Second Youth Tournament of 2009 at Cochituate

We had decent weather for our 2^nd youth tournament of 2009 considering all the rain we’ve had this spring.  Turnout at this tournament was 34 youth members which is a record high for the federation!  We have a great group of kids and hope to continue our growth and interest in the youth club.  Thank you as always for the support of the boat captains – without you we could not have such a strong club.  Thank you also to everyone who helped out with registrations, cooking and pictures. 

For the most part most kids caught fish at Cochituate.  There were several limits caught.  It was another great day on the lake, and an important one for those from the junior and senior divisions who were in competition for the Nationals.  The points from this tournament along with the Mashpee tournament in May and the Webster tournament from 2008 determined our junior and senior anglers who will represent Massachusetts at the Nationals in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  The junior youth member who will be representing the Federation in Pennsylvania the last weekend in July is Patrick Wentworth, beating out Zach Bourque by 1 point.  The senior member who will be attending the Nationals is Rob Ramasci.  The senior competition was about as close as it can get, with the 2 finalists tying with the same total points.  We had to go to 3 levels of tiebreakers to determine the final winner, with the first judgement based on total number of fish for the year, the second being total number of live fish (both again were the same) and the 3^rd being largest fish.  In the end, Rob Ramasci had a bigger lunker at one of the three tournaments to inch his way past Steven Littlefield to earn his spot at the Nationals.    Congratulations to all competing on a job well done!  You should all be proud.

As usual, we provided a cookout for anglers and families.  We also handed off raffle tickets to the kids for a chance to win fishing tackle as well as 2 Mustang PFDs to be raffled off at the last tournament.   In addition, at this tournament, there was a special raffle that has been on sale for $1 per ticket all year which consisted of 3 prizes.  Third prize was won by Phil Conigliaro which was $50 worth of Poor Boy’s Baits.  Ben Cucci won 2^nd prize of a Repala Fishing rod and $50 of Poor Boy’s Bait.  First prize was a chance to go on a guided trip on Lake Webster for two with professional fishing guide,  R. C. Cooper.   Special thanks to R. C. for donating his time and boat for a day on the water.  Charlie Snow won the trip and was kind enough to donate it to Justin Canada and his Dad.  They should have a great time.  We also raffled off 23 bags of tackle so most kids walked away with a bag.  Gallons of oil were provided to all the boaters.  Another special thanks to Classic Bass for donating the hot dog and hamburger buns along with Wonder Bread. 

We continued with our new tradition of passing out trash bags and having the kids do a ramp clean up while we tallied the weights.  Once again, the kids collected four bags of trash – great job!

Congratulations to the top 3 in each division.  They were:

Beginner Division – With the biggest bag of the day in his second tournament ever, first place went to Tom Anderson who weighed in with 9.66 lbs, anchored by the biggest fish of the tournament a 3.5 lb. large mouth.  He also weighed in the largest bag at the last tournament which was his first ever.  What a way to start an angling career.  Tom certainly got the attention of all the other anglers at age 10!  Second place went to Max Danese who caught a limit totaling 6.23 lbs.  Good job Max.  Third place went to Philip Conigliaro with 3.30 lbs.  This was Phil’s second tournament ever and he also placed 3^rd in his first tournament.  Another up and coming angler - great job Phil.   Everyone  should be proud of their accomplishments.

Junior Division – First place went to Zach Bourque with a 5 fish limit weighing 6.86 lbs.  It wasn’t quite enough to get him to the Nationals, but an admirable bag nonetheless and something to be proud of.  Second place went to Will Conigliaro with 5 fish and a total weight of 5.54 lbs.  Those Conigliaro boys are contenders!  Third place went to Jeremy Davis weighing in 2 fish for 3.64 lbs.  Great job to the junior division. 

Senior Division – First place went to Steven Littlefield with a nice 5 fish limit weighing 8.83 lbs.  Second place went to Richie Vespa with another 5 fish limit weighing 5.94 lbs.  In third place was Brendan Looby with 3 fish weighing in at 4.36.  Congratulations to all winners -  Great job!

Pictures will be posted soon so check our web site.

Next tournaments are:

July 18 E. Brimfield Reservoir

August 15 Connecticut River Oxbow Section

Please let us know if you will be attending.  We hope to see you all there!     

Marc Bourque and Jim Barry, Mass Bass Federation Youth Directors