WBM Event #2 - Lake Lillinonah

Doucette Doubles Down at Lillinonah

Lake Lillinonah

April 8, 2018

by Gary Menchen

Watershed Bassmasters held its second tournament of the 2018 season on Lake Lillinonah Sunday April 8th. And to summarize, it was one tough derby. Half the field skunked. The rest had only a couple of bites and only one limit was brought to the scales. The surface water temp barely tipped 40 degrees and the air temp stayed in the 30s all day. Those conditions along with a cold northern wind which gusted up to 25MPH at times made for a very uncomfortable day.

Jordon Doucette had five bites, fished clean and boated all of them for a 11.57lb total. Catching fish on your first cast of the day is considered bad luck by many and it looked as if that would ring true for Jordon. After catching a keeper largemouth on his very first cast of the morning, it wasn’t until 1:30 PM until he felt that familiar “tap-tap” on the end if his line. Once the clouds rolled in, the smallmouth seemed to be a bit more cooperating as he was able to boat 4 of them over the next couple of hours. Jordon utilized a hair jig deep all day, deeper than 25’ was the only depth he could get bit.

Second place went to Greg Menchen who had four bites yet was only able to put 3 of them in the livewell. His total bag of smallmouth came in at 6.66lbs. Greg caught all of them on blade baits at about the 23’ level.

Joe Raguzin finished in third place with his pair of smallies weighing in at 4.50lbs. Big Joe fished swimbaits deep and said the bites were very light as the fish just loaded up on his rod.

Lunker for the tournament went to Rob Lopez for his beautiful 4.47lb smallmouth which Rob tricked into biting a Rat L Trap as he yo-yoed the bait in deep water. Rob is always a threat to compete for big-fish honors any time he’s on the water.

After the first two events, Jordon has jumped out to a substantial 17 1/2lb lead over Tommy Rosato in the race for the 2018 AOY title. Doucette has the opportunity to tie a club record of three tournament victories in a row if he wins again at Highland Lake on April 22nd. Hopefully this never-ending winter will loosen its grip and we can get into some good pre-spawn fishing.

See you there!

WBM Event #1 - 5th Annual Poppa J Memorial Opener

Miss you Poppa J...

Miss you Poppa J...

Candlewood Lake

by Gary Menchen

On Sunday March 25th the Watershed Bassmasters opened the 2018 season with the 5th Annual Poppa J Memorial Opener on Candlewood Lake. Snow was falling as we launched our boats into the 38 degree water. Last year’s AOY Timmy Thompson had the honor of being boat #1. He and the remaining bundled-up fisherman idled past the start boat at 8AM and raced off to their starting areas.

What was to happen in the next ½ hour was amazing as Jordon Doucette, actually the last boat off, knew where he was going and what to expect. His only concern was the late start time. Wishing the takeoff time could have been an hour earlier, he knew his window of opportunity was short and he needed to catch 'em quick. He felt that because of the extremely cold water temp and that it would not be warming up significantly during the day, there would be an early bite and then things would slow down. That belief paired with some prior history this time of year served Jordon well. By 8:30 AM he had 4 quality fish in the livewell including his biggest fish over 5 lbs. Soon thereafter he had his limit. As the action slowed for the rest of the day, he culled up once 20.89 lbs. of Smallmouth. Doucette reported having 8 bites during the day and caught all of his fish on swim-baits. Blade baits & hair jigs were also thrown but could not get bit on those lures. This was Jordon's first ever Watershed B/M victory, a super win he'll never forget.

Lightning struck twice as WBM sophomore Tommy Rosato caught the pool winning lunker fish again for the second year in a row on the same lake. Tom's 5.16 lb smallmouth edged Jordon's biggest fish by a scant .02 of a pound and he walked away with money. Rosato finished in the runner-up position with a total catch of 3 smallmouth for 11.77. Fishing out of the back of Jordon’s boat, Tommy threw swimbaits and a tube for most of the day.

Timmy “the original Hammer” Thompson took third place with 2 smallmouth at 6.33 lbs, making it a CT trifecta beat down.

We would like to welcome 4 new members to Watershed this year. Johnny “Bear-Paw” Olsen, Kevin Rudolph, Tony Fortugno, and Chris Cain.

Got to give a shout out to those who made an upgrade in the boat department during the off season. Tim Thompson is now running a Skeeter FX20, Bryan Gudd with a sharp looking Triton TR21 HP and Ricky Faubert entered boater ranks with an Astro 1850. Good luck guys with your new rides.

