Eastern Shore Bassmasters: News

Congratulations to Club President Dave Perrego for winning his 3rd straight Eastern Shore Bassmasters of Delaware "Angler of the Year" award in 2009. This year Dave did just enough to keep atop the standings and never once lost the lead. However young gun Josh Wich (2nd place) certainly pushed for his claim to fame.

In a tight race all year, both Dave and Josh battled back and forth, each winning 3 tournaments on the year, pushing each other in what was classic battle that eventually came down to the last tournament of the year at Lums Pond. Josh made a valiant push but it wasn't enough as he lost out to merely 3 pounds total on the year. A difference of one or two fish that could have swung momentum for either angler.

An honorable mention goes out to Ron Horton finishing 3rd on the year in the AOY points race and maintaining his lunker status  through the entire year. Ron caught a beauty of a fish (4-10, golden rule) at Lums Pond back in October of 2008, the 1st tournament of the 2009 season, one that just couldn't have been beaten all year by any of the others.

On Saturday May 9th, the Eastern Shore Bassmasters hosted a fishing derby and Casting Kids competition at Wyoming Pond. Close to 20 kids showed up to fish for the day despite the weather forecast for rain and showers. The clouds cleared way for sunshine and we had a great day for fishing.

Lots of kids caught numbers of fish in the derby. Awards were given away to 3 places for most fish caught and the biggest fish. Prizes included brand new spinning and spincasting rod and reel combos, new tackle boxes and assorted soft plastic lure packs and tackle bags.

During the Casting Kids competition we are happy to report two fine young flippers, pitchers, and casters have qualified for the State finals later this year, with a chance to earn scholarship money and other assorted prizes. Eastern Shore Bassmaster junior member Devan Braune won the 11-14 age division and took home a brand new Zebco 33 Spincast combo, along with a framed certificate and medal for 1st place. Zach Vandenbraak of Middletown, took the 1st place honors for the 7-10 age division and 1st place in the derby overall with most fish. Congratulations guys!

Our gratitude to the Town of Wyoming for use of their facilities during the event. The town park was a pleasure to use and included playgrounds, a pavilion, and plenty of accessible shoreline access for all the anglers.

The Eastern Shore Bassmasters are sure to host their 2nd Annual Fishing Derby next year at this same location. Thank you all for attending!

For further information on joining the Eastern Shore Bassmasters youth club, please feel free to email us at easternshorebassmasters@yahoo.com, or call Dave at (302)339-2133.

Congratulations to Dave Perrego for winning his 2nd Eastern Shore Bassmasters of Delaware, Angler of the Year award. The Eastern Shore Bassmasters concluded their 2008 fishing season on Saturday. The 2009 Fishing Season kicks off with the club's first tournament of the year on Garrison's Lake on October 12th.

Special recognition goes out non-boater and former Junior club member Chris McPhail for his 2nd Place finish in the standings and non-boater Jon White for rounding out the top three.

The Eastern Shore Bassmasters have just concluded their 1st annual club trip to the Potomac River at Smallwood State Park in Marbury, MD. The club reserved a number of cabins for an extended weekend of fishing fun. We kicked the weekend off with a little practice on the water Friday afternoon as everyone was arriving.  Dinner on Friday consisted on Burgers and dogs with all the side dishes and fixins you could possibly imagine. 

Dinner preceded the club's 1st single lure tournament in mattowoman, which was held to worms only. I can't tell you how tough this was for someone that is not much of a worm fisherman. Give me a jig any day! Newcomer and former Junior Club President Chris McPhail, had the largest single lunker of the night taken on the outer edges of a weedbed back in mattawoman. Afterwards, the festivities began and fun was had by all well into the wee hours of the morning, 2AM to be exact. Did i mention launch for the Saturday morning tourney was at 5AM?!

So we kicked off at about 5:30AM, you know these guys were a bit slow getting around. The day's tournament consisted of two launches, 5:30 to 11:00 and 2:00 to 6:30. Weight would be combined for an overall weight for the day.  The fishing however was less than OK. The B.A.S.S. Paralyzed Veterans tournament launched just prior and filled most of mattawoman with tournament boats, not to mention others running up in to the creek. Above the headwaters of mattawoman, there was easily a boat every 40-50 yards, at every turn, and when you set down to fish, more were coming.

After heading out of mattawoman and across the river for more "private" locales, the abundance of weed growth and lack of current did not produce many fish. The thick grass was obviously holding the fish, however the mats were impossible to navigate, so we left them and wrapped up the morning with not but one single bite...a miss on a frog.

