fish on a bit as our results were better than usual here and a couple of lake records were set. Dennis Snyder and Greg Lentz culled their way up to an impressive 12.94 lb winning bag. That demolished our club's previous Newton record of 7.91 lbs. In fact, the 2nd place team of Jim Miller & Mark Edmeads had a 9.93 lb bag which would also have beaten the record. Jim's nice 4.68 lb lunker winner (his 2nd consecutive lunker win and his 3rd of the season) beat our club's previous lake record of 4.08 lbs. The seven participating teams weighed in a total of 24 bass. |
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| Hot One at Rainbow
- 7/7/2012 Air temperatures reached almost 100 degrees as we concluded our Rainbow Lake tournament (before noon). Despite the high temperatures, most teams managed to find some biting fish. Dave & Jerrod Lloyd won for the second week in a row with a limit that weighed 9.58 lbs. Jim Miller took lunker with a 3.10 lb bass. Following the weigh-in, we were visited by Jonathan Basmagy of Big'Un Baits who talked about some new colors and styles he's now producing. He gave out samples to everyone in attendance. To check out his complete product line, go to his online store at www.thatsabigun.com/index.html . Due to the "excessive heat warning" in effect, we did not perform our shoreline & parking lot clean-up project. A few of us from the club will do it on a future weekday. |
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| Another Good Quantity Day at Malaga
after Switch from Lenape
- 6/30/2012 A devastating storm hit our area during the night before our tournament causing downed trees and power outages everywhere. Upon arrival, we found that our scheduled destination of Lake Lenape was closed due to storm damage. We moved the tourney to Malaga Lake with a later start time and somewhat shortened tourney length. That didn't seem to affect the quantity of fish caught as six of the nine participating teams brought in five-bass limits. Dave & Jerrod Lloyd topped the field with a 9.10 lb bag. They edged out Jim Miller & Mark Edmeads who had 8.77 lbs. Jerrod's 3.24 lb kicker fish took the lunker prize. |
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| Pretty Good Day for Bass at East
Creek
- 6/23/2012 Fishing East Creek Pond for the first time after a year off the schedule, anglers weren't sure what to expect. The results were pretty good though as six limits were brought in by the nine teams that participated. Rod Blomdahl & Dave Reeves took their second win of the year with a 9.16 lb bag. They were followed closely by Dennis Snyder & Greg Lentz with 8.19 lbs and Zeke Zellman & Wade Schoonover with 8.03 lbs. Rod's 2.78 lb bass took the lunker prize. In a bit of peculiar news, we decided for the first time ever to have a "biggest pickerel" side pot, as we weren't sure if the bass fishing would be good, but we knew that the pickerel bite is always excellent. Our minimum length was set at the State minimum of 15 inches. At the weigh-in we were all surprised to find that not one team managed to catch a decent sized pickerel and some didn't catch any. Maybe we'll try again next tourney at Lake Lenape, another famous pickerel location. |
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| Good Quantity But No Big Ones at
Assunpink
- 6/16/2012 After last year's almost-seven-pound lunker winner brought in by Scott Bowen, hopes were high for more big bass at this year's Lake Assunpink tourney. Although the nine participating teams did bring in an impressive eighteen keepers (15+ inches), the lunker winner this time was just a bit over three pounds. The team of Zeke Zellman & Wade Schoonover took the win with a four bass bag that weighed 8.85 lbs. Wade's 3.22 lb lunker winner anchored their bag. |
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| Small Crowd, One Big Bag at North
East
- 5/15/2012 Six teams showed up for the tournament at the North East River in Maryland. The team of Dave Lloyd & Jerrod Lloyd took first place by a wide margin with their five-bass limit weighing 16.90 lbs. Jim Miller & Mark Edmeads finished in 2nd with four bass for 9.09 lbs and Al & John Franchetta finished in 3rd with two bass for 6.72 lbs. The other three teams did not weigh in any keepers. Jerrod Lloyd took the lunker prize with a 3.92 lb bass. |
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| Good Times as Usual on Kerr Trip
- 5/7/2012 Fourteen guys with seven boats made the trip to Kerr Reservoir, Va, this year from April 25 to 29. The fishing action and weather were a bit subpar, but the camaraderie was as good as usual. One lunker contest was held and won by Mike Miller Sr. A five-bass tournament was also held and won by Jim Miller & Mark Edmeads, with the lunker prize being taken by John Chattley. Results and some photos are posted here. |
