Connecticut, Ontario Junior Anglers Win Eastern Divisional

COLCHESTER, Vt. — Connecticut youngster Matthew Cipriano helped his state win the team championship of the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Eastern Divisional presented by Yamaha and Skeeter Boats by catching a limit of smallmouth today.

His limit weighing 13 pounds, 14 ounces also gave him the Junior Bassmaster divisional title in the 15- to 18-year-olds age group. Ontario’s Mark Morrison also caught a limit totaling 10-5 to win the 11-14 age group of the divisional.

Cipriano caught all of his fish on a drop shot rig with a Senko anywhere they could find a mixture of rocks and weeds. “We moved around a lot in the morning. When I was at the Inland Sea I caught two or three there so we came back into Mallett’s Bay and finished off (his limit). I culled out two, and in the last 15 minutes I caught a big one that helped a lot.”

He prefers to fish tubes and topwaters, but the wind prevented him from using those lures today. Cipriano had fished in one divisional previously in which he finished in second place.

Morrison went for a long boat ride and got wet from the rough waters, but he told the weigh-in crowd he thought it was fun. “I caught some on a drop shot and some on a tube. We fished around a bridge and then along a flat. I started in the morning with the tube throwing out to the bridge. I would let it bounce along the bottom and then I would catch a fish.” He caught his biggest smallmouth on a drop shot rig with an XZone Slammer, the same lure Skip Sjobeck used to win the adult version of the divisional.

Fifteen-year-old Morrison is a member of the Barrie Bassmasters club and was appearing in his fifth divisional.

Both divisional champs earned berths to the Junior Bassmaster World Championship to be held in conjunction with the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Championship presented by Yamaha and Skeeter Boats in November in Louisiana.

For final standings of the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Central Divisional presented by Yamaha and Skeeter Boats, and for more information about the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation, go to www.bassmaster.com/federation-series.

About B.A.S.S.

---

For more than 40 years, B.A.S.S. has served as the authority on bass fishing. The organization advances the sport through advocacy, outreach and an expansive tournament structure while connecting directly with the passionate community of bass anglers through its Bassmaster media vehicles.

The Bassmaster brand and its multimedia platforms are guided by a mission to serve all fishing fans. Through its industry-leading publications — Bassmaster Magazine and B.A.S.S. Times — comprehensive website Bassmaster.com, ESPN2 and Outdoor Channel television programming, Bassmaster provides rich, leading-edge content true to the lifestyle.

The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series, B.A.S.S. Federation Nation events presented by Yamaha and Skeeter Boats presented by Yamaha and Skeeter Boats and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bassmaster Classic.

B.A.S.S. offers an array of services to its more than 500,000 members and remains focused on issues related to conservation and water access. The organization is headquartered in Celebration, Fla.