Porter/Kirby 3-PEAT With 2008 Bass Blast Championship
BOB'S LAKE
BASS BLAST 2008
The Central PA Bass Blasters were at it again at Bob's Lake, Westport,
Ontario, Canada from 12 through
17 July. The weather was a bit breezy early in the week but did manage to lay
down somewhat for the two-day tournament. The lake itself was up more than a
foot from last year and tended to spread the fish out compared to other years.
There were 16 fishermen who participated in the festivities and they accounted for 1092 bass during the week. There were 10 bass caught weighing 3 pounds or more with the largest going to Brad
Bolton's hawg weighing in at 5 pounds 6 ounces and 21" in length. The fish garnered
Brad the coveted "Practice Award" for the biggest fish which meant absolutely nothing since it was caught on Monday, one day
PRIOR to the tournament. A first time participant, Jeff Gotshall (a.k.a. Jed
Clampett) also landed a nice 5 pound hawg on the first day of pre-fishing. For
a list of the individual catch by angler you can click on the attachment.
Many of the "Pro's" arrived at the lake on Saturday (a day earlier than normal) to start their exploration and nail
down upcoming hot spots for the tournament. The primary contingent of "drift
fishermen" didn't arrive until Sunday.
Swiggy also caught two notables, 4 lb. 4 oz, and a 3 lb. 10 oz. but again it was a day BEFORE the tournament. Charlie Markley had a nice one at 3 lb. 3 oz. but the man of the hour, Woodsy Loser, topped everyone
with three notables…a 3 pounder, a 3 lb 7oz, and a 4lb 7oz. Yours truly
had a notable as well, 3 lb 8 oz and with the added benefit of being caught DURING the second day of the tournament.
A special thanks goes out to Mr. Umberger who purchased a very nice "tournament" scale that certainly speeded up the
weigh-in process. Also, thanks to Dale "Swiggy" Sweigard for another successful
tournament (even though he made Ummie do all the work at the weigh-ins) and for successfully finding his way back to the border
and I-81. Last but not least, special thanks to Gerry Charles for all his hard
work in getting out to the various sponsors and collecting all those very nice prizes for the tournament, Also thanks to Brad
who also got a few sponsorships. Bravo
Zulu to all...
TOURNAMENT HIGHLIGHTS:
The two-day Bass Blast Tournament took place on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings with good conditions. The first day results were somewhat reversed from last year…the team of Porter/Kirby captured the
early lead with an 8.62 lb 3 fish limit (they were last after the first day in 2007) followed by the pro team of Loser/Hornyak
with a tally of 6.85 lb 3 bag limit of smallies. The two pros staked their claim
early to a nice deep smallmouth hole just across from the lodge at the north end of the second island and turned out to be
a very good choice. I believe the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
received an official claim form from the team to keep that particular section of water off limits to all other anglers for
both days of the tournament. The ever-present drift team of Sweigard/Campbell
weighed in a close third with 6 pounds even followed by Charles/pro-Gotshall at 5.27 pounds and Markley/Bolton at 4.41 pounds. Bringing up the final three spots were pro-Smeltz/Hale 3.81 lbs, Umberger/Armermann
at 3.21 lbs. and Shaner/Leader at 2.69 pounds.
For day two of the tournament it was déjà vu all over again…the "drift fishing" amateur duo of Porter/Kirby had
their Zebco 202's well oiled and were flinging bobbers and Senkos all over the place.
As the pro's were shaking their heads in disbelief, Porter/Kirby put the nail in the coffin for the third straight
year with a nice bag of two fish weighing 5.76 pounds for a new tournament record catch of 14 pounds 6 ounces. Another pair of "drift fishermen", Sweigard/Campbell garnered second place honors at 10.08 pounds and nudged
out the pro team of Loser/Hornyak who put up a total weight of 10.05 pounds. The
remaining order of finish was as follows: Charles/Gotshall (9.39), Umberger/Armermann
(8.35), Smeltz/Hale (8.30), Markley/Bolton (7.61), and Shaner/Leader (7.48)…see attached for the tournament results.
It was rumored the Loser/Hornyak boat made good use of their day-after tournament fishing time to find two more productive
spots for next year's tournament far away from the lodge, so they don’t have to run anglers off during the recreational
fish. Understand they hooked a couple of nice Larry's to go along with their
Sammy spot and that could make the difference at the scales. It was also rumored
there may be a new trolling motor on Charles' boat for next year which should also make a big difference in boosting their
confidence and weight. What other changes are in store for next year besides
the desserts returning to the table?…we can only imagine. The pressure
is on boys...
Well, that does it for the 2008 Bass Blast Tournament at Nordlaw Lodge,
Canada. I'm hoping
we'll hear from WWIN Fish reporter for his take on the week's events. Until then,
only 358 days remaining till we leave again next year...so keep those Zebco's lubed, re-stock your Senkos, and shine up those
bobbers…have a great year and best of health to all.
Tight lines,
Steve P. 
