Weather conditions are about as good as possible at today's 6:15 a.m. takeoff for the 12 finalists on the St. Lawrence River: 60 degrees with a high of 84 expected, west/southwest winds at 5 mph, expected to increase slightly through the day, and partly cloudy skies with no rain in the forecast.
Edwin Evers is trying to become the first angler to win back-to-back Bassmaster Elite Series tournaments. He starts the day with a 1-pound, 7-ounce lead over Josh Bertrand. Alton Jones, Mike Iaconelli and Kevin Ledoux are less than 4 pounds behind Evers.
"This is smallmouth fishing. There are no guarantees from one day to the next," Iaconelli said. "Any one of us could catch a 20-pound bag today, and that's what it's going to take to win this."