December 21, 1999
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
To all the Salt City members and fellow anglers, Salt City Bassmasters' wishes you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

Please be safe and we look forward to seeing you on the water.

Sincerely,

The Salt City 1999 Officers:

Mike Cusano
Pete Anderson
Wally O'hern
Steve Stefanko


cus

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December 21, 1999
Aqua Vu Demonstration
John Weston to speak
At the January 6, 2000 meeting, club member and professional Walleye angler, John Weston will speak about one of the newest tools to hit the fishing circuits: The Aqua Vu underwater camera.

Those of you interested in learning more about this device's capabilities, usage, and cost should plan on attending the January meeting at Rapheal's Restaurant, 7:30pm.

Hope to see you there!

cus

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December 21, 1999
NYS Bass Federation 2000 Tournament Schedule Posted
The 2000 tournament schedule for the New York State Bass Federation has been put out. It looks like a very exciting schedule and should be an excellent test of angling skills.

The schedule is as follows:

June 18th: Lake George

July 16th: Lake Champlain

August 13th: Cayuga Lake

Aug. 26 & 27th: Mohawk River (Club Team)

Sept. 17th: Hudson River

Remember, Salt City finished 15 ounces out of first place as a club last year, so if you have the opportunity to fish one or all of these state tourneys please do so!

cus

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December 11, 1999
National B.A.S.S. Dues Increased
Salt City
dues increased to meet rising costs
Club treasurer, Wally O'hern, received a letter which was read to the attending members at the December 1999 meeting. The letter was from our parent organization, the National Bass Angler's Sportsman Society, and in that letter it was stated that due to rising insurance costs and increases in postage it became necessary to increase the annual dues from $12/yr to $15/yr.

At that time it was decided that Salt City should follow suit, in order to maintain the current level of dollar support to the club.

The attending membership overwhelmingly agreed to the increase.

cus

Year 2000 Club Membership Fees are now due
All club members should try to get their club dues in prior to Dec. 31 to avoid a $5.00 late fee.

Checks can be sent, made payable to Salt City Bassmasters, to the club treasurer at the following address:

Wally O'hern
204 Woodland Road
Syracuse, NY 13219


SO DON'T DELAY, JOIN TODAY!!

cus

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December 6, 1999
Tournament Waters Selected
Salt City
membership has selected the bodies of water it wishes to fish in the upcoming year 2000 season.

These are in the order of the votes received and it will be up to the tournament director and his appointed committee of 3 boaters and 3 non-boaters to figure out the dates and times that will offer us the hottest fishing action.

Oneida Lake
Cayuga Lake
Sandy Pond
St.
Lawrence

Sodus Bay
Redfield Reservoir
Chaumont (7th, if needed)

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October 4, 1999
Anderson Cranks Out A Win
Ron Kelly Is Angler of the Year
Pete Anderson finished one spot better than he did in last year's Oneida Lake tournament, which is pretty good considering he was in second place then. Pete crank baited in a limit of big smallmouth bass, and added to that weight with a couple of kicker largemouths caught on a jig/pig. Pete's bag of five fish weighed 17 lbs 3 ozs.

Matt Martin brought in a very nice limit of fish, 15 lbs 6 ozs, to capture second place. Matt's pattern involved spinnerbaits and jig/pig combinations, much like he did last year.

Third place went to club rookie, Phil Houseknecht, with 14 lbs 14 ozs. He caught most of his fish on a spinnerbait fished over shallow shoals.

Go to the results section for a complete listing of tournament standings.

In the Angler of the Year Race, Ron Kelly, was able to hold onto his lead and become Salt City's 1999 champion. Ron's finished the season with 957.5 points, almost 4 places ahead of his next closest competitors.

Congratulations Ron!!!!

The six man team for 2000 will consist of:

Ron Kelly (captain)
Phil Houseknecht (boat option)
Howard Krause (boat option)
Bob Mabee (no boat)
Joe Spicer (no boat)
Roger Stahl (no boat)*

1st Alternate: Mike Cusano (no boat)
2nd Alternate: Terry Hopkins(no boat)

See results for a complete listing.

* Stahl/Cusano tied for 6th place overall, but tie breaker goes to Stahl who caught 15 fish vs. Cusano who caught 13 fish.

cus

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October 1, 1999
Last Points Tournament of 1999
Oneida Lake will be the site of Salt City's last points tournament for the millenium. To be determined are the 1999 Angler of the Year, the club team representatives, and Rookie of the year. If the results are anything like last year's event we should be in for a great time. Last year it took Matt Martin, 17 lbs 12 ozs to win and all the fish caught averaged over 2 1/2 lbs.

Launch will be at the South Shore ramp, which is located off of Route 31 between Bridgeport and Lakeport (near Rouge's Roost golf course and Smith Ridge Road).

We will be launching around 6:15 - 6:30am, with blast off at 7:00am.

There is no constrant on Locking through, so all navagible water is open for this event. Contestants must be back to the South Shore ramp area by 3:00pm.

cus

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September 29, 1999
Stefanko Reels in First Win
Stahl's hot streak continues
With a south wind blowing, many anglers were able to leave Sodus Bay. One boat that made the decision was Roger Stahl and Steve Stefanko, and it paid of big dividends. Steve Stefanko won his first Salt City tournament with five fish weighing 16 lbs 2 ozs including tournament lunker, a 5 lb. 6 oz. largemouth, and in second place was his boat partner, Roger Stahl, with five fish weighing 13 lbs 2 ozs.

Third place went to Joe Spicer with a limit weighing 11 lbs 1 oz. Four nice fish were enough to put Howard Krause in fourth place with 9 lbs 5 ozs. Rounding out the top five was Harry Stewart with 8 lbs 12 ozs for five fish.

Make sure to attend the Oct. 7th meeting to hear the patterns these anglers used to catch their fish.

cus

Angler of Year, Down to Three
Club team race too tight to call
Ron Kelly is sitting in the driver's seat, but if he stumbles either defending A.O.Y, Bob Mabee, or Howard Krause can catch him (provided they finish near the top of the standings).

The other remaining spots will most likely be filled by either Phil Houseknecht, Joe Spicer, Steve Stefanko, Mike Cusano, Harry Stewart, Mike Fragola, Roger Stahl, Terry Hopkins, Bill Jackson, Larry Hopkins, or Chris Bowes.

Those anglers not listed can play spoiler, capture individual honors, or put themselves in an alternate position, so this last tournament is going to be very important.

Go to the results section of this page for a current points listing (with one tournament drop).

cus

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September 15, 1999
Stahl Was Top Dog At Cayuga
Martin captures Angler of Year
Sunday, 9/12/99, at the NYS Bass Federation's final point tournament held on Cayuga Lake, Roger Stahl had the biggest finish of his career. Roger brought a 14 lbs 14 oz limit to the scales and in the process found himself tied for first place with two other anglers. This resulted in a "Fish Off", where the anglers were sent back out for one hour, with an observer from a different club.

Ron Hill, wound up the eventually champion by catching two fish during the extra hour. Roger and Anthony Sevino wound up tied for 2nd place, worth $780. Great job Roger!!!

Matt Martin continued a hot fishing year by capturing a 13 lb 6 oz limit which was good for 6th place, but more importantly it gave him the NYS Bass Federation's Angler of the Year title. Matt finished with a 2nd, 1st, 1st, and 6th, which may have set the all time points record for a single season. We'll have to wait and see on that.

Congratulations Matt!!!

Rounding out Salt City's top three anglers was Mike Fragola. Mike brought in a nice 5 fish limit weighing 9 lbs 7 ozs. Mike's partner was the event's winner: Ron Hill.

Other club members that fished were Bob Mabee (9 lbs 4 ozs), Mike Cusano (5 lbs 6 ozs), Ron Kelly and Kurt Waterman.

Thanks to all who participated.

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September 10, 1999
Y2K Officer Nominations
At the September 2, 1999 Salt City meeting the following members where nominated for the 4 available offices.

Vice Pres./Secretary:
Pete Anderson
Mike Fragola

Tournament Director:
Chris Bowes
Mike Fragola
Roger Stahl
Steve Stefanko (withdrew)

Treasurer:
Mike Cusano (withdrew)
Wally O'hern

President:
Mike Cusano
Wally O'hern (withdrew)

The offices of Vice President/Secretary and Tournament Director will be decided by a majority vote of all members present (and by those who submitted written proxy votes to club president, Mike Cusano, beforehand) at the October 7, 1999 meeting.

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August 31, 1999
Nominations for Year 2000 Officers
Take place at Sept 2nd meeting
It is that time of the year, for Salt City Officer nominations. The available offices are President, Vice-Pres/Secretary, Treasurer and Tournament Director. The elections will be held in October and be determined by a majority vote of those members in attendance. Some things to remember:

Any member can nominate any other member or even themselves for any postion.

A member need not be present to be nominated.

