The threat of showers did little to dampen the turnout at the 2021 Wintergreen Fall Bass Fishing Tournament with some 19 registered competitors showing up on October 16th to fish The Ponds of Wintergreen.

The fishing was good; this year’s champion, Jim White, caught four bass all over a pound and a half. “I’ve seen bass up to 4.2 lb caught in these ponds,” he noted. “There are plenty of largemouth bass in every pond in Wintergreen. You just have to use a lure that is attractive for the conditions and be lucky as well.”

(For example, go HERE to take a look at the bass Tim Wampler caught on one of Wintergreen’s ponds the day before the tournament.)

At the Saturday afternoon tournament White used as bait a pumpkinseed colored Wacky rig. “I learned that from one of my grandsons who won this contest a few years ago. He also is the person who caught the 4.2 lb bass at Wintergreen.” (See the contest rules here.)

Jerry Gress took 2nd place and “Honorable Mention” went to Tadd Meyer. His daughter, Amery Meyer, was the tournament’s youth winner.

As for who caught exactly what where, that’s going unreported by all of the tournament participants. “One of our fishermen who only landed a 6 ounce bass on Saturday still wouldn’t tell me where he caught it. And that’s normal,” noted Robin Pullen who managed the tournament’s registration table.

“Wintergreen’s ponds are small and located near houses,” explained White. “We don’t want dozens of people tramping through one small area because the big fish were caught there.”