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| Not Many Keepers at Union
- 4/14/2012 Despite some pretty good weather, bass bites were hard to come by at our Union Lake tournament. Usually a productive lake for us, only six of the twelve teams managed to bring in keeper bass and only eleven bass were weighed in. Rod Blomdahl & Dave Reeves brought in three keepers, anchored by Rod's 2.70 lb lunker winner, to take the overall win. They won by more than two pounds. |
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| One Big One Takes Davis Mill
- 4/7/2012 On a slow day at Davis Mill Pond, Fred Lentz made his one bite count by bringing in a nice 4.93 lb bass that took first place and lunker for the Lentz/Nemeth team. The eleven teams that participated in the tourney weighed in a total of thirteen keepers. |
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| No Limits at Rainbow
- 3/31/2012 After a record day last week at Wilson Lake where fish were jumping in the boat, our Rainbow Lake tourney saw a cold front pass through with severely dropping water temperatures and much slower action. It was a ten fish tournament, but nobody even got close. The team of Al Franchetta and sub-partner John Franchetta brought in six keepers for 9.33 lbs to take the win. Jim Miller took the lunker prize with a nice 4.09 lb bass. Twelve teams participated in the tourney and eleven of those managed to bring in at least one keeper. (The twelfth team had a keeper but left early and did not weigh in.) After the weigh-in a dozen members stuck around to do a shoreline & parking lot clean-up. The usual small mountain of trash was collected and carted away. Thanks to those who helped out! |
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| Bass Jumpin' in the Boat at Wilson
- 3/24/2012 Traditionally, bass have been hard to come by at our Wilson Lake tournaments. That all changed this year, possibly due to ongoing mild temperatures, and a huge number of keepers were brought to the weigh-in. Despite a steady rain throughout much of the tournament, the twelve teams that participated brought in a club record total of 56 keepers. In addition, a club record nine teams had five-bass limits. Dennis Snyder & Greg Lentz topped the bunch with their 9.85 lb limit. Dennis' 3.09 lb lunker winner anchored their bag. Bill Duckardt & Jimmy Ohono were close behind with their 9.20 lb limit. The next four teams in the standings had bags in the 8+ lb range. |
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| One Big One at Quiet Parvin Tourney
- 3/17/2012 Despite almost perfect attendance (13 of 14 teams), only four 15+ inch keeper bass were weighed in at our season kick-off Parvin Lake tourney and no team had more than one. Joe Nemeth's nice 5.87 lb bass took first place and lunker for the Lentz/Nemeth team. Three other bass under two pounds were weighed in after an extremely slow day of fishing at this lake. Tips for keeping tournament fish alive and healthy in a livewell were distributed during the weigh-in. |
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| Pre-Season Meeting Held - 2/4/2012 At our annual pre-season meeting, the following things were agreed: * It looks like we will have fourteen teams for the upcoming season (which meets our goal of slightly reducing the overall number of teams, while increasing the percentage of teams that commit to attending most of the tournaments). * We increased to eight the required number of club tournaments that must be fished in order to qualify for the Hawg Hunters Classic. * Fred Lentz will continue as President/Secretary/Treasurer/Webmaster, Bill Duckardt will continue as Tournament Director/lead weighmaster, the same back-up weighmasters will be used. * Our vote for the location of the 2012 SJBCA Bass Bowl will be Union Lake. * We will pursue the idea of forming an affiliated youth chapter. * The tentative club tournament schedule was approved, with addition of a tournament at the North East River, MD during the NJ closed season. This will be done with the understanding that, if we do not get sufficient participation, we will drop this idea for the foreseeable future. Lake Lenape will serve as our #1 back-up lake if we need to move any tournaments during the year. * We will more strongly emphasize proper fish handling and livewell operation in order to reduce our number of dead fish to zero. (We don't see that many dead fish now, but a few is too many.) Some photos from the meeting are posted in the Photo Gallery. |
