Mike Gamber (pictured on left) and Matt Gifford weighed one of only two limits of
eight fish to gain the title from the second tournament at Liberty Reservoir this season. Their 11.88 pounds of fish gave them a margin of
almost two pounds over the next closest team on Sunday August 27, 2000.
Matt, fishing as a substitute in his first Metro Reservoir Anglers, Inc.
tournament, wasted no time finding the winners circle. The team of Gamber and Gifford
worked a predominately main lake pattern in and around the Nicodemus Road bridge area.
Their bag of eight fish, while still comparatively small for a Liberty tournament, shows a
rather substantial increase from our previous outing this season at Liberty.
The team of Mike Farrell and Paul Koontz finished in second place with the only
other limit of fish for this event. Mike and Paul always seem to contend at the Liberty
lake events. This time, the 9.97 pounds of bass belonging to Mike and Paul were taken from
the Oakland Point area of the main lake.
For the third time in four events this season, Larry Bertholdt and George Wilder
make a top five appearance. Six fish weighing 9.35 pounds gave this steady duo a solid
third place finish. They were able to find, and catch fish in the Morgan Run branch of the
reservoir.
The team of Waino Anderson and Ron Wolfe follow up their victory in our last event
at Loch Raven with a fourth place finish this time. Their seven fish weighed in at 8.97
pounds. Fifth place belongs to the team of Bill Constantine and Dale Davis after they
managed four fish weighing 7.25 pounds.
The teams of Gamber / Gamber, Farrell / Koontz and Constantine / Davis all receive
berths to the Tournament of Champions. Our second and third place teams had previously
qualified.
The largest fish of the tournament was corralled by the team of Craig Gordon and
Holden Wolfe. The 4.45 largemouth was caught in the far northern reaches of the reservoir.
That lunker was their only keeper of the event.
Twenty-seven of our thirty five boats at this event were propelled by the motors of
our season sponsor, Ray Electric Outboards, Inc. That’s right, 77% of our
participants chose Ray Motors over all the rest to get them up and down the lake. That
includes our first, second, fourth and fifth place finishers.
Many thanks to our tournament sponsor, The Finishing Touch. The furniture
restoration experts at The Finishing Touch have been loyal supporters of the Metro
Reservoir Anglers, Inc. Thanks for your continued support Mr. Standiford and staff.
Our plaques for this event were donated by Chesapeake Towing, Inc. Dana Seipp, was
kind enough to sponsor our refreshment for this tournament.
Thanks to “The Fishin’ Shop” for the four, twenty-five dollar gift
certificates donated for this event. The winners were Gary Shelton, Fred O’Neal, Paul
Haugan and Mike Beck.
Brown and Miciche on Top Again
Tom Brown (Pictured on right) and Walt Miciche showed the same kind of domination
that earned them the Tournament of Champions crown last season, as they ran away from the
field at Prettyboy Reservoir. They produced the only limit of bass in the field on Sunday,
September 17, 2000, as well as the largest margin of victory thus far this season.
Tom and Walt had a total of 17.55 pounds of fish, including the largest fish of the
day, a 4.61-pound largemouth. Thanks to the cooperative bass in Georges Run and Frog
Hollow, Tom and Walt will get a chance to defend their T.O.C. crown at Liberty Reservoir
this season.
Larry Bertholdt and George Wilder continue their hot streak, bringing in seven fish
totaling 11.59 pounds. In the first five tournaments this season, Larry and George have
placed in the money four times! This time they fished a Georges Run / main lake pattern to
secure a second place finish.
Right behind Larry and George was the team of Randy Hill and Mike Gamber with six
fish. The 11.38 pounds of fish they caught out of Georges Run was good enough for a third
place finish and a berth in the T.O.C. for the team of Hill / Hill. Mike Gamber, winner of
the previous tournament at Liberty Reservoir, fished as a substitute for Larry Hill in
this event. Larry has been unable to fish all season due to a back injury that could
require surgery.
Fourth place, and a qualifying position in the Tournament of Champions belongs to
the team of Gus Balsamo and Jim Belcher. Their 10.96 pounds of fish came from the
Hoffmanville section of the reservoir. Only four one-hundredths of a pound behind, the
team of Mike Farrell and Paul Koontz caught five fish to pick up their second top five
finish in a row.
Thanks to our Season Sponsors, Joseph Bertazon & Sons, Inc. as well as Ray
Electric Outboards, Inc. The Ray Electric
Outboard stats for this tournament: 74% of the 35 boats used Ray Motors, including the
first place and fifth place boats.
Warwick Supply and Equipment Company, Inc., a Baltimore based General Contractor,
was our tournament sponsor for this event. Warwick Supply, is well known in the area for
their commercial and government work. Thanks for your support.
The plaques that our top three teams received were donated by Phoenix Drywall, Inc.
We wish to thank Wooden Brothers, Inc. for supplying the refreshments for this tournament.
Willie Beall, Kenny Simmons, Dana Seipp and Rob Bertazon were the happy recipients
of the $25 gift certificates courtesy of The Fishin’ Shop. The Fishin’ Shop also
hosts our starting position drawings for each of our tournaments.
Beck and Crunkilton Best at Loch Raven
Mike Beck (Pictured on left) and Lenny Crunkilton took advantage of their first
place starting position in the final qualifying tournament of the 2000 season at Loch
Raven Reservoir on October 8, 2000. They made a short run to a point just south of the
Dulaney Valley Road Bridge and proceeded to catch a tournament winning 13.66 pounds of
fish. Anchoring that bag was the tournament lunker, a 4.82-pound largemouth.
