Tomas Giannini is looking forward to fishing the Mystic and Charles rivers tomorrow during the one-day Junior Bassmaster competition, held in conjunction with the 2012 Cabela’s Bassmaster Federation Nation Eastern Divisional.
“Practice has been good,” said the teen from Ontario. He’s been practicing here since Monday, when he went out on the Charles River. His teammate, Mark Morrison, joined him on Tuesday, when the pair went midway up the Charles and had some success.
“Yesterday, we tried out Mystic Lake,” said Morrison. “We found one bass there but nothing in the Mystic River, so we’ve scratched it off the list.”
Morrison and Giannini plan to fish Senkos and spinnerbaits on the Charles when competition begins tomorrow morning. “We’ve heard crankbaits are working too, but we’re probably not going to use them,” said Morrison, who is fishing in his fifth consecutive divisional.
Brian Volkernick and Jonathan Curran of Maine have had a similar experience. “I caught two bass on the Charles on Monday but nothing on Tuesday,” explained Volkernick. Yesterday, the pair fished within 100 yards of their adult counterparts, including Volkernick’s father, John, and caught a 2 1/2-pounder.
Curran, on the other hand, caught three bass on Tuesday and four yesterday. If he can keep that up when it counts, he’ll definitely have something to show on the weigh-in stand tomorrow.
Also excited about tomorrow is Spanish youth David Iglesias Marcos, 16, who took his first flight ever last weekend to make the 3,600-mile journey across the Atlantic. “It has been my dream for seven years to make it to this level,” said the enthusiastic teen from Salamanca. His brother and father are both competing in the adult ranks for Spain.
Junior Bassmaster competitors are Adam Swirzewski and Noah Scott Winslow from Connecticut; Curran and Volkernick of Maine; Andrew Palmacci and Brendan Webb of Massachusetts; Jack Montgomery and Travis Rockett of New Hampshire; Nick Sokolowski and Jacob Cerretto of New York; Morrison and Giannini of Ontario; Corey Horelick and Brandon Johnson of Rhode Island; Marcos of Spain; and Benjamin Seaman and Lucas Micael Cadieux of Vermont.
The top angler in each of the two age groups, 11 to 14 and 15 to 18, advance to the Bassmaster Junior World Championship, Oct. 27, near Decatur, Ala.
Competition begins tomorrow at 6:15 a.m. ET and concludes at 2:15 p.m. Watch the weigh-in live beginning at 2:15.