George wins co-angler title at Champlain
Catches Saturday’s heaviest limit
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Even though he didn’t want to go largemouth fishing Saturday, Tim George did it and still managed to catch the heaviest limit of the day – pro or co-angler – to win the Co-angler Division of Stren Series Northeast Division competition at Lake Champlain.
Paired up with Pro Division winner Pete Gluszek, George pounded out a 17-pound, 8-ounce mixed-bag limit of largemouths and smallmouths and won with a total weight of 31-12. He earned $5,000.
“I did not want to fish for largemouths at all,” the co-angler from Kittanning, Pa., said when he learned what Gluszek’s plan was Saturday. “I started of fishing for green fish, but then I turned around and started throwing the other way. And it worked.”
Mostly throwing a drop-shot and Carolina rig, George benefited from Gluszek’s deeper-water approach to largemouth fishing. The area they worked was full of action, and plenty of big brownbacks were mixed in with Gluszek’s main, green-fish targets.
“Just about everywhere we went we found big smallmouths mixed in with those largemouths,” Gluszek said. “What a blessing. I’d a catch a 3(-pounder), and he’d catch a 4. When the fishing’s like that, it’s anybody’s game no matter what end of the boat you’re on. We caught identical fish.”
Second place for the co-anglers and $4,000 went to John Shultz of Trucksville, Pa., for a final weight of 29 pounds, 8 ounces. He caught a nice limit weighing 15-11 Saturday.
Joshua Wagy of Dewitt, Va., finished third for the co-anglers and earned $3,460 with a final weight of 26 pounds, 4 ounces. He caught a limit weighing 13-9 Saturday.
Fourth place and $2460 went to John Pellegrino of Smithtown, N.Y., who finished with a two-day weight of 24 pounds, 8 ounces. He caught five bass weighing 11-13 Saturday.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers was opening-round leader Fred Hunter of Canton, Ohio, who mustered just four bass weighing 7 pounds, 5 ounces Saturday. He finished with 23-11 and earned $1,960.
Rounding out the top 10 finishers in the Co-angler Division at Lake Champlain:
6th: John Alber of Montpelier, Vt., six bass, 23-8, $1,860
7th: Andy Coffman of Campbell, Texas, four bass, 22-11, $1,760
8th: Scott Leppanen of Byfield, Mass., three bass, 19-12, $1,660
9th: Terry Bixler of Turbotville, Pa., three bass, 19-10, $1,560
10th: Tom Luciano of Pottersville, N.Y., three bass, 12-3, $1,460
McMahon wins Northeast co-angler standings
Michael McMahon of Hackettstown, N.J., won the co-angler standings title in the Northeast Division. He finished with 720 points.
2006 Stren season done, championship next
This was the final regular-season event of the 2006 Stren Series. The next event will be the Stren Series Championship, to be held at Wheeler Lake near Decatur, Ala., Nov. 1-4.