After the first day of the 17th Black Boss World Championship in Portugal, the American pair excelled in the finals of the weather-shortened tournament with teams from 14 countries. Scott Martin and Scott Canterbury caught a day-best 17.93-pound stringer at Sabor Lake on Saturday, leading Team USA to a successful defense of their gold medal.
The Americans beat Germany in a tiebreaker after both countries had 67 points. The total score is the sum of the two days’ results from each of the three pairs in the country – the lower the number, the better.
The tiebreaker total event weight (the higher the better) and the three American pairs combined for 73.57 pounds. Germany was 69.09.
Italy, led by double gold medalist Luca Vittorio della Siena and Jimmy Ashlock, won the bronze medal with 98 points.
The American pair’s performance on the second day of the tournament (a day canceled due to a strong storm) was a stark contrast to the previous day. Martin, the American skipper and Canterbury, weighed less than four kilograms in the opening round and finished 20th in a field of 42 boats.
The veteran Bassmaster Elite Series professional, who has earned Tour-level Angler of the Year (AOY) titles, doubled that feat as he moved from second to first in the Team USA standings. Five pounds a day.
“We settled in,” Martin said. “No. 1, we stayed in an area where we thought there were a lot of quality fish, and No. 2, we transported them by boat. We had a really clean fish today, which was good.
“The weather changed – the water temperature dropped eight or nine degrees and from what they say here it was the first cold wave of the year. The fish stopped reaching the surface of the water and we were able to find a bite under the surface with some small, suspended baits. It turned out to be a good fish.
Meanwhile, Major League Fishing stars Jacob Wheeler and Dustin Connell hauled in an American run of 15.56 pounds on Day 1, 4th, and just 5.81 on Day 2 — which was in the bottom half. That stadium. Wheeler and Connell were among the many pairs that depended on the surface of the water on the first day. Overall, his contribution was enough to secure the gold medal.
Hall of Famers David Fritz and Fred Rumpanis were sandwiched under center for the second day in a row. He finished the first day weighing 15.26 (fifth place) 10.13, a best of 11th place on the day. They missed the pair’s medal by just one place.
The full weight jump is also required in the pairs event to determine the gold and silver medalists. Della Siena and Ashlock were on 10 points on Day 1, third on Day 7 and seventh on Day 2. The Italian’s combined weight was 28.48 pounds and the Croatian’s was 27.94.
Remarkably, the Pesicos pair were fish shy on both days.
The Spanish pair of Romero Casanovas and Salmeron Segara finished 10th and 4th respectively to win the bronze medal.
Other competing nations were South Africa, France, Canada, Zimbabwe, Romania, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Serbia, along with hosts Portugal.
“We’re very excited,” Martin said. “It is a very exciting competition and fishermen from other countries do well.
“For the most part, (positions) were very tight. It was anyone’s game and we had to work hard to win.
The win marked the USA Bass team’s third straight gold medal. He has won gold medals in Mexico, USA and now Portugal. Italy will present the next challenge for Team USA’s pass.
“We’re already preparing for next year.” Group manager John Knight says. “We would not be able to compete without the support of Visit Hot Springs, Icon Boats and our sponsors. There are many challenges to compete in Europe, but we will try to defend gold again in 2024.