The term of office is for one year, no limit to the number of terms an officer may
serve.

Remember that this is your club, and if you don't like how things are going or want to improve it, you need to take an active role in determining who runs it. So make sure to nominate and vote responsibly!

Final Two Points Tournament Draws
Sodus Bay
and Oneida Lake are the last two stops remaining for Salt City Bassmasters, so make sure you attend the Sept. 2nd meeting to get signed up or at least contact an officer if you can't make it and wish to fish either or both.

The race for angler of the year and rookie of the year is still very tight and will be won or lost at these last two tournaments.

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August 23, 1999
Salt City Stumbles Day Two
C.T.E ends in disappointment
Spirits were running high at the 1999 NYS Bass Federation Club Team Event held on the St. Lawrence River out of Ogdensburg, NY. Salt City had just brought 44 lbs 15 ozs to the scale on day one and found itself in the top five.

Day one weights were :

Mike Cusano 3 fish - 10 lbs 4 ozs
Bob Mabee 5 fish - 9 lbs 13 ozs
Joe Spicer 5 fish - 9 lbs 10 ozs
Ron Kelly 4 fish - 7 lbs 9 ozs
Harry Stewart 3 fish - 4 lbs 10 ozs
Steve Stefanko 2 fish - 3 lbs 1 oz

However conditions changed on day two, and the team was unable to adjust accordingly. Salt City could only manage 16 lbs 7 ozs total on day two.

Day Two Weights:

Ron Kelly 2 fish - 4 lbs 1 oz
Steve Stefanko 3 fish - 3 lbs 6 ozs
Mike Cusano 2 fish - 3 lbs 5 ozs
Joe Spicer 2 fish - 3 lbs 2 ozs
Bob Mabee 1 fish - 1 lb 8 ozs
Harry Stewart 1 fish - 1 lb 1 oz

Salt City finished with 61 lbs 6 ozs, which should be good for around tenth place, the official results should be available within a week on the NYS Bass Federation website, (see the links section of this page).

The 1999 Salt City Club Team wishes to thank all of its sponsors:

Syracuse Online, Fremac Marine, Ponderosa Steakhouse, Ryder Trucks, Manlius Mobil and Manlius True Value.




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August 17, 1999
Mabee Earns Come From Behind Victory
Rookie P. Houseknecht ties for second
Bob Mabee of Manlius, overcame a 3 1/2 lb deficit on Sunday by catching a five fish limit weighing 11lbs 1oz. Bob's fish came on a zara spook in the morning and once that pattern slowed, he went to the wimp worm (4" worm). Bob reported catching 17+ fish throughout the day. On Black Lake (day one), Bob only caught one fish, but it was a 5lb 0oz beauty of a largemouth which was good for second place. That coupled with his day two performance allowed him to capture the Two Day Overall Champion Title.

Fishing his first tournaments of the year, Phil Houseknecht of Cortland showed no signs of nervousness. Day one he brought a 4lb 12oz fish to the scales and on day two, he caught 4 fish including that day's tournament lunker a 4lb 15oz largemouth.
Phil's two day total of 14lbs 4ozs earned him a 2nd place tie.

A 5lb 11oz largemouth anchored Mike Cusano's two fish bag of 8lbs 7ozs and earned him the day one title. However, Mike could only muster up 3 fish on day two that weighed 5lbs 13 ozs and settled for a 2nd place tie. All of Mike's fish came on a black/blue jig/pig combo off of fallen timber or docks. His 5lbs 11oz fish is currently leading the lunker of the year honors.

Howard Krause of Baldwinsville, placed 4th on day one and 5th on day two with a total weight of 13lbs 3ozs. He captured 4th place overall and we'll have to wait until the club's meeting to find out how he caught his fish.

Rounding out the top 5 overall was Ron Kelly of Liverpool. Ron zipped on the first day, as did half the field, but he came back strong on the St. Lawrence with a five fish limit weighing 9lbs 4ozs. Ron's fish came on a 1/2 oz jig/pig in weeds.

Make sure you come to the meeting to hear more about how the fish were caught.


cus

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August 3, 1999
Lightening Strikes Twice
Martin wins NYSBCF Oneida Lake
This past Sunday, Aug. 1st, at the NYS Bass Chapter Federation's Oneida Lake points tournament, a familiar scene took place. Matt Martin of Manlius claimed first place with a 15 lbs. 12 oz. limit of bass and bested 153 other anglers on one of his favorite lakes. Salt City members should recall Matt won last year's club tournament with 17 lbs. 12 ozs. This current win was Matt's second NYS Federation win in a row (he won Champlain two weeks earlier), and earned him another $1500 dollars. GREAT JOB MATT!

