Randolph Center Man Tops Vermont State Bass Team
Skip Sjobeck, 23, qualified for the Vermont State Bass Team last year, on his first attempt, and again this year, when Skip came in 8th out of 54 competitors. Skip just returned from fishing the 3-day [September 25-27] 2002 CITGO B.A.S.S. Federation Eastern Divisional on the Connecticut River in Hartford, CT, with the 12-member Vermont state team, where he became top bass angler for the state of Vermont. Skip now advances, along with the other 12 top Eastern states [CT, VA, NJ, MA, ME, DE, WV, PA, MD, RI, NH, and NY] anglers, to amateur bass fishing’s most elite event in Alabama next May, the 2003 CITGO B.A.S.S. Federation Championship. The top angler in the Eastern Division of this event will then advance to the ultimate Bassmasters Classic. In all, 46 state champions and anglers from Canada, Japan, Italy, South Africa, and Zimbabwe will compete in this final championship.
Skip is a member of the Chittenden County Bassmasters and the Champlain Valley Bassmasters clubs. He was Angler of the Year in the CCB in 2000 and 2001. Skip caught his first fish, a small brookie, when he was 2 years old in the Kid’s Brook, near his home on Harvey Road and has been fishing ever since.
This bass fishing season and last season, Skip and his dad, Charlie, teamed up for all the open bass tournaments on Lake Champlain and have enjoyed their share of success. Charlie is the current Angler of the Year in his club, the Champlain Valley Bassmasters, and gives Skip a respectable amount of competition.
Update: Skip did become Angler of the Year again in 2002, making it the third consecutive win.