Pavilion bass pro Matt Sphar has gone far in the BASS Elite series during the past three years.

A pro angler working the elite circuit must travel across the country to compete. This year, those competitions took Sphar as far west as Armistead, Texas, and as close as Oneida Lake, waters he and his family have fished for years.

Vying in a field of about 100 pros at each event, he finished in the top 50 in four contests. Before the final event, the Champions Choice Pro at Oneida Lake on Aug. 13-16, his top finish had been a 10th in the Blue Ridge Brawl in Virginia in April.

Other events had him in Arkansas, Alabama twice, Tennessee, and Iowa, but no lake on the Elite circuit offers him a greater home-turf status than does Oneida Lake, waters he fished with his dad, Gary, and friends since his youth. Oneida was the scene of frequent outings with Rochester Bassmasters for state-level competitions he began entering in 1999.

Sphar, 30, the only New York State resident on the BASS Elite Series circuit, worked hard and long to come up with a good showing at the final event at Oneida Lake.

“We vacation at Oneida whenever I’m off from series competitions,” Matt said of him and his wife, Becky, who is also his trip coordinator and leisure-runs fishing partner.

“He fishes all the time,” Becky said of Matt.

Their parents and close friends gathered at the Oneida Shores campground during the competition and all were on hand when the 12-angler, final cut contest took place last Sunday.

Getting into the final 12 from a field of 97 pros began with a setback. After all his pre-tournament planning, trips, and hours on the water, his first day’s five-fish total was a disappointing 12.01 pounds.

“I had the right places and even fished right next to the winner [Chad Griffin] the first day when he got his big one [a nearly six pounder],” Sphar said of Griffin’s heaviest bass of the tourney.

Sphar’s efforts paid off on the second day when he posted a 17.09-pound total. His 14.08 showing on the third day placed him eighth overall and gave him the opportunity to compete in the final-day field of 12 anglers.

“I had to dig deeper for largemouths,” he said of the last day of fishing. The day went well with a nice mix of smallmouth and largemouth bass. “I averaged 20 fish each day. Could have caught more, but I’m trying for the big ones,” he said after weighing in his five Sunday entries.

His overall total went to 58.14 pounds for four days of weighing in five fish per day. After all entrants weighed in, Sphar took fourth place, his highest finish during his three years as a BASS Elite Series pro.

Griffin, a 32-year-old from Texas and a first-year Elite entrant, topped all pros with a 65-pound, 10-ounce finish for his first first-place win.

For Sphar, a dozen bins of plastic baits were sorted in the shade next to a barn in Pavilion on Monday, a few fun fishing trips were plotted for the late summer and fall, and plans are in place for the Elite Series next year to add to his $243,500 to-date winnings.

Younger bass champ

Ian Cashdollar, 15, of West Seneca, could have been a top finisher in BASS professional competition at Oneida Lake this summer.

Ian won the New York Junior BASS Chapter Fifth Annual Partners Tournament held at Oneida on Aug. 8. Accompanied by his mother, Kathleen, he won a trophy and a $400 Bass Pro Shop certificate for his 15-pound, 10-ounce entry of five bass.

“Ian and his mom went to the tournament on Saturday with no time to practice. All of the other 20 youngsters were from the Oneida Lake area,” granddad Ralph Cashdollar wrote with pride. Averaging four trips a summer, Ian had previously posted a second-and a third-place finish in youth bass contests last year at Oneida.

When it comes to bass-catching contests, Western New York has entered two promising and prolific young pros.