Edited by Rob Potter
CONNECTICUT — May 19, 2006 – 1st Bassmasters of Sullivan County opened the 2006 season on Sunday, May 7 on Lake Lillinonah in Connecticut.
It was clear and cold at the 6 a.m. start time when 13 boats carrying 17 club members and four junior guests launched out of Pond Brook.
The water temperature varied between 58 and 62 degrees, depending on the area of the lake. Normally fish would start moving onto spawning beds at around 60 to 62 degrees, but from all appearances the fish were still staging in deeper water, outside of the spawning areas. There were no visible beds in the shallows and the very cloudy water made it impossible to see anything deeper than a few inches.
As the day progressed, the air temperature warmed to near 70. Often in the spring, a warm, sunny day will raise the water temperature a degree or two, triggering the fish to move shallow and making them easier to catch.
However, this did not happen on this particular Sunday. While anglers reported fair numbers of “shorts” – small males under 12 inches in length – being caught, eight hours on the lake only produced a handful of keeper bass.
The weigh-in saw a total of only 19 fish – 13 largemouth and six smallmouth. The total weight was 25.7 lbs. and the average fish weighed 1.35 lbs.
Ralph Cheney won his first tournament with three fish that totaled 4.5 lbs. Second place went to Rich Degroat with three fish for 4.1 lbs. and Noam Freedman, whose one fish was a Largemouth weighing 3.15 lbs., earned third place.
Freedman’s fish was also the “lunker” for the day.
The complete results are as follows:
1. Ralph Cheney, three fish, 4.5 lbs, 40 points.
2. Rich Degroat, three, 4.1 lbs, 39.
3. Noam Freedman, one, 3.15 lbs., 38.
4. Andy Brozdowski, one, 2.25 lbs, 37.
5. Omer Wilson, one, 1.9 lbs., 36.
6. Ken Cutler, two, 1.6 lbs., 35.
7. Ollie Cutler, one, 1.05 lbs., 34.
8. Bud Cutler, one, 1 lb., 33.
8. Mike Fox, one, 1 lb., 33.
10. Jason Donadio, one, .95 lb., 31.
11. Jason Brozdowski, one, .90 lb., 30.
12. Mike Kreloff, one, .85 lb., 29.
13. Kurt Albers, zero.
13. Scott Caravella, zero.
13. Josh O’Connell, zero.
13. Dan Kowalewski, zero.
13. Jonathan Sunshine, zero.
Junior Guests:
Tom Graziano, one fish, 1.55 lbs.
Billy Morris, one, .90 lb.
Kyle Albers, zero
Danny Hoffman, zero.