Ross hangs on for victory at Chataqua.

Early surface action propels Dave Ross in 2 day event.

Chataqua Lake provided the setting for the Rochester Bassmasters second tournament of the 1997 season.  Past visits to this lake resulted in the weighing of some sizable lunkers and this years tournament did not disappoint.  First day leader and tournament winner Dave Ross jumped ahead of the pack with a couple of Chataqua Lakes famous bronzebacks,as two large smallmouth anchored his first day limit of 14.77lbs.  

The anglers found ChataquaÕs bass population in the traditional post spawn period as evidenced by the low catch rates and low winning total.  But the cream always rises to the top as Dave Ross put together a strategy of early topwater fish and late shallow fish to claim victory.  Most anglers theorized that tournament success would hinge upon drawing key early morning topwater strikes.  Ross owed much of his success to this early morning surface action on a Zara Spook fished over weedbeds.  The Spook accounted for a large smallmouth that anchored his first dayÕs limit.  Ross added another smallmouth to his catch later in the morning on a jerkbait.  A middle of the day dock pattern produced the remainder of RossÕ catch on both days.  After the surface action slowed on Saturday and Sunday, Ross would turn to the shaded portion of docks with a 1/8 oz. black Bulldog jig with an Uncle Josh #11 black pork.  This was the lure of choice on day 1, but on day 2 when a couple key fish were lost, Ross took a tip from Bill Whitman and turned to a Berkley Power worm to complete his limit.  His limit on day 2 weighed 6.36lbs, just enough weight to hold off a second place finisher Mark Harold.  

RossÕ best depth was found between 4 and 7 foot and he traveled approximately 15 to 20 miles on each day.  He used Abu Garcia reels, Team Daiwa and Bass Pro rods with Super Silver Thread 14lb. test line.  The first day it took him only 4 hours to catch his limit, but on day 2 he caught his last fish at 2:45, just 15 minutes before weigh in.  His sponsors include Silver Lake Marine and Champion Boats.  

Harold brought in limits on both days of the tournament.  On day 1 he caught a 10.45lb. limit and on day 2 he followed with a 9.42lb. limit.  He worked a Berkley Power Slug early around docks, and then flipped a Black/Blue Jig-n-Pig in weeds later in the day.  This strategy worked on both days as he narrowly missed the win by less than half a pound.  His limit on day 1 was caught by 10:30, and on day 2 at 11:15.  On day 1 he caught a total of 11 keeper largemouth and 1 smallmouth.  His lures were fished on Daiwa x3500 and TDX 103H1LA reels and TD631-3xfs-T and TD76T-4FB-T rods with Berkley 14lb. Fireline and 30# Tuffline.  His sponsors include Daiwa, Ranger Boats, North Jersey Marine, Lou Dog Lures, Luhr Jensen, Lowrance Electronics, and Mercury Outboards.  

Les Malovics worked shallow structure exclusively for both days with a jig.  On the first day Malovics culled through 30-40 fish for a 10.21lb. limit.  He alternated colors with the jig going with white and also a root beer color.  His limit on the first day was taken by 7:15.  On day two Malovics caught a total of 18 to 20 largemouth and culled to a 9.55lb. limit.  His lures were fished on 12lb. Berkley line.  Malovics stayed in the south end for both days.  

Working a spinnerbait and worm propelled Rich Bush into 4th place overall with a 2 day combined weight of 18.75lbs.  His first day limit weighing 8.97lbs. was taken by 9:00am on a white and chartreuse spinnerbait in a 1/2oz. size, followed by a worm when the spinnerbait would not produce.  On the second day his limit was slow in coming as he boated his limit fish at 2:30 in the afternoon.  The same lures worked fished on 12lb. line and Bass Pro Rods.  The cover fished was weedbeds in 5 to 7 foot depths.  

Bill Whitman weighed limits both days of the tournament.  On day 1 he brought in a total of 8.46lbs and on day 2 9.23lbs.  Bill worked shallow shoreline cover with Power worms both days.  

Eric Vanderstyne worked a combination of topwaters and jigs to take a total of 9 fish weighing 17.65lbs to take 6th place.  Vanderstyne may have boated the tournaments earliest limit on Saturday as his topwater bait was continually attacked by keeper largemouth.  He had his limit at 6:35am and counted on a Pop-R in a shad pattern.  Later in the day a Lunker Lure Rattleback jig produced more strikes.  Day 2 found Vanderstyne pitching a jig to a weed edge for 4 fish on the day.  

Seventh place was taken by Don Wenzel a consistent Chataqua Lake high finisher.  His fish on day 1 weighed 7.21lbs caught primarily on a 6Ó worm in purple.  Day 2 saw Wenzel move up in the standings as he changed tactics and flipped a 3/4oz black/blue jig-n--pig.  His second day limit weighed 10.39lbs.

Eighth place was taken by Gary Smith.  Gary weighed  a total of 17.14lbs. over 2 days.  

Tim Daniel improved upon his first day limit of 6.84lbs with second day catch of 9.82lbs.  His total went 16.66lbs for two days of fishing.  Much of his second day weight was attributed to a lunker topwater smallmouth.  The fish fell for a Pop-R and weighed over 5lbs.

Kraig Kettelkamp rounded out the top ten with a 2 day catch of 16.52lbs.  He flipped MannÕs worms in weedbeds on 14lb. Bass Pro line.