Thompson Snatches Congamond Win
Congamond Lakes
May 7, 2017
by Gary Menchen
With the 4th of 12 points tournaments now complete, we are officially 1/3 through the 2017 WBM Tournament Trail. It is depressing to realize that Spring has yet to fully arrive. And in less than 6 short weeks, the days will again start to get shorter. This weekend we started in the rain and finished in the rain but in between it was not a bad day at all. Mostly overcast conditions prevailed but with some breaks of bright sunshine the good bed fisherman seized the opportunity and brought some good fish to the scales.
Winning his first event of the year is a former “WBM - AOY” Timmy Thompson with a fine bag of largemouth bass weighing 13.80 pounds. Besides targeting nesting bass, Tim heaved the “A Rig” in clear water as shallow as 2-3 feet (or so he said), searching for active cruisers. The “Hammer” worked through two limits of bass of near identical size.
A close second was Bryan Gudd who used a lipless crankbait and a drop-shot to bring in 13.53 pounds. Seldom does Bryan ever have a bad day and today was no exception as he competed on a lake he had never seen before.
A couple of new members, the Gottschalk brothers served notice that they are playing for keeps as both of them brought limits to the scales. Sean placed third with 12.19 pounds getting his first WBM check and Erik, had 7.15 pounds. Both caught most of their fish on small swim baits.
Fishing in the back of Timmy's boat was Kevin Bradley who did just a super job weighing 4 fish for 11.13 pounds including the days lunker, a 4.17 lb. fatty caught early in the AM on a spinnerbait. And a second a short time later on a plastic creature bait. That was it until the last hour of the tournament when he nailed two more fish including a 3 pounder, never give up. Fishing behind a vacuum cleaner like Thompson is no easy feat. Congrats to Bradley as he easily claimed the top non boater check in addition to the lunker award.
Three time WBM - AOY Johnny Ogolik was just out of the money in 4th place with 11.57 pounds. Rick, Greg, Andy, & Tommy also had a good tournament.
Next on the slate is East Twin Lake in N/W CT on Sunday May 21. This should be another good tournament with plenty of fish still on beds. Starting time for this tournament is 6:00 AM with the pairings draw at 5:15 AM. Rumor has it that a couple of lost members (boaters who have been MIA since 2016) just might make an appearance this time. See you all there.
13.80
Winning his first event of the year is a former AOY Timmy Thompson with a fine bag of largemouth bass weighing 13.80 pounds. Besides targeting nesting bass, Tim heaved the “A Rig” in clear water as shallow as 2-3 feet (or so he said), searching for active cruisers. The “Hammer” worked through two limits of bass of near identical size.
13.53
A close second was Bryan Gudd who used a lipless crankbait and a drop-shot to round out his limit. Seldom does Bryan ever have a bad day and today was no exception as he competed on a lake he had never seen before
12.19
A couple of new members, the Gottschalk brothers served notice that they are playing for keeps as both of them brought limits to the scales. Sean placed third with 12.19 pounds getting his first WBM check. Both caught most of their fish on small swim baits
11.13
Fishing in the back of Timmy's boat was Kevin Bradley who did just a super job weighing 4 fish for 11.13 pounds including the days lunker, a 4.17 lb. fatty caught early in the AM on a spinnerbait. And a second a short time later on a plastic creature bait. That was it until the last hour of the tournament when he nailed two more fish including a 3 pounder. Never give up!
Winners Circle
Thompson, Gudd, Gottschalk, Bradley