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| Bass Pro Shops Trip - 1/14/2012 Several club members were able to make it to this year's winter shopping trip to Bass Pro Shops in Hanover, MD. They met in the morning at Cracker Barrel for breakfast, then shopped at Bass Pro Shops, then had lunch and adult beverages at Max's Taphouse at Fells Point (Baltimore Inner Harbor). A good time was had by all. A photo of the group is posted in the Photo Gallery. |
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| Club Get-Together Held - 11/19/2011 Thirteen club members and a few wives showed up for our annual club get-together at Rick Lentz's home. The group enjoyed a lot of great food, conversation and pool. A good time was had by all. Award plaques were presented to club champions Zeke Zellman & Wade Schoonover, Hawg Hunters Classic winners Fred Lentz & Joe Nemeth, and Lunker of the Year winner Scott Bowen. Click here for photos. |
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| Lentz/Nemeth Take 2nd Consecutive
Classic; Zellman/Schoonover Take Championship - 10/2/2011 A good bag of fish on Day 1 at Union Lake gave Fred Lentz & Joe Nemeth a decent lead which they held through Day 2 at Salem Canal and gave them their second consecutive Hawg Hunters Classic win. At Union, Fred & Joe brought in a five-bass limit that weighed 10.45 lbs. That provided a 3+ lb lead over Zeke Zellman & Wade Schoonover who had a limit weighing 7.27 lbs. Joe Nemeth took the Union lunker prize with a nice 3.64 lb bass. The eight participating teams weighed in a total of 19 keepers. It was a whole different story on Day 2 at Salem Canal. The water was high and muddy and a cold front was rolling through. Bites were hard to come by and keepers even more scarce. Only five keepers were weighed in by the eight teams and all of those keepers were tiny. Fred & Joe had two keepers for 2.12 lbs, including Fred's 1.11 lb lunker winner, to take the overall win. With their second place finish Zeke & Wade took the club championship. |
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| Two Big Bags at DOD -
9/24/2011 Nobody expected the action at DOD Lake to be much better than mediocre, based on our club's past visits here. But we were pleasantly surprised by a large number of bass being brought to the scales in this ten-bass tournament. The team of Bill Duckardt & Jimmy Ohono won their second tournament in a row with a ten-bass limit weighing 14.35 lbs. Season point leaders Zeke Zellman & Wade Schoonover weren't far behind with a nine-bass bag that weighed 11.59 lbs. Zeke took the lunker prize with a 2.82 lb bass. The six participating teams weighed in a total of 28 keepers. |
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| Big Bag at Bargaintown -
9/17/2011 Although most teams struggled to find keeper sized bass, Bill Duckardt & Jimmy Ohono were able to cull several times and bring in a club lake record 12.38 lb bag at Bargaintown Lake. Duck's 3.23 lb kicker fish took the lunker prize. The seven participating teams weighed in a total of 19 bass. The tournament was notable for the huge amounts of grass we picked up on our trailers when launching and loading. Consequently, the weigh-in was followed by everyone spending a half hour pulling grass off their trailers and disposing of it. Our annual club barbecue was held in the afternoon at Chris & Jessica Oeser's house. A steady drizzle didn't dampen anyone's spirits and a good time was had by all. Thanks for hosting Chris! |
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| First Time's a Charm at Cooper -
9/10/2011 Many club members were not sure what to expect for our first ever tournament at Cooper River, a location with a less than stellar reputation for bass fishing and which was experiencing a very high water level from recent heavy rains. As it turned out, the results were pretty darned good. John Chattley and Steve Barrett took the win with a five-bass limit weighing 9.60 lbs. Steve's 3.12 lb kicker took the lunker prize. Jim Miller and Mark Edmeads also had a limit which weighed 8.09 lbs. The seven participating teams weighed in a total of 20 bass. |
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| Shoreline Clean-up Held at Rainbow
Lake
- 9/4/2011 An expected small group of club members conducted a clean-up of the shoreline and parking lot at our adopted lake, Rainbow Lake WMA in Pittsgrove. Three bags of trash were collected by Bill Duckardt, Zeke Zellman, Dennis Snyder & Fred Lentz. Afterward, the group headed to Duck's house for beverages and a small barbecue. Thanks Duck! |
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| Club Tourney Schedule Changes Made
