Local Team Wins
Bass Tourney
The team of Ben Simpson of Norwich and Skip Sjobeck of Randolph, won, out of 33 teams, the Chittenden County Bassmaster Open Tournament on Lake Champlain July 8.

The local team of, from left, Skip Sjobeck, Ben Simpson, and Erin Divelbiss blew away the competition at last weekend's Chittenden County Bassmaster Open Tournament on Lake Champlain with this 27 pounds of fish.

The total weight for their six-bass limit was 27.47 pounds of smallmouth bass, which was six pounds higher than the second place winner.

Ben and Skip estimate that they culled [replaced smaller bass with larger ones] another 25 pounds. They also won smallmouth lunker [largest smallmouth bass] at 5.06 pounds.

Payout for first place was $1410 and $200 for lunker. Although Ben and Skip, individually and as a team, have had their share of tournament wins and placings over the past few years, this catch has topped them all.

All bass caught in tournaments are released back into the lakes.