Meeting Professional Bass Anglers at the Chesapeake Bay Elite Series (Cecil County, MD)

Hello, Blog Readers! 

Today I'm bringing you guys my report for August 16th:

--- August 16th, 2015 ---

Location: Cecil County, MD

Time: 1:00-4:00 p.m.

Professional Bass Anglers caught:

-- Takahiro Omori

-- Dean Rojas

-- Chad Pipkens

-- Russ Lane

-- Bill Lowen

-- Aaron Martens

-- Carl Jocumsen

-- Dave Mercer (MC)

Video:

Below are the highlights of the last weight-in day of the 2015 Bassmaster Elite Series at the Chesapeake Bay:

Note that there is no fishing in this video! Unless you count stalking Pro-Anglers "Fishing." Hah. Don't forget to watch it in HD (1080p50)! If you enjoy watching my videos, please support my YouTube Channel by liking and subscribing. More likes and more subscribes = more videos in the future. :)

Summary:

I decided to go down to the weight-in of the 2015 Bassmaster Elite Series at the Chesapeake Bay with my friend Mike H. from the 1Rod1ReelFishing YouTube Channel. The main goal was for us to watch the weight in and stalk a couple Professional Bass Anglers around. Hah.

Although I am a Multi-Species angler at heart, I am also a big fan of the Bass competitions in the USA (Micropterus salmoides, dolomieu, & punctulatus are part of Multi-Species, though)! I follow most of the Pro-anglers closely and I have my favorites among all of them. I subscribe to the Bassmaster magazine, as well as other fishing magazines (i.e. Bassin, In-line Fisherman, Field & Stream, etc). Anyways...I highly encourage everyone to watch the Elite Series and the Classic, and to give support to those Pro-anglers! It's not an easy "job," and the same requires lots of sweat and sacrifices...! If you are willing to follow up on the Bassmaster events, make sure to check out their website. It's a lot of fun, fellas.

Unfortunately, Mike and I went to the event on the last day of the weight in (top 12). Thus, most of the Pros were already gone. Thankfully, we were still able to meet some of them! Photos are below.

Photos:

A nice shot with Takahiro Omori. For those who are not familiar with him, he made a legendary comeback on the 2004 Bassmaster Classic! You can watch that video here. Watch him catch a "five pownda!"

My friend Mike with Takahiro Omori.

A shot with Dean "The Machine" Rojas! There is just something about this guy that makes me like him a lot. He is actually one of my favorites in the pro league. His frog is the deal, folks! As Mike H. also points out -- his frog is one of the best ones in the market to walk the dog.

My friend Mike with Dean Rojas.

Justin Lucas (2nd place in AOY points for 2015, as for 08/29/15) talks to Dave Mercer about his plan on defeating Aaron Martens (1st place in AOY points) when it comes to the "Angler of the Year" points. The AOY guarantees anglers a spot at the AOY tourney, as well as a possibility of going to the Bassmaster Classic event. Notice that Dean Rojas was 3rd on the AOY standings last time I checked! Heh. Justin Lucas is also one of my favorites in the league due to his very social personality -- even with all the busy life, he replies to his fans with lots of charisma.

Aaron Martens with his two biggest Largemouth Bass.

As you guys may or may not be aware of, Aaron Martens was the winner of the 2015 Bassmaster Elite Series at the Chesapeake Bay. The results' table is here.

A nice group shot with Carl Jocumsen -- the only Australian Pro Angler in the league. Many props to this dude for coming here all the way from Australia to compete with the best in world in foreign lands. Also, he has a wild accent, man! Hah.

My friend Mike H. with Pro angler Chad Pipkens.

Chad Pipkens is actually one of the only anglers in the league with a hair company sponsorship! I knew very little about Chad before I met him at this Elite Series, and I am very glad to have done so. Super nice fella with a golden personality. 

My friend Mike H. with Pro-angler Bill Lowen.

