Elite Analysis – Day 1 Lake Champlain 2026

So far, the story of the 2026 SPRO Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain can be summed up in two quotations that we heard from the stage.

First, Minnesota’s Austin Felix (73^rd, 16-1), who has earned four straight checks here, two of them top 10s, said, “It’s different when you can’t look at ‘em.” Indeed, while many top anglers used electronics to their advantages, there can be no doubt that the front-looker has changed the dynamic here more than on most venues – not just who does well, but where the anglers look and what they’re looking for.

But then Chris Zaldain (3^rd, 21-10) dropped another truism:“Champlain’s an absolute marathon.” He’s led here before but has yet to hoist the trophy. On a pond with few true difference-makers in the fish population, it’s hard to distance yourself. The delta in the standings between a limit of 4-pounders and a limit that weighs a few ounces more or a few ounces less can be massive. Not necessarily insurmountable (see, e.g., Martens, Aaron, in 2017) but seemingly so.

So, while we have teen-class bags well down into the nineties, there’s both a lot of time to make up ground and a hard road ahead to do so.

Here’s what we learned from a weigh-in that featured a solid mix of green and brown, food-guarding raccoons, hooked cheeks, and a dual trigger finger cramp that bordered on flipping the bird:

AOY Watch – Trey McKinney started the day with a 16-point lead over Cory Johnston in the AOY race and 17 points over Drew Cook. The young two-time AOY runner-up fished well and currently sits in 16^th with 19-2. Meanwhile, Cook and Johnston made up ground. They sit second and sixth, respectively. Cole Sands, on the other hand, started the day 21 points back and is in 83^rd, so at least temporarily he lost ground. Likewise, John Garrett was 29 points back and is now in 82^nd, so he diminished his chances of claiming the title (although his daughter has awesome boots). The anglers who began the day fifth through ninth all landed in 49^th place or worse.

Twenties – There were “only” seven bags over 20 pounds today, a far cry from the last time we were here when there were 22 on the first day of competition.

JT Thompkins (26^th, 18-6) – “The funny thing is that I think I’m looking more at my graph now than I have in any other event of the year.”

Cut Math – Wesley Gore occupies 50th place with 17-6. Double that and you get 34-12 to fish on Saturday. In 2024, the cut mark was four ounces below double.

Gerald Swindle (33^rd, 18-1) – “I like this old school fishing.”

Just a Bit Outside – Seventeen anglers are a pound or less outside the cut. Twenty-four are a pound or less inside the cut. In other words, the difference between 26^th and 67^th is 2 pounds.

Unofficial Mark – Cue up the George Michael Sports Machine for confirmation, but I believe that it took us until our 17^th angler to weigh in before Luke Palmer (20^th) finally graced us with the word “grind” as he dropped 18-12 on the scales.

Cut History – In seven past Elite events on Champlain, the Day 2 cut weight has gone up each time: from 26-5 to 28-3 to 32-2 to 32-11 to 33-10 to 35-15 and finally 36-10 in 2024. It seems unlikely that trend will continue – it would require doubling the Day 1 cut weight of 17-6 and adding nearly 2 pounds.

Both Kinds of Music, Country AND Western – Tyler Williams (42^nd, 17-13) told Dave Mercer onstage that he’d thrown both kinds of jigs today, “A big one and a small one.”

Carl’s Champlain Past – Day 1 leader Carl Jocumsen has earned checks in his last three Elites here (32^nd, 27^th and 15^th) and in two of three Opens (12^th, 36^th), for five money finishes in seven attempts. His lone final day appearance in New York came in 2024 when he finished 10^th at the St. Lawrence. He hasn’t earned multiple Top 10 Elite finishes since 2015, when he was 10^th at the Chesapeake Bay and sixth at Guntersville. He entered this event in 51^st in the AOY race – with forty-something making the 2027 Classic – and helped his chances substantially while several of the anglers between him and the cutline suffered greatly.

Brandon Lester (7^th, 20-6) – “I figured some stuff out today during the tournament. That’s always a good feeling.”

Home State Hero – Cooperstown’s Kyle Patrick (5^th, 20-13) is the lone New Yorker in the field and put himself in prime contention to do the Empire State proud. He came into this event in 70^th in the AOY race, and all but certain of missing the 2027 Classic. His past New York finishes were all over the map: 71^st in a 2024 Elite on the St. Lawrence; 23 in a 2024 Elite here on Champlain; 110^th in a 2023 Open on the St. Lawrence; and 22^nd in a 2022 Open on Oneida. Patrick earned his lone BASS victory at Lake of the Ozarks in a 2023 Open. His top Elite Series finish was a seventh place at Smith Lake in 2024. He also finished 7^th in the 2024 Classic on Grand Lake.

Hank Cherry (37^th, 18-0) – “Treble hooks and smallmouths don’t really get along.”

Past Champlain Winners – Four of the seven prior Elite Champlain winners are not competing here this week. Of the remaining three, Brandon Palaniuk (47^th, 17-9) and Bryan Schmitt (10^th, 19-11) are inside the cut while Kyoya Fujita (69^th, 16-4) is not.

International Division – The Top 10 features an Australian and two Canadian brothers. Two other Canadians are inside the Top 21. None of the three Japanese competitors is currently inside the cut, with two of them in 91^st place or worse.

Kyle Patrick – “I want two slaps tomorrow, Dave. Two of ‘em.”

The Cox Report – Perennial Classic contender John Cox (seven Classics in a row and eight of the past nine) mysteriously continues to pitch whatever is the opposite of a perfect game. He’s yet to cash a check on the Elites this year, finishing between 51^st and 57^th in the past five derbies. He’ll need to improve tomorrow just to hit that plateau, as today he weighed 13-10 and is tied with Taku Ito for 92^nd.

First Time for Everything – Pretty sure that through two decades of Elite Series events we’ve never heard the word “mandolin” onstage. In a semi-related note, what happened to the hat with the fish through it that Cole Sands wore earlier this year? Is it coincidental that he struggled today in a different chapeau?

Twenty Years Ago – The first Elite event on Champlain took place in 2006 and was won by Denny Brauer. None of the Day 4 finishers from that event are fishing here this week. Steve Kennedy (85^th, 14-14), finished 15^th in that tournament, the top finisher who’s still on the Elites. Stephen Browning was 17^th, and while he’s not in this tournament, he remains genetically represented by his spawn Beau (16^th, 19-2).

Earlier Winners – Of the six previous Elite Series winners from earlier this season (Jason Christie won two), five are inside the cut, none of that quintet worse the 37^th and two in the Top 10. Jacob Foutz would have been in the Top 20 as well, but a 9-pound late penalty landed him in 96^th for the day. Double Opens winner Pake South is in 28^th.

I Love the 80s – In five of the seven past Elite events on Champlain the winner has topped 80 pounds, with Kyoya Fujita’s 86-12 (2023) topping the heap. Aaron Martens had 58-12 in a weather-shortened three-day event in 2017, but that still projects to 78-5. Right now, seven anglers are on pace to top 80, and two are on pace to top 86-12, with Chris Zaldain just a hair off that latter average.

Fighting for Survival – Excluding Jamie Hartman and Buddy Gross, who’ve left the building, the bottom 10 in AOY entering this event generally did not help themselves, with eight landing outside the Top 50, four of them in 85^th or worse. Russ Lane, previously in 99^th in AOY, is 44^th at Champlain. Cooper Gallant, who was in 90^th, landed in 13^th today.

Back at it tomorrow with the expectation that we’ll see some movement. A couple of solid twenties could very easily put some afterthoughts back into the hunt.

That’s why we love the New York events (that and the minimal chances of heatstroke).