“La Manche wins slug-fest for ounces at Sodus Bay!”

Edwards Pounds them from the back of the boat

The 2007 Salt City Bassmaster’s season was kicked off by fishing their first point’s tournament Sunday June 17^th at Sodus Bay. This year the club launched out of Bay Bridge Marina on the south end of the bay. Weather conditions were great for fishing. The morning was calm with overcast skies and as the day progressed the skies opened up as did the wind.

As many predicted, the fish were on the bite, 33 out of 38 anglers’ brought in limits, but overall size had room for improvement. The average bag was 8.5 lbs and the average fish weighed 1.8 lbs. A mere pound separated the top seven anglers’. Without Edward’s dead fish penalty, a single ounce would have made the difference between the win and a runner-up finish. On this day, proper fish care was very important both ethically and when it came down to the points. A 4oz. dead fish penalty proved costly for several fishermen and in one case the penalty cost angler 7 places in the standings. Reports suggest most anglers chose to stay in Sodus rather than run the lake to neighboring bays.

1^st Place – Randy La Manche 11 lbs. 6 ozs.

Randy started the day off fishing a flat with a steep drop off. The area had very spars weeds. Randy boated his first 8 keepers by bouncing a tender tube with a ¼ oz. exposed jig down the drop off. During this first 40 minute period Randy landed his 3lb. 5oz. large mouth that ultimately made the difference. He estimates this first flurry of fish accounted for about a 9.5 lb. start to the day. The rest of the day was spent culling for ounces by using a drop shot in 8-12 feet of water. A 4” Red Shad finesse worm was Texas rigged above a ¼ oz. weight.

2^nd Place – Butch Edwards 11 lbs. 1 oz.

Butch openly admitted what a fantastic day he had fishing with Dave Ottman. Dave put Butch on fish right away and the pair both had quick limits. Butch was fishing what he described as an (old school) 7” black Berkley Power Worm Texas-rigged. He was fishing a drop off of 8 - 23 feet. Butch boated all Largemouths’ on the day. He reported that most of his bites came on the baits fall to the bottom. Some other fish from the day did come from other presentations such as a 4” Fluke on a drop shot as well as some fish on a Senko. Great start to the season Butch!

3^rd Place- Mike Donahue 11 lbs

Mike Donahue didn’t waste anytime getting a limit in the boat; it came the first hour of his rookie season with Salt City. On the day Mike estimates he boated about 30 Largemouth’s. Mike’s fish, including his 3 lb 11 oz lunker, were caught by dragging a Green Pumpkin Senko in 5-6 feet of water. Mike also had some success fishing a drop- shot rig with a Sweet Beaver as the bait. Mike like many anglers this day stayed in Sodus and it paid off. Watch out rookies (and everyone else for that matter) Mike D. means business. Keep it going!

Signing Off,

Randy the PR Guy