The afternoon game plan hoped to produce a little better, fishing rocky points and riprap with cranks and spinnerbaits, but at this time the main river was a bear to fish with the boat traffic and wind. So we made a trek up to Pomonkey Creek only to find the 1st of many "redneck yacht clubs". The grass was thick in Pomonkey and the water was clear. The channel was a bit deeper and meandered its way to the back of the creek. We got on fish, just barely keepers, by tossing senkos and jigs to the weed edge. As the tide started to turn and muddy the water, we headed out on our way back to the ramp with only a few small fish.

Saturday night's festivities were then kicked off by Kevin's (aka Cookie) amazing grilled steaks with baked potato, corn, and my Mrs. southwest baked beans. The crew opted for the relaxing night by the campfire telling stories and turned in early as most were running on about 2-3 hours of sleep. Its been a great time and we are definitely headed back again next year.

The campsites at Smallwood State Park are highly recommended for a great time fishing or just hanging out, and for $50/night you can't beat that anywhere!

Eastern Shore Bassmaster anglers Dave Perrego and Jon White, 1st year rookies on the Fishers of Men (Delaware Division) circuit, are sitting in 9th place overall after just two tournaments. The team most recently finished in 10th place during the upper bay tournament that launched out of Turner's Creek in Betterton, MD on Saturday May 24th.

On Saturday, despite motor problems early in the day limiting their traveling distance on the river, they were able to establish a small pattern by fishing laydown wood and timber in shallow water at a creek mouth at low tide. The 15 inch limit sent a couple fish back to the water but with two in the box early, a decision was made to venture into new areas to fish out the pattern. With no luck,  a return to the same creek mouth later in the day became even more productive with the tide coming in and higher water. The fish obviously moved up and were a bit more aggresive with the spinnerbaits at the ends of the trees. One particular cast, "dead on" a laydown in about 3 feet of water, enticed one very large bass out of the limbs, and the resulting fight not strong enough on the anglers part to get her to the boat. Shortly afterwards another keeper finished the day.

All in all the team ended up with 3 fish for 6.58 pounds which was good enough for 10th place. "The one that got away" could have definitely helped moving the pair up in the standings. There's a lot to be said about fishing "clean". Simple minor mistakes, like misjudging a fish on the fight, can cost you a good finish, if not money!

An honorable mention definitely goes out to Josh Wich who is in the process of gaining membership into the club. Josh has been having a consistent showing on the last two FOM tourneys and sits in 7th place overall after the two tourneys on the Potomac and Upper Bay.

The next FOM Delaware Division tournament will be June 28th on the Pocomoke River in Snow Hill, MD. For information on registration or joining the FOM trail, please contact Delaware Division Director Bob Moody at (302)270-3572, or email at fish572@comcast.net.

Dave Perrego, President of the Eastern Shore Bassmasters of Delaware, took top honors at the 2008 Delaware B.A.S.S. State Team Qualifier held on the Upper Bay on Sunday November 4th. The field of 30 anglers left Turner's Creek early Sunday morning with the hopes of  making the final cut of top 12 anglers to place on the 2008 State Team.

Perrego had practiced a number of days prior to the tournament and found numbers of quality fish and a reliable pattern to fish throughout the tournament. "the key to catching these fish was finding the stronger currents running through dock pilings and piers in deeper water between 8 and 10 feet deep at creek mouths" Perrego said. Dave caught most of his fish using jigs simulating crawfish, employing a slow crawl. Throughout the day Dave managed only 3 fish on jigs, but each was a quality fish. He rounded out his day tossing a spinnerbait to cruising fish in shallow water on the slack tide.

Once to the scales with only four fish, there was an opportunity to make the team, but with hords of anglers bringing in limits, the outlook was not so good. Perrego held on with his 4-fish catch weighing in at 14.04 pounds and the lunker just peaking at 4.28 pounds, to maintain the lead overall and place on the 2008 State team, his second in three years.

His day's performance is a prime example of how young anglers or those new to tournament fishing can learn by example. " I fished 4 days in the last three weeks leading up to the tournament, just trying to locate good fish but with no success, other than a few keeper size bass. I fished up river, down river, points, jetties, ledges, laydowns, rockpiles and some grass. The only real thing i did in those 4 days was eliminate unproductive water until i found my dock pattern." Any angler that puts the time in on the water can have success. Perrego attributes his success also to belonging to a club and fishing with other more experienced members. That camraderie helps a young angler, but map study and on the water experience is your biggest asset to figuring out (not always) these fish...