The 5th and 6th installment of the Rochester Bassmasters Angler of the Year series took place on August 17th and 18th, this time Chaumont Bay was the venue. As per usual at this body of water, smallmouth bass accounted for most of the weight, with the occasional largemouth mixed in. As with any event on big water such as Chaumont Bay and Lake Ontario, the anglers were provided some tough, yet relatively mild conditions. Despite only having one 20 plus pound bag brought to the scales, the weights were still impressive.
On the first day of competition, Matt James claimed the third place spot with a 5 fish limit weighing 18.50 pounds of smallmouth bass. One upping Matt was Paul Caldwell who took second place after he was able to amass a total weight of 19.16 pounds for 5 fish. Taking the top spot honors, under incredible circumstances was Jon Skirment. John managed to put together an incredible bag that weighed 19.92 pounds to earn him the victory. Jon’s win comes with a little extra impression as he fished the entire day using only his trolling motor, after having motor troubles during practice. Lunker honors for day one went to Jim Bianchi who caught a giant 5.55 pound smallmouth bass.
The second day of competition yielded weights that were just as impressive as day one. Finishing in third place was Mark “The Legend” Harold whose catch tipped the scales to 19.59 pounds. Runner up to the winner, earning a second place finish was Jake Zaremski. Jakes 5 fish limit was good enough for 19.63 pounds. Claiming the top honors, and capturing his 2nd win in 3 events was Dave Livingston. Dave had an impressive day and came back to weigh in with the weekends only 20+ pound bag, at 20.20 pounds. Day two lunker was awarded to Kyle Sweers, who weighed in a nice 5.64 Chaumont Bay smallmouth bass.
Congratulations to Tige Noni and the rest of the tournament committee for another smooth, and successful tournament day as we make our way through the 2019 season.