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Date:
February 3, 2006
Contact:
Richard Hartley, MassWildlife
Sportfishing Awards Coordinator
508/792-727- x132
Sportfish
Awards Ceremony and Program Changes Announced
On
Saturday, February 11, at
4 PM
, the Mass. Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife)
will be honoring anglers for their big catches in 2005 and announcing changes
to the Freshwater Sportfishing Awards Program as part of the Eastern Fishing
and Outdoor Exposition in
Worcester
’s DCU Centre.
For over 40 years, the Division of Fisheries & Wildlife has
sponsored the Freshwater Sportfishing Awards Program, a program that
recognizes anglers who have caught trophy freshwater fish from
Massachusetts
water
bodies open to the public. Anglers
catching any one of 22 fish species of a specified weight receive a bronze pin
commemorating their accomplishment. These fish are often referred to as “pin
fish”. In addition to a bronze
pin, anglers who catch the heaviest fish species of the year receive a gold
pin and plaque at the Freshwater Sportfish Awards Ceremony.
The
2005 Angler of the Year will also be honored at this ceremony. The Angler of
the Year Award recognizes anglers who caught the most “pin fish” species
within a year.
2005
Sportfish Award Winners
2005
Angler of the Year-- This year’s
winner, Todd Matera of Palmer, won the 2005 Angler of the Year by catching
eight trophy size species of fish.
Matera
caught chain pickerel in Long Pond,
Yarmouth
; channel catfish and walleye in the
Connecticut River
; largemouth bass at Garrett’s Pond,
Barnstable
and Quabbin Reservoir; smallmouth bass at
Quabbin Reservoir; sunfish at
Ludlow
’s Red Bridge Impoundment on the
Chicopee
River
; white perch at Quabbin Reservoir and yellow
perch at Spectacle Pond,
Sandwich
and Rocky Pond,
Plymouth
.
“Anglers
should be heartened to see that the Angler of the Year doesn’t necessarily
have to catch gold pin fish to be competitive for this particular award,”
said Richard Hartley, Sportfish Awards Program Coordinator. “No stranger to
the Sportfish Awards Program, Todd concentrated his 2005 efforts on a variety
of species rather than specifically targeting trophy fish. He spent a lot of
time fishing
Cape Cod
waters in 2005, far from his home in Palmer.”
The
purpose of the Angler of the Year Award is to recognize the accomplishments of
anglers interest
ed
in honing their skills on a variety of fish
species, rather than one or two. Some anglers become specialists, studying the
habits of specific species and learning how to target them, while others
become generalists seeking out all the species that the state's waters have to
offer. This award is also a way to recognize that the motivations for angling
are as diverse as the anglers themselves!
Gold
Pin Winners in Adult and Youth Categories
|
2005
Adult Gold Pin Winners
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Broodstock
salmon
|
22
lbs. 14 ozs.
|
Jamaica
Pond,
Boston
|
Roy
Leyva,
Hyde Park
|
|
Brook
trout
|
2
lbs. 8 ozs.
|
Forest
Lake
,
Methuen
|
Roger Aziz
, Jr.,
Methuen
|
|
Brown
Trout
|
9
lbs. 12 ozs.
|
Onota
Lake
,
Pittsfield
|
Roger
Driscoll,
Pittsfield
|
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Bullhead*
|
4
lbs. 10 ozs.
|
Forest
Lake
,
Methuen
|
Robert
Coffill, Somerville
|
|
Carp
|
34
lbs. 1 oz.
|
Merrimack River
,
Lawrence
|
Roger Aziz
, Jr.,
Methuen
|
|
Chain
pickerel
|
6
lbs. 6 ozs.
|
Otis
Reservoir, Otis
|
Andrew
Boyne, Lee
|
|
Channel
Catfish
|
16
lbs. 0 oz.
|
Chicopee
River
,
Springfield
|
Steve
Muniec, Thorndike
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Crappie
|
3
lbs. 8 ozs.
|
Connecticut River
,
Northampton
|
Eric
Sicard, Southampton
|
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Lake
Trout
|
21
lbs. 4 ozs.
|
Quabbin
Reservoir, Belchertown
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Steve
McCullough, Belchertown
|
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Landlocked
salmon
|
5
lbs. 14 ozs.
|
Wachusett
Reservoir, West Boylston
|
Dan
Draleaus, Northbridge
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Largemouth
bass
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8
lbs. 6 ozs.
|
Mashpee-Wakeby
Pond, Mashpee
|
Scott
Giammalvo, Middleboro
|
|
Northern
Pike
|
23
lbs. 0 ozs.
|
South
Pond,
East Brookfield
|
Robert
Thibodo,
Greenfield
|
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Rainbow
Trout
|
6
lbs. 11 ozs.
|
South
Pond,
East Brookfield
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Walter
Bernier,
Brookfield
|
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Shad
|
9
lbs. 7 ozs.
|
Connecticut River
,
South Hadley
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Robert
Thibodo,
Greenfield
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Smallmouth
bass
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5
lbs. 13 ozs.
