At the recent SPRO Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain, Bassmaster emcee Dave Mercer stated some pros were fighting to become Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year, others were fighting to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic and some were fighting just to keep their jobs.
I fell into the latter category. I was too far behind on points for the AOY title or the Classic. Even worse, I needed top 20 finishes at Champlain and the final event on the St. Lawrence River to requalify for the Elite Series.
I felt confident about the St. Lawrence. I knew what I needed to do there. But I was insecure about Champlain because the lake has so many options. It can be won with smallmouth, largemouth or a combination of the two species.
Multiple fishing patterns work well at Champlain, and you can catch bass from one end of this massive lake to the other. My brain had trouble juggling all the possibilities.
On the positive side, forward-facing sonar wasn’t allowed at Champlain, which opened the door to shallow fishing possibilities. I went there hoping to find a place where I could catch fish on a ChatterBait and maybe dragging a Carolina rig.
I set my sights on smallmouth during practice days. I started out catching long, skinny 3- to 3 1/2-pounders, which weren’t what I needed to make the top 20. On the second day of practice, I found a little grass flat that quickly produced three fat 4-pound smallies on a ChatterBait.
I hoped bass of that quality would be there when I returned in the tournament. Oftentimes, the best fish you find in practice don’t pan out.
I rolled into that grass flat on the first morning of the tournament and caught 18 pounds real quick. That’s when I realized how special the area was. I culled up to 19-2 by fishing somewhere else.
I went into Day 2 with a better understanding of how to catch them. I caught about 19 pounds in 30 minutes on a ChatterBait. When it got calm and sunny midmorning, I switched to a Z-Man Fuzzy Nuggetz and culled up to 20-12.
That put me in seventh place and started me thinking about winning. The next day, I sacked 19 pounds and qualified for the tournament’s championship round in ninth place. But I lost three big bass that would have put me near the top of the leaderboard. That stung.
On the final day, I weighed in 18-3 and finished in eighth place. I lost two more big ones that day. It was frustrating knowing I had the bites to win, but I moved up nine spots in the point standings. I now need only a top 30 finish at the St. Lawrence to requalify for the Elite Series.
My dad told me I had won the smallmouth tournament because I was the only angler who didn’t weigh in any largemouth at Champlain. Some guys banked strictly on largemouth, while others had a kicker largemouth or two to go with their smallmouth.
I never made a cast for largemouth throughout practice and the tournament. I didn’t realize how many green bass swim in Champlain.
Fishing for brown bass at Champlain should help me going into the final shootout at the St. Lawrence where smallmouth dominate. I’ll have to fish differently at the St. Lawrence, but the Champlain tournament helped this Arkansas guy get in tune with how smallmouth react and fight.
Champlain was also a huge confidence booster for me. I’ve always caught them well in river tournaments. Now I’ve proven to myself that I can compete with the best smallmouth anglers on the Elite tour in northern tournaments.
