The Northern Bass Supply Customer Appreciation Tournament is one of the most popular events on Lake Winnipesaukee, despite being at a time of the year when the fish can be less than cooperative. Sandy runs a great event, with a great payout, lots of raffles and free tackle and food the night before.

At the pre-tournament meeting, Sandy organized a raffle for Autism Awareness that raised over $1,000, and was presented to an emotional Mark Burgess, a noted professional bass angler. “As anyone who has been affected by Autism can attest, this disorder is very hard to bear. For Sandy to do this means a lot to me and to others. We’ll be donating this money to Autism Speaks, which is funding research into treatments and cures for autism”. Running a tournament is hard enough, and for Northern Bass to think of others during this event speaks to their commitment to the entire community, and not just the bass fishing community.

For some reason, it seems like every third year the wind howls and everyone comes in soaked – like clockwork though, the wind lays down right after the weigh-in. This year the forecast of “10-20 out of the Northwest” seemed bad enough – until it turned into 30-40!

As a result, a lot of spots weren’t fishable. Unlike Lake Champlain, you can at least get to your spots, but holding on them and fishing is another matter. In addition to the wind, we had a classic front come through, with high pressure, bluebird skies, and the fish in the typical summer/fall transition.

Seventy teams fished, and it took just 16.92 pounds for eight fish to cash a check. On this lake, it’s not uncommon even in small tournaments for it to take 19 pounds or more to cash a check during the summer months. September is different, and the fish get spookier as the lake turns over. Joe Lucarelli, who with his father Steve have won this event just shook his head as walked to the scales – “Fall Equinox – not good”.

When all the fish had been weighed, the team of Jim Gildea and Warren Burrell were first with 20.06. They got their fish on both drop-shot and spider jigs fished in 20 feet of water. They only caught 15 or so fish over the course of the day, and found many of their best spots barren. It took them until 9:00 to get the first fish over 13 inches in the livewell. “I was getting kind of nervous”, said Warren Burrell, “I was starting to think we might have to settle for a tackle pack this year”.

Second place was the team of Adam Barry and Mark Nuccio. They started out in the morning fishing for largemouth, and only had two small ones to show for it at 9 AM. They hit seven different spots, and got fish on tubes, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, and drop shot. They didn’t get their 8^th fish until 1:00, and only culled twice after that.

“We kind of gambled and it paid off” said Adam. “We had a seen a big largemouth over a month ago on a dock and on a whim, went and fished for him. He bit on the first cast – a four pound largemouth always helps your bag!”

The third place team of  Scott Smith and Pat Kennedy  got to their first spot, first cast  caught a fish on a spinnerbait and thought this is going to be a great day, but they didn’t get another fish on their favorite spot. Scott said because of the conditions they scratched their game plan and went junk fishing.

The most hotly contested spots were the top five for the Tournament of Champions. This is the premier event in the Northeast, and the last five spots were up for grabs. Sponsored by Ranger Boats, Evinrude, Minn Kota, Humminbird, and Toyota, the TOC has a first prize of a fully-rigged Ranger boat. In addition, there are cash prizes of over $16,000. Not bad for a tournament with only fifty competitors and $120 entry fee.

In fact, the main goal Adam Barry and Mark Nuccio had was to finish in the top five, to get a shot to fish for a boat in two weeks. “I can’t wait” said Adam. “What’s better than fishing Winni for two days”?

How about fishing Winni for two days with no wind?