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Hampton
Ponds,
Westfield
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Eric
Couture,
Westfield
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Sunfish
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1
lb. 2 ozs.
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Merrimack River
,
Lowell
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Joe
Baker, Lowell
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Tiger
muskie
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21
lbs. 15 ozs.
|
Chauncey
Lake
, Westborough
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Dean
Sherwood,
Taunton
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Tiger
trout
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3
lbs. 7 ozs.
|
Swift
River
, Ware
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Eric
Piquette, Sr.,
Chicopee
|
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Walleye
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9
lbs. 13 ozs.
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Connecticut River
, Montague
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Robert
Thibodo,
Greenfield
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White
catfish
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6
lbs. 11 ozs.
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Mashpee-Wakeby
Pond, Mashpee
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Eddie
Lemieux, Acushnet
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White
perch
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2
lbs. 15 ozs.
|
Wachusett
Reservoir, West Boylston
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Harry
Brown, Hudson
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Yellow
perch
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2
lbs. 7 ozs.
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Sheep
Pond, Brewster
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Roy
Leyva,
Hyde Park
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|
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*
new state record
|
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2005
Youth Gold Pin Winners
|
|
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Broodstock
salmon
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10
lbs. 1 oz.
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Comet
Pond, Hubbardston
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Lynn
Percuoco,
Leominster
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Brook
trout
|
3
lbs. 8 ozs.
|
Knops
Pond,
Groton
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Remy
Surprenant,
Littleton
|
|
Carp
|
26
lbs. 0 oz.
|
Connecticut River
,
South Hadley
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Nicholas
Sorbi,
South Hadley
|
|
Chain
pickerel
|
5
lbs. 9 ozs.
|
Forest
Lake
, Palmer
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Nathan
Carvalho,
Chicopee
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Channel
Catfish
|
8
lbs. 10 ozs.
|
Connecticut River
,
Springfield
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Tom
Chisholm,
Ludlow
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Crappie
|
2
lbs. 4 ozs.
|
Webster
Lake
, Webster
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Ryan
Smolenski,
Oxford
|
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Lake
Trout
|
13
lbs. 9 ozs.
|
Quabbin
Reservoir, Belchertown
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Molly
McCarthy, Middlefield
|
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Northern
Pike
|
21
lbs. 2 ozs.
|
Onota
Lake
,
Pittsfield
|
Nick
Kuni,
Pittsfield
|
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Shad
|
6
lbs. 1 oz.
|
Connecticut River
,
Holyoke
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Conor
Olejarz,
Chicopee
|
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Smallmouth
bass
|
5
lbs. 3 ozs.
|
Wachusett
Reservoir, West Boylston
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Peter
George
, Millbury
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Sunfish
|
1
lb. 2 ozs.
|
Fresh
Pond,
Falmouth
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Otto
Connon,
East Falmouth
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Tiger
muskie
|
21
lbs. 8 ozs.
|
Quinsigamond
Lake
,
Shrewsbury
|
Dan
Pustis,
Shrewsbury
|
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White
perch
|
2
lbs. 0 oz.
|
Wachusett
Reservoir, West Boylston
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Jacob
Nordquist, Northbridge
|
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Yellow
perch
|
1
lb. 12 ozs.
|
Wequaquet
Lake
,
Barnstable
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Nathan
Ryan, Cotuit
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Sportfish
Award Program Changes
This
year, anglers planning to participate in MassWildlife’s Freshwater
Sportfishing Awards Program should be aware of some changes to this popular
program. “The most exciting
change to the program is recognition of young anglers’ accomplishments,”
said Richard Hartley, MassWildlife Fisheries Biologist and Sportfish Awards
Coordinator. “For the first time in the program’s 40 year history, youths
17 years old and under will receive gold pins and plaque for their big catches
in their own category, just as in the adult program.”
Hartley
noted that another significant change will allow anglers to download Award
Program affidavits for submission to the awards program.
Other changes to the program include new
minimum weights for certain fish species in the adult angler category;
allowing anglers to weigh their catch on a certified scale at any location; as
well a few housekeeping items designed to clarify current Award Program
requirements.
Note
that the pinfish weights and youth categories are incorrect in the 2006
Hunting and Fishing Abstracts. A complete listing of the Freshwater
Sportfishing Awards Program minimum weight requirements and rules are found on
the Program affidavits posted in the Fishing area of the MassWildlife website:
www.mass.gov/masswildlife.
Affidavits will also be distributed at Sportsmen’s Shows and to all
MassWildlife Offices.
PINFISH
WEIGHTS FOR FRESHWATER SPORTFISHING AWARDS PROGRAM
Species
Adult
Youth
Brook
trout
2 lbs. 0 ozs.
1 lbs. 0 ozs.
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