JOHN'S
Southshore Bassmasters
2016 Results - John's Pond
June 10, 2016Elson wins it!
Conditions
Air Temp: 70
Water Temp: 69
Wind: 10-15 NNW
Sun: Clouds breaking mid-day to sunny skies
Winning Pattern
Skipping brush and docks with soft-plastics
When Rocky Balboa stepped into the ring against Apollo Creed, he had no shot. Everyone knew it. He just couldn't win. But, the gritty kid from Philly proved them all wrong and did the impossible, defeating a more highly-skilled opponent with nothing but heart and determination.
As he launched his '94 Ranger onto the waters of John's Pond early Friday morning, Mike Elson faced those same odds. He just couldn't compete with Matt Allen, who had won at John's three of the last four years, and even when he finished second in 2013 had weighed in over 18lb. Allen's angling accomplishments were legendary. He was the Apollo Creed, the Goliath, of Southshore...smart, incredibly skilled, and unstoppable. There was almost no hope. Even Elson's best wouldn't be good enough. Or, would it?
After losing his first two fish of the day, Elson's confidence was at rock bottom. And, an unusually finicky bite had him panicked. But a move to the back pond resulted in two solid keepers, and when two more good fish came off of one dock, Elson was rolling. A switch from bulky creature baits to a finesse-sized Senko made all the difference and when a 4+ lb Largemouth drilled the little bait deep under overhanging brush, Elson had established a solid bag. After culling two of his smaller fish at the end of the day by Texas-Rigging in deep weeds, Elson had done all he could do. But, was it enough to beat Allen and his typical 18+ lbs?
As the official tournament clock hit 3:00 pm, it was time to find out. At 13.66 lb, Elson's bag was the heaviest of the day with Allen yet to weigh in. When Allen's limit tipped the scales at 13.23 lb, the crowd erupted...Elson had done it! With nothing but heart, determination, and the toughness he developed growing up on the mean streets of Easton, MA, Elson had slayed the giant. He had done the impossible and defeated Matt Allen at John's Pond. To his credit, Allen took the defeat in stride, congratulating Elson with a smile and a handshake. Later, as Elson finally pulled his rig out of the parking lot with a wave and a tip of his hat to the crowd, everyone was left shaking their heads and wondering how he had done it. They would never quite know for sure, but they knew one thing, they had a fish story for the ages to pass down to their children and their children's children about the day that Mike Elson brought Goliath to his knees on a little pond in Mashpee Mass.
Despite the pain of having his win streak at John's broken, Matt Allen put together a very solid performance. Skipping bushes with his typical texas-rigged soft plastics, Allen landed 13.23 lb of John's Pond Largies. Had he not lost a few quality fish throughout the day, he might have been standing in the winners circle.
Brian wheeler clawed his way to a respectable limit weighing 10.95 lb which was good for third place. Tim Farrell, the Beast of the East, brought 10.92 lb to the scales to lock up fourth place while Jim D'Ambra carolina-rigged his way to 10.80 lb to round out the top five. Dan Marini landed the tourney lunker, a 5.50 lb hawg, that he caught, lost, and amazingly caught again just minutes later.
Congratulations again to Mike Elson for an improbable victory and to all the SSBM club members who slugged it out at John's Pond.
Full Results
| Angler | Fish | Big | Weight | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Elson | 5 | 4.32 | 13.66 | 50 |
| 2 | Matt Allen | 5 | 3.98 | 13.23 | 48 |
| 3 | B.Wheeler | 5 | 10.95 | 47 | |
| 4 | Tim Farrell | 5 | 3.22 | 10.92 | 46 |
| 5 | Jim D'Ambra | 5 | 10.80 | 45 | |
| 6 | W.Balchunas | 5 | 9.21 | 44 | |
| 7 | Dan Marini | 3 | 5.50 | 8.26 | 43 |
| 8 | Ted Cazeault | 4 | 6.15 | 42 | |
| 9 | Ken Wood | 5 | 5.76 | 41 | |
| 10 | Bob Wells | 5 | 5.37 | 40 | |
| 11 | Mike Ware | 5 | 4.81 | 39 | |
| 12 | J.Simeone | 2 | 2.90 | 38 | |
| 13 | Dave Doyle | 3 | 2.84 | 37 | |
| 14 | Rob Bell | 1 | 1.94 | 36 | |
| 15 | Chris Finnie | 1 | 1.31 | 35 | |
| 16 | Bob Wheeler | 1 | 0.83 | 34 | |
| 17 | L.Sullivan | 0 | 0.00 | 7 |
