1. It was the tale of two tournaments and two fish at Lake Wilhelm. Saturday, I fished the third AOY tournament for Kayak Anglers of Western PA. It was a slow bite, ...more but I was on a good pattern in the stumps. The bites were few, but when they bit, they were good size. I ended up one bass short of my limit. I lost what looked to be about a 17” bass on my first bite, when I broke off with brand new line. If I would have landed that fish, I would have finished in second. Later in the morning, I lost a giant, easily 19” and perhaps bigger. It too broke off. That fish was a tournament winner. It was right by the boat, and I had my net in hand. I should have been using heavier line. To add insult to injury, I would have likely finished the season in the top-five for Angler of the Year with a first or a second at Wilhelm. I was thinking about what could have been all day. I ended up in 21st place out of 56 anglers. I was headed up to Erie to pre-fish for another tournament, but I decided to make a bee-line for a local tackle shop to refill my reels with stronger line. I registered for the third tournament of PA BASS Nation, which was the following morning on the same, Lake Wilhelm, hoping for some redemption from Saturday’s result. I fished the same pattern—fewer bites with quality over quantity. It worked. I caught six fish all day, but they were good size. I finished with 90”, which put me in a tie for first. The tie-breaker was biggest fish, and my 21.25”, 5 lb 5 oz giant was the kicker that won the tournament. On Saturday, I lost the big one that would have won me the tournament; on Sunday, I landed the the big one. I cashed a check for 1st place out of 18 anglers and a second check for big bass.

    5 lb. 5 oz. 21 in. Largemouth Bass

    1. Bill Nichie 0
      Thanks for sharing. Outstanding effort.
    2. Bill Nichie 0
      Thanks for sharing. Outstanding effort.
    3. Rick S 0
      Outstanding!
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  2. It’s tournament season, so tournament post #2 in 2 days… Last Thursday, it was official. I won the April-May, two-month tournament for Kayak Anglers of Western PA. ...more I had one of my best Aprils at Presque Isle Bay since I first started going up to Erie for smallmouth bass in 2018. My ten bass limit was 198”, an average of 19.8” per fish. There were four 20-inch+ fish in that limit, and six fish over 5 lbs. The largest bass—a 20.75”, pre-spawn smallie that weighed 5 lbs 13 oz—was the heaviest smallmouth that I have caught. That bass won the big bass for the tournament and an extra $160 for the side pot. In April, as well, during one of our sessions, Michelle caught her PB, a 20.25”, 5 lb 2 oz giant! The best part, though, was that $100 will be donated to the charity of my choice. I chose the Presbyterian Hunger Program, which seeks “to address famine, alleviate hunger and eliminate its causes.”

    5 lb. 13 oz. 20 in. Smallmouth Bass

    1. Randy Leventry 0
      Great results. So many trophy fish!
    2. Rick S 0
      Outstanding Frank!
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  3. Yesterday, I fished the KAWPA and KANEOH Battle at the Border 2023 tournament at Pymatuning. I have never done well at this lake, and I did not get much if any practice. ...more So, I decided to launch from a spot that I had never fished before based on some reports that I had seen on a couple of discussion boards and a tip from a friend. I fished lily pads and grass mats and stayed in one bay for the entire tournament. It paid off. I caught 13 bass over the course of the day, and managed a limit of 82.25”, which was good enough for 6th place out of 109 anglers, and I cashed a check. I fished cleanly, except for one nice largemouth that unpinned in a pad stem right next to my kayak. That fish would have probably put me in 2nd place; but that’s how it goes when you fish pads and grass. Thanks to the leadership at Kayak Anglers of Western PA and Kayak Anglers of Northeast Ohio for putting on another great tournament.

    3 lb. 3 oz. 18 in. Largemouth Bass

    1. Rick S 0
      Congrats Frank!
  4. This weekend, I fished my second tournament of the year, PA BASS Nation Kayak Series’ Smallmouth Slam 3 at Presque Isle Bay and Lake Erie. I ground it out in windy ...more and choppy conditions. The boat is still rocking! I caught 45 bass over two days, but not enough bigs as the larger smallmouth seem to have mostly left the Bay. I put up a respectable 83.25” on Day One, but was only able to eke out 78.25” on Day Two. I finished in 5th place with a two-day total of 161.50”, which means that I qualified for the state championship in October. The biggest bass of the weekend was this 17”, 3 lb. 5 oz smallie.

    3 lb. 5 oz. 17 in. Smallmouth Bass

    1. Randy Leventry 0
      Another great showing!
    2. Bill Nichie 0
      Outstanding!
    3. Bill Nichie 0
      Outstanding!
    4. Rick S 0
      Awesome finish Frank!
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  5. This past weekend, I fished Kayak Anglers of Western PA’s Bass on the Bay tournament at Presque Isle Bay in Erie, PA. I finished 4th out of 60 anglers and cashed ...more a check. It was a grind all weekend—two of the toughest days that I have had on the Bay this spring. Still, I caught a total of 31 bass (27 smallmouth and 4 largemouth) and measured ten fish for 170 3/4”. To put me over the top, I wasn’t able to find those 2-3 really big smallmouth (19-20 inchers), something that I have been doing all April-May. It was good weekend and a great way to start the season. Plus, I spent the afternoons and evenings with my family and got to see my two granddaughters, which was the absolute best.

    4 lb. 8 oz. 18 in. Smallmouth Bass

    1. Dan Umstead 0
      Congrats on 4th, thx for sharing
    2. Bruce Parker 0
      Great report
    3. Randy Leventry 0
      Nice report and congratulations on a great finish!
    4. Rick S 0
      A great finish and time with family; doesn't get much better
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  6. We had a great day. I caught two five-pounders and one smallie at 4 lbs 13 oz, all over 19 1/2”; but Michelle caught the biggest, her PB—a smallmouth that measured ...more 20 1/4” and weighed 5 lbs 2 oz.

    5 lb. 2 oz. 20 in. Smallmouth Bass

    1. Rick S 0
      Congrats on PB! all beautiful fish
    2. Chad Jaco 0
      Nice fish!!
    3. Scott S 0
      Congrats to both of you, those are some nice Smallies😊😊👍
    4. Robert Coleman 0
      Woohoo! WTG Michelle 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
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  7. Had a great weekend at PIB and an epic day. On the first morning, which was cut short by the weather, I boated 14 bass. My best five measured 96.75” and weighed ...more 23 lbs 6 oz. Pictured are three five pounders that I caught. The fish on the left and on the measuring board was 20 1/4 inches and 5 lbs 5 oz, the biggest of 29 bass for the weekend.

    5 lb. 5 oz. 20 in. Smallmouth Bass

    1. Randy Leventry 0
      real nice catches! Great average size!
    2. Rick S 0
      Awesome Frank!
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  8. Second five-pound, 20+ inch smallmouth this week. I ended up catching 22 smallies this weekend, with multiple 4-pound, pre-spawn fatties and this five-pounder. Some ...more storms came through that cut my fishing short, but that’s Erie.

    5 lb. 19 in. Smallmouth Bass

    1. Randy Leventry 0
      nice catches!
    2. Daniel Fetchak 0
      What's your kayak look like I was there this weekend.
    3. Rick S 0
      Awesome!
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  9. This smallie crushed my bait. It was my first fish of the day and ended up being the biggest fish out of six.

    4 lb. 2 oz. 18 in. Smallmouth Bass

    1. Kevin McCarthy 0
      Nice soon they will be heading to the creeks!
    2. Rick S 0
      Tearing it up at the Isle !
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  10. Biggest of ten bass (9 smallies and 1 largemouth).

    3 lb. 5 oz. 17 in. Smallmouth Bass

    1. Rick S 0
      Nice work Frank!!
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