The next club tournament is Sunday Apr 8 on Lake Lillnonah, see you all there for an 8AM start.

WBM Event #12 - Copake Lake

Decker Doubles Down

Copake Lake

October 29, 2017

by Gary Menchen

The 2017 club tournament season for Watershed Bassmasters ended with the final event on Copake Lake on Sunday Oct 29. The conditions were less than stellar with steady rain & wind all day but temps in the low 60's made it bearable. Local talent dominated the field with the top four anglers calling Copake their home lake.

First place was claimed by young Scott Decker, our otherwise touring pro who can normally be found anywhere in the state fishing a number of bigger tournaments. Scott's limit weighed in at 9.88 lbs and were caught fishing the “Ned Rig”. He said he was fishing around 10 to 12 feet deep at the outside weed edge. This was Scott's second WBM win of the year. Decker's rider Joe Raguzin also fished the “Ned” using his homemade hand-poured fat plastics in a green pumpkin color. His two fish at 3.95 lbs gathered him the top non boaters check.

Second place went to Watershed's rookie Sean Gottschalk whose limit weighed 8.60 lbs. Sean's boat almost never leaves Copake Lake and he used his local knowledge of the lake well. He fished an in-line spinner most of the day and also had the tournaments lunker, a 4.53 lb largemouth.

Greg Menchen fished various spots junk fishing to catch his 8.50 lb limit. With only 4 fish in his well with less than ½ hour remaining, Greg ran to a number's spot to fill out his creel and actually cull a fish. Fourth place was Gary Menchen with one fish short of a limit. His 7.82 weight was with all brown fish caught as shallow as 1 foot and as deep as 24 feet.

Watershed Basssmaster’s 2017 “Angler of the Year” is Timmy “The Original Hammer” Thompson. This is Tim's second club title putting him among the few who have won multiple AOL's. His formula for success this year was to concentrate on the spring spawning tournaments, the big weight “all-nighters” and then try to hang on for the remaining events. Congratulations to a long time member and this proves nice guys can finish first. Timmy now will captain Watershed's 2018 team at the NY State BASS Nation's Club Team Championship on Cayuga Lake next July. Rounding out the team are Bryan Gudd, Greg Menchen, Andy Krayewsky, Gary Menchen, and John Ogolik.

Watershed Bassmasters will host the annual “Turkey Trot Tournament” on Lake Mahopac Sunday Nov 19. If interested contact Gary Menchen for details. Our annual awards & season “kick-off” banquet will be in March, date & venue TBA.

WBM Event #11 - Highland Lake

Gudd Gets'em Good

Highland Lake

October 8, 2017

by Gary Menchen

On a wet & windy Sunday on October 8th, the Watershed Bassmasters visited the heavily fished Highland Lake, CT. Predictably the results were less than stellar without one 5 fish limit being brought to the scales.

There always needs to be a winner and Bryan Gudd stepped up and took the honors with his 4 fish bag weighing a modest 8.21 lbs. Bryan said his fish came in an afternoon flurry and were all caught on swim-baits. One his fish took the lunker check and weighed in at 3.38 lbs. This was Gudd's third win of the year and in the 2017 WBM standings he sits in second place trailing Timmy Thompson with one event left.

Second place was claimed by Scott Decker who fished shallow all day with plastics and in third was Gary Menchen who landed his first & last bite of the day with a bunch of prematurely released smallies in between.

The top non -boater was Slick Rick Faubert fishing with Greg Menchen.

The last club tournament of the year will be on Copake Lake, Sunday October 29th. As always, the final season standings will determine the Watershed Bassmasters 6-man team for the NYSBCF Club Team Championship next July on Cayuga Lake.

A reminder to all that Andy Krayewsky has begun collected dues for the 2018 season. Any prospective new members can contact Gary Menchen for information about the club at garym45@aol.com.

See y'all at Copake.

Gudd

Decker

CASH MONEY $$$ - Gudd, Decker, Menchen, Faubert

WBM Event #10 - Oscawana Lake

Greg wins Oscawana

Oscawana Lake

September 24, 2017

by Gary Menchen

It was a hot September day with the temp well over 90 degrees and lots of boat traffic on this small Putnam County lake. The boys of Watershed Bassmasters had a difficult task to figure out where the bass were and how to catch them. Two weeks earlier the surface water temp was about 60 degrees but by tournament day had risen to 75 confusing the fish terribly.

