Show Down at Big Slack
The year all came down to a make up tournament on Big Slackwater. Top five for Mr. Bass and the top 2 for Angler of the year. Anyone's to win anyone's to lose. Mike Miller found the winning combination. Mike after Ft. Hunter found himself in 2nd. in both Mr. Bass and Angler of the Year. Trailing Marty Brunner by 55 pts. and Bob Hassler by 1lb. 40z. for Angler of the Year. Mike (ike) "never give up" Miller pulled off the win to take it all. Mike's 3lbs. 13oz. was enough to catch Marty and overtake Bob by 4ozs. Mike had 2 fish early. One a 2lb. 5oz. to share lunker with Bob who came in 2nd. one fish 2lb.5oz. Conway Barnes took 3rd. with a 1lb.2oz. largemouth, Curt Anthony was 4th just 1oz. ahead of Marty who finished 5th.
For the year it was Mike Miller as Mr. Bass. In the team event Curt, Jimmy, Harold and Dave M. finished 1st by 1lb. 2oz. over Mike S. Mike M. Conway and Joe. Bob outlasted Harold by 1oz. to be the last man out in survivor. It was a tight year Antietam. And that really made it fun coming down to the end. Great job by all the guys. |  |
Fort Hunter By Bob
| The best tournament of the year has to be Fort Hunter. This year the river was up and muddy. Finding clean water seemed to be the key. Marty Brunner went up river to parts unknown. But when he came back he had a 19lb. 14oz bag (club record) and a 4lb. 11oz fish for lunker. Winning pattern came on tubes. Bob Hassler was 2nd 16lbs. 12oz. all on crankbaits. Mike Miller was 3rd with 16lbs. 7oz. also using tubes. Curt Anthony was 4th. 15lbs.12oz. while Ben Hynes took 5th. Conway Barnes 6th. |  |
Goldsboro By Bob
| The tournament was moved from Montgomery to Goldsboro due to low water. The Susky showed that it did not always give up big fish and numbers. Some started out on fire, REALLY on fire. Dick Oyler and Sparkey (Curt Anthony) had a electrical fire that Sparkey was able to put out but it took out the trolling motor. Conway Barnes pulled out the win with 6lbs. 11oz. using tubes. Harold Gist took 2nd with 6lbs. 2oz. also on tubes and senkos. Dave Menton pulled in enough for a 3rd. Marty Brunner finished 4th followed by Ben Gusciora and then Ben Hynes to finish out the points. Conway and Ben G. spilt lunker |  |
Dargen By Bob
| Dave Menton wins with lunker 2lbs. 10oz. A great start for the rookie. Lunker came on a fluke or was it a fluke. Curt beat out Conway for 2nd by 1 oz. and Dick Oyler took 4th with a last cast fish. Harold Gist fishing with Dave had two fish on senkos took 5th. And Mike Miller round out the points with one fish. |  |
Erie 09 By Bob
Once again Erie was not giving up big fish easy. With changing weather patterns the fishing patterns kept changing also. Curt and Bob started on the main lake. Curt found a few big fish early on the first day by cranking. That was the differance in the end. Curt built a 3lb. lead on day one. Mike Miller and Dave Lawrence also started on the main lake. But with trolling motor problems had to pull back to calmer waters. Mike held 2nd working tubes on grass lines in the bay. Marty Brunner was a run and gunner but had tournament lunker on the first day a 5lb. 9oz. smallmouth. Joe Hall and Ben Hynes found fish in bay with a quick window of good fishing when a cold front pushed in. Dick Hayden and Harold Gist found a senko pattern in the bay. Day 2 brought a whole differant game behind the cold front. Curt"hammermill" Anthony, finishing first with 27lbs. 9oz., started on the main lake but moved to the bay. Marty Brunner with his run and gun pattern took 2nd 25lbs. 3oz. Mike Miller even with no trolling motor ended up 3rd Staying with his tubes in the bay. Ben Hynes managed another good day in the bay took 4th. Bob Hassler was 5th. and Dick Hayden staying with his senkos came in 6th. | 
Hammermill Anthony |
Lower Potomac-09 by Nick
| The second tournament take us to the Lower Potomac. We launched out of Leesylvania at 7:00 and fished until 3:oo. It was a very hot day and a tough bite. Most people were able to produce a limit of 5 fish though. Bob again was the man to beat landing a limit of 14 lbs. 10oz. Bob and Curt started on the on the rocks with several other club members. In the first hour Bob had 4 nice fish and Curt had 3 when the bite slowed. They decided to run north. Where Curt quickly got his limit and begin to cull using a pluse worm. Bob swiched to the worm and finished off his limit.