Mike, the local distributor and service representative for Ray Electric Motors, and
his partner Lenny, fished the point area for the majority of the day, coaxing seven
keepers into the boat. The victory allows the Beck / Crunkilton team the opportunity to
fish in the Tournament of Champions to be held at Liberty Reservoir on October 22 and 29.
For the second time this season, the team of Bruce and Rob Corbin finished second
at Loch Raven. Their seven fish weighed in at 12.24 pounds.
They are said to have fished a very similar pattern as in their first tournament at
Loch Raven. I guess you could say “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it!”
Mike Gamber returns to the top three for the third straight tournament, this time
with Matt Gifford as his partner. Mike and Matt, teaming up for a first place finish at
Liberty in August, proved it was no fluke with a solid third place finish at this event.
They only caught six fish this time, but their total weight of 12.07 pounds easily earned
them another check.
The team of Gary Lippa and Ed Meushaw caught one of only four limits weighed at
this event. Fishing the skinny water in the back of Hampton cove, Gary and Ed did what
they do best, catch a bunch of fish on days when most people struggle for a bite or two.
The 11.43 pounds they caught also earned them a birth into the T.O.C. later this month.
The final qualifying position of the season goes to the father –son team of
Emory and Bobby Standiford. They too had a limit of eight fish. The 10.79 pounds of fish
they caught were good for fifth place and a chance to fish in out T.O.C.
Immediately following the conclusion of our weigh-in for this tournament, the two
“wild card” selections were drawn for the Tournament of Champions. The wild card
selections were made from a pool of the eighteen teams that fished in all six qualifying
tournaments, but failed to receive a berth. The husband and wife team of Betty and Joe
Markowski was drawn first. The team of Kern Ducote and Bill McDermott was selected next.
Twenty-seven of the thirty-six boats in this event (75%) used Ray Motors as their
primary propulsion motor. With dependable power and terrific run times, it’s no
wonder why our season sponsor, Ray Electric Outboards, Inc. is the leading producer of
electric outboard motors in the world.
We also wish to thank our other season sponsor, Joseph Bertazon & Sons, Inc.
for their assistance in making this season a tremendous success. The combination of our
two season sponsors allowed us to procure the trailer that we now use as an integral part
of our weigh-in process.
We also wish to thank our trophy sponsor for this tournament. J.M. Barron, Inc., a
local general contractor, generously provided the handsome plaques for our top three
teams.
We also wish to thank “the Fishin’ Shop” one last time for their
support of our group. In addition to hosting our starting position drawings, “The
Fishin’ Shop” supplied us with $100.00 worth of gift certificates for each of
our six qualifying tournaments. Many thanks to Mark and his staff!
Let us also thank Mr. Kevin McComas and his staff at the Loch Raven Fishing Center
for opening early and closing late, for our convenience at this tournament. Thanks for
your hospitality and courtesy!
T.O.C. Field Set
With all six of the qualifying
tournaments completed, the field for our 2000 Tournament of Champions has been finalized.
The Tournament of Champions will be held at Liberty Reservoir on October 22nd and 29th,
with blast-off at 7:00 a.m. and weigh-in at 4:00 p.m. The list of qualifiers, in order of
starting position is as follows.
1st Wave:
Larry Barger / Bill
Wilson
Jim Lark / Gary Stahler
Waino Anderson / Ron
Wolfe
Mike Gamber / Substitute
Tom Brown / Walt Miciche
Mike Beck / Lenny
Crunkilton
2nd
Wave
Charlie Gochnour / Larry
Penny
Scott Erisman / Kim
Rutley
Bruce Corbin / Rob
Corbin
Mike Farrell / Paul
Koontz
Larry Bertholdt / George
Wilder
3rd
Wave
David Kirk / Wes Parrish
Sam Ritch / Joe Schultz or
Tom Kobus
Randy Hill / Larry Hill or
Mike Gamber
4th
Wave
Bill Constantine / Dale
Davis
Gus Balsamo / Jim
Belcher
Gary Lippa / Ed Meushaw
Bobby Standiford / Emory
Standiford
5th
Wave
Betty Markowski / Joe
Markowski
Kern
Ducote / Bill McDermott
Year-end Award Winners
The Metro Reservoir Anglers, Inc. makes a special presentation each season to the
person who lands the largest fish, and to the team that has the heaviest total weight
through the course of our six qualifying tournaments. This season, we are proud to
announce Wes Parrish as the winner of the Largest Fish Award, and Waino Anderson and Ron
Wolfe as the recipients of the Heaviest Stringer Award.
Wes Parrish wasted no time in sewing up the Largest Fish Award. His 4.98-pound
largemouth was caught in the first tournament of the season at Prettyboy Reservoir on June
25, 2000. A serious challenge was made for
this award in each of the last three tournaments. However, no one could deliver the
knockout blow. Congratulations Wes on your fine catch!
In contrast to the Largest Fish Award, the Heaviest Stringer Award was a runaway.
Waino Anderson and Ron Wolfe combined to boat a limit of eight keepers on August 6, 2000
at Loch Raven Reservoir. The resulting stringer weighed 23.36 pounds and easily bested the
runners up of the year, Bruce and Rob Corbin, who caught 18.25 pounds of fish during the
same event.
In addition, the fish caught by Waino and Ron represent the highest weight recorded
in a Metro Reservoir Anglers, Inc. tournament in our three-year history. Way to go!