- 9/4/2011 Due to the draining of Sunset Lake, we've made changes to our club schedule. Our September 24 tourney will now be at DOD Lake (instead of Salem Canal) and Day 2 of our Classic will be at Salem Canal (instead of Sunset Lake). If we're lucky the new Canal ramp will be open by October 2. |
| Beatin' the Hurricane at Davis Mill
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8/27/2011 With Hurricane Irene scheduled to arrive later in the day, seven teams decided to brave the potential bad weather at Davis Mill Pond. As it turned out, the first half of the tourney saw warm, calm conditions and the second half saw just a steady drizzle and a light breeze. The fishing was extremely tough, with a few shorts caught and even fewer keepers. Zeke Zellman, fishing solo, took the win with two bass weighing 2.83 lbs. That was the only bag of more than one fish. Steve Barrett's 2.49 lb lunker winner gave him and partner John Chattley a second place finish. In third place was Joe Nemeth & Fred Lentz with Joe's 1.27 lb bass. Two other bass of under one pound were weighed in and that was it. |
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| Five More Limits at Stewart -
8/21/2011 After having five of eight teams bring in limits at Malaga last weekend, we did it again this weekend at Stewart Lake in Woodbury. John Chattley, fishing with new partner Steve Barrett, took his first club win with a 9.94 lb limit. Scott Bowen took lunker with a 2.94 lb bass, one of several in the 2.5+ lb class to be brought in. The tournament was followed by Greg Lentz's annual steamed hot dog & beverage lunch. Thanks Greg! |
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| Lotta Bass in the Rain at Malaga -
8/13/2011 The rain started an hour or so into our evening tournament at Malaga Lake and didn't stop until the minute the tournament ended. Most (all?) anglers neglected to bring rain gear with them as the weather reports didn't call for rain until much later. A breeze and a temperature drop made the anglers a bit uncomfortable for most of the tourney. That didn't stop the fish from biting, as five of the eight participating teams brought in five-bass limits and a club record was broken for heaviest bass at that lake. Zeke Zellman & Wade Schoonover had the heaviest limit at 8.13 lbs. Al Franchetta, fishing solo, weighed in a nice 5.43 lb lunker winner to anchor his 2nd place three-bass 7.65 lb bag. That bass broke our lunker record at that lake by more than two pounds! In all, 32 bass were weighed in by the eight teams. |
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| Tough One at Cedarville, A Little
Better at Shaws -
7/30/2011 This year's Scramble saw surprisingly little action at usually-reliable Cedarville Pond and better-than-usual action at Shaws Mill Pond. The ten participating teams only weighed in six bass at Cedarville, with no team weighing in more than two. Pat Childs took the lunker prize there with a 1.80 lb bass. Things picked up at Shaws Mill where twenty-one bass were weighed in. Dennis Snyder & Greg Lentz and Bill Duckardt (fishing solo) were even able to cull a few times. In the end, Snyder & Lentz took the overall win with a total of six bass for 7.25 lbs. Duckardt took 2nd with five bass weighing 6.58 lbs, including his 1.95 lb Shaws Mill lunker winner. Jim Miller & Mark Edmeads rounded out the top three with a total of five bass for 6.12 lbs. |
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| Scorcher at the Canal -
7/23/2011 With air temperatures around 100 and water temps in the low 90's, things were cooking at Salem Canal. We shorten the tournament by a half hour (ending at 11:30 am) and advised everyone to take extra good care of the fish in their livewells. Six of the seven participating teams brought fish to the scales (and rumor had it that the seventh team had a keeper and tossed it). Al Franchetta, fishing solo again, took the tourney with a five bass limit weighing 6.82 lbs (after a dead fish penalty). In a close finish, Zeke Zellman & Wade Schoonover took 2nd with a five-bass limit weighing 6.39 lbs and Dave Lloyd & Jerrod Lloyd took 3rd with a limit weighin 6.23 lbs. On a day when all of the fish weighed in were pretty small, Al Franchetta took lunker with a 2.17 lb bass. |
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| Everyone Found 'Em at Sunset -
7/16/2011 All nine teams entered in our tournament at Sunset Lake weighed in fish. Dennis Snyder & Greg Lentz won with a five bass limit weighing 7.65 lbs (after a dead fish penalty). They beat out Al Franchetta who was fishing solo and had a limit weighing a net 7.05 lbs after an even larger dead fish penalty. Due to Al's penalty on his kicker fish, Fred Lentz took the lunker prize with his 2.98 lb bass. |
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| Tough Day at Maurice River -
