Place: Union Lake, Millville, NJ
Time: 6:00am-2:00pm
Date: Saturday, July 01, 2017
Weather: Initial clouds mixed in with Blue Bird skies by end of day...Started out very humid going 73 degrees at start with barely a breeze. Warming up to a Hot 90 Degrees later in the day.
Water Temps: 78 Degrees at start.... and 83 Degrees in main body of water
Water Clarity: N/A
Wind Gusts:
Best Lure: N/A
Depths fished: N/A
Bass Limit: 5
-------------------------------------------
Welcome to SJHT's 14th Annual Union Lake Open Buddy Tournament. On a day where the weather was forcasted to be goregous with a chance of late day Thunderstorms, 29 Boats, a total of 56 Anglers came out to win the some of the Deadliest Venom SJHT Belts!!!
This leads me to the overwhelming response and participation in Saturdays, July 1, 2017 event.
What can I say men and women? Because of you and your desire to compete and come out on a 4th of July Holiday weekend and partake in our 14th straight Union Lake Open Buddy T., we thank you.
To the SJHT members that fished this event... Dave S., Rendell, Carlos, and Dan F. on the livewell checks and on the water oversight, VP Joe Reed on the Grill and at the weigh-in Table and Bob Potts recording each teams bag. I personally Thank you for easing the load and making things run as smoothly as could be.
Next, I would like to Thank this Years 2017 SJHT Union Lake Open Buddy Lunker Sponsor Blackwater Sportsmen Center . Located physically down in the Vineland, NJ.
Jeff Jr. and Sr. Shaw and his Pro-staff provide some of the finest tackle and equipment for your tournament needs. Thanks for donating the Lunker Rod.
Blackwater is located in Vineland, NJ on Delsea Drive. With so many other activities and initiatives going on, Blackwater continues to support those that give back to there communities. Thank you once again.
and last but not least...our very own John *Bama* Barrett.... Title Sponsor of this years Union Lake Championship Belts Alarms by SAFE-TECH and Gloucester County Awards and Trophy out of Sewell, NJ. John Nestore does fabulous out of the box custom type trophies, plaques, and of course the Open Buddy Tag Team Belts.
Without there continued support and generosity, SJHT would find it very difficult to keep the level of expectations as High as we put it. Thank you Gentlemen once again.
----------------------------------------------
South Jersey Hook This! would also like to Thank all of the dedicated 29 boaters that came out to this event.
Okay... Let's get right to it. Without further adieu, Here is the official 2016 SJHT Union Lake Open Buddy Tale of the Tape
Let's give a big congrats to this years 2017 New SJHT 14th Annual Union Lake Open Buddy Tournament finishers.
1st Place and Lunker Team of Kevin Leeds & Ben Brosh- 5 Bass weighing 11.50lbs $812.00
2nd Place Team and Lunker winner Rich Stevens & Dave Gilligan 5 Bass weighing 11.12lbs $487.20 Lunker of 5.76lbs went $290.00
3rd Place Team of Jay Burger & Steve Weldon with 5 Bass weighing 11.12lbs $324.80
Anglers Launching in the AM:
Sailboat also photobomb the bass Anglers:
Foldable Fishing Boat:
BN06 with anglers bringing Bags to weigh in
Anglers and there catches:
All the way from the WoodBridge, NJ area!!!! Thanks again!
Fellow SJHT Member Dan F. and partner Rich Leadbeater
Papa Dave Haas
Howard Brown and Lori Thomas:
Team Jake Haas and Vince Melfi Bag:
Overall 2017 SJHT 14th Annual Union Lake Open Buddy Champs:
Team Kevin Leeds & Ben Brosh:
1st, 2nd, 3rd Place and Lunker Champs:
In Summary: 18 out of 29 Boaters caught at least 1 Bass. There were a total of 70 overall Bass weighed-in totaling 142.82lbs. That gave way to an avg. of 2.04lbs. There were 66 Largemouth Bass weighed in and 4 Smallmouth Bass weighed in. As one can surmise by the Tale of the Tape, there was a total of 8 Limits brought to the scales. Pretty impressive for UNION Lake.
Anglers reported losing some nice Bass close to the boat as they tried to haul in. Some anglers caught them in there normal Summer hang outs while some ventured down by the Dam. The total caught this year compared to last year was an increase by 32 bass overall. Last year, there was only 1 Limit brought to the scales. [b] 2nd and 3rd Place finishers was decided by there individual Lunkers. Can you say Wow!!!
Congrats to the prize winners and all that came out and supported the 14th annual SJHT Bass Fishing Club Union Lake Open Buddy Tournament.
Thanks again to all who came out on this 4th of July weekend event. I know you could have been in a million and one other places but we're just appreciative to all who showed the love.
BN06
Edited by BigNasty06 on 07/07/2017
BN06, President
Nice job boys, looks like a great turn out and a lot of fish caught. Maybe its time for a new scale with standalone digital display and large weigh basket that can accommodate double digit Sassafras bags
