Syracuse.com - Californian easily wins Bassmaster Northern Open on Oneida Lake

[HuntingNY-News]

Winner Ish Monroe said the key was that he focused exclusively on largemouth bass. Meanwhile, Kevin Haley, of Syracuse, won the co-angler division (and a new bass boat and motor).

Elite Series Pro Ish Monroe, of Hughson, Calif., started off strong Thursday and finished strong today, easily winning the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open on Oneida Lake.

The awards ceremony was held this afternoon on the parking lot in front of the Bass Pro Shops store at the Fingerlakes Mall.

With the win, Monroe, who during three day tournament caught 51 pounds, 2 ounces of fish (all largemouths), received nearly $10,000 in prize money, plus a new Triton bass boat and a 200 horsepower Mercury motor -- a rig valued at $40,000.

He said the key to winning was focusing on catching just largemouths. He used his frog lure and a "creature bait" with a special, 1 1/2-ounce jig, heavy test line (70-pound) and a high-speed reel, which enabled him to get down through and fish weed mats near shore.

Monroe was followed by Michael Simonton, of Fremont, Ohio, who posted a final total of 48 pounds, 12 ounces.

There was a tie for third place between John Pelletier, of Nassau, N.Y. and Pat Golden, of High Point, N.C., both finishing out at 45 pounds, 7 ounces.

The top finishing local pro-angler was Matt Martin, of Chittenango, who went into the final day tied for fifth place and ended up dropping to eighth place. His total weight was 43 pounds, 12 ounces.

The top-finishing co-angler was Kevin Haley, of Syracuse, who finished out with a catch total of 26 pounds; 8 ounces. The pro anglers can weigh up to five fish each day; the co-anglers, three. Haley fished Saturday on Martin's boat.

For his effort, Haley won a "tournament-ready," Skeeter bass boat, with a 150 horsepower Yamaha engine.

Another local, Brad Kelly, of Oswego, finished 6, with his three-day total of 24 pounds, 7 ounces.

The pro anglers and the co-anglers split a total of $250,000 in prize money and merchandise. The tournment began Thursday with 138 anglers in each division, with only 12 from each making it into today's finals.

Anglers in the first 40 places in each division received checks.

For more on this, see Sunday's Outdoors page in The Post-Standard

To view the tournament's complete results, see the Bassmaster Web site.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog