Gudd Gets Going
Lake Mahopac Night
July 28, 2018
by Gary Menchen
On Saturday night July 28 Watershed Bassmasters visited Lake Mahopac for their second and final all-nighter of the season after fishing Candlewood several weeks earlier. A late afternoon shower cleared out before we launched and a clear, star filled night followed. Soon after sunset, the commotion of boat traffic ceased but the fireworks and music from the shore lined houses continued. And so a very good night of fishing ensued. Although lacking the size of some of the Candlewood giants, Maho more than made up for it quantity as the bite was on from start to finish and the entire field caught limits with a large variety of baits.
Bryan Gudd, a former WBM “Angler of the Year” won his first tournament of the year bringing 13.52 lbs. of largemouth bass to the scales including the night’s lunker, a 3.69 largemouth. When pressed for “how he did it” Gudd said he started deep the first thing but when it wasn't happening he moved much shallower. Throwing top-water baits and ripping black spinnerbaits thru the weeds he culled up to his winning weight. And as always, Bryan said he lost a very big fish at the boat.
The runner-up was Jordon Doucette with 12.57 lbs., all of which were smallmouth bass. After starting shallow and moving deeper (much deeper) Doucette utilized “day-time” tactics throwing swimbaits in 20-30 feet of water. Explaining that his smaller largemouth bass in the well would not cash a check, he did what he does best in utilizing his electronics to find schools of bait and fish in those areas.
Placing third just .06 lbs. behind Jordon was Greg Menchen with his limit of largemouth bass weighing 12.51 lbs. When his top-water bite produced only small keepers he went to moving baits to catch what he would bring to the scales.
The top non-boater was Chris “The Kid” Caine. Fishing with Doucette he had to adjust to the deep-water bite Jordon had found so out came his drop-shot rig for some smallie action. Chris' fish weighed in at 10.74 lbs.
Mahopac now joins Lakeville & Saratoga as the most popular venues for numbers of fish caught while Candlewood & Ballston Lakes have been producing the bigger fish.
Jordon Doucette maintains his huge lead in the 2018 “Angler of the Year” race with the rest of the top-six for next year’s club team very close together in the standings. Our next derby will be held on East Twin Lake in N/W Connecticut. This deep and clear trout lake will be a test for all with a deep water bite expected. See you all there.
