Bass fishing preseason events and Autism Awareness event recap
On Saturday, April 11th, the ESF Bass Fishing Team hosted their annual Autism Awareness fundraiser tournament. Through this tournament, they were able to donate $500 to Autism Anglers Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to helping provide fishing gear and opportunities to children with autism. The tournament was held on Cayuga Lake, one of the best bass fisheries in the country. Weights were recorded using a catch-weigh-release format to abide by New York fishing regulations.
The tournament featured lots of local anglers, many of which are or were on the ESF Bass Team. Conditions were very abnormal due to the high, dirty water and the cold night before the tournament. Nevertheless, the team of Andy, Harry, and Tyler (former members of the SUNY Buffalo Bass Fishing Team) dominated the tournament with a 5-fish weight of 29.1 pounds, including the big bass of the tournament (6.94 lbs). A trio of ESF Bass Team members (Nick Sanderson, Matt Norvilitis, and Xavier Pearsall) earned a second-place finish with 20.46 pounds. Rounding out the top three was a trio of ESF Bass Team alumni (Nate Wojslaw, Brandon Exner, and Caleb Konrad) with 20.19 pounds.
The team would like to thank everyone who participated in and helped promote the event. It’s always fun to fish tournaments, but there’s an added bonus when it’s for a good cause.
Looking ahead to the rest of the season, the Bass Team has big plans. For the first time in the team’s history, they will be fishing kayak tournaments through New York Kayak Bass Fishing (NYKBF). These tournaments will provide members of the team an opportunity to fish in tournaments without the need for a boat, which will get lots of anglers involved! Furthermore, the team of Dom Begier and Erich Thompson will be travelling to the James River in Virginia during the last week of May to fish a Bassmaster College Series event in hopes of re-qualifying for the Bassmaster College National Championship, which will be held August 20-22 on Leech Lake, Minnesota.
The team will also host more tournaments this year. In late August/early September, they will host their annual Big Bass Dash tournament, which features hourly weigh-ins for the biggest bass; this is also the team’s biggest fundraiser of the year. Finally, the team plans to again host their annual Alumni Tournament, where underclassmen without a boat are paired with Bass Team alumni that do have a boat. All things considered, it’s going to be a great year to be involved with the team!