Matt's winning pattern was to target the numerous shoals on Oneida with spinnerbaits and crayfish imitations, and once that bite shut off he went looking for some kicker largemouths in the shallower weedbeds with a jig and pig combination. His limit consisted of 3 smallmouths and 2 largemouths.

Salt City's next highest finisher was Roger Stahl, with 7 lbs. 2 ozs. Roger targeted the shoals with spinnerbaits and had his partner not caught 11+ lbs. of fish off those shoals, could of had a very big day. As it was he shed the "Fry Guy" title.

Pete Anderson brought 6 lbs. 7 ozs. to the scale and said the fishing was noticable tougher than the practice days. His catch brought the club's total weight to 29 lbs. 5 ozs. and should give us a 2 lb. lead going into the state's final tournament.

Other anglers fishing for Salt City were Mike Cusano, Scott Sternberg, Mike Fragola, Bob Mabee and Harry Stewart. While Harry would have earned the title of "Fry Guy" because he was not aware or choose to participate the title is bestowed upon Bob.

See you at the meeting to hear more about the tournaments and club standings.

Cus

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July 28, 1999
NYS Bass Federation Stops at Oneida
Volunteers Needed
Sunday, August 1st will
be the first NYS Bass Federation stop at Oneida Lake in over 10+ years. The tournament should have around 150 contestants and will be going out of Oneida Shores State Park. In the past few years, Oneida's population of big smallmouths and largemouths has blossomed and many feel that was one of the main factors in getting the federation to stop here.

Whatever the reason, we in CNY should feel excited and take advantage of the tournament stop.

NYSBF tournament director, Susan Johnson, has personally asked Salt City to help out with this tournament in several ways. If you can make it to Oneida Shores on Sunday, 1:30pm-2:00pm, and you would like to help, call Mike Cusano at 433-4241(w) or 695-4969(h). Some of the tasks, involve directing traffic, measuring fish, or more importantly, if you can bring your boat, assisting in the offshore live release of the caught fish. By doing this, it will greatly improve the fishes chances of survival.

SO PLEASE HELP OUT!!!

cus

Get Your Sponsors
This meeting will be the last opportunity the club will have to finalize it sponsorships for the 1999 Club Team Event. The shirts have come in for all the anglers, and will be embroidered after the club meeting on Aug. 5th. Thank you for your help in gathering sponsors, and remember: next year you could be on the team and need sponsorship, so help out!

cus


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July 20, 1999
Salt City Dominates Champlain
Martin wins and 2 others in top 10.
At Lake Champlain, Sunday (7/18/99), Salt City placed three anglers, out of 166, in the top ten, led by the tournament winner, Matt Martin of Manlius. Matt weighed in 18lbs 3ozs at the NYS Bass Federation tournament.

Matt's winning pattern involved fishing a jig and pig in very heavy grass mats. He pitched to small openings and would shake the jig to attract the fishes attention. This win was worth $1750 and is pushing him near the $6000 mark for the year.

Also, pushing the Salt City team towards top honors were Pete Anderson, Manlius and Mike Cusano, Clay. Pete weighed in a 5 fish limit, 15lbs 2ozs, which was good for fifth place and $450. Pete's patterns of choice were deeper milfoil beds and docks, and all of his fish came on a jig and pig. Pete had a 5lb largemouth that was bested by a 5lb 2oz largemouth. Those two ounces were worth $735... sorry Pete.

Mike Cusano caught a 5 fish limit that weighed 14lbs even, but a dead fish brought that to 13lbs 12ozs and ultimately cost him two places. As it was, he finished in 10th place overall and collected his first state check of $235. Mike used tube jigs in deep water (28'-30') to catch smallmouths and a flipping tube in grass mats (1'-2' deep) to round out his limit.

As a club, Salt City's top three anglers weighed in 47lbs 1oz and should easily of captured the Lake Champlain title. We'll have to check the official standings on the NYS Bass Federation page (go to the links section of this site).

Also, making the trip to Champlain, were Mike Fragola who caught his first tournament limit 9+ lbs, Bob Mabee, 3 solid fish 7lbs 12ozs, and Roger Stahl, 2 fish weighing 3+lbs. Roger captured the "Fry Guy" title and has promised to shed it at the Oneida lake tourney.


cus

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July 14, 1999
Cold Front Shuts Down Sandy Pond
One of Salt City Bassmasters favorite stops is Sandy Pond. Many longer term members tell stories of 21+ pounds of Largemouths being brought to the scales or of times when a 16 pound bag wouldn't put you in the top five.

