Chris Johnston will likely spend a significant portion of his tournament targeting the giant smallmouth that live in Lake Ontario; but this morning saw him starting on a flat near the mouth of the St. Lawrence river.
With a lifetime of experience fishing these waters, Johnston knows the lake fish tend to grow bigger because they don’t expend as much energy fighting current as the river fish. However, the defending St. Lawrence River champion had an opportunity he couldn’t ignore before heading to the lake.
“I had (several) bed fish marked in practice and I saw that some of them were gone,” Johnston said. “I knew I was playing with fire because they were guarding fry, so I figured I’d go to (the remaining fish) early.”
The plan paid big dividends with Johnston bagging two of those fry guarders — a 4 1/4-pounder and a 5 1/2 in about 10 minutes. (Weights unofficial until weigh ins.)
These two fish, plus a 2-pounder had Johnston inside the top 10. If he can replicate the work he did last year.