7/09/2011 Most teams were able to get some small stripers, perch or short bass to bite, but keeper bass were hard to come by at our Maurice River tourney. Zeke Zellman and Wade Schoonover brought in three bass for 5.89 lbs, anchored by Wade's nice 2.43 lb smallmouth, to take the win by more than two pounds. Sub-partner Rob Stefka, fishing with his father Bill Ridel, took the lunker prize with a 2.64 lb largemouth. Only seven keeper bass were weighed in by the eight teams that participated in the tourney. |
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| Scott Bowen's Big Lunker Anchors Bag
at Assunpink -
6/25/2011 At Lake Assunpink, Scott Bowen weighed in the second heaviest bass in our club's history -- a 6.92 pound beauty. With their 9.79 lb three-bass bag, he and partner Bill Ridel took the easy win. Zeke Zellman and Wade Schoonover had their second top-three finish in a row with a three-bass 5.77 lb bag. Nine teams participated in the tourney and a total of twelve bass were weighed in. |
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| Childs Team Takes Lenape Again -
6/18/2011 Pat and Jeff Childs won our Lake Lenape tournament for the second year in a row. Their five bass limit weighed 13.50 lbs. Jim Miller and Mark Edmeads also had a limit which weighed 9.71 lbs and put them in 2nd place. Wade Schoonover took the lunker prize with a nice 4.56 lb bass. Nine teams participated. |
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| One Big One at Davis Mill - 4/9/2011 Some cold nights and a rainstorm prior to the tournament led to a tough day of fishing at Davis Mill Pond. Many participants had no bites all day. Mark Edmeads caught a fat 5.76 lb bass to take the lunker prize and the win with partner Jim Miller. Only nine keepers were weighed in by the twelve teams in the tourney. Things started off badly in the morning when one team had their fiberglass bass boat slide off the trailer onto the asphalt ramp, but fortunately it appeared that damage was minimal. |
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| A Little Better at Rainbow - 4/2/2011 With the air temperatures a little bit warmer than in the previous couple of weeks, the fish were somewhat more active for our Rainbow Lake tournament. Bill Duckardt fishing solo brought in a five-bass limit weighing 9.59 lbs to take the win. His 2.66 lb kicker, one of several he had in the two & a half pound range, won the lunker prize. The twelve teams in attendance weighed in a total of 18 bass. Following the weigh-in, most of the club members stayed to do a shoreline and parking lot clean-up. (Our club "adopted" Rainbow Lake last year as part of a Fish & Wildlife program to have bass clubs adopt Wildlife Management Area lakes.) A lot of trash, including a tire and some 4x4 lumber, was collected and hauled away. Thanks to Joe Nemeth for disposing of the collected trash and to Pat Childs for venturing in the marshland to retrieve that "hard to reach trash" and to Dave Reeves & Rod Blomdahl for providing refreshments for the volunteers. Everyone who participated should feel proud of their accomplishment. |
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| Cold One at Union -
3/26/2011 Frigid air temperatures and windy conditions made for tough fishing conditions at our Union Lake tournament. Several teams bailed out early and half of the fourteen participating teams didn't bring any keepers to the scale. Although this was billed as a ten fish tournament, it only took four bass to win it all. For the second week in a row, Chris Oeser and Ken Merlock had the winning bag -- four smallmouths for 8.36 lbs, winning by more than three pounds. John Franchetta took the lunker prize with a 3.59 lb largemouth, edging out Rod Blomdahl's 3.26 lb contender. Only 14 keepers were weighed in by the fourteen teams. Seven of those 14 bass were smallies. |
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| Fightin' the Wind at Parvin -
3/19/2011 Although the skies were sunny all day, high winds kept our Parvin Lake tourney from being much fun for most of the teams. Chris Oeser and Ken Merlock managed to catch three keepers over the 15" minimum and took the win with 8.97 lbs. Their bag was anchored by Ken's 5.17 lb lunker winner. Twelve teams participated, bringing in a total of 14 keepers. |
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| Slim Pickins at Sunset - 3/12/2011 After several days of rain during the week, Sunset Lake looked like coffee with extra cream. Bites were very hard to come by, but Bill Duckardt & Jimmy Ohono were able to bring in two keepers for 3.78 lbs to take the win. They edged out Al Franchetta & John Franchetta who had one bass for 3.61, which took lunker. The twelve teams in the tournament weighed in a total of seven bass. Tough day. |
