2015 Bassmaster Elite Chesapeake Bay Day 2: A- Mart Continues to Lead!

Martens keeps lead but Pipkens, Jocumsen less than a pound back!

By Bryan Brasher

bass press release

NORTH EAST, Md. – Aaron Martens took another step toward his second victory of the season Friday, bringing in five bass that weighed 15 pounds in the Huk Performance Fishing Bassmaster Elite at Chesapeake Bay.

The weight pushed Martens’ two-day total to 32-8 and kept him in the lead for a second straight day. But two young anglers, Michigan’s Chad Pipkens (31-13) and Australian Carl Jocumsen (31-12), are less than a pound back, and reigning Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Greg Hackney (30-5) is within easy-striking distance.

Aaron spins spinnerbaits along dock post to capture the lead.
(Photo: Steve Bowman BASS)

Martens, who has performed well in tougher tournaments throughout his career, said he doesn’t know how long his pattern will hold up.

2015 Bassmaster Elite Chesapeake Bay Day 1: Aaron Martens Lands Lead with 17lbs.

Flooding flakes out almost all anglers.

By Bryan Brasher

bass press release

NORTH EAST, Md. — Some fishermen like to play it safe when they’re leading the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race late in the season.

 

Martens distances himself from Rojas for AOY!
(Photo: BASS)

They focus on getting a good limit, drawing a paycheck and earning valuable AOY points. But Aaron Martens seems to be taking a different approach during this week’s Huk Performance Fishing Bassmaster Elite at Chesapeake Bay.

 

The Alabama angler, who came into the event with a slim 11-point lead in the AOY standings, caught 17 pounds, 8 ounces of bass Thursday and claimed the Day 1 lead in a tournament that is shaping up to be a tough one down the stretch. Michigan angler Chad Pipkens is second in the tournament standings with 16-14, and Japanese pro Morizo Shimizu is third with 16-9.

 

“I had seven keeper bites, and I broke two of them off,” said Martens, who increased his AOY lead over Dean Rojas to 52 points. “My bites were spread out all day. I wish I could catch them faster. But no matter how fast or slow you move, it’s going to be a bite about every hour and a half.”

 

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.

Positive Outlook for Tackle Giants Rapala and Shimano!

Original article posted by 

Angling International

Two of the world’s biggest fishing tackle manufacturers saw their sales for the first half of 2015 increase on the previous year.

For the majority of last year, Rapala VMC Corporation was burdened by the costs of the changeover of production of its lure manufacturing unit from China to Batam Island, Indonesia. However, with the new location now having a positive impact on profitability, the Finnish giant reported a comparable operating profit of €9.9 million (2014: €9.7 million) – up 2%. Its net sales for the period also increased 3% to €80.1 million (2014: €77.7 million).

Fishing sales at Japanese-based Shimano for the year increased 9.8% to 33,386 million yen and operating income increased 19.2% to 2,667 million yen.

The company said that a generally robust performance in North America, Western Europe, Oceania and New Zealand, helped make up for a comparable decrease in sales in the Japanese market.

Positive comparable stores sales in a number of categories – including fishing – helped North America’s iconic outdoor sporting goods store, Cabala’s Incorporated, post a 9.9% increase in total revenue to $836.3 million for the second quarter of 2015.

Retail store revenue increased 13.9% to $570.1 million, while its internet sales fell 7%.

Summer Slamming in the Thick Stuff!

As the summer heat boils the water head shallow and arm yourself with some big sticks. Sure, deep water is holding bass but nothing beats slamming big ones in the matted grass. Here's a video that will keep you straight instead of being stuck in weeds.

TOP BASS Live Release Tournament Angler of the Year as of July 28!

TOP BASS Angler of the Year status reflects anglers who will be fishing with three of more partners during the coarse of the 2015 bass tournament season.

Top 5

POS	Captain	Total Weight
1	WILLIAMS, MIKE	66.71
2	WOROSZ, PETER	63.96
3	FERNANDES, TIM	61.23
4	PILKEY, RON	53.53
5	BAUMANN, RICK	52.29

TOP BASS Live Release Tournament Qualifiers

TOP BASS has released it's standings regarding Classic qualifiers. Only the "captain" is stated with the total weight of the team's best four finishes. 

TOP 10

POS	Captain	Weight
1	COCKS, GERRARD	72
2	BAKER, ED	68.93
3	WILLIAMS, MIKE	66.71
4	WOROSZ, PETER	63.96
5	AGOUROS, SPIRO	63.57
6	JACOBS, MARC	62.8
7	WEILER, FOREST	62.41
8	FERNANDES, TIM	61.23
9	MCINTYRE, MATT	61
10	SCOTT, GREG	53.84

    

FULL STATS

2015 Bassmaster Northern Open Oneida Lake Day 2: Kraig Kettelkamp Leads with 36-08lbs!

Kettelkamp Keeps Lead!

By Craig Lamb

bass press release

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Kraig Kettelkamp faces daily pressure as a salesman in the medical industry.

Tomorrow he faces closing a deal that requires defending his lead at the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open #2 presented by Allstate.

Kraig keeps lead as weights shrink on Day 2.
(Photo: BASS)

“It’s almost uncomfortable, nerve wracking,” said the leader from Crystal Springs, N.Y.

Kettelkamp caught 16 pounds, 1 ounce on Oneida Lake to bring his two-day total to 36-8. Two pounds behind is 2014 Bassmaster Classic champion Randy Howell, who calls the lake his favorite, even though he won the Classic title on Lake Guntersville in Alabama.

Another Classic champion from Alabama, Boyd Duckett, is fifth with 31-10. Chad Pipkens, a 2015 Classic qualifier from the Opens, is fourth with 31-14.

For Kettelkamp, the heat is on.

2015 Bassmaster Northern Open Oneida Lake Day 1: Kraig Kettelkamp Leads with Largemouth.

Smallmouth and largemouth both key patterns.

By Craig Lamb

bass press release

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The home lake advantage doesn’t apply to Kraig Kettelkamp, but the western New Yorker applied local logic to his lead at the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open presented by Allstate.

Kettelkamp, of Clifton Springs, caught 20 pounds, 7 ounces, of largemouth from Oneida Lake to take the lead by a slim margin of 2 pounds. The fulltime salesman faces stiff competition from two former Bassmaster Classic world champions with successful pasts on the fishery. Those are current runner-up Randy Howell and fifth-place angler Boyd Duckett, who won a Bassmaster Elite Series event here in 2012.

Local lead star studded event.
(Photo: BASS)

The leader is exclusively targeting largemouth. By comparison, smallmouth filled the 5-bass limits of the remaining top four anglers.

“In practice I caught both but the smallmouth bite didn’t work today,” said Kettelkamp.

He described uniquely distinct areas for largemouth and smallmouth, even though the latter bite failed to produce today.

“My key fishing areas are very specific and feature the habitat for largemouth or smallmouth,” he added. “I’m not targeting a mix like some anglers.”

That could be boom or bust on a lake where the same areas can produce tournament-winning catches of both species. That might not be a factor for Kettelkamp, whose knowledge of prevailing patterns for largemouth and smallmouth are beneficial.

Kettelkamp declined to disclose details of his pattern, although he eluded of switching tactics should the largemouth bite fail in the morning.