Stewart anchors West Virginia lead

Tough opening day for TBF Mid-Atlantic Divisional Championship anglers

MOUNT ARLINGTON, N.J. – New Jersey Bass Federation President Tony Going was on the money when he predicted tough fishing and low weights for the TBF Mid-Atlantic Divisional Championship. Only three limits were weighed at Lake Hopatcong Wednesday, the first day of the event, and the leader, Eric Stewart of West Virginia, weighed only four bass for a total weight of 9 pounds, 4 ounces.

Stewart, a civil engineer from Anmoore, W. Va., held his cards closely and refused to elaborate on his strategy. He did, however, admit that he only got four bites all day.

“I caught my fish shallow. Several of our team members fished deep during practice, but we just didn’t get anything going in deeper water, so I fished close to the bank,” he said. “I fished fast and covered a lot of water.”

Stewart was fishing as a nonboater, but his partner, who didn’t have a strong pattern, agreed to go to Stewart’s fish first. It turned out to be a good move.

“I caught one yesterday that was missing an eye. I went back to the same stick today and caught him again. I had all four bass in the boat early in the day,” Stewart said. “I don’t feel real good about tomorrow, but I’m going to try to do the same thing I did today.”

Of the 70 anglers representing six state teams, 19 didn’t bring a single fish to the weigh-in stage; 20 only brought one bass to the scales; 14 caught two keepers; nine managed to scratch up three; and five anglers weighed in four bass. Although Hopatcong has a decent population of smallmouth bass, largemouths were the predominant species.

Schneidereit second

Rich Schneidereit, team captain for the New Jersey Bass Federation, is in second place. He weighed three bass for a total of 8 pounds, 11 ounces. His bag was anchored by a 3-pound, 11-ounce largemouth.

“I was trying a bunch of different things, but I caught two of my fish on crankbaits. I lost one other keeper. My last keeper came in the last two minutes of the day on a drop-shot. My line got wrapped around my rod tip, so I grabbed the line and brought it in by hand,” he said.

Schneidereit, who has fished Hopatcong for nearly 30 years, said today was one of the toughest he’s ever experienced on the 2,600-acre north Jersey lake. He can recall only one other day in the last 20 years where he didn’t catch a limit.

“I don’t know what’s going on. I didn’t have a lot of other competition, so I can’t say it was due to fishing pressure,” said Schneidereit, an environmental consultant and member of Clearwater Bassmasters.

Keisel in third

David Keisel, a Virginia Beach, Va., police officer, is in third place with 8 pounds, including the big bass of the day, a 4-pound, 15-ounce largemouth that came on a wacky-rigged Senko. He spent the day working docks along a 250-yard section of shoreline and managed to put only three bass in his livewell all day.

“I just worked that line of docks real good. My partner used the same bait as I did, and he ended up with two. I had my three by 9:30, so I let my partner take the front so he could catch something also,” he said.

Keisel spent three days on the lake in late August and did pretty well. However, the fish he found a month ago have scattered, or they just weren’t eating what he was offering. He did, however, see several decent bass today, so he expects to return to the area tomorrow.

Rest of the best

Shawn Richard of Hatfield, Pa., is in fourth place with a 7-pound, 11-ounce limit; Brian LaClair is in fifth with 7 pounds, 5 ounces.

State standings

With a total of 44 pounds, 2 ounces, the West Virginia Bass Federation team is nearly 9 pounds ahead of the second-place team from Virginia, which brought 35 pounds, 12 ounces to the scales today. Members of the Delaware Bass Federation are in third with 32 pounds, 12 ounces, followed by the host team from New Jersey. They have a 32-pound, 9-ounce total. Pennsylvania is fifth with 25 pounds, 7 ounces, and The Nation’s Capital Bass Federation is in sixth with 20 pounds, 13 ounces.

The Bass Federation Mid-Atlantic Divisional Championship is hosted by the New Jersey Bass Federation and is presented by The National Guard. The event continues through Friday.