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On October 10 the club held their final points tournament of the year on Saratoga Lake. Going into the tournament Joe Curcurito held such a big lead for angler of the year that he just needed to show up to take that award. Congratulations to Joe who had a stellar year with three tournament wins and there was never a day that he faltered.
While every angler in this Saratoga tournament was able to weigh in a limit, the bigger fish did not appear on tournament day, despite reports of good fishing the week before when members were scouting the lake. While the weather was good for that time of year, the lack of wind likely slowed the bite. Paul Pflieger took the win with 14.09 lbs. and a 4.85 lb lunker, while Tony Curcuritio finished second with 10.91 lbs (the same position that he attained in an earlier tournament on this lake this season), and Frank Polomiaine finished third with 10.29 lbs. On September 26 The Albany Area Bassmasters were invited to a "Learn to Fish Clinic" at Lawson Lake at the County Park. Frank Maher, Paul Pflieger, Alan Maher, Joey Curcurito, Tony Curcurito, Robert Deyoe and Rick Putnam came out on a rainy day to help a child learn to cast, retrieve and hopefully catch a fish." Although attendance was light due to the bad weather we all got to spend some time with the youngsters and a couple of them caught a fish. We already look forward to next year.  On the weekend of August 8 & 9, the club traveled to Lake Champlain at Ticonderoga for a 2-day tournament. On Day 1 with sunshine and easy winds, Joe Curcurito led the field with 19.49 lbs and Al Maher was second with 15.49 lbs. Day 2 brought windy conditions on the lake, along with competition from other tournaments. Paul Pflieger led on day 2 with 19.41 lbs with a 5.06 lb lunker, but his total of 31.94 fell short of Joe's winning Total of 33.20 lbs. Finishing third was Eric Madden with 29.46 lbs. Joe Curcurito remains in first place in club standings, while Frank Maher is in second place, with Paul Pflieger a close third.   On July 18 the club held their 3rd points tournament of the year on Saratoga Lake. While the forecast for rain thankfully kept the boat traffic down, the huge rainstorm that came in for the last 2 hours was not pleasant. While everyone caught a limit, the larger fish did not favor the baits offered by the members. Sometimes wisdom and tournament experience can prevail and this is what happened when George Locke won his 47th Albany Area Bassmasters Points tournament. George weighed in 14.93 lbs including the tournament lunker of 4.16 lbs. Finishing second with a 3.58lb lunker and 13.03 lbs was another longtime member Tony Curcurito. Joe Curcurito finished third with 12.27 lbs. Fourteen members fished, total weight of 147.61 lbs for 70 fish.
Top 5 in the points standings are now: Joe Curcurito 292 Frank Maher 274 Gene Lavigne 270 Paul Pflieger 264 Jim Underhill 260 On Saturday July 4, the club held their second points tournament of 2026 on Lake Champlain at Ticonderoga. Unlike the day before which featured sunny skies and high temperatures, tournament day was much cooler with clouds.
While fishing was not as good as expected, someone always rises to a higher level and finds a great bag of fish. Joey Curcurito weighed in with 18.31 lbs including a 5.52 lb Largemouth tournament lunker. Finishing second with 16.33 lbs was Gene Lavigne, followed by Frank Maher with 15.56 lbs. All fish weighed in were largemouth, no smallmouth were brought to the scale. On October 4, the club traveled to Lake Bomoseen in Vermont for our final points tournament of the year. Unfortunately, our dreams of big fish were not realized and fishing was very difficult. A clear sunny 75 degree day with 68 degree water in October was not what we were expecting when this event was planned. Brady Moy brought the heaviest bag to the scale with three fish weighing a total of 7 lbs. 6 oz. Second place was Al Maher with 2 fish weighing 7 lbs. 1 oz with the tournament lunker of 4 lbs. 6 oz. Third place was Rick Putnam with the day's only 5 fish limit of 5lbs. 13oz. Al Maher's catch was enough to keep him first place in the standings to earn him the 2025 Angler of The Year title. Joe Curcurito finished 2nd in the yearly standings while Paul Pflieger finished third.
On September 13, The Club fished the Eastern end of the Mohawk River out of the Flightlock Road Launch. Fishing conditions were very tough and the launch site was overcrowded due to another tournament organization being there, even though they did not hold a permit for the site. Of our eleven anglers that did fish, only 6 were able to bring fish to the scale. What was very astounding was that George Locke was able to bring in a 17lb 2oz bag, while second place was a tie between Joe Curcurito and Al Maher with 6 lb 12oz bags. George caught the only limit! Lunker was a 4lb 9oz Largemouth weighed by Al Maher. As far as club yearly standings there is a tie for first place between Joe Curcurito, and Al Maher
The club traveled to Northern Champlain for a 2-day tournament out of Rouses Point for a 2-day tournament on August 23-24. The water level of the lake was historically low and that made safe navigation a concern. On day 1 we were greeted by windy, but manageable lake conditions and although fishing was somewhat disappointing, Eric Madden weighed a 14lb 5 oz limit to take his first club win. (In his third club tournament). Paul Pflieger finished second with 12lbs 3oz and Joe Cucurito finished 3rd with 11lbs 11oz. Tournament lunker was a 3lb 10oz smallmouth caught by Paul Pflieger. The tournament was shortened by one day as there was a wind advisory with predicted winds of 15-25 knots for Sunday. The wind was already very strong at the launch when the decision was made on Sunday morning to cancel the second day due to safety concerns.
Day 1 of our Ticonderoga tournament showed that the fishing was not up to our usual expectations, but Al Maher led us with 14 lbs 4 oz, followed by Paul Pflieger with 13 lbs 2 oz. Of the ten anglers, only half caught 5 fish limits, not typical for this lake. The lunker on day 1 was a 3lb 9 oz largemouth caught by Joe Curcurito. Day 2 was a day with solid rain most of the day, but fishing was much improved over day 1. Once again, Maher excelled again with 18lbs 4 ounces, with Nick Sarchioto catching 17lbs 7 oz. Al won the tournament with a total weight of 32lbs 8oz, Paul Pflieger 2nd with 26lbs 3oz, and Robert Deyoe 3rd with 23lbs 9 oz. Lunker of the tournament was Joe Curcurito with a 5-2 largemouth. Second lunker was a tie between Al Maher and Eric Madden with 4-7.
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