Place: MERCER LAKE, West Windsor, NJ
Date: Sat. Sept. 16, 2023
Time: 6:30am-2:30pm
Weather: Crisp, Fall 58 Air Temps with clear skies and occasional clouds...Warming up to 78 Degrees
Water Temps: 73.4~74Degrees
Water Clarity: 1.0'~2.5' in certain sections;
Wind: 15~20mph for most part of day.
Best Lure: Beavers, Crankbaits, Senko's, and Chatterbaits (Blk\Blue)
Depths fished: 2.0'~5.0'
Limit: 3 Bass
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Welcome to our SJHT final 17th event of the 2023 Season where a good number of embers came out to battle, close the gap in the year end standings, and honor Long Time member Moe in his final 2023 club event. Most has been with the club over 23+ years. I believe in giving these members there flowers now vs. later. Thanks for the many years memories and continual support of SJHT.
Let's get to it.
On Saturday, 13 SJHT finest came out to MERCER LAKE to finish out the 2023 Regular Club season before our 2 Day Classic in 2 weeks. Under the cool and breezy conditions, anglers scrambled to their preferred spots and hold outs. It wasn't long before anglers were catching Bass along with plenty of dinks. Mercer Lake has always been pretty productive, but today with the Dragon Boat races and the activity on the water, it made for an interesting day.
Without further adieu, please give a big congrats to Tri-Fecta winner and this years 2023 Rookie of the Year, 1st place, Lunker, and Misc. winnerPete *Crushing It* Ingemi with 3 Bass going 8.67lbs. Pete's Lunker went a nice 4.53lbs. His Misc. Catty went a Hefty 7.93lbs by itself. 2nd Place was won by Rob *Off the Mercer Lake Probation List* Masterson with 3 bass going 7.35lbs.3rd Place was won by 2023 AOY Jackson *Mr. Consistency* Fu with 3 Bass going 5.82lbs.
MERCER LAKE TALE OF TAPE:
Pete *Big Stones* Ingemi 1st Place, Lunker, Miscelleneous and 2023 Rookie AOY Bag of 3 Bass at 8.67 and Misc. at 7.93lbs:
[b]Rob's 2nd Place Winner bag of 3 Bass going 7.35bs:
Fu's 3rd Place bag at 5.82lbs
Not Pictured
Angler catches and scenary:
Bill's 1 Bass keeper 2.57lbs
Mike Del Monico's 1 Bass going 2.23lbs:
Jiggen Den's Solo Keeper going 1.53lbs
Scott Schappell Solo Keeper going at 1.68lbs
BN06 with his solo keeper at 1.25lbs:
Eric C. solo keeper at 1.43lbs:
2023 SJHT Group Pic without the Banner: My Bad! LOL
Summary: MERCER LAKE once again proved to hold some big'guns for some.
Anglers reported many cookie-cutter size bass being caught, perch, and pickeral in the mix. Unfortunately, for myself and others, trying to get a 3 Bass limit proved frustrating. For those anglers who were able to figure out a pattern, a big Congratulations. Mercer Lake has plenty of different speciies of fish. As seen by 2023 Rookie AOY Pete Ingemi, he caught the Tri-fecta winning 3 pots today. Congrats my man! Way to figure them out. With the Dragon Boat races and the traffic in the middle of the lake along with the beating drums, I'm not sure if that played a part in the results but I will try to avoid in scheduling next year.
MERCER LAKE was pretty tough for most anglers . Judging by the Tale of the Tape, there were not many keepers caught. Some anglers reported early limits but upsizing them became difficult. Out of 13 Anglers, there were only 15 Bass caught....giving way to 32.53lbs . The avg. weight was 2.17lbs. per Bass.
Overall.... 3 anglers caught there 3 Bass Limit. 9 out of 13 anglers caught at least 1 Bass.
Congrats to Pete Ingemi, Rob Masterson, and Jackson Fu on your perforrmances. Congrats Fu on another 2023 AOY Title, Pete on Rookie 2023 AOY. Mike Del Monico on biggest 2023 Lunker 5.67lbs, Jiggen Den on 2023 Iron Man- Fishing All 17 Tournaments this year, Fu on 2023 Heaviiest 3 Bass Limit on the Flats 10.88lbs.
Next up is 2 Day Bass Classic at Assunpink and Salem Canal in 2 Weeks where WINNER Takes All along with the 2023 Classic SJHT Belt.
2023 Offiical SJHT Standings after MERCER LAKE EVENT:
T's fished Name Points Lunker YTD Fish YTD Wgt
14 Jackson Fu 181.29 4.1 39 88.29
17 Dennis Tolentino* 145.63 3.61 35 68.63
16 Bill Leach* 140.09 4.08 34 65.09
13 Mike Del Monico 136.16 5.67 31 55.16
10 Rob Masterson 93.62 4.3 23 44.62
8 Pete I. (R) 61.9 4.53 17 29.9
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11 Scott S.* 59.38 3.87 18 30.38
7 Carlos J. 48.05 2.94 13 22.05
12 Big Nasty 46.71 3.64 13 21.71
10 Eric C. (R) 46.67 4.08 13 22.67
6 David S. 38.61 2 13 16.61
6 Kirk B. (R)* 32.59 2.08 11 14.59
4 Brian M. 31.03 1.86 10 16.03
10 Andy Trapper 30.33 3.81 8 11.33
8 Steve A. (R) 25.79 2.58 7 10.79
8 Wayne *Moe* Sr.* 23.57 1.97 7 8.57
8 Mike P. (R) 20.89 1.92 6 6.89
1 Layne Ell 9.32 - 3 5.32
1 John P. 1 - - -
- Joe Reed* - - - -
- Gary K. - - - -
- Paul T. - - - -
Tightlines and Thanks for a Great 2023 Season,
BN06
Edited by BigNasty06 on 09/17/2023
BN06, President
