Story by Rob Frye

[Results] [Standings] [Photos]

The season opener for the 2009 Team Bubba trail started on Lake Massabessic in Auburn, NH on April 21st. The lake has two main water bodies with one half on the Auburn side and the other on the Manchester side. We had a terrific turn-out of 39 teams coming out to fish for a little friendly competition. Massabessic had been iced-out for almost 3 weeks now giving some of the anglers time to do a little pre-fishing for this one. With all the home work that was done there still wasn't a boat load of fish caught.

The weather started off with mid 40 air temps and a constant 10 mph wind. The water temps were hovering around 51 degrees in the main water body. The big issue was the cold front snap that came in the day before, after a long week of upper 60's and some 70's on Friday. The weather was going to make it a difficult bite but then again, that's normal for early Spring fishing.

A much appreciated welcome to our new 2009 Team Tournament Directors of Tracy Gerbert Sr and Paul England. Also, at their sides to help out this year is Tracy Gerbert Jr (aka T.J.) and Wayne England. Thanks to these guys we can have at least another year of Team Bubba tournaments. These guys did a great job for this event and made the registration run smooth as possible.

At 7:45 we had our pre-tournament meeting  on the water with some mighty anxious teams ready to start fishing at our 8:00 start time. We started off the meeting with a non-traditional announcement for a Birthday boy turning 31 on the following Tuesday. So again, Happy Birthday Jim Peake (one of our previous draw and team tournament directors).

Everyone was given the quick ground rules and everyone was expected to return back at the weigh-in site by 4:00 PM. Thanks to Don Gagnon and his son Taylor for being our send-off boat. In fact, this was Taylor's first bass tournament and I am sure as you read on this will be one he won't forget.

After a long day the teams were all in by 4:00 PM, well, those that had fish to weigh in. According to witnesses there was a mass exodus just after 3 PM. It was definitely a tough bite, but at least, the weather stayed pretty comfortable for a nice day to be fishing in April.

After the new tournament directors did an excellent job for the weigh-in, the weights would be tallied and the pay-outs would be divided. On this day with 36 paid entries we would be paying out 7 spots and the 8th spot would go to the First Loser's Pool. Just to make sure everyone knows how it all works with the Team Trail. As long as there are at least 12 paid entrees the two tournament directors only have to pay half of their entry fee. If there are at least 18 paid entrees then the tournament directors don't have to pay at all. If there are at least 24 paid entrees then the Bubba Bassin Director ( yours truly) does not have to pay. This way we ensure that the pot has grown enough before awarding Free Entries. Everyone pays for the optional Lunkers and First Losers Pools if they want to participate. This is always the way its been, just in case you were curious. 90% goes to the tournament pay-outs and the rest is saved to go towards the end of the year T.O.C. cook-out and awards.

Taking first place is John Dean and Jake Faneuf bringing in 1 largemouth and 3 smallmouth. One of the smallies in their bag contained the tournament lunker smallmouth that weighed in at 2.69 lbs. Their total weight was 8.46 lbs that they caught mostly on jerk baits. They had a total of 7 keepers through out the day being caught on both jerk baits and jigs all on the Manchester side. They had a very late bite with their first fish being caught around 11:30 and finally getting their limit by 2 PM. Their lunker smallie was caught at 3 PM in 2.5 feet of water on a black jig. John Dean is also the owner of a Skeeter bass boat with a Yamaha motor. Fortunately, for him he also registered with the Skeeter Real Money program which nets him an additional $1000 on top of $625 for first place, and the $195 for winning the smallmouth lunker pool. Definitely a nice day on the water!

Second place weight was 8.36 lbs caught by the team of Bob Park Jr and Bill Cane. They took home $375 for their hard day's work - of fishing. They managed a total of 6 keepers and they did it in quick fashion with all their bites coming in a 20 minute time span between 8:10 and 8:30 AM. They found themselves a location that had a school of fish hanging on a break line in 15 to 18 feet of water with the boat positioned in 10 feet. They had one largemouth that was 2.75 lbs and their biggest smallie was 2.12 lbs. They caught all their fish on suspending jerk baits at their start spot on the Manchester side of the lake.

The team of John and his wife,Toni Diaco brought in 7.74 lbs with 1 fish shy of the 4 fish limit. They had 2 largies and 1 smallie but their kicker largie weighed in at 4.57 lbs which tied with the largie caught by the team of Tracy and TJ Gerbert. Both teams got to split the $195 lunker largemouth award. The Diaco's had their first fish at 10 AM and the last fish at 1:30 PM all caught a jig in about 6 feet of water. They took home $250 for their 3rd place efforts.

The father and son team of Don & Taylor Gagnon did a fine job as mentioned for being the send-off boat but they did even a better job at fishing. They weighed in 7.36 lbs that included 4 nice smallmouth. This was Taylor's first bass tournament and his dad mentioned that he caught most of the fish that day. Now that's exciting for a proud dad, nice job Taylor! Their biggest smallie was 2.44 lbs. They had a total of 5 keepers for the whole day catching their first fish around 9:30 and having their limit by 11:30. Most of their fish were caught on blade baits in 20 to 50'. They fished both Manchester and Auburn sides with 1/2 and 3/4 oz blade baits on 10 lb test. We look forward to seeing this newly found team again in future Team Bubba events especially taking home $160.

Fifth place went to the team of  Jeremey Hibbs and Jason Chaloux who had 7.23 lbs with 4 nice smallies. Their take-home check was worth $100. They caught their fish in 10 to 12 feet of water on jerk baits between 10:45 and 1 PM. They chose to use both bait casting gear with 12 lb test and spinning gear with a heavy 14 lb test.

Another father and son team took 6th place with 6.85 lbs. The team of Martin and Daniel Look took home $60 thanks to their total of 4 keeper fish caught throughout the day which comprised of 4 smallies. They caught their fish on jerk baits and crank baits catching their fish at 10 and then the final fish at 1:30. They caught all their fish on the Manchester side in 5 to 6 feet of water.

The team of Rob Frye and Bruce Acox only had 3 fish to weigh in which included 2 smallies and 1 largie. All three fish were caught on suspending jerk baits on the Manchester side as well. All of the fish were caught in the same area in the late AM in 3 to 10 feet of water. They all seemed to hit on the pause. They had numerous followers but no other takers. It was enough weight to take the final pay-out spot worth $50.

Coming in with just 2 largemouth was the team of Chris Jean and Birthday boy, Jim Peake. Their biggest was a 3.26 largie but the total weight of 5.21 lbs was enough to take the First Losers Pool worth $390. Jim and Chris caught their fish on a crank bait and a jig in 5 feet of water. They caught one on each side of the lake. Not a bad check for only 2 fish, congrats guys!

If you enjoy Lake Massabessic we have a Sweet Heart trail tournament coming up July 11th. For this tournament you can expect warmer weather and warmer water temps with more active fish. Also, coming up on May 3rd the Northern Bass Supply Team trail is having their event on Massy. You can get more details from their website at www.NorthernBass.com.

Our next team event will be May 17th on Lake Wampenog in Massachusetts. The new team tournament directors will have their work cut out for them. That will be their their first solo act together since I won't be at that one. So be patient and feel free to give them a helping hand. It will be much appreciated. Hope you can make it to the next one.

Quit Wishin, Go Fishing!!!