Everyone loves Sandy.... except during a cold front!

When a front moves in on the Pond, most angler's brace for a long day. Of the 17 that fished, only 9 were able to bring one or more fish to the scale. One person that didn't struggle was Ron Kelly. He weighed 5 fish for a respectable 13lbs 9ozs. While we'll have to wait for the meeting to get the full story, preliminary indications say Ron just slowed down and fished what he does best, a jig/pig in and around shallow weeds and docks.

Second place went to Terry Hopkins, with 5 fish weighing 11lbs 12ozs. Terry and his boat partner, 4th place finisher Steve Stefanko, had tried worms with little success but found that the Berkley Power Craw appeared to be more to the bass' liking. They probed scattered grass flats in 10'-11' of water. While Stefanko weighed only 2 fish, they went a whopping 7lbs 11ozs.

Howard Krause, fishing his first tournament of the year, came in 3rd place with 8lbs 9ozs for 3 fish (almost a 3lb average).

Rounding out the top 5 was Joe Spicer, 4 fish weighing 7lbs 6ozs.

While Stefanko, had 2 nice fish, Bob Mabee snuck in a 5lb 3oz beauty for tournament lunker honors. Bob's fish came on a 4" Berkley Power Worm on 8lb. test line. Nice job getting that big mama in!!

Stop out at the Salt City meeting,7:30pm Aug. 5th at Rapheal's Restaurant, Lakeland, for more details about the top anglers fish catching patterns.

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June 24, 1999
Martin Is Da Man
As usual the NYS Bass Federation opened on Lake George this past weekend (6/20). The conditions were much tougher than usual because the water temperature was averaging around 70 degrees and many of the fish had moved off towards a post spawn pattern. George Yund, wound up finding 5 nice fish to way in 12lbs 9ozs for first place and a very large check. Salt City's very own, Matt Martin, came in 2nd place with 5 fish weighing 12lbs 2ozs, worth a whopping $1800 dollars. WAY TO GO, MATT!

Along with Matt there were 4 other Salt City members who made the trek to beautiful Lake George: Mike Fragola (3 fish, 6lbs 8ozs), Mike Cusano (5 fish, 6lbs 2ozs), Bob Mabee (5 Fish, 5lbs+), and Roger Stahl (4 fish, 4lbs +).

This was Roger's first trip to Lake George and while he did earn the title of FRY GUY, he won a Quantum Rod/Reel combo valued at over $80.00 at the re-registration prize draw. Roger and all the rest of us had a great time, and hope more Salt City members fish the State Federation tourneys.

See you at Redfield.


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June 24, 1999
Redfield Tournament Time Change
Due to concerns about ramp space, the tournament director has decided that we will launch at 5:30 and blast at 6:00. If you wish to caravan up with other members, we will be meeting at Wilborn's, Central Square, Route 49 at 4:00am. We will be leaving there no later than 4:30am.

See you there!!!

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June 3, 1999
Bowes and Stewart Win Walleye Opener
May 23, 1999 - Chris Bowes and Harry Stewart captured the Salt City Walleye Opener with a 6 fish bag weighing 10lbs.3 ozs. They also bagged the tournament lunker with a nice 3lb. 8oz fish.

The format of this tournament was a little different than past Walleye tourneys. The contestants were paired via a blind draw, with the two anglers fishing as a team. Another unique twist was that they could fish any body of water they wanted, as long as they made it back to DG's restaurant, Brewerton, NY, by 4:00 pm.

The first place team of Bowes/Stewart decided to fish Oneida Lake, while some other teams gambled on the big walleye located in Oswego Harbor. As it turned out, only one fish was weighed in by the two teams that ventured North (a 2lb. 6oz. fish), all the rest came out of Oneida Lake..

Rounding out the top 4 was Ron Kelly/Mike Fragola, 6 fish weighing 9lbs 5ozs, which was good for 2nd Place, Dave Celi/Mike Cusano, 2 fish weighing 4lbs 13ozs (3rd Place), and in 4th Place, Larry Hopkins/Steve Stefanko, 1 fish weighing 2lbs 6ozs.

To find out the patterns used to catch these fish, show up at the Salt City Bassmaster's June Meeting (6/3/99) at Rapheal's restaurant on State Fair Blvd.

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