JohnR
10-24-2002, 08:58 AM
Right Krissy? (I mean Krispy :laughs: )
From Tom Meade's column in the Projo today:
http://www.projo.com/fishing/content/projo_20021024_24surf.14b62.html
R.I. surf casters win fishing club trophy
10/24/2002
By TOM MEADE
Journal Sports Writer
WESTERLY -- Perseverance paid off for a group of Rhode Island surf casters as they beat some of the best fishermen from Massachusetts and Connecticut competing for the Surf Fishing Club Challenge Trophy last weekend.
Bob Masse, representing the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association, didn't sleep for two nights so he could fish without a break. He caught the tournament's largest striped bass, an 18.95-pounder.
The winning team, representing the online community striped-bass.com, did get some sleep as they counted on experience to carry them to the top of the leaderboard. But it was a close contest as John Haberek, Mike Dauphin and Kris Keppler combined to bring 84.8 pounds of stripers and bluefish to the tournament scale.
Calling one another by their Internet handles, "Hab" (Haberek), "Tattoo" (Dauphin) and "Krissy" (Keppler) knew it would be a close contest, with none of the large bass that prevailed at the Snug Harbor Bass and Bluefish Boogie the previous weekend. Sunday morning, the striped-bass.com crew posted themselves next to the digital scale outside Weekapaug Bait & Tackle to check out their competitors' catches.
But it wasn't until the awards breakfast at the Andrea Hotel that the members of striped-bass.com learned that they had beaten the Rhode Island Mobile Sportsmen team by less than 10 pounds.
Friday, when the tournament opened, fishing conditions were grand, with a bright, waxing moon and a moderate surf.
Haberek, the maker of Hab's Lures, said his white needlefish with a Red Gill teaser was taking fish during the night at Watch Hill Light. Before dawn, he switched to an Acme Kastmaster with the teaser. He weighed in three bluefish, ranging from 10.55 to 11.85 pounds.
Masse was having luck with a Gibbs swimming plug that had a green back and a white belly. He caught three fish, bringing two for the scale and releasing the third.
A week earlier, in the Snug Harbor tournament, boat fishermen were weighing in 40-pound stripers, and surf fishermen were bringing 20-pounders to the scale. Early in last weekend's tournament, anglers were bringing just-legal fish to the scale in the hope that they would boost their team's aggregate weight. Saturday, Haberek weighed a 17.5-pound striper, and Dauphin landed a 14.85-pounder.
Saturday morning, the wind piped up, and by the afternoon, it was blowing a steady 25 knots with higher gusts at Weekapaug. Casting for distance was almost impossible.
At night, the wind and the surf dropped, but so did the bite even though the bass were visible.
"Then, as soon as it got light, the fish got very finicky," Haberek said. "You could see them and drop a plug right into the middle of a school, and nothing would happen."
There were several fish landed before dawn Sunday, but none was large enough to beat the lead that striped-bass.com had built.
Rhode Island Mobile Sportsmen was second with 75.5 pounds, Weekapaug Surfcasters finished third with 74.9 pounds, the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association was fourth with 52.85 pounds, and Pioneer Valley Boat & Surf Club finished in fifth place with 52.7 pounds.
Rich Lafaille of the Weekapaug Surfcasters caught the largest bluefish, a 12-pounder.
In its 10th year, the fishing-club tournament raised $1,075 last weekend to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
More surf fishermen will pour into Rhode Island this weekend for the Tri-State Invitational Surf Fishing Tournament, based at Weekapaug Bait & Tackle.
Several fishermen at last weekend's event predicted that surf fishing will remain good for several more weeks as striped bass and bluefish migrate through Rhode Island waters on their way south.
Again ::kewl: - great job by the guys & gals that fished the tourney and brought home the gold (well, OK - wood :p ) :claps:
From Tom Meade's column in the Projo today:
http://www.projo.com/fishing/content/projo_20021024_24surf.14b62.html
R.I. surf casters win fishing club trophy
10/24/2002
By TOM MEADE
Journal Sports Writer
WESTERLY -- Perseverance paid off for a group of Rhode Island surf casters as they beat some of the best fishermen from Massachusetts and Connecticut competing for the Surf Fishing Club Challenge Trophy last weekend.
Bob Masse, representing the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association, didn't sleep for two nights so he could fish without a break. He caught the tournament's largest striped bass, an 18.95-pounder.
The winning team, representing the online community striped-bass.com, did get some sleep as they counted on experience to carry them to the top of the leaderboard. But it was a close contest as John Haberek, Mike Dauphin and Kris Keppler combined to bring 84.8 pounds of stripers and bluefish to the tournament scale.
Calling one another by their Internet handles, "Hab" (Haberek), "Tattoo" (Dauphin) and "Krissy" (Keppler) knew it would be a close contest, with none of the large bass that prevailed at the Snug Harbor Bass and Bluefish Boogie the previous weekend. Sunday morning, the striped-bass.com crew posted themselves next to the digital scale outside Weekapaug Bait & Tackle to check out their competitors' catches.
But it wasn't until the awards breakfast at the Andrea Hotel that the members of striped-bass.com learned that they had beaten the Rhode Island Mobile Sportsmen team by less than 10 pounds.
Friday, when the tournament opened, fishing conditions were grand, with a bright, waxing moon and a moderate surf.
Haberek, the maker of Hab's Lures, said his white needlefish with a Red Gill teaser was taking fish during the night at Watch Hill Light. Before dawn, he switched to an Acme Kastmaster with the teaser. He weighed in three bluefish, ranging from 10.55 to 11.85 pounds.
Masse was having luck with a Gibbs swimming plug that had a green back and a white belly. He caught three fish, bringing two for the scale and releasing the third.
A week earlier, in the Snug Harbor tournament, boat fishermen were weighing in 40-pound stripers, and surf fishermen were bringing 20-pounders to the scale. Early in last weekend's tournament, anglers were bringing just-legal fish to the scale in the hope that they would boost their team's aggregate weight. Saturday, Haberek weighed a 17.5-pound striper, and Dauphin landed a 14.85-pounder.
Saturday morning, the wind piped up, and by the afternoon, it was blowing a steady 25 knots with higher gusts at Weekapaug. Casting for distance was almost impossible.
At night, the wind and the surf dropped, but so did the bite even though the bass were visible.
"Then, as soon as it got light, the fish got very finicky," Haberek said. "You could see them and drop a plug right into the middle of a school, and nothing would happen."
There were several fish landed before dawn Sunday, but none was large enough to beat the lead that striped-bass.com had built.
Rhode Island Mobile Sportsmen was second with 75.5 pounds, Weekapaug Surfcasters finished third with 74.9 pounds, the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association was fourth with 52.85 pounds, and Pioneer Valley Boat & Surf Club finished in fifth place with 52.7 pounds.
Rich Lafaille of the Weekapaug Surfcasters caught the largest bluefish, a 12-pounder.
In its 10th year, the fishing-club tournament raised $1,075 last weekend to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
More surf fishermen will pour into Rhode Island this weekend for the Tri-State Invitational Surf Fishing Tournament, based at Weekapaug Bait & Tackle.
Several fishermen at last weekend's event predicted that surf fishing will remain good for several more weeks as striped bass and bluefish migrate through Rhode Island waters on their way south.
Again ::kewl: - great job by the guys & gals that fished the tourney and brought home the gold (well, OK - wood :p ) :claps: