NYS BassYouth Tournament
On Sunday, 9/25, the ESF Bass Team headed East, sending two teams to compete in the first NYS BassYouth tournament of the year, held on Lake George out of Mossy Point Boat Launch in Ticonderoga, New York. The teams of Nick Sanderson (junior)/Dominic Begier (Ranger School 2023) and Alex Allen (senior)/Alyvia Nazak (junior) competed in the tournament for valuable team of the year points. The winner of the trail come Spring will earn a bid to the Bassmaster College National Championship.
ESF teams were faced with a brutal cold front and no opportunity to practice for the event, making it a tough tournament for all involved. Sanderson and Begier were able to put together a small limit, finishing 3rd with just over 6lbs, while Allen and Nazak finished 4th. Neither team had ever fished the lake before. Even locals noted that the lake was fishing extremely tough, with winning weights far lower than what was expected and high numbers of non-keeper bass reportedly being caught by nearly every team.
The team of Sanderson and Begier started shallow, hoping to find some vegetation to fish. "We were hoping to find some grass, since that's what we are comfortable fishing. When we couldn't find any that came off the bottom more than a foot, we scrapped that idea and just went fishing," Sanderson said. The team faced early heartbreak as Begier lost a quality smallmouth fishing an Alabama rig in a deeper bay with mixed cover. They tried everything from humps to docks with no success until they moved to a crib they had found while studying maps, and that team member Lauren Roberts had suggested they fish. "Around 11, we decided to make a long run to a crib Nick spotted on Navionics and it paid off, producing our bag within 15 minutes. After we moved off that crib, it was right back to the rough conditions and short fish," said Begier. The team caught all of their fish on finesse tactics, primarily employing a drop shot with a 1/4oz weight and a Venom Goby dipped in chartreuse dye.
Allen and Nazak had a similarly tough outing. "Lake George was a tough lake that made us slow down. We had to get very technical with our finesse fishing." Allen lamented. Nazak and Allen caught plenty of fish, but failed to find any that eclipsed the 12" minimum mark. "We caught 30-40 fish, but they were all short. They were in shallow bays around docks, and we figured we could eventually weed through the little ones to catch our limit, but it just never came to fruition," Nazak said.
The ESF Bass Team will look to rebound a lake far more familiar to them on Chautauqua Lake. Teamwork and history will certainly come into play on the famed smallmouth fishery in a few weeks.held on Chautauqua Lake. "I'm really looking forward to going to my home lake two weeks from now to get back some confidence and hopefully catch our first win of the season," Begier said. The tournament will be the final event of the NYS BassYouth season held on October 8.