Top 10 near the mark

Luke Palmer

At the start of the week, the prediction was around 80 pounds to win the Dakota Lithium Bassmaster Elite on Lake Champlain. With two hours left in Day 3, the Top 10 anglers are all above or nearing the 60-pound mark, with several more on their heels.

After Day 2, 14 anglers were still on pace to hit 80 pounds, with Luke Palmer bringing up the rear of that pack with 40-0. Greg DiPalma sits in 14th currently on BassTrakk with an estimated 58-0. And our unofficial leaderboard is far more unofficial this week with fewer marshals on the water. So it looks like there’s a good chance all, or at least most, of our Top 10 could hit the 80-pound mark that we thought it would take to win. That is beyond impressive.

Kyoya Fujita is holding down the top spot at the moment with 66-1. Bryant Smith sits in 6th with 63-1. These 6 anglers will have to have a train wreck of a final day to not hit 80 pounds, needing only 14- to 17- pounds. Strong, strong numbers. Guessing it’ll take 61 pounds, 7 ounces to make it to Championship Monday.