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| Hawg Hunters Get-Together Held
- 11/20/2010 Our annual club get-together was held at Rick Lentz' house on November 20. The group enjoyed lots of good food & beverages, billiards, fishing stories, a review of the past season and a presention of plaques. Click here to view photos from the event. |
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| Lentz & Nemeth Take Hawg Hunters
Classic; Oeser & Merlock Take Championship - 9/26/2010 Fred Lentz & Joe Nemeth took this year's "Hawg Hunters Classic" by weighing in a good 8.88 lb limit on Day 1 at Salem Canal and a decent 3.69 lb three-bass bag on Day 2 at Sunset Lake. Fred also took the lunker prize on Day 1 with a 2.49 lb bass (edging out Al Franchetta's entry by .02 lb). Dennis Snyder & Greg Lentz finished Day 1 in last place with a .83 lb bass, but came on like gangbusters on Day 2 with a nice 8.41 lb limit to finish in second place in the tournament. Third place in the Classic was taken by Jim Miller & Mark Edmeads who had decent bags of fish on both days and Mark's nice 4.01 lunker winner on Day 2. Eight teams participated. Despite their sixth place finish in the Classic, Chris Oeser & Ken Merlock Sr clinched the club championship by a wide margin over the teams below them. They, along with Bill Duckardt & Jimmy Ohono and Zeke Zellman & Steve Barrett, qualified to represent our club in the SJBCA Bass Bowl on October 17. |
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| Some Good Bags at Bargaintown
- 9/18/2010 Seven of the eight participating teams at our Bargaintown Lake tourney brought fish to the scales and we had three teams bring in bags that weighed over ten pounds. Dennis Snyder & Greg Lentz's four-fish bag weighed 10.91 lbs. They edged out Chris Oeser & Ken Merlock who had a five-bass limit for 10.64 lbs and Fred Lentz & Joe Nemeth who had a five-bass limit that weighed 10.34 lbs. Zeke Zellman took the lunker prize for the second week in a row with his 3.82 lb bass. The average weight of the bass brought in was 2.08 lbs. Following the tournament we held our annual club barbecue at Ken Merlock's home. A good time was had by all who attended. |
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| Sortin' Through the Shorts at Malaga
- 9/11/2010 Most teams reported catching numerous short fish in our ten-bass tournament at Malaga Lake and none of them managed to bring in the increased limit. Al & MaryAnne Franchetta did weigh in six keepers for 7.29 lbs to take the win. They won by about a pound over Fred Lentz & Joe Nemeth who had five bass for 6.32 lbs and Chris Oeser & Ken Merlock who had five for 6.25 lbs. Zeke Zellman took the lunker prize with a 2.26 lb bass. For the second tournament in a row only eight teams participated. |
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| Stewart Slightly Better than Newton
- 8/28/2010 Although no limits were brought in and no giants were weighed in, the fishing action was a bit better at Stewart Lake than it had been over the past several weeks. Most teams reported a lot of shorts being caught, if not keepers. Jim Miller and Mark Edmeads picked up their first club win with a four-bass bag weighing 5.77 lbs. Rod Blomdahl took the lunker prize with a 2.41 lb bass. Eight teams participated in the tourney. |
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| Newton Worse than Mirror - 8/22/2010 Just when we thought the fishing couldn't get any worse, we found terrible fishing conditions at Newton Lake. Of the nine teams entered, only three weighed in any keepers. Zeke Zellman & Steve Barrett weighed in four bass for 5.47 lbs to take the win. Al Franchetta, fishing solo, weighed in two bass for 3.87 lbs to take 2nd and lunker (2.30 lbs). Dave Lloyd & Jerrod Lloyd weighed in one bass for 1.59 lbs. That was all of the fish weighed in. Thanks to Greg Lentz for providing steamed hot dogs, sauerkraut and soft drinks following the weigh-in. |
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| All Small Ones at Mirror - 8/14/2010 Although twenty-seven bass were weighed in at our Mirror Lake tournament, they averaged only .90 pounds a piece. Zeke Zellman, fishing solo, brought in a five-bass limit that was slightly above average at 5.16 lbs and took the win. His 1.30 lb "kicker fish" took the lunker prize. Zeke beat out the other five bass limits weighed in by Chris Oeser & Ken Merlock (4.51 lbs) and Dave Lloyd & Jerrod Lloyd (4.18 lbs). Nine teams participated in the tournament. |
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| Sparse Attendance and Keepers at the
