DISTRICT 21 NATIONAL SEMI-FINALS COLORADO AND NEW MEXICO

It turned out to be a close tournament with tough fishing conditions. Catching big fish
would be the challenge as the numbers of small fish was there. Flat calm and 75
degree average water temperatures was what awaited the 50 anglers during the
practice period for the TBF District 21 National Semi-Finals. During tournament days
the wind averaged 5-10 mph with gusts to 20.

Jeremy Fuentes from New Mexico weighed in 11.95 lbs. Day 1 to take a lead on the
boater side and followed it up with 10.75 lbs. Day 2 for a total of 22.70 lbs. On the Co
Angler side, Richard Sainz from New Mexico weighed in 12.06 lbs. on
Day 1 and 8.34 lbs. Day 2 for a total of 20.40 lbs. They would not look back and went on
to claim the Boater and Co-Angler 2025 District 21 Champion titles. Both will be moving
on to the 2026 TBF National Championship. Joining them will be the top boater from Colorado, Troy Stinson with a 2-Day total of
17.72 lbs. and top Co-Angler from Colorado, Carey Goldberg with a 2-Day total of 13.79
lbs. Brian Hickey was the highest finishing boater from Colorado during the tournament with
a 2-day total of 19.31 lbs. but had already qualified to the 2026 TBF National
Championship through the TBF State Champions Program along with his son, Kaden
Hickey. A total weight of 650.16 lbs. was brought to the scales.
CTBF would like to thank you the City of Grove, GRDA, and Cherokee Casino for
hosting the event.

DISTRICT 14 NATIONAL SEMI-FINAL NY/ON/PA

SEPT 20th – 21st, 2025

Beautiful weather for the event. We had 47 teams for the event, a great bunch of guys eager to fish the Bay of Quinte. The Bay of Quinte is on of the greatest fishing areas in Ontario.

District 14 Boater Champion

District 14 Co-angler Champion

With the cool weather we had the week prior and an algae bloom last week, made it a bit of a tough bite for some anglers, but it was figured out and there were some great weights brought in.

DISTRICT 13 NATIONAL SEMI-FINAL DC/DE/MD

Day 1 was led by Boater Roger Shirkey Sr. From Delaware with 14.28 and Big Fish of the Day with 4.39 and Co Angler was Larry Taylor also from Delaware with 9.47 and also Big fish of the day 3.28.

Going into Day 2 was a rough start due to fog, we had to delay take off until approximately 8:40am Sunday. It was a much harder day on the water. Daniel Rodriguez Maryland boater had Big Bag of 9.50 on day 2 with Lunker of 4.01 and Jim Goins Maryland Co Angler had Big Bag of 7.74 Lunker was Nathan Routzahn from DC. However, Roger Shirkey Sr. was able to pull out the winning 1st place overall with a two-day total of 20.16, and Jay Clark pulled out first place for Co Anglers of 15.97.

District 15 NSF – Lake Hopatcong, NJ – September 27 & 28, 2025

The District 15 NSF, which encompasses the states of New Jersey and Connecticut was hosted by the New Jersey Bass Federation on September 27 and 28, 2025, on New Jersey largest lake, Lake Hopatcong.  With the typical September bass fishing doldrums in full swing, the field of 22 Boaters and 22 Co-Anglers found the fishing challenging as no pattern could be established, and the big fish bite was nearly non-existent.

In the Boater Division, 15 New Jersey anglers and 7 Connecticut anglers vied for the top prizes, and even more importantly, an automatic berth into the 2026 TBF National Championship.  Not unexpectedly, the New Jersey anglers, who are much more familiar with the lake, dominated the top spots.  Winning the Boater Division was New Jersey’s Giovanni Martino with a two-day 10 fish total weight of 24.32 pounds.  His win also made him the Boater qualifier from New Jersey to the National Championship.  Close behind in second was New Jersey’s Derick Olson with 23.63 pounds.  Rounding out the top three was New Jersey’s Manuel Cruz with 21.86 pounds.  The top Connecticut Boater was Matthew Marinelli who finished in fourth place with 20.49 pounds.  That finish made him the Connecticut Boater qualifier to the National Championship.

In the Co-Angler Division, which also had a 15/7 breakdown, the top two spots were separated by only 0.16 pounds.  Taking that Division was New Jersey’s Charles (C.J.) Tuite.  His total weight of 14.97 pounds was just enough to hold off the second-place finisher, New Jersey’s Robert Stock who had 14.81 pounds.  The win will send Tuite to his first TBF National Championship.  Third place went to Connecticut’s Jason Myslak with 12.82 pounds.  This finish will also send him to the National Championship as Connecticut’s Co-Angler Qualifier.

Special thanks to the Connecticut Bass Federation and its President James Johnson for its participation in this event.  Also, the New Jersey Bass Federation would like to thank the Bass University for its donation of a one-year subscription, hat and buff as raffle prizes.