Naymie is Champ at South Watuppa

BREAKING NEWS: Dateline: June 4, 2011, South Watuppa Pond, Fall River, Mass. It's been alleged that a limit of bass was caught during an Avid Anglers event held on this body of water. In fact, it’s been reported that up to four limits were seen crossing the scales in front of numerous witnesses. Smoke was also reported to bee seen after the weigh-in in the parking lot. It’s still not clear whether the smoke was from a post-tournament barbecue or a burned-out clutch. More detail to follow as they become available...

Alright, perhaps things weren’t quite as dramatic as all that, but it sure seems that South Watuppa has been stingy with fish during the events we’ve held here. Saturday was fairly tough again, but more guys had more success than in the past. Four limits were indeed had, and nearly everyone caught fish under the breezy bluebird skies.

Details on what guys were catching them on are sketchy, but it seems some fish may have been late spawners. The water temperature registered about 70 degrees, even after a recent 2-day cold front that preceded the tournament, so the spawn was likely wrapping up. As with the previous two days the wind was blowing out of the north, but towards the end of the day shifted to blow from the east-northeast. The air was cool. Even though it was allegedly 70 degrees, it felt much cooler both on land and on the water.

When the day was done Fred Naymie captured both first place and the lunker award with a bag of 9.34 pounds and a big fish of 3.16 pounds. Second place went to Eric Femiak with a limit weighing 9.09 pounds. Third place honors went to Paul Carvalho for his 5 fish that tipped the scales at 7.07 pounds. An interesting note about the weigh-in: Of the 36 fish weighed in all were largemouth.

For those who didn’t fare so well there was consolation to be found in the cookout afterwards. John Shpack provided the dogs, burgers and drinks for a hungry bunch of guys who didn’t leave a crumb. We were all treated to an amusing smoke show to accompany our dinner as a local driving student tested the limits of her car’s clutch while dooing loops around the parking lot. All-in-all it was a pretty good day for everyone; we got to fish all day and then were treated to dinner and a show!

Next up, Winnepesaukee on July 9.