Clark Wendlandt enters this fourth Elite Series event of the season as the Angler of the Year points leader. Much has gone his way so far this season, including an 8th-place finish at the St. Lawrence River last week. The schedule is, in a sense, going his way as well. Wendlandt loves Lake Champlain.
“I’ve always liked it,” said the 54-year-old Cedar Park, Texas, veteran angler. “It’s a good time to be here. I’ve had some top 10s, no top fives, and I’ve been in the money here many times. I had a decent practice. I looked for largemouth and smallmouth. I just wasn’t as successful finding the largemouth.”
Wendlandt did find a fish with a large mouth this morning – a large, toothy-mouthed northern pike. It took Wendlandt’s lure as a parting gift. But not before he’d caught a 3-pound smallmouth on the topwater bait.
“One thing about this place this time is it’s lower than I’ve ever seen it,” Wendlandt said yesterday. “A lot of places you’d expect largemouth to be are almost dry.”