Almost living the dream

New Jersey angler one big bag away from goal to fish Elites

A victory at Cayuga Lake would seal Pete Gluszek’s invitation to the Elite Series for next season, and give him the added bonus of a berth in the 2013 Bassmaster Classic.

SENECA FALLS, N.Y. — Qualifying for the Bassmaster Elite Series is Pete Gluszek’s goal for 2012. He’s within easy reach of that milestone as point leader at the season finale Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open.

Tomorrow is a pivotal day for the pro from New Jersey. He currently leads the tournament at Cayuga Lake by a 5-pound margin. Victory gives him the added bonus of a berth in the 2013 Bassmaster Classic. A win seals his invitation to the Elite Series for next season.

A restless night is ahead. Gluszek will battle insomnia because he’s experienced the benefits of the high stakes game he’s playing to win.

In the late 1990s he was a top pro on the B.A.S.S. tour, having fished the Bassmaster Top 100 Tour. In the day it was forerunner to the current Elite Series. He qualified for the Bassmaster Classic in 1997 and again two years later.

“It’s dizzying to think about what could happen tomorrow,” he said. “My goals now are skewed. I want to win this tournament. I know what it means to make a Classic.”

Meanwhile, Gluszek has spent the past three years as resident instructor at the Bass University. Credit this graduate level academics course of bass fishing for his motivation to score the triple play of Classic berth, Elite Series invitation and tournament victory.

Click to read more

Gluszek stuck in first place

Pete Gluszek had to change up depths and use completely different methods on Day Two, and his efforts were rewarded with a bigger bag.

Seneca Falls, N.Y. — Conditions on New York’s Cayuga Lake were different today — overcast and cooler than yesterday — but not different enough to shake the first round leader in the Bass Pro Shops Northern Open. For the second straight day, New Jersey’s Pete Gluszek, a two-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier, brought in the heaviest catch of the round. His Day 2 limit weighing 20 pounds, 14 ounces gives him a 4-7 lead over Brian Bylotas (35-11) of Pennsylvania. Arkansas Elite Series pro Stephen Browning is third with 35-7.

“Everything changed today for me,” Gluszek said. “I had to change up the depths I was fishing and used completely different methods today. The areas that were red hot yesterday were cold today.”

Careful not to share much information before the tournament’s final round on Saturday, Gluszek added only that “It’s important to be doing the right thing at the right time.”

Browning moved into third place on the strength of the day’s only other 20-pound catch. His 20-7 jumped him up 16 places and into tomorrow’s finals, which will feature only the top 12 professionals and co-anglers.

Bylotas’s five-bass limit weighed 19-10 and moved him from 13th into second place. He liked the overcast conditions because he believed they kept the bass shallower and more active throughout the day.

Click to read more

Day Two launch at Cayuga

Official tow service BoatUS watches over the Day Two field on Cayuga Lake.

Click here to see photo gallery

Open: Day One weigh-in

Arthur Cipoletti (75th, 7-11)

Click here to see photo gallery

Day One launch on Cayuga Lake

Dawn breaks on Cayuga Lake as anglers wait for launch on Day One of the Bass Pro Shops Northern Open #3.

Click here to see photo gallery

Cayuga is no Oneida

Like sleeping in? Don’t fish bass tournaments. Daybreak at Lake Cayuga on Monday before the tournament.

I’m writing this one from the Days Inn motel in Auburn, New York. It’s Monday evening. For the past two days, I’ve been pre-fishing Cayuga Lake for the third and final Bass Pro Shops Northern Open for 2012

I’ve been fishing with Ryan Rex. I brought him with me from Ohio. He’s the 19-year-old son of Mike Rex, a good friend and neighbor I’ve known for 25 years or more.

Ryan is fishing the tournament as a non-boater. It’s his first major tournament. He’s pumped.

I’ve introduced him to Gary Klein and Stephen Browning, who are also fishing this event. It’s pretty heady stuff for Ryan. He’s got the bass fishing bug bad and has already learned a great deal on his own.

Mike Rex is one of the best whitetail hunters I know. He hunts with bow only and has taken more than 20 Ohio Pope & Young class bucks in consecutive years. His best buck is a nontypical that nets 218 6/8.

Ryan is following in his father’s footsteps. He tagged his first Pope & Young buck with he was 12 years old, and he has killed one with a bow every year since. The biggest of his seven trophy bucks was a nontypical that scored 181 5/8.

Before I came to Cayuga, I’d heard that it was similar to Lake Oneida. I beg to differ.

Oneida is loaded with smallmouth bass. I’ve caught three brown ones over the past two days. The big one measured about 8 inches.

Click to Read More

It’s Up To You, New York: Careers Hinge on Bassmaster Northern Open Season Finale

Andrew Upshaw has a chance to become an Elite.

What happens Aug. 16-18 on New York’s Cayuga Lake could direct the future of several anglers.

Cayuga is the competition water for the season finale of the 2012 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open out of Seneca Falls, N.Y. That’s where, for one, Texan Andrew Upshaw could score the prize of the season (at least as far as he’s concerned): a qualification for the Bassmaster Elite Series in 2013.

The Elite Series is the career path that Upshaw, 25, has been eyeing even before he won the Carhartt College Series National Championship about a year ago. The win sent him to the 2012 Bassmaster Classic, and he signed on to compete in the 2012 Northern Open circuit to advance his bid for a full-time fishing career.

Click to Read More