Flats - 8/7/2010 Only four teams showed up for a trial big water tournament at the Susquehanna Flats in Maryland. The team of Jerrod Lloyd & Dave Lloyd picked up the lunker winner at the launch ramp with minutes to go and took the win. Their three bass bag weighed 6.87 lbs and Jerrod's lunker was 3.44 lbs. Bill Duckardt and Jimmy Ohono weighed in a four bass bag for 6.77 lbs, missing first by a tenth of a pound. |
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| A Scramble to Find Big Fish -
7/31/2010 Our annual Cedarville/Shaws Mill Scramble was a rare one where decent sized bass were very hard to come by. The team of Dennis Snyder & Greg Lentz weighed in a decent 8+ pound bag at Cedarville to take a big lead, but couldn't follow it up at Shaws Mill. Chris Oeser & Ken Merlock Sr found enough small keepers at both ponds to take the win with a total of 10.21 lbs (6.70 lbs + 3.51 lbs), winning by .75 lb. Bill Duckardt took lunker at Cedarville with a 2.35 lb bass (the heaviest bass of the tournament!). Zeke Zellman took lunker at Shaws Mill with a 1.44 lb bass. Twelve teams participated. |
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| A Few Teams Found 'Em at the Canal -
7/24/2010 On a hot tournament day at the Salem Canal, a few teams brought in good bags, but most teams struggled to find keepers. Al Franchetta and sub partner John Franchetta brought in a five-bass limit for 11.86 lbs. That was a club record for a five-bass bag at the Canal and won by a wide margin. Their limit included John's 3.57 lb bass that tied for the lunker win. Pat Childs also brought in a 3.57 lb lunker winner. Nine teams participated in the tournament. Thanks to Scott Bowen for organizing things. |
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| Slow Day at Sunset - 7/17/2010 Our Sunset Lake tournament got off to a late start after we waited for local lightning to pass over. Maybe that had an effect on the fishing. At this usually very productive lake not many bass were weighed in (no limits) and big ones were hard to come by. Bill Duckardt & Jimmy Ohono brought in four bass for 8.97 lbs to take the easy win. Al Franchetta's 3.14 lb bass took the lunker prize. Nine teams participated with six of them weighing in keepers. After the tournament, many club members headed to Rainbow Lake to do another shoreline clean-up of this lake we adopted. A couple of photos from that effort are posted on the Sunset tournament results page. |
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| Lotta Keepers at Lenape - 7/10/2010 After not fishing Lake Lenape last year due to sculling events every weekend during the spring, we decided to fish it in the summer this season. The lake did not disappoint. Despite a steady rain all day and through the weigh-in, all eleven teams brought in keepers and six teams had at least four keepers. Thirty-nine bass were weighed in. The team of Pat Childs and sub-partner Jeff Childs weighed in a five bass limit for 12.20 lbs to take the win. They won by two pounds over Fred Lentz & Joe Nemeth. Dennis Snyder weighed in a fat 4.97 bass to take the lunker win. That was the best of many lunker entries on this day. |
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| One Team Found Them at Assunpink -
6/26/2010 Only five of the ten participating teams managed to weigh in a keeper at our Lake Assunpink tournament and only one of those five weighed in more than two. The team of Scott Bowen and Bill Ridel weighed in a nice four-bass 10.46 lb bag for the win. The Duckardt/Ohono team had two bass. Carl Huff's lunker winning 4.63 lb bass was good enough for 3rd place. Two other teams also had one bass each and that was it. Congratulations to the teams who were able to find keepers in the extreme heat. |
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| Battle Against the Vegetation at
East Creek Pond - 6/19/2010 Participants in our East Creek Pond tournament had to deal with very heavy vegetation and hot air temperatures. Despite those conditions (or maybe because of them) three teams brought in five-bass limits and every team weighed in at least one keeper. Bill Duckardt & Jimmy Ohono took the win with their five-bass bag weighing 8.81 lbs. Jimmy's 2.84 lb kicker fish took the lunker win. Ten teams participated in the tourney. |
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| Big Crowd on Annual Kerr Trip -
5/9/2010 Our annual trip to Kerr Reservoir in southern Virginia had fifteen fishermen in attendance (seven boats). The weather was warm and sunny every day, and not a drop of rain fell during our five days there. The average size of the bass caught seemed smaller than in past years, with short fish dominating every boat's catch. But some decent fish were brought to the weigh-ins. As usual, the highlights of the trip were the group meals hosted by the crews of four of the boats (Lentz, Bowen, Miller, Duckardt). Click here for full details and photos from the trip. |
