Well alright, alright, alright. The DPC took its 15th trip around the sun this past weekend and as always, smiles were plentiful. Check in at the Missisquoi refuge headquarters was smooth and quick. Picklers registered, grabbed their pickle sticks and their DPC Orvis tote bags which were obtained from Nick at Nick Mayer Art. A big thanks to Nick for facilitating the ordering of the bags. Also, a big thanks to Bubba at 802 flies for his donating his time and talents tying the flies that were supplied in the bags. Anglers were prompt as everyone seemed eager to get out on the water with registration done by 9:30am. High sun made the mid day fishing tough for most. Some people reported a slow pick throughout the day while others got their points in the low light hours when the wind and sun sat down. Overnight Saturday some heavy storms rolled in and while the rain stoped in the am, the wind lasted into the morning fishing hours. Let's just say, trolling motor batteries got a workout on Sunday morning. That didn't stop the hearty field of picklers who had their eyes on the prize. All 92 of us got back to the awards barn safe and shared our fishing tales from the weekend while Brendan Hare tallied the scores, Thanks B! Here are just some of the more notable scores from the DPC 2025.........
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| 2025 DPC Champion Ben Wilcox of team "Bash Badge Plus" |
This years top individual angler goes to none other than Mr. Ben Wilcox of team "Bash Badge Plus". Ben put up a remarkable 27 pts. Ben has found the winning formula and has now racked up 3 wins at the DPC. His secret? Well, he wont tell me but, I do know, he didn't put the rod down for 10+hrs. That is not easy in 86 degree sunshine with zero shelter out on the Lake. For his persistence Ben was awarded a shiny new Orvis Helios outfit and of course the coveted DPC trophy. Landing in 2nd place just behind Ben was his teammate Michael Woulf with a whopping 26pts. Mike has consistently put up large numbers of bass year after year and has the lake dialed no matter what the weather throws at him. Mike took home a Orvis recon rod for his tremendous showing. In 3rd place we have Mr. Max Hogg with 24pts. Max has fished the tourney since he was a Jr. angler working his way onto the podium through constant time on the water fueled by his love for the sport. Max will be spinning flies up on his new Peak Vise. Congratulations gentlemen, well done.
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| Michael Woulf of top team "Bash Badge Plus" with one of many |
In the team division it was team Ben Wilcox and Mike Woulf of "Bash Badge Plus" that took home 1st place with a total of 53 pts! When both teammates are able connect with such high indy points, it's no surprise a team win is in the cards. A very well earned title for these two anglers who took home a pair of Orvis hydros reels. In 2nd place it was Max Hogg and Leo Nerbak of team "Esox" with 42pts. Thats a lotta basses! Speaking with Max he reported some tough lulls in the fishing but they hung in there and were rewarded with a couple of nice sling packs. The 3rd place team was former champs Matt Dickstein and Jay Modry of team "Hog Island Strip Club". They took home a pair of MHF landing nets graciously donated by Stream & Brook Fly Fishing.
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| Swashbuckling Sailor from Swantonamo Bay Stefan King takes top paddle award |
=In the paddle division it was Stefan King from team "Swashbuckling Sailors of Swantonamo Bay" who posted 12pts for 1st place. Stefan took home Orvis clearwater outfit. Sean Cook of team "basstards" was close behind in 2nd place with 8pts. Sean received a fly box and fly line for his effort. In third place it was Dominic Scaglione of team "Basstards" with 6 pts. Dom took home a fly box with flies from Fulling Mill All these guys were up against some heavy winds with gusts over 30mph and hung tough to put up these numbers.
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| Jr. angler Finn Barden of team "80 Grit Thumb" with the top exotic |
In the exotic category the win was taken by one of our Jr. anglers. It was Finn Barden of team "80 Grit Thumb" who managed wrangle in a 30.25" sheepshead. Finn won a nice pair of pliers for handling those toothier exotics.
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| Paul Macpherson with the winning 28.5" inch pike |
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| Quinn Lynch with one that earned him top Jr. angler |
This year we had 3 Jr anglers. It was close on the scorecard but it was Quinn Lynch of "The Big Lebasski" who inched past Finn Barden who both had 7pts. Quinn took 1st and a reddington rod due to a tie breaker. Quinn has fished the pickle many times and this win was well earned as it's his last year as a Jr. To Quinn, Elanor & Finn, our 3 Jr. anglers, well done. We love having you guys at the pickle!
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| Mike Hill of "Fly Curious"with an absolute toad for the dink award |
It was Michael Hill of team "Fly Curious" who won the dink award with the smallest bass. His 3" bass won him a giant net, a huge box & a lure the size of Texas.
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| Team "Shaw's Law" for the win with this years breakdown award |
Every year we give a breakdown award for boat problems or general mishaps on and off the water.. For the 1st time, I'm happy to say, no one broke down! While there were many stories of broken rods, all of the boats performed correctly. Except for the boat of the "Shaw's Law" team. They tried to prime it and checked filters, pumps & plugs etc..... turns out after some brilliant mechanical diagnostics, they realized someone had pulled the kill switch on the boat rendering it unable to start. So, as the team said "Murphy's law has nothing on Shaw's Law". The team took home some Whistle Pig Whiskey donated by Stream & Brook Fly Fishing to ease their pain.
For the best team name everyone voted at the barn and the crowd picked the most clever name. This year it was Nick Arnold & Chris Wiley of team "Broke Bass Mountain" that won out over "The Big Lebasski" who was the runner up. Nick and Chris each got a fly line and a jug of syrup donated by Sterling Ridge Resort.
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| Ben Wilcox of "Bash Badge Plus" with the very big pickle check |
Last but not least, the big pickle. The cash pool for biggest bass was $910 dollars this year. It was won by none other than Ben Wilcox from "Bash Badge Plus" with his 20.25" smallmouth bass quarter inching out Dana Evans 20+" bass.
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| 2025 awards |
2025 scores.........
CLICK HERE FOR INDIVIDUAL SCORES
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TrcOk_sGD3CJ8twsKdr0PQIQpeMr96X2M1suOQ-dT2c/edit?gid=0#gid=0
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