The Southern Tier Bassmasters
held their annual banquet Saturday February 2,
2013 at the Library Restaurant in Olean, NY where
many junior and senior club members were honored
for their accomplishments throughout the 2012
fishing season.
At the top of the list
was John Carey sporting his first club Angler
of the Year honor. Carey is no stranger to top
honors. He was non-boater of the year in back
to back years in 2010 and 2011with 2 top 5 finishes.
To the relief of many boaters John acquired a
boat and switched to the boater side.
The year began a little shaky June 23, 2012 on
Kueka Lake. Boat trouble put John on the back
deck of someone else’s boat after entering
as a boater. Then a tough day of fishing, only
7 five fish limits came to the scales. Luckily
his was one of those limits but it only weighed
in at 8.27 pounds good for ninth place.
Nearly a month later and
his boat back in action Carey went on a mission.
The next stop was July 15, 2012 on Sodus Bay where
he put a 15.59 pound limit together giving him
a strong second place finish. He followed that
with 19.35 pounds and another second place on
the Lower Niagara River August 11th putting him
at the top of the leader board.
With one tournament to
go, Lake Erie, on September 22, 2012 Carey held
a very slim 3 point lead over Jeff Kilbury. Now,
enter Mother Nature! With strong winds howling
and small craft warnings up the lake was declared
off limits and all were sent into the Upper Niagara
River. John brought a 16.66 pound limit that put
him in 6th place and secured his first AOY title
by 5 points.
It remained a close race.
Only six points separated the top four finishers.
And amazingly the lowest total weight of the four
was held by Carey himself. When you add it all
up you just have to catch the right weight at
just the right time. Consistency is the name of
the game. With John Carey, being IN the boat is
what counts not which end of it he’s fishing
from. He’s a top notch competitor at either
end. Congratulations on a fine season.
Looking back at it now,
just how relieved are those boaters really?
Bob Green
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