Bill Lowen got 2nd place in the competition. He got super sentimental on the stage, which made me get sentimental! Just imagine, folks -- years and years waiting for that win; hard work and lots of sweat poured in; only to be crushed by another angler! Bill Lowen really deserved it! But then, who am I to say that Aaron Martens didn't deserve it also, right? After all, he lost the 2004 Classic to Takahiro Omori and a couple other events to KVD -- all finishing in second place. Dreadful feeling... 

Mike H. with the MC Dave Mercer.

Dave Mercer is a Canadian Pro angler and also the MC of the Elite and Classic event. Dude does a great job in narrating and pumping the crowd up! Many props to that. Also, his YouTube Channel Facts of Fishing is amazing. I highly recommend it!  

Mike H. with Pro Angler Russ Lane

To tell all of you the truth, I know very little about Russ Lane. But the fact that he won an Elite Series in 2010 and participated in the Classic 5 times is no joke! I'm keeping an eye on him. Hah

Mike H. with the winner of the event -- Aaron Martens. This dude is a beast! That's all I gotta say. If you guys don't believe me, check out his record.

Overall, it was an amazing event! Too bad that I wasn't able to meet more Pros down there. I really wanted to meet Rick Clunn to talk to him about his knot mistake back in the days, or Zell Rowland to ask him why his nickname is "Mr. Disaster" (although, I already know why. Heh), or Mike Iaconelli -- our local idol. Thus, you folks can expect me to go down to future events to meet more of them. :)

Best of luck to all of us,

Long Days and Pleasant Nights,

Sincerely,

Leo S.

Bass Master Elite Series in the Big D. (August 7th-10th)

Hello, Folks! 

Here is my short post on the current Bassmaster Elite Series at the Delaware River. As the name implies, this event is being held in Philadelphia, PA. I will update this post day by day.

1st Day (August 7th)

You may click on this link for the current results of the 1st day of the Bassmaster Elite Series, which is being held from August 7th-10th on the Delaware River (that's right -- our glamorous Big D.!)

As a proud angler from the City of Brotherly Love, I just had to share this with you folks! 16-14 (lbs-oz) is the highest weight at the moment, and many anglers are showing that the Delaware River is not so bad for Bass fishing (biggest fish right now at 4-2)! As a bonus, pro angler Brett Hite caught a 3.5lber Northern Snakehead (Channa argus) in the Delaware River!

For more photos and details on this event, here's the link for the live Blog.

2nd Day (August 8th)

The second day of the Bass Master Elite Series on the Delaware River is almost over, and the results for today are quite astonishing! Before saying anything else, it's a pleasure to see so many Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides) being pulled out of the Delaware River! Boyd Duckett certainly did great on the first day with a lead of 4lbs+. Also, there have been catch reports of Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) and Northern Snakeheads from our Big D. and its tributaries... 

As for the competition, the local favorite Mike Iaconelli has done great on the second day. If you guys click on this Basstrakk link, you will see that he caught a total of 10 fish, finishing with 15-4 for the best 5 on the second day (however, Boyd is still leading, overall). Boyd and Shimizu have also done great! 

Very surprisingly, the VanDams are still with zeroes at the end of the second day. That's quite a bummer, since they are very likely done for this one. 

3rd Day (August 9th)

I was finally able to get to the weight in on the third day, and it was an awesome event. Certainly one of the best days of my life! As usual, Ike did really well today and secured 1st position for the day. Not much to say today -- below is a video of Ike's weight in:

A video of Michael "Ike" Iaconelli's weight-in at Penn's Landing. At the end of the video, you can see the top ranked anglers for the event (up to day 3).

Also, hands up for Kevin Short (a.k.a. K-Pink)! I am a big fan of Mike "Ike" Iaconelli, but K-pink made my day today. Why? Just watch this video and you will know. You gotta be pretty hardcore to take 30 minutes to cut a log just to get to a fishing spot! 