When the shallow bite is non-existent and even the deep bite is tough is when Greg Menchen is at his best with his ability to fish super slow and meticulously. Such was the case Sunday on Oscawana when Greg boated 5 of his 6 bites to weigh in his 12.76lbs of largemouth bass including a 4.64lb'er. As is often the case, Greg caught most of the fish later in the day after determining the location, depth and the presentation needed. Small jigs & plastics were the key although one fish was caught early on a top water bait. Greg had the only limit in the tournament

Second place went to Bryan Gudd who is always a threat to win any time he gets in his boat. Bryan's four bass weighed 12.16lbs and included a 5.45lb beast of a bass which was the tournament lunker.  Gudd fished “beaver type” plastics on deep weed edges most of the day after he could not get bit on his favorite drop shot baits. A mental lapse in bagging the fish from his live well forgetting one small keeper probably cost him 1st place. Bet that will never happen again!

 David Hadley fished his butt off and was “proud' to bring 3 good fish to the scales. His weight of 7.38lbs earned David a third place check. Hadley, normally a power fisherman, fished finesse worms to dupe his bass.

Joe Raguzin was the top non boater with his 3 fish for 3.38 lbs. Rags fished with Rob Lopez who had 4 fish 6.95lbs. Neither angler had a fish in the boat spending first few hours shallow. Once they moved off to the deeper weed edge, they began to find some action on the drop shot.

With two tournaments remaining, Timmy Thompson has a solid hold on the #1 position as he tries to knock off 3 time defending WBM champ John Ogolik. Next event is Sunday Oct. 8 on Highland Lake in CT, see ya all there.

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12.76

Greg caught most of the fish later in the day using small jigs & plastics

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12.16

Gudd fished “beaver type” plastics on deep weed edges most of the day. His 5.45lb LMB was the tournament lunker

Hadley_Oscawana_17.jpg

7.38

Hadley, normally a power fisherman, used fished finesse worms to catch his fish

Winner Circle: Menchen, Gudd, Hadley, Raguzin

WBM Event #9 - Candlewood Night

Too Dark for Pics

Candelwood Lake Night

August 12, 2017

by Gary Menchen

The original forecast was for a chance of thunder & showers but the night owls of Watershed got lucky this time around and the evening turned out to be a warm and pleasant with plenty of moonlight. Most anglers spoke of a tough bite but the Candlewood Lake locals showed the rest of the club a thing or two about how to catch 'em after dark. This was the 9th of 12 points tournaments in the 2017 race to the AOY title. 

Timmy “The Hammer” Thompson's 5 fish limit weighed in at 15.70lbs which not only was the winning bag but also extended his overall lead to almost 10lbs over Andy Krayewsky in the race for AOY with 3 tournaments to go. As most of the fisherman did, Timmy threw top-water (Jitterbugs) all night.

Second place went to Jordon Doucette with 15.06 lbs. After going to his “Lucky Dock” as always for his first fish, Doucette got off the bank and fished deep crank baits in 15-20 feet of water the rest of the night. This tactic was contrary to the rest of the field which threw topwater but turned out to be quite successful for Jordon. Proving his youthful endurance, Jordon had worked Saturday, fished the tournament all night and then headed back to work on Sunday.

Rounding out the top three was still another Connecticut stick Johnny Ogolik with 13.97lbs and his limit of smallies were also duped by top water baits. His 4.41lb smallmouth was edged out for lunker by Bruce Nethercott's 4.52 fish. Bruce utilized a spinner bait for his catch.

Baits of choice tonight were the usual suspects. Top waters (jitterbugs & ploppers) and sub-surface (spinner baits & chatter baits). All but 1 fish was released alive as our members continue to do an excellent job with fish care this season.

Our next club tournament is scheduled for Sunday Sept 24 on beautiful Lake Oscawana in Putnam County, NY.  This weedy and rocky lake boasts good population of largemouth bass (as well as nuisance pickerel) bass and should produce some quality fish as always. 