Joe Hall came in second with 12 lbs. 130z. and TX. lunker of 5lb. 4oz. Joe and Nick ran south where they used chatterbaits and crankbaits. Both came back with limits.
Mike Smith and Mike Miller started on the rocks. Mike S. got his limit coming in third with 10 lbs. 5oz. and Mike M. took fourth with 10 lbs. Jim Kline was forced to stay on the rocks with boat troubles. But did come fifth. Dick Hayden finished sixth with a limit. I found cranking to be the only thing that worked, and after talking to the guys,they all seemed to agree. The next tourney takes us to Lake Erie in hopes of landing big smallies |  |
Whites Ferry by Bob
The new year begins. Nothing like last year. The river was coming up and turning muddy. Only 5 keepers being caught showed how tough it can get at Whites. At the start it seemed like half the club ran up the other half went down. Some dropped off at the power plant to take advantage of the warm water discharge. Others ran up to get above the Moncacy. Marty Brunner ran as far Brunswick. He was able to come back with the winning fish and lunker. A 3lb. 8oz. smallmouth caught on a tube. He said he had to gently wake Joe Langlios from his morning nap to net the fish. By the end of the day all the boats seemed to be down river from the ramp looking for cleaner water. Ben Hynes found the 2nd place fish 2lb. 12oz. smallmouth, Mike Smith 3rd. with 2lb.3oz. smallmouth. Dick Hayden (4th) and Bob Hassler (5th) with largemouth caught on tubes. The day ended with Bob crying about the two that got away. Well on to the Lower Potomac. | |
Year End Wrap Up
Antietam Bassmasters have put together another solid year. The awards banquet, Bonanza, special events and charitable contributions have shown why Antietam Bass is one of the best clubs in the MBF.
Bob Hassler won this years Mr. Bass and Angler of the Year. He was pushed hard by Curt Anthony. It was not decided until the finial tournament of the year. Curt has finished 2nd for the 4th straight year and is starting to be known as "Bubble Boy".
The 3 Man Team was won by Curt Anthony, Bob Hassler and Dick Hayden. Dick said he would be there at end and did come through for the team.
Survivor Man was won by Curt Anthony. He out lasted, out guessed Dave Lawrence and Mike Miller to take the crown.
Tournament winners this year where Nick Hill, Ben Hynes, Bob Hassler, Curt Anthony and Mike Miller. Great job guys.
New members Harold Gist and Ben Hynes have shown that they can catch fish and put points on the board. New blood makes everyone step up their game. Good first year guys.
Ft. Hunter By Bob
| Ft. Hunter was a little differant this year. Some stayed with the old tried and true tube. Others changed up and went to crankbaits out on the flats. Mike Miller came in 1st. with 19lbs. 7oz. Swicthing to the crankbait early. He found two colors that worked and rotated them back and forth. Marty Brunner came in 2nd. with 18lbs. 1 oz. He had help from his boater Dave Lawrence. Dave had 17lbs. 7oz. and finished 3rd. Marty only had 2 fish when Dave gave him the secret crankbait. Ben Hynes also had to hold his partner. Ben had a limit early of 17lbs. 2oz. to come in 4th. Then had to hold of Dick Hayden who finised 5th. with 16lbs. 6oz. Curt Anthony finished 6th with 15lbs. 4oz. Curt's first fish of the day a 4lb. 4oz. smallmouth gave him lunker for the tournament. Curt also ended up being the SURVIVOR MAN. |  |
