LAKE CHAMPLAIN, Vt. - Ray Sprano didn't just win the BASS Federation Northern Divisional bass fishing tournament on Friday, but also earned his second ticket to a BASS Federation National Championship.
Sprano, of St. Albans, Vt., brought in 54 pounds of bass over the three-day competition, which pitted individuals and state teams against one another on Lake Champlain. Connecticut won the team competition, with a cumulative 497-2 of bass.
"I got on some nice smallmouth and I didn't change my pattern at all," said Sprano, who was throwing chartreuse spinnerbaits and flipping green pumpkin tubes from his Triton. Sprano posted a fourth-place finish on day two and said his key decision this week was to stay in one spot.
"It's my home water and it's easy to get distracted," he said. "But I stuck to my spot and said if I made it, I made it. If I didn't, I didn't."
The top angler from each state team will go to the championship next spring and compete for the chance to fish at bass fishing's world championship, the Bassmaster Classic.
"There's some pretty tough competition (at the Federation Championship)," said Sprano, who won a previous berth in 2001. "It will all depend on who goes."
In addition to Sprano, the Northern Division will send state representatives including Connecticut's Tom Reynolds; New Hampshire's Danny Peckham; New Jersey's Mark Schafer; New York's Dennis Cumiskey; Delaware's Greg Alexander; Massachusetts' John Mead; Maine's Joshua Platt; PENNSYLVANIA's George Acord; Virginia's Vernon Wilson; West Virginia's Tim Isaacs; Maryland's Ed Riley; Washington, D.C.'s Danny Shanz; and Rhode Island's Bob Marelli.
Vermont finished second in the state competition, followed by New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Massachusetts, PENNSYLVANIA, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C., and Rhode Island.