WBM Event #8 - Hudson River

Hadley Handles the Hudson...easily 

Hudson River

July 23, 2017

by Gary Menchen

Watershed sophomore David Hadley won his first regular season tournament on the mighty Hudson River, Sunday July 23. Launching from the Charles Rider Park in Kingston, David used his years of experience on the river to his advantage. Running north he fished on “hard cover” during the outgoing tide. A spinner bait accounted for his bigger fish including the 4.91lb fat largemouth bass which took the lunker money. Dave also used a crank bait to grab a few smallmouth. What would have been his limit fish bounced off the gunnel as he attempted to swing it in. Even with one fish short of his limit, Dave had more than enough weight to win. Dave's mixed bag of 13.34lbs easily took top honors.

Non boater Kevin Bradley finished second with three good smallmouth weighing in at 7.13lbs. After catching 3 or 4 fish that barely missed reaching the 15” minimum size limit, Kevin kept throwing his chatterbait and caught the fish he weighed in. Two of his smallies came from one of the Hudson's many “suck holes”.

Andy Krayewsky took third place money with his 2 bass that he duped on a t-rigged Zoom worm caught early in the day.

Some nice bass were caught but the 15” minimum size kept the weights low. Wayne Mahood & “Slick Rick” Faubert reported many shorts as did Rob Lopez. Timmy Thompson throwing his A-rig reported that the rivers striped bass population had a craving for that bait. Next on the agenda is the second all-nighter on Candlewood Lake, Saturday August 12. This is historically the biggest weight event of the season so those on the bubble have a great chance of getting right back into the AOY race.

Timmy Thompson continues to lead in the AOY race, can he be derailed? Candlewood Lake will go a long way in determining that. See you all there.

Top 3...Hadley, Bradley, Krayewsky

WBM Event #7 - Mahopac Night

Knights of the Night 

Mahopac Night

July 8, 2017

by Gary Menchen

The evening showers ended just in time for the boys of Watershed to commence the first of 2 night tournaments in the 2017 season. The remainder of the night was dry and pleasant with just a slight breeze out of the north. With a full moon and all the shoreline lights, one barley need a flashlight or head lamp. The fireworks & party music that kept us entertained until midnight was soon followed by the quietness of a mid-summer night. The fishing was good as 12 of the 14 anglers brought limits to the scales.

When the scales closed, the winner was Bryan Gudd with a 14.41lb mixed sack of bass. Gudd also made it a clean sweep nailing the lunker money as well with his 4.18lb fish. Fishing his signature “drop-shot rig”, he culled his way to his second win of the year.  

After missing in action since last year, we had to call out the dogs to find him, Bruce Nethercott made the most out of his 2017 debut with a 13.32lb limit. This garnered Cuz with the second place check.  Bruce fished his normal variety of baits including jigs, spinnerbaits & topwater. 

Defending AOY John Ogolik placed third with an 11.76lb limit. Starting shallow Johnny moved slightly deeper fishing weeds all night also fishing weeds and shoreline cover.

“Slick Rick” Faubert was the top rider with a fine 11.41lb limit.

Timmy Thompson, Greg Menchen, & Andy Krayewsky rounded out the top six. Watershed will next visit the historic Hudson River on Sunday July 23rd. It has been six years since the club has fished the Hudson and we are curious to see what awaits.

See ya on the water!

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Bryan Gudd 1st Place & Lunker

Bruce Nethercott - 2nd Place

John Ogolik - 3rd Place

Rick Faubert - Top Non-Boater

WBM 2 Day Classic - Saratoga & Ballston Lakes

The Gypsies of Watershed

June 24-25, 2017

Saratoga & Ballston Lakes

by Gary Menchen

The 2017 WBM Classic is now in the books with Greg Menchen winning his second title holding off a hard charging Rob Lopez by less than half a pound. Fishing Saratoga Lake on Saturday June 24, Greg went through three to four limits of cookie cutter bass culling his sack to a weight of 13.77 lbs. Greg’s approach on Saratoga was to “just start fishing” using multiple lures & presentations generally fishing shallow. The bites became harder to get at Ballston Lake on Sunday. For Greg and most of the other guys, this would be their first time fishing this body of water. Relying on a jig, Greg’s two bass totaling 5.29lbs gave him a two day total of 19.06 lbs.

The second place finisher Rob Lopez had 10.74 on Saratoga and then 7.93 on Ballston to almost catch Greg. Rob generally fishes slow & methodical but figured out on Ballston that the best bite occurred when he “dead-sticked” his Mann’s Jelly Worm for up to a minute near boat docks until the bass could not stand it anymore.

