More Baskets Found at CSFL Scugog Tournament!

Cheaters, Vandals or Haters?

By Luigi De Rose

Once again the team tournament format gets a nice black eye. Similar to the two hidden baskets found at the 2015 TOP BASS Classic, a similar cage was discovered in the Scugog River outside of Lindsay, Ontario, Canada this past weekend. Cages are used to store bass caught outside of the official tournament day then the fish are collected during the tournament to ensure a win. Cheating is always a concern anytime money is involved and competitive fishing is no different. This is a wake up call that the bass fishing community must police itself and utilize the laws of the tournament organizations and province fully. Only when these laws are enforced and punishment fits the crime will the desire to cheat dissolve. The CSFL organization seems to have handled this problem well. 

Here's the official CSFL statement regarding this situation. I advise you to read the entire document.

Stouffville, Ontario | Wednesday, August 10, 2016: The Competitive Sport Fishing League announced today a homemade device for holding fish was located in the Scugog River during the Lake Scugog, BM Central Tour event this past weekend.

It was brought to the attention of the organization by an event competitor that they came across an empty homemade device for holding fish, similar to the ones found in other events.

As the exact location cannot be disclosed at this time, as it is part of an ongoing investigation, what can be shared is that the basket was found in an obvious area on the main river in a very sparse lily padded location and is believed to have been meant to be found.

Pat Wong and Garry Mansholt Narrowly Win 2015 Top Bass Lake Scugog!

Scugog surprises with summer success.
By Luigi De Rose

Lake Scugog, a shallow, weed choked fishery has made many anglers cry in the past but this year it has been producing. Uncharacteristically, the weeds bloomed late causing many areas to be relatively free of the jungle. Lined with docks, pads, weed flats and two rivers, Scugog never is short of casting targets. A brisk August 9th saw Pat Wong and Garry Mansholt edge out both the teams of Wayne Misselbrook and Rick Stockdale and Michael MacNeil and Paul Anderson by 0.05 for the win! Pat and Garry had a strong limit totally 19.25 lbs with a 5.35lb kicker.


Place/weight/team/#of bass/big fish/ team members.


1 19.25 75 5 5.34 WONG PAT MANSHOLT GARRY
2 19.20 13 5 0 Misselbrook WAYNE STOCKDALE RICK
3 19.20 10 5 4.94 MACNEIL MICHAEL ANDERSON PAUL
4 17.94 2 5 4.74 WILLIAMS MIKE JACOBS NELSON
5 17.90 25 5 4.32 HOMES SCOTT JAMES RON
6 17.82 32 5 4.38 WEILER FOREST FORLER TIM
7 16.89 29 5 0 ELCICH GREG MONK CHRIS
8 16.35 42 5 0 WEST IAN HORNYAK MARLEY
9 15.95 43 5 5.97 JENKINS STEVEN WESTERINK JOSH
10 15.63 8 5 0 SCOTT GREG BARTON JEFF

Full standings below.

Doug Monahan and Eric Machold win 2014 Top Bass Tournament on Lake Scugog.

By Luigi De Rose

One hundred teams gathered to test their skills on Lake Scugog on the shores of Port Perry, Ontario.
Doug Monahan and Eric Machold bested them all with a 5 bass limit of 19.34 pounds. They received
$4150.00 for their first place finish.
Big fish was captured by the team of Mike Loughlin and Jason Gough with a 5.19 beauty.

** Special accolades should be given to Mike and Jason for rescuing the team of Justin Fung and Allan Macatangay who were ejected from their boat due to a mechanical failure. More on this story of this mishap next week**

POS	Weight	Team	Big Bass	Captain, Surname	Captain, Given	Partner Surname	Partner, Given
1	19.34	52	4.7	MONAHAN	DOUG	MACHOLD	ERIC
2	18.01	94	0	VANDERMEER	CHRIS	SLUTE	JEFF
3	15.98	100	0	TESTA	FABIO	AMARUSO	GUY
4	15.64	74	5.18	FUNG	JUSTIN	MACATANGAY	ALLAN
5	15.24	46	4.405	WISNIEWSKI	STEVE	HICKEY	TERRY
6	15.14	1	0	DEAN	JARROD	COCKS	GERRARD
7	15.02	15	3.955	CUCIUREAN	PETER	CUCIUREAN	DEBBIE
8	14.83	87	0	MACNEIL	MICHAEL	ANDERSON	PAUL
9	14.78	37	4.52	CHIASSON	STEVE	MATTHEWS	KELLY
10	14.68	32	0	SLOCKI	MIKE	HAWLEY	JOHN

Full Standings

2012 CSFL Lake Scugog Tournament Results: Donaldson and Donaldson Win.

Lake Scugog is a difficult place to fish in August. The fishing pressure is intense. Plus, the water levels can be down and weed growth chokingly high. On this shallow fishery, some of the best places in July are just too shallow or dense to fish. 

Here is the results from the combined BM100 and Central Tour.

Fisherman finds body in Lake Scugog

By Sharon Lem ,Toronto Sun James Martin caught more than he bargained for when he went bass fishing Monday night.

First posted: Tuesday, July 5, 2011 3:02:16 EDT PM

Police search for the body of a missing man who was ejected
from his boat after a collision.
(Photo: James Marten Toronto Sun)

The Whitby, Ont., man and his girlfriend were fishing for large mouth bass in Lake Scugog Monday at 7 p.m. when he came across a body in the shallow water on the shore in the west side of Lake Scogog near a cottage dock on Washburn Island.
The Durham Police Marine Unit had been searching since Canada Day for the bodies of two men who drowned after colliding their boat with another watercraft about 200 metres east of Scugog Island’s north shore.

Sometimes You See Strange Things

You see strange things on the water sometimes. Practicing for a recent tournament, I was buzzing the bank and came across a super clean dock. This is nothing weird but on Lake Scugog, a weed choked lake, it is a bit unusually. Scugog is home to thousands of geese and ducks who like to loaf on docks and poop like crazy. I've seen cottagers storm out of their house thinking they were going to blast me for fishing under their docks only to thank me for spooking the geese.

Top Bass: Lake Scugog Tournament Sunday July 3, 2011

By Luigi De Rose

Lake Scugog is a strange place. A horse-shoe shaped natural lake located about 1 hour north east of Toronto, Ontario Canada, it can get a lot of fishing pressure. Choked with weeds, this lake is rich with cover. Docks, pads, cane, weed flats and two rivers provide anglers with a lot of choices. Unfortunately, it offers no breaklines, drops or defined bottom structure. If you're a deepwater, hunt with your depth finder type of guy, keep driving right past this place. It is not for you.