June 11^th

PA TBF District 6 held their second tournament of the year at Pymatuning Lake.  Team members Brad Bressler, Derek Severns and Robert Severns, fished this event.  The guys were welcomed with a perfect morning, but the promise of a windy afternoon was in store.  Brad started out the morning fishing the Ohio side of the lake a area called Bay 41, this was across for the launch at Snodgrass.  He started off with two small keepers; his rider caught 4 keepers right away.  They caught their keepers on jigs, spinner baits and senkos.  Brad then decided to head north to the Linesville area of the lake.  He pulled up on a area that he thought would hold some fish and has held them in the past, and he was correct, he boated 14 keepers off of this bank, 2 of them over 3 pounds.  His rider did not have then luck that Brad did.  Brad rounded out his limit and ended the day with one dead fish for ½ pound penalty and a total weight of 11.81, this would put Brad in 4^th place for the day.

Derek started his day in the back of Wade Adams boat, the first spot they stopped on was just north of the launch.  Wade quickly caught a limit on a white fluke and a shallow diving crank bait, while Derek couldn’t hook up.  Derek did catch his first fish off of that spot.  The two then made their way over to the Ohio side of the lake, and begun to flip trees and bushes in the shallow water.  Both guys caught fish, Derek caught one over 3 pds.  They left that area Derek had 4 fish and Wade still had his 5 and was calling.  With a few hours to go, the guys decided to stick it out in a large weed patch on the PA side, just below the causeway.  This proved to be a good call for both anglers, Derek ended his day calling out 3 of his 5 fish and adding one over 4 pounds.  They were catching their fish on senkos, tubes and jigs.  Derek ended his day with 13.09, this was enough to win the co-anglers side.  Bob did not have the luck that Brad and Derek had he and his boater fished hard all day, his boater had a small limit and Bob had only had 4.  This left Bob in 13^th place on the co-anglers side.

August 7^th

Was the final TBF District 6 tournament of the year.  Conneaut Lake was host to this event.  Brad and Derek made the trip to Conneaut, the day was forecasted to be 80 and sunny, which sounds good, but not at Conneaut, this would mean water skiers and boaters everywhere!  The morning bite is very important on a day like this.  Brad started out with a limit in the first half hour, small, but never the less a limit.  The day turned into a grind for him, he caught more fish but they were all small, he just could not upgrade.  The fish came on flukes, baby one crankbaits, senkos, and pop-r’s in the morning.  Brad ended his day with a limit, but only 5.13 this was enough for 12^th on the anglers side.  Derek had much the same luck but in different areas with different baits, the big bites just were not there for the guys today.  Derek fished a drop shot with a variety of baits, worms, senkos, gulp minnows.  He had a small limit for 5.70 good enough also for 12^th on the co-angler side.  This was not what the guys had planned, but on a sunny day at Conneaut you never know what might happen.

As the 2011 District 6 season comes to an end, the ultimate goal is to qualify for the state championship.    Brad finished 10 in the angler of the year points and qualified to the state championship as a boater.  Brian Spencer qualified from the Eastern Regional event as a boater.  On the co-anglers side, Derek finished 6^th and qualified as a rider to the championship.  Bob finished the year in 13^th and cannot fish the championship event.  The state championship will be held October 7^th and 8^th at Onieda Lake in New York.  The team will be represented there by Brad Bressler and Derek Severns.  Let cross our fingers the guys can find the right fish to make the 12 man PA team.  At this event there will be around 150 anglers hoping to make the coveted 12 man team that will represent PA in an upcoming national level event.  As always the team would like to take a minute to thank all the people that make this all possible, the sponsors….Valvoline Oil, Nervous Waters, Metal Menders Paintless Dent Removal, Strauss Auto Recycling, Bowser Collision Center, Poor Boys Baits and www.fishpittsburgh.com .  Please support these companies because they support our sport.