June 25, 2022
LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE NEW HAMPSHIRE
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LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE – LARGEN CONQUERS BASS, COMPETITIVE FIELD AT LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE EVENT ANCHORED BY POWER-POLE

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LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE NEW HAMPSHIRE FINALS

Event Details

Location

LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE – LAKES REGION

Dates

From:
June 25, 2022
To:
June 26, 2022

Event Info

HOBIE BASS OPEN SERIES – LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE – ANCHORED BY POWER-POLE PRESENTATION PART 1

HOBIE BASS OPEN SERIES – LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE – ANCHORED BY POWER-POLE PRESENTATION PART 2

HOBIE BASS OPEN SERIES – LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE – ANCHORED BY POWER-POLE PRESENTATION PART 3

HOBIE BASS OPEN SERIES – LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE – ANCHORED BY POWER-POLE PRESENTATION PART 4


 

Report

LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE NEW HAMPSHIRE

LARGEN CONQUERS BASS, COMPETITIVE FIELD AT LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE HOBIE B.O.S. EVENT

Keys on shallow-feeding largemouths in busy waters to outdistance Zapala and Lacasse bronzeback limits

OCEANSIDE, Calif. (July 5, 2022) – Catching both a competitive field and a stellar bass population off guard, Justin Largen bet on bucketmouths rather than bronzebacks to rack-up an impressive win at the 2022 Hobie Bass Open Series (B.O.S.) Anchored by Power-Pole® two-day catch, photograph and release (CPR) Lake Winnipesaukee event.

“This really turned out to be an epic show,” said tournament director, Cody Prather. “Eighty anglers came to sample the super bass action in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire and they really had a great time. Day 1 witnessed 51 competitors break the 80-inch mark while 68 pulled full five-fish daily limits. Day 2 was nearly as good with 44 anglers topping 80 inches and 55 limiting out. That’s great bass fishing anywhere in the U.S.A. The field was highly competitive, too, and included world renown bass pro Mike Iaconelli, plus an assemblage of top-tier Hobie B.O.S regulars, as participants from as far away as Texas and Tennessee made the trip north.”

In the end, it was the 37-year-old Largen, of Roanoke, Virginia, who managed to close the deal with a two-day ten-fish total measuring 183 inches. Matthew Zapala, 32 of Albany, New York, built on a fourth-place Day 1 finish to climb into the second slot with 178.50 inches, while Justin Lacasse, 41 of Johnston, Rhode Island, finished third after leading the first day of the event. Bassin’ Big Bass honors for the tourney’s largest fish went to Jason Cassetty, of Beech Grove, Indiana, for a 21-inch lunker largemouth corralled in the final hours of the competition.

LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE NEW HAMPSHIRE FINALS

For their efforts, Largen, Zapala and Lacasse took home checks worth $5,000, $2,750 and $1,950, respectively, while Cassetty pocketed $500. Additionally, AFTCO Angler of the Year (AOY) points were awarded throughout the field. The top three finishers also punched tickets to the 2022 Hobie Tournament of Champions (TOC) on Caddo Lake, November 11-13, in Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana. The TOC is a three-day 50-angler championship with a $100,000 payout guarantee and $45,000 first-place prize.

“This is my first Hobie B.O.S. win,” said Largen, who tipped his hat to the keen competition, noting that spots two through seven on the leader board all fell to the northern fleet. “I expected this to be a highly contested tournament,” he explained. “A lot of northern anglers come down to Virginia to compete and they always seem to do really well, so to win one up in New Hampshire certainly feels special. I knew a few things would have to go right for that to happen.”

Actually, Largen got off to a slightly bumpy start. He had found a few patches of worthwhile smallmouths during pre-tourney practice sessions before locating a stretch of bucketmouths holding under docks. “The smallies weren’t big enough to get me where I needed to be, so I decided I’d work that largemouth stretch on Day 1 and see if I could put together a decent limit before trying to grind out Day 2.”

LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE NEW HAMPSHIRE DAY 2

The first bass Largen hooked was a “very solid” fish, but it cut the line on a boat prop. After that, however, things went smoothly as the Virginian, fishing from a Hobie Outback 12 with 180 Mirage Drive and Kick-Up Fins, used spinning gear to toss a Texas-rigged Missile 48 Goby Bite pattern worm with a 2/0-light wire hook. In short order he had a nice limit and continued working hard to cull his way to a second-place Day 1 finish with 90.25 inches of bass – all largemouths.

For Day 2, Largen headed to a back-up spot where he had found a few more largemouths during practice runs. “Those fish were in a highly trafficked area, so I was amazed nobody had found them,” he revealed. Switching to a Missile Quiver 4.5-inch spade-tail stick worm, he pulled four nice bass before heading back to his Day 1 docks and filling out his limit.

Zapala, meanwhile, limited out both days with the smallmouths. He had planned to look for some shallow topwater action with the bronzebacks but couldn’t get that bite to light up, so he changed course and headed offshore to work a drop shot in 30-foot depths.

“The finesse bite really was on fire,” recalled Zapala, “I was catching a ton of 17-inch fish but had a hard time going bigger. My largest bass was a solid 19-incher on Day 1. Still, the smallmouth fishing was amazing and I’m pretty happy with my finish considering the tough competition here and that I qualified for the Tournament of Champions. Justin’s winning performance was insane – that’s a heck of a largemouth bass limit for this lake.”

LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE NEW HAMPSHIRE

Lacasse was pleased with his performance as well. He led the field while tossing Ned rigs and Shakey Heads in less than two feet of water on Day 1 but found the smallies moving from shallow to deep on Day 2. That required a shift out to 25-foot depths to stay on the fish. “I’m not sure if it was two hot days in a row, or perhaps some heavy boat traffic that pushed those fish off the banks. Still, the action overall was absolutely first rate.”

Largen, Zapala and Lacasse each made it a point to thank the Lakes Region Tourism Board and the surrounding community for their tremendous support of this event, as did Prather. “This really turned out to be a great contest,” concluded the tourney director. “This was the northernmost stop on our 2022 tour, and Lake Winnipesaukee really showed out with impressive catches of largemouths and smallmouths on both days. At times, it seemed like the entire lake was producing with anglers catching tons of high-quality bass from the shallows to well offshore. The weather was amazingly warm and sunny, and the community and tourism board were gracious hosts. I don’t think things could have gone any better.”

Justen Largen would certainly agree.

Up next on the Hobie® B.O.S. Series Anchored By Power-Pole® schedule are the Susquehanna River event in Harrison, Pennsylvania, July 30-31, (sold out), and the Wolf and Fox Rivers event in Appleton, Wisconsin, for which registration is currently underway.