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| Rainbow Lake Clean-up Goes Well -
4/10/2010 As part of our club's "adoption" of Rainbow Lake WMA, we agreed to perform several shoreline clean-ups there each year. The first of those was held after our tournament weigh-in there (and even got started prior to the weigh-in). We cleaned up the parking lot, the ramp area, the Landis Avenue shoreline and portions of the shoreline below the dam. Almost everyone helped out and we ended up with four bags of trash and one large bag of recylable materials (aluminum, plastic, glass). The recylables were taken to the local township recyling center and the State will be picking up the bags of trash. Thanks to Dave Reeves for bringing cold sodas for the work crew and to Chris Oeser for bringing a box of gloves. Everyone who participated can pat yourselves on the back. We'll be scheduling another clean-up there sometime after the NJ bass closed ends. |
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| Howling Winds at Rainbow -
4/10/2010 What looked like was going to be a warm sunny day, instead saw high winds and low wind-chill temperatures at our Rainbow Lake tournament. Despite the challenging conditions most teams managed at pick up at least one keeper bass. The team of Rod Blomdahl & Dave Reeves got a good one very early in the morning and ended up with four bass for 9.03 lbs to win the tournament. Their bag was anchored by Rod's 3.56 lb lunker winner. Thirteen teams participated in the tournament and weighed in a total of twenty-one bass. |
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| A Record-Breaker at Davis Mill -
4/3/2010 After not having fished at Davis Mill Pond since 1997 (our only other tournament held there), we returned this year despite expected challenges with the small size of the pond, the poor condition of the ramp, the awkwardness of the launching area and a lack of parking space. At least one member of the club was rewarded for our perseverence. Chris Oeser weighed in the heaviest bass ever brought to one of our club's weigh-ins, breaking our previous club record (held by his partner Ken Merlock Sr) by almost 8 tenths of a pound. Chris' 7.48 lb fatty lunker winner anchored his team's 10.87 lb bag to take the tournament win. Twelve teams participated in the tournament. And, as usual, a big Hawg Hunters thanks goes to Rod Blomdahl for his annual gift of coconut creme Easter eggs to all of the club members (from Rauhauser's Own Make Candies, 721 Asbury Ave, Ocean City, NJ). |
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| Another Slow One at Union -
3/27/2010 After a week of nice warm weather, on the night before our tournament at Union Lake the air temperatures dropped into the 20's. The morning of the tournament saw cold temperatures and windy conditions. A lake which had been giving up nice bags of bass a week earlier almost shut down for us. The team of Ken Merlock Sr and sub partner Mark Woody brought in two smallmouths weighing 3.63 lbs to take the win. In a very close finish at the top of the board, Dennis Snyder & Greg Lentz had 3.51 lbs, Al Franchetta & sub partner John Franchetta had 3.47 lbs and Dave Sprigg Sr & Lynn Sprigg had 3.26 lbs (Dave's lunker winner). Thirteen teams participated and only fourteen bass were weighed in (nine of them smallmouths). Tough day. On a brighter note, at least three club members caught brook trout during the tournament. |
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| Club Member Ships Out -
3/26/2010 (updated 5/19/2010) South Jersey Hawg Hunters member Joe Bartlett, a member of the Air National Guard, was deployed to Iraq in mid-March. His deployment is expected to last two or three months. His partner Wade Schoonover reports that Joe is expected back in the States around May 20. |
 Joe Bartlett (left) with partner Wade Schoonover |
| Not Many at Parvin -
3/20/2010 Despite beautiful warm and sunny weather conditions, very few keepers were brought to the scales at our first tournament of the season at Parvin Lake. Twelve teams participated, but only six keeper (15 inch) bass were weighed in. The team of Scott Bowen and Bill Ridel took first place with their two bass bag weighing 4.79 lbs. That was anchored by Bill's 3.01 lb lunker winner. There was a tie for 2nd between the Chris Oeser & Ken Merlock team and John Chattley each with one bass for 2.38 lbs. |
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