Making it an all Copake trifecta, third place went to Gary Menchen. As did everyone who fished, Gary had his limit on the “fish factory” Saratoga Lake, then caught three Ballston lake bass, two of which were in the last 45 minutes. Gary slowed down to fish plastic worms crawling them on the outside weed edge.

 All fished weighed were largemouth bass and as the trend has gone all year long, a different member has won every tournament. A great time was had by all who fished. The format and venues were popular and we stayed over at the motel in Clifton Park. Every one voted to do it again next year.

A big thanks to Big Joe Raguzin for bringing the grill and cooking the burgers, dogs, beans. Slick Rick also helped out with the shopping and with the cold beer. We all chilled out, the weather (after a brief morning shower on Sat) was just perfect the rest of the weekend. 

Next on the agenda for the Watershed Bassmasters is our all night tournament on Lake Mahopac on Sat July 8th. Mahopac is fishing really well at this time with large numbers of bass being caught as can be attested by the results during our club reunion last week. Don't miss this one, it's gonna be a dandy.

19.06

2017 Classic Champion

18.67

2017 Classic Runner-up

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14.72

2017 Classic 3rd Place

2017 Classic Top 3

WBM - Event #6 - Lake Champlain

Scott Decks the Competition on Champlain

Lake Champlain

June 11, 2017

by Gary Menchen

With the opening day of bass season on Lake Champlain one week earlier than the rest of NY State, Watershed B/M took advantage of the situation and fished this lake earlier than we ever have before.  And if you were not “bed fishing”, you were not “catching” as the top four anglers proved.  Even with a pretty good “blow” out of the south causing choppy to rough water conditions, some keen eyed bassers found and caught ‘em.

We have reached the halfway point of the 2017 season with 6 down and 6 to go as young stick Scott Decker won his first club event of the season. Fishing out of his brand new Bass Cat powered by a 250 Mercury, Scott brought 14.82lbs of fat bass to the scales. Decker found his mixed bag of bass on a rocky point with milfoil on both sides and caught them throwing white baits. This makes it six different anglers to win each event this this year showing the parity in Watershed this year.

Greg Menchen had his best showing thus far with a good day finishing second with 14.10 lbs. All of Greg's fish were green and caught on jigs & plastics in a 150 yard stretch of shallow water with weeds & reeds.

Third place went to Watershed rookie Tommy Rosato who is making some loud noise in the club.  Fishing with Decker, he also limited out with spawning bass. Again, he caught them on Wal-Mart purchased cheap worms. That's all this college kid can afford! Tom has the eyes of an eagle, it's good to be young. Rosato also had lunker with a 4.13lb largemouth bass. It will only be a matter of time until he wins a tournament and it will be out of the back of someone's boat.

Fourth place was claimed by Timmy Thompson whose experience and decision making showed true. Without practice (also without sleep as he drove to Champlain from CT overnight), his clear thinking got him results. Tim started out going south from the Port Henry launch but after the frustration of almost four hours and only one dink of a large mouth in his well he fired up the big motor and headed north to clearer water and search for nests. And find them he did to return to the weigh in with a 12lb 10oz limit. A rumor that he fished the beds with an “Alabama Rig” were not confirmed, actually tubes were the deal as the always are when he sight fishes.

So at the halfway point of “WBM Trail 2017”, “The Hammer”, Timmy Thompson has the taken lead in the race for AOY with 45.29lbs followed closely by Tommy Rosato who has 44.87 lbs. Greg Menchen has made a move up to third place followed by Andy Krayewsky, Bryan Gudd, and defending 3 time AOY John Ogolik. Our next regular points tournament will be the night event on Sat July 8 on Lake Mahopac. But during the break before that tx, Watershed’s Annual Classic is scheduled for the weekend of June 24 & 25. We head north again to fish the bass factories of Saratoga & Ballston Lake.  It should prove to be a great tournament with big weight's and big fish. See you all there

 

 

 

 

 

 

14.82

Decker found his mixed bag of bass on a rocky point with milfoil on both sides and caught them throwing white baits.

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14.10

All of Greg's fish were green and caught on jigs & plastics in a 150 yard stretch of shallow water with weeds & reeds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13.09

Tommy caught them on cheap worms he purchased at Wal-Mart purchased. That's all this college kid can afford! 

Rosato also claimed the lunker for the event. A 4.13lb LMB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12.10

Tim targeted bedding fish using A-Rigs tipped with tubes and wacky senkos :-)