Chris Johnston is one of the 13 non-Elite Series anglers who earned his way into BASSfest through the Bassmaster Opens. And he may be the least known of that group. He's young (25) and Canadian (from the Ontario township of Otonabee-South Monaghan), which mostly explains his lack of notoriety. But Johnson has a bright future in this sport, as proven by his early success on the FLW's Rayovac northern series.
Johnston had fished one previous Kentucky Lake tournament before this one, a November event that had little practical application for now. Johnston had 21-3 yesterday and is back among the leaders today with 18 pounds at 10:30 a.m.
"It's kind of similar to smallmouth fishing," Johnston said of Kentucky Lake's ledge fishing. "I'm just graphing. Unfortunately, these largemouth aren't as easy to catch. They're very finicky."
After his big bag on Day 1, Johnston predicted the fishing would be on the upswing the rest of the week, saying, "Now we're getting sun and it's pushing them to the ledges. Every day I think the ledges are getting more and more fish."