Results

DAY 1DAY 1DAY 1DAY 1DAY 1
RankAnglerStateFish 1Fish 2Fish 3Fish 4Fish 5TOTAL
1Justin LacasseRI20.2519.51817.517.592.75
2Justin LargenVA19.2518.7518.25171790.25
3Matthew ConantMA20.251817.7517.2516.2589.5
4Matthew ZapalaNY1918.2517.517.517.2589.5
5Ryan NyeCT191817.517.517.589.5
6Neil TomarchioNJ18.518.2517.517.2517.2588.75
7Dave SewellIN1917.517.517.251788.25
8Abby AbbondanzaPA20181716.7516.2588
9Mike IaconelliNJ17.517.517.2517.2517.2586.75
10Jonathan RichardsonNH17.517.517.25171786.25
11Mike MorconeMA17.517.2517.2517.251786.25
12Christopher CatucciRI1817.751716.7516.586
13Derek BrundleMA1817.751716.7516.586
14Christopher SlaterMA1817.25171716.7586
15Greg KrasnowieckiRI17.7517.5171716.7586
16Jake CoucoulesNJ17.517.2517.25171786
17Katherine FieldUT20.251816.7516.751485.75
18Russell JohnsonPA1817171716.7585.75
19Daniel MunsellNY17.2517.2517.25171785.75
20R.J. HooverMI19.518.516.515.515.585.5
21David KlostermanTN191716.7516.516.2585.5
22Brian CoyneWI18.7517.2516.516.516.585.5
23Eric PolenzMI1817.2516.7516.7516.7585.5
24Jeremiah WhitlowWV17.7517.517.2516.516.585.5
25James BuschVA17.7517.51716.7516.585.5
26Eric SiddiqiOH17.5171716.7516.584.75
27Ethan CabucanaMD17.517.516.7516.751684.5
28Chris DiranianMA17.5171716.516.584.5
29Fred TomarchioNJ17.25171716.7516.584.5
30Jason CassettyIN17.7516.7516.7516.516.584.25
31Ewing MinorVA171716.7516.7516.7584.25
32Nicholas BoehlerCT17.251716.7516.516.584
33Daniel McFetridgeME17.7517.51716.2515.2583.75
34William DurborawPA17.2517.251716.251683.75
35Rodney MerrittME17.251716.7516.2516.2583.5
36Wesley ReadNH17.251717161683.25
37Beau CanzoneriNY18.517.7516.516.251483
38Drew GregoryOH1716.7516.516.51682.75
39Tammy SanchezNH19.516.7516.515.751482.5
40Jacob LambertTX16.7516.516.516.2516.2582.25
41Tyler GannoePA16.516.516.516.516.2582.25
42Mike ElrickMA1716.7516.7515.7515.7582
43Pat VeomettNY16.7516.7516.2516.251682
44Steve SmithNH17.516.2516.251615.7581.75
45Judy RichardsonNH17.2516.516.2515.7515.581.25
46DAVID SHIELDSPA17.251716.516.513.7581
47Mike RussellDE16.7516.5161615.7581
48Jason GardnerME17.516.2515.7515.515.580.5
49Samuel GomesNJ17.7516.7516.515.251480.25
50Lisa MerrittME1716.516.2516.2514.2580.25
51Jordan LovejoyMD16.7516.2516.2515.7515.2580.25
52Josh CarterVA18.7516.7516.7514.512.7579.5
53Ryan CarrMA16.7516.7516.25161378.75
54Ari StonehillMA16.251615.7515.751578.75
55Keith FreeseTN16.751615.7515.2514.7578.5
56John TibbensCT16.751615.515.251578.5
57Robert BoehlerCT16.25161615.751478
58Nick JenningsNH1716.51514.7514.2577.5
59Matt RuppertNY16.515.7515.515.2514.577.5
60John ZieckerNY18.517.2515.251312.576.5
61Aaron FettermanDE181615.7512.512.2574.5
62Dylan CrystaloskiPA16.515.514.7514.51374.25
63Shane WilliamsFL15.515.25151512.2573
64Joe McElroyAL16.2516.2514.2513.7512.2572.75
65Lawrence MellingerVA16.516.513.7512.7512.7572.25
66Will FrancisNY1614.514.2513.7513.572
67Matthew SandefurNC19.2518.251714.569
68Eric TurcotteON14.514.51312.751266.75
69Andres ValbuenaNY181613.7512.7560.5
70Brian CrystaloskiPA16.7514.514.2513.2558.75
71Nathan ChagnonMA15.7515.7513.7513.2558.5
72Vincent Ferreri CommishSC17.51412.51256
73Stephen OBrienMA17.251615.2548.5
74Andy BowmanPA17.514.7514.7547
75Stephen SistoPA1514.7529.75
76Jeremy HughesNC13.2512.2525.5
77Harry HubbardNH16.516.5
78Joshua EvansMD1616
79Mason PippertPA12.512.5
80Matt CampbellVA0
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