I'm already looking forward to tomorrow, and personally, I'm cheering for Iaconelli to win! Below are a couple photos from the Expo and event:

Like any other Expo, there are plenty of booths to see! And, of course, plenty of people as well.

Here's the weight in podium from a nice angle. The photo was taken around 1:30 p.m. and notice: there are already some folks securing their positions there (weight in starts at 3:00 p.m.)

Here's an isolated booth that caught my eye: the PA Fish and Boat Commission's booth. Hehe. As always, those fellas are always in fishing events to give away information on fishing licenses, boating, etc. Between us -- they have an awesome (and free) fish identification guide for PA. So, if you ever see their booth in an Expo, make sure to grab one.

Toyota certainly made sure to show their stuff. :)

Plenty of boats on the Expo as well -- minimum price at $30k. Emphasizing: there were some sweet Bass boats there, folks! 

4th Day (August 10th)

The 4th and last day of the Bassmaster Elite Series on the Delaware River is going very well. Today, BASSTrakk is showing not only the up-to-date scores, but also each competitor's location and catches!

Here's a little summary of the competition so far (as for 12 p.m.):

Chris Lane is doing great around the Trenton area. He already got his limit for the day with a 4-0 and 3-12 in his bag! This gives him plenty of time to do some culling. Unfortunately, he needs a lot more to win the competition (if even possible at this point!). 

Skeet Reese is with a bag of 4-0, with 3 fish so far. He decided to adventure DEEP into the Rancocas Creek (all the way to Lumberton, NJ), joining Bill Lowen (3-2 with 2 fish) and Shaw Grigsby Jr. (6-0 with 3 fish), who are also in the area. 

John Crews Jr. is currently around Bristol, on the main River. However, he caught his fish mainly in Northeast Philly (around Delaware Expressway and Academy Road). He's holding a bag of 4-12 with 3 fish. 

Chad Pipkens has been all around the River! Lol! He started his day on the other side of Chester, PA. Caught a 1-0 there. Then, moved up across the Philadelphia International Airport, where he landed a 1-4. Went way up North, pass the Tacony-Palmyra bridge, where he landed a 1-8 right next to Velvick... and now he's fishing a marina between Cottman and Rhawn Streets, holding 3 fish at 3-12. Talk about moving around! 

For some reason, Byron Velvick is nowhere to be found on the map! So far, he's with zero in his livewell (although, he did catch 2 fish at 0-8 total). 

Jason Christie decided to go down Big Timber Creek in NJ! Perhaps it was a good choice, since he's currently holding 5 fish at 8-10, all from the South Branch Big Timber Creek! He's ready for some culling. 

Our local favorite, Mike "Ike" Iaconelli, is still holding his first place with 4 fish at 8-6 (on the overall weight). He's been switching between the main River behind the FDR Park and the Woodbury Creek in NJ. For now, he's going down the main River again. So far, he's been doing a good job with a 3-6 kicker from Woodbury Creek! 

Boyd Duckett is currently holding 2 fish at 4-8, both caught in the main River, around the Red Bank Battlefield Park in NJ. He's currently trying his chances at Darby Creek, near John Heinz Wildlife Refugee. 

Scott Rook is doing poorly today. He's holding 1 fish at 2-8. He's been fishing a stretch of the Raccoon Creek, on the other side of the PPL Park (a local well-known hole, actually). 

Finally, we got Kevin Short (a.k.a. K-Pink), who's fishing the most southern portion of the River. He's in the same spot he was for the previous 2 days -- all the way back of Oldman's Creek. A very isolated area, indeed! He's holding 4 fish at 7-3. 

Now...there is still a couple hours for them to fish! Hopefully Ike will prevail in the end! NEVER GIVE UP! 

------- 

Final update: Mike "Ike" Iaconelli won the competition (oh, yeah!). Final results can be found here.

And, of course, let's give a round of applause for all these pro-anglers! After all, it's not easy being "Pro."

Best of luck for all of us,

Long Days and Pleasant Nights,

Sincerely,

Leo S.