Team Frye & Acox take their third Team Bubba Win, this time on Winnipesaukee.

Story by Rob Frye
[Photos] [Full Results] [Latest Standings]

The Team Bubba Trail fished Lake Winnipesaukee for their 8th event of the 2007 Season on September 2nd. Forty One teams came out to compete for this event that was sponsored by Arma Coatings of New Hampshire. Bubba Bassin again wants to thank Arma Coatings of NH for all their support with this being the 3rd event they were donating certificates for spray-on bed liners to the top 3 teams.

It was a beautiful morning to start the day with a different protocol at registration. Instead of registering on the property of Ames Farm in Guilford, NH the tournament crew decided to have registration out on the water. Things went very smoothly and expeditiously. The competing teams all dumped their boats in and met out on the water to register for the tournament. It was also the day that we were one of the first organizations to hold the weigh-in on a large barge that was anchored off the shore line in front of the Ames Farm property. This also called for patience and accommodating assistance from the teams. During the weigh-in the teams waited for their numbers to be called in then after hearing their boat number they bagged their fish before pulling up to the barge. The boaters dropped off their non-boater partners with their bag of fish and the truck keys. The tournament crew then handed the boaters someone else's bag of fish to bring back out to the black spars out in front of Ames Farm to release the fish. Again, it was another operation that was handled smoothly.

Coming in first place was the team of Rob Frye and Bruce Acox with 20.20 lbs with 5 largies and 3 smallies. They had a kicker 4.02 lb largemouth and a 3.30 lb smallmouth caught on a drop-shot that tied with lunker smallmouth for the event. We started out fishing for largemouth on docks near Paugus and managed 4. They say never try new things for the first time in a tournament but we tried a new bait that Bruce just purchased the day before from Northern Bass Supply. It was the new Berkley "Gulp! Alive!" baits that are housed in little "buckets" full of Gulp! juice. We caught all our smallies on drop-shot using the 3" Emerald Shiner and the 3" Black Leech. With 2 hours left we then  managed to catch 3 more largies on docks but none culled, except for 1 that helped put us over the top caught on a black and blue jig. With this win it earned me my fifth $1000 bonus from the Skeeter Real Money program. Thank you again to Skeeter Boats/Yamaha, Mark Burgess and especially to our faithful Skeeter Boats dealer, Irwin Marine for submitting the Bubba Bassin trail tournaments into the Skeeter Real Money program. It’s a terrific incentive for Skeeter/Yamaha owners who especially fish any of the Bubba Bassin tournaments.
 

Taking 2nd place was the team of Doug Hume and Don Fales who brought in a nice limit of 8 smallmouth. They totaled 18.94 lbs which included a 3.07 lb smallie. They had their limit by 11:00 out in the main lake fishing spinnerbaits and gitzits. The smallies were good to them allowing them to land 20 keepers throughout the day.

Third place went to Tom Sinclair and Corey Roux who also had a nice limit of 8 smallmouth. Their total weight landed at 18.06 lbs that also included a 3.01 Winnipesaukee smallmouth. They had their limit by 11:30 and caught about 10 to 12 keepers on spiderjigs and Senkos in 12 to 25 feet of water.

The Team of Mike McNary and Victor McNary also brought in a limit of 8 smallmouth that tipped the scales at 18.03 lbs.  This would hold up for Fourth place for the day's event. They did not get their limit till noon but did manage to turn it up at the end of the day landing 25 keepers. They caught a lot of their fish on Carolina Rigged lizards in 22 to 28 feet of water. They also utilized drop-shots and football head spider jigs. Their biggest fish really caught their attention when they realized it already had a someone else's rig in it's mouth which included 3 feet of fishing line, a swivel and a 6 inch lizard.

Coming in 5th place was the team of Dave Swett and Mike Plouffe. They brought in 6 largemouth and 2 smallmouth and their total weight landed at 18.02 lbs. Due to a dead fish penalty their final total weight came to 17.52 lbs but it was still enough to take 5th. They mentioned they caught a lot of their fish on Sweet Beavers fishing tight to the docks in back bays and coves.

Sixth place went to the team of Jean Coloumbe and Sandy Oja who brought in 1 largemouth and 7 smallies. Their final weight landed at 17.31 lbs. They struggled through most of the morning and not getting their limit until 1 pm in the afternoon. They did manage to catch 12 keepers on drop-shot and Senkos in 14 to 20 feet of water.

We had a tie for 7th place. In the Bubba Bassin organization we have always allowed for ties and their was two situation that occurred on this day with the lunker smallmouth and the last pay-out spot. Both Teams of Vance Manchester and Pete DeMoya and the Team of David Tsao and Bob Hurst locked up the last pay-out spot with 17.27 lbs each. They split the final pay-out but it was the Team of Tsao and Hurst who walked away with a little bit more by catching the tournament's Lunker Largemouth that weighed in at 6.26 lbs. They brought in 2 largemouth and 6 smallmouth that also included a 3.23 lb smallie. They would have taken more but due to a dead fish penalty they had to settle with the 7th place tie. David mentioned that they had a very tough day only having 7 keepers by 2:30 pm. They ended up catching their final largie in Paugus after dropping it but coaxing the fish to bite again.

The First Losers Pool was won by Chad and Alan Barcomb who brought in 8 smallies that weighed in at 16.91 lbs. They caught their limit by 10:30 and managed to land 15 keepers using tubes and top water baits in 25 to 32 feet of water.

Taking the other half of the lunker smallmouth the team of Joe St. Germain and Peter Burkhart who caught the lunker on a Green/Brown tube bait in 15 feet of water around 11:30 which also became their 8th limit fish.

Congrats to all the winners and thanks to all the players who came out to play on Winnipesaukee. Again, we also want to thank Arma Coatings of New Hampshire for all their support.

The next event to follow for the Team Bubba trail will bring us to Squam Lake in Holderness, NH.

Quit Wishin, Go Fishing!!!