Toyota Series
Massena, NY
Aug 10 – 12, 2023
Introduction
Since his previous tournament on the Mississippi River, Jacopo was forced to attend to problems with his boat’s motor. The problems he faced did not allow him to fish that event in the way he normally would have. He showed up at the St. Lawrence River however with the certainty his motor would not inconvenience him, courtesy of Mercury Service.
Official Practice
Jacopo had mixed results during practice. Most of his fish were caught while drifting (a technique he prefers) and without relying too heavily on Live-Scope. He focused on an area that he had fished in 2022, and he saw a lot of active fish there. He had high hopes for the tournament even if the expected limits would probably be in the twenty-two to twenty-three pound range at the top end.
Tournament
Just as in 2022, when he had achieved a strong result, Jacopo spent the first day fishing an area that was about one hour from the launch site. After a few minutes, however, he noticed some issues with his motor. He attributed the problem to the high waves and decided to proceed. He caught a bass of about two pounds at his first spot, but then decided to movein serach of bites of a better quality.
There were again strange noises from the motor, warnings that the problem was perhaps more serious. In fact, after a short time, the motor practically stopped working. The weather began to worsen in the meantime, and the situation worsened, too.
Without being able to run his boat, and being several miles from the launch site, Jacopo decides to call on a friend in the area who might tow him back to the departure location. Obviously, it would end his tournament.
Jacopo’s friend Paul assured him that in case of extreme need, Paul would help him get back to the ramp. While checking the weather forecast, Jacopo decides to search for a solution to fix his motor.
Suspecting that it might again be a problem with the oil filter, he finds a possible solution. Miraculously, he makes the adjustment and the motor returns to full power. Perhaps it was only a minor issue?
Whatever the case, Jacopo can resume fishing the tournament, even if he is not in the best of spirits. At the end of a day that seemed lost, Jacopo manages to bring a limit of fifteen pounds, fifteen ounces to the weigh-in. It doesn’t do much to keep him in contention but it is enough to motivate him to fish hard and hope for a roaring comeback on day two.
He takes off on day two with his boat in full working order but also with the weight of feeling like he had thrown away another chance to obtain a good result in another important tournament.
As consolation for his troubles, Jacopo brings a Smallmouth Bass weighing about six pounds to the scales. He does not however make the cut to fish with the top twenty-five, even with his second day limit of eighteen pounds, two ounces.
In the end, Jacopo was left again with the bitter feeling of having missed yet another opportunity due to technical issues that were too much to surmount, despite his abilty and passion.
Gallelli’s Gear
Jacopo landed his Smallies on a Ned Rig tipped with Craw Flex by Molix.
