Everyone knew going into the tournament that Mashpee was Fishing tough. But, there were fish to be caught and Matt Allen made the most of his day by milk-running shallow weed clumps and isolated cover. Allen threw both soft plastics and top waters to entice wary smallmouth to bite. After running and gunning all day, he was able to sack 12.35 lb which was just enough for him to claim his second victory of the season and hold on to first place in the AOY standings.
Young gun James Marino fishing out of the back of Jim D’Ambra’s boat, also ran a pattern of shallow isolated weed clumps. Using a weedless Drop Shot, Marino landed some decent fish shallow and then rounded out his limit with a couple of solid keepers caught on deeper breaks. His 11.06 lb bag was not quite enough to overtake Matt Allen but a decent weight nonetheless and good for second place.
Jim D’Ambra kept things interesting with a limit weighing 7.21 lb which took third place and keept him in second place overall in the AOY race.
Congratulations to the top finishers and to all the SSBM club members who battled it out on Mashpee Wakeby. Coming up next is Champlain North where the AOY race will really heat up as big weights can mean big moves in the standings. Who will rise and who will drop? Check back in August to find out!