Cory Johnston moved up two spots, Drew Cook dropped seven and Trey McKinney held his position in 16th.
“This is becoming a masterpiece,” said Bassmaster spokesmodel Kyle Jessie around noon, apparently referring to the ongoing Progressive Angler of the Year race. Indeed, as those three kept trying to stab one another in the heart, it was easy to forget that there was a larger tournament going on.
It took Aussie Carl Jocumsen to set us all straight.
With a solid bag of largemouth in his livewells, he headed north, made a stop, and added a bonus smallmouth.
Channeling Crocodile Dundee, he spoke with his rods. “That’s not a knife,” they told us. “This is a knife.”
Indeed, while that fish wasn’t necessarily the difference-maker today it might be on Sunday. And while one of those three guys will likely win the war, he still wants to win the battle.
Like all Champlain events, this is one where life and death may come down to papercuts. The first cut, of course, is the deepest, and 48 dudes are leaving Plattsburgh empty handed and in some cases bewildered. Tomorrow we’ll slice 40 more off the bottom, and that’s when it’ll get real.
Here’s what I saw, heard, thought and surmised on the tail end of what was reportedly the slickest two day stretch in the history of Champy’s pond:
Twenties – Seven 20-pound-plus bags hit the scales on Thursday, but things got better today with a baker’s dozen of them. Cory Johnston (4th, 41-0), in his quest for the AOY title, is the only angler who has topped 20 each day, with matching 20-8 limits. His brother, two-time defending AOY Chris Johnston (3rd, 41-5), missed the mark by 2 ounces yesterday but sits 5 ounces above Cory. Carl Jocumsen, who missed 20 by an ounce today, is ahead of both of them.
Perfect Game – When Kyoya Fujita won here in 2023, he had 20-plus on three of four days, missing the mark by a pound on his title-clinching Day 4. Second and third place finishers Justin Atkins and Cody Huff both hit at least 20 all four days.
The Path to 80 – It has taken 80 pounds or more to win five of the seven past Elite events on Champlain. Currently the top six anglers are on pace to hit that mark. The all-time heaviest Elite Series winning weight at Champlain was Fujita’s 86-12. No one is on pace to hit that record, although Jocumsen’s two-day total projects out to 86-2. He’ll need to get back on the right side of 20 (he had 19-15 today) to get that done, but right now a Classic berth, a blue trophy and $100,000 are probably his main goals. The record winning weight would be a nice but not necessary bonus.
Making the Cut – Fiftieth place on Day 1 was 17-6, which projected to a cut weight of 34-12, give or take a pound. Austin Felix hit that number exactly but missed fishing on Saturday by an ounce. Meanwhile, three anglers tied for 48th with 34-13, so no tiebreaker was necessary. It would have gone to Cooper Gallant over Bob Downey and KJ Queen.
Emil Wagner – “I said after winning here last fall that this is my favorite lake and it still is after today.” He caught 22-7 today to rise from a tie for 42nd to 5th with a two-day total of 40-4.
Cooking NY Style – Drew Cook (9th, 39-6) continues an exceptional track record in the Empire State. Through 12 events here, he’s only finished worse than 35th once – at the St. Lawrence in 2020. Since then, he’s been in the Top 22 all four times the Elites have revisited. His best in-state finish came at Cayuga in 2019 when he finished ninth. Five past appearances at Champlain all ranged from 11th to 32nd.
Sam Hanggi (29th, 36-10) – “I’ve never 2D’ed a bass before until this week.”
Must-Have Tackle – CrushCity Knuckle Bug.
Dave Mercer – “Fifteen is a dangerous number on this body of water because it feels like you caught ‘em.” Fifteen pounds on Day 1 would have been good for 84th place and that held true today as well. Kenta Kimura averaged exactly 15 pounds over the first two days and ended up in 84th. When the Elites first visited here in 2006 and 2007, it took less than 15-a-day to make the 50-cut.
Summer of Sumrall – Caleb Sumrall, in danger of losing his Elite Series spot, caught a tournament best 24-4 today and rose from 81st to eighth. Perhaps we should’ve been more surprised by his struggles yesterday (when he caught only 15-6) than by his success today. In the past three Champlain Elites he’s finished ninth, 19th and 13th, respectively. His results on the St. Lawrence are less consistent. He’s earned three Top 20s there, including a ninth in 2024, but also has results including a 33rd, 58th, 84th and 86th.
The Original Z-Train – Plattsburgh was named for Zephaniah Platt.
Fashion Statement – Logan Parks (20th, 37-14) wore a jacket reminiscent of Tommy Martin’s circa 1975. No mutton chop sideburns, though.
Just Missed It – As noted above, Felix doubled the Day 1 cut weight and missed fishing on Saturday by an ounce. He’s not the only one cursing spit-up crawfish and perch in his livewells tonight. Fifteen anglers missed the cut by a pound or less. As Keith Combs said, “It’s a crazy sport, you just want to work another day.” On the flip side, if you add a pound to 50th place, it would put you in 39th.
Exchange Program – The State University of New York at Plattsburgh offers three study abroad programs in Australia: in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, and Sydney. The latter two are about an hour and a half and two and a half from Toowoomba. That’s about the same distance you’d have to drive from the ramp on Champlain to get a Bloomin’ Onion. The closest Outback Steakhouse is in Clifton Park, New York, although Jocumsen has previously assured me that the chain is inauthentic at best.
The International Division – The top five consists of an Australian, two Canadians, the Great Dane and Seth Feider, who might as well claim his own smoke-filled planet. Four of five Canadians made the cut, while none of the Japanese competitors did so.
Past Cuts – The cut weight of 34-13 was the third highest in Elite Series history on Champlain, falling behind the 2023 and 2024 marks: 35-15 and 36-10, respectively.
Past Winners – Five of the six winners from the season’s first seven Elite events (Jason Christie, in 47th, won two) made the cut to Saturday. The only exception was Jacob Foutz in 92nd with 28 pounds. Had he not been assessed a 9-pound late penalty yesterday he would be in 25th. Pake South, who has won two Opens this year, is also inside the cut.
Jason Christie – “Yesterday was so easy and today was so hard.” He added 15-2 to his Day 1 catch of 19-13 and fell out of the Top 10 to 47th with a total of 34-15. He might’ve been distracted by math, as he and his AmBASSador figured that he threw his Zara Spook “9 linear miles.”
Fifty of them go out tomorrow. As we learned when A-Mart did the most A-Mart thing possible in 2017, coming back from 19th on the final day of competition to win (an Elite record that almost certainly will never be broken) weird things happen up here.
Expect more of them. That’s the fun part.
