Paul Ruterman bested the best of the Salt City Bassmasters at the Second Annual Club Classic held on Oneida Lake on October 9, 2005. The Club Classic is invitation only and based on merit. The top 12 boaters and top 12 non-boaters are invited to this special tournament. There are two divisions, with boaters competing only against boaters and non-boaters against non-boaters. As always, complete results are available on the “Schedule/ Results” link on our Homepage.
Ruterman was extremely grateful for getting drawn Scott Allen, and in an emotional phone interview, he gave all of his credit to Scott. Scott finished with four fish going 11 pounds. Apparently, Scott’s fifth fish somehow managed to pull a Houdini act – both Paul and Scott swear he had five locked in the box at one point in the day.
Paul caught most of his near 16-pound limit on a Zoom Super Fluke, dead-sticking it in 10’ to 12’ of water. Paul’s bag was solidly anchored by a 5 pound 10 ounce Hawg Largemouth.
Second Place in the Non-Boater division went to Joe Noffey. Joe brought in a very nice 13 pound-2 ounce limit of Smallmouth. Joe caught his fish on tube with exposed-hook jig head in 3/8 ounce. He said a couple subtle things that he did made the difference on his day, they included retrieve speed, scent and a rattle. The lesson here is to keep experimenting until the fish talk to you.
In Third Place on the Non-Boater side was Jesse Herbert. Mr. Herbert came in with 12 pounds and 14 ounces of fish. Jesse did not return telephone calls left at his residence.
On the Boater side, Craig Terpening edged out his fishing buddy Mike Cusano by a mere ounce with a 14 pound-11 ounce Smallmouth limit. That battle may have been decided by a couple of coughed-up crabs. Craig said his fish were still in their typical summertime patterns during this October tournament. He caught fish at all depths but deeper water paid off the best. His deep fish were taken on a tube jig.
Mike Cusano came in Second Place with 14 pounds-10 ounces of Oneida Lake bronze. His fish were taken on very shallow rock humps and shoals. Mike went through about 20 fish during the day and was able to upgrade with a spinner bait Largie and a second from a dock. Mike hadn’t fished the lake since cashing an 8th place check at the B.A.S.S. Open in mid September. Like Craig, his fish weren’t where he thought they should be but he located the good ones soon enough.
Third-Place on the Boater side went to Howard Krause. Howard caught most of his fish in 6’ to 10’ of water on spinner baits. Like Cusano, he also took a number from rocks in less than two feet of water. Always one for straight-talk, Howard commented that those fish were spawning on the shallow rocks.
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