Point Sebago Resort
By Jim Marino
POINT SEBAGO RESORT
NEPVA Bass Tournament
Casco, Me.
Saturday May 21, 2011
Point Sebago Resort (www.pointsebago.com) stepped up to support this year’s New England Paralyzed Veterans of America Bass Trail, Maine Tournament. The Point Sebago Resort sponsored the tournament along with the American Legion Post #155, and the Maine B.A.S.S. Federation Nation (www.Mebass.com). The Nation members volunteered their time as boat captains and helped with the loading and unloading of the anglers.
As a Federation, Maine’s members have continued to assist us. They have participated in Federation functions and have continued to expand their membership. Their Charter of the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation is not the largest, not the richest, but it is one of only a handful that is financially viable and has retained its membership numbers. The Maine BASS Federation Nation knows when it comes to opportunities within the State of Maine that are beneficial to others such as NEPVA, Shiners, Camp Sunshine and other excellent organizations, the members pull together to get the job done!
In addition to hosting the event, Point Sebago donated lodging and a barbecue lunch for tournament participants. This lunch, in combination with a breakfast donated by Post Commander Catherine Merrill and members of the American Legion Post #155, left the veterans and event volunteers well-fed before, during and after the tournament. Water and Soda for use at all the tournaments was donated by the TARGET store in Meriden CT. Having hosted dozens of fishing tournaments, Point Sebago has proven to be an ideal location for such events. With its on-site boat launches, powered boat slips, and access to 35 square miles of crystal-clear Sebago Lake water, Point Sebago knows a thing or two about fishing tournaments.
Fifteen New England PVA anglers were paired with boat captains in the “Boater Division”, and several anglers were in the “Bank/Pontoon Division”. Tiny LaFontaine, tournament Director for the NEPVA Bass Trail, said “Our Bass Trail is the number one sporting event for the New England PVA with a “Free Entry Fee”. Presently we host tournaments in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and New Hampshire.”
The day began with breakfast served by the American Legion Post #155, the pairing of the anglers, and the hand-out of complimentary tournament towels and tee shirts for the fisherman. After a short fog delay Steve Wilson President of the Maine Federation Nation and the boat captains along with help of the NEPVA staff, loaded the New England Paralyzed Veteran Angler’s onto their assigned boats and all were underway safely by 8:30 am.
The tournament started with cloudy skies, temps in the low 50’s and a chance of a thunderstorm. The rain stayed away until 2:30 p.m. when a scattered shower, soaked most of the contestants on their way to the weigh-in area at the Grove Pavilion building.
Because of the fog delay, the tournament check-in and weigh-in time was moved back to 2:30 p.m. along with the awards ceremony. This tournament was a “Catch, Measure and Release” tournament. From Mother’s Day to Father’s Day you cannot keep a fish when it is caught. It must be released right away. The anglers keep a weigh-in slip with the length of each fish they caught and using a conversion chart determined the fish’s weight, and then added up their best five fish.
After unloading the boats the contestants and guests headed to the weigh-in area held inside the Grove Pavilion to check in with the staff and tally up the weigh-in slips. While waiting for the results the fishermen enjoyed a cookout provided by the Point Sebago Staff and proceeded to eat and brag about their day on the water.
Tiny LaFontaine, and Gary Clawson started the weigh in results off with the following:
3rd Place: Captain Eric Lowe and Rick Maynard with 3 fish weighing in at 7 lb 2 oz. Eric and Rick caught their fish with Lucky Craft www.luckycraft.com crank baits and tube baits, they fished drop offs and rocks 20’ to shallow water on points and humps. Rick is a first time competitor and came all the way from Vermont for this tournament and says that he is looking forward to the VT tournament on Lake St Catherine and would like to thank Eric for a great day on the water despite the conditions.
2ed Place: Captain Matt Jannarone and Steve Carpenter, with a 5 fish limit weighed in at a even 12 lbs. They targeted their fish with Berkley Chigger Craw’s www.berkley-fishing.com in shallow water around rocks and docks where they saw schools of smallmouth hiding out. Matt again came in 2nd as he did last year at North Pond. He is quite the fisherman as Steve pointed out when he thanked him for a enjoyable day of fishing.
1st Place: Went to Captain Clayton Grimm and Dave Sawyer with 5 fish limit for 14lbs 15 oz. Clay and Dave fished Senco’s and Chigger Craws in very shallow water targeting docks and large rocks with smallmouth schooling among them. It would seem like Matt and Clay were on the same pattern and had it figured out as they had the only limits brought in to the scales.
The Bank / Pontoon Division winner this year was George St Hilaire with a nice 14” Salmon.
Lunker of the day was a nice 4lb 2oz smallmouth caught by Captain Matt Jannarone off of one of those shallow docks that he was targeting all day.
The members of the Tournament committee, President Tiny LaFontaine, Executive Director Jim Marino, Director Bob Soupy Campbell, Director Gary Clawson and the New England Paralyzed Veterans of America would like to thank, the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation of Maine, The staff of the Point Sebago Resort especially Ruth York, Commander Catherine Merrill and the members of the American Legion Post #155 for all their hard work, dedication and support for this tournament.
All NEPVA Bass Trail Tournaments are totally FREE to ALL participates and open to all individuals with disabilities whether veterans or non-veterans! Individuals interested in fishing the tournaments may contact Tournament Director Tiny LaFontaine @ 1.781.935.2480. As a non-profit organization the tournament trail is funded only by generous donations from its sponsors, with all sponsor donations being tax deductible. For information on becoming an NEPVA sponsor, contact the NEPVA office @ 1.800.660.1181 or visit their web site @ www.nepva.org.
