Elite

A look at Lake Champlain 2026

Eighth Elite tournament of season presents critical test as forward facing not allowed.

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Captions by
Mike Suchan
New York, New York. The Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series closes 2026 with two events in the Empire State. The first leg, this week’s SPRO Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain, won’t be as easy as in the past.
The eighth event of season comes after almost two months off, and the familiar fishery will play entirely different from past visits as forward-facing sonar is not allowed.
Besides the title, points and $100,000 prize, Champlain starts the final stretch to determine season awards, Classic berths and requalification. Points count the same as in earlier events, but the  pressure to perform amplifies.
Lake Champlain, between New York and Vermont on the Canadian border, is 107 miles long and 14 miles at its widest. Sporting both largemouth and smallmouth, the natural freshwater lake covers 490 square miles and has a maximum depth of 400 feet. It ranked No. 5 on the 2026 Bassmaster Top 100 Lakes Northeastern region list.
This will be the 17th pro B.A.S.S. tournament on Lake Champlain, which is hosting its sixth Elite, the fourth since 2020. Discover Plattsburgh and the Adirondack Coast are hosting this event.  
The Plattsburgh City Marina, 2 Dock St., is tournament central. Daily blastoffs are there at 7 a.m. ET with weigh-ins set for 3 p.m. ET. All B.A.S.S. events are free to attend. The Expo opens at noon Saturday and Sunday.
The full field fishes Thursday and Friday before the Top 50 move on to Semifinal Saturday. The Top 10 advance to Championship Sunday.
Winners have averaged around 20 pounds each day, but that should prove to be more difficult without LiveScope. Brandon Palaniuk, the 2020 Champlain winner, said the smallmouth now seem to be even more nomadic. “I’ve noticed over the past few years, the smallmouth don’t set up like they used to; they seem to roam a lot more,” he said. “It’s not like you can just Spot-Lock and sit there and keep making the same cast on a place. When you catch one, they’re swimmin’ and they’re gonna keep swimmin’.”
Targeting those smallmouth will be more challenging, Palaniuk said. “I think you’ll have to fish near or around structure more, or you’re gonna have to throw more moving type baits and try to intercept those roaming fish,” he said. “You’re gonna have to cover water.” Finding smallmouth zones with lake mapping then using jerkbaits, swimbaits and topwaters could elicit bites and require followups with drop shots, Ned rigs or jighead minnows.
Champlain’s largemouth should be found in shallow cover like docks, wood and vegetation, Palaniuk said. A mix of swim jigs, bladed jigs, topwater frogs, Texas rigs and flipping jigs in the lake’s northern shallows should be prevalent.
Ticonderoga and its shallow vegetation on the southern end has long been a largemouth haunt, but it will be a wild card. It requires a 70-mile run, which on a windy day makes it risky as the lake gets quite sporty.
The forecast for the week shows thunderstorms for Thursday’s opening round with higher winds on Friday and stable conditions on the weekend.
In the 2024 Champlain Elite, when only two anglers failed to limit, New York’s Kyle Patrick caught a 6-2 largemouth on Day 1 that held out for the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the week.
With a 6-0 largemouth and its near twin, Minnesota’s Seth Feider weighed in 23-11 for the Rapala CrushCity Monster Bag of 2024. “I think the smallmouth will dominate the numbers, but I think you’ll see more largemouth play than in years past,” Palaniuk said. “They’ll be in places that are more predictable. They’ll most likely set up a little better, and they’ll give you more consistency than the smallmouth.”
Ed Loughran mixed things up with both species in totaling 80-12 over four days, giving him a 1-ounce victory over Chris Johnston last time. Johnston gained spots on AOY leader Justin Hamner then became the first Canadian to win the title after finishing fourth on his home waters of the St. Lawrence River.
Trey McKinney, who the past two years finished second in AOY to Johnston, is atop the AOY standings with 554 points. The 21-year-old from Carbondale, Ill., is looking to finish this year.
Hot on McKinney’s tail this time is Johnston’s older brother, Cory Johnton, who has eyes on continuing his family’s AOY run. Cory stands second, 16 points back of McKinney. After Champlain, the series concludes on the Johnstons’ home water in the Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River, Aug. 27-30.
Caleb Hudson leads the Pro-Guide Batteries Rookie of the Year race. He’s currently 10th overall with 480 points, and Fisher Anaya pulled within eight points after a runner-up finish on the Pasquotank River.
Qualifying for the 2027 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic is also at stake. The current spot to earn a berth is 44th, where Lee Livesay sits with 376 points. Alex Redwine (above) is first man out with 374 points, and climbing inside the cut would be icing on his wedding cake.
Live coverage will be available starting Aug. 13 and 14 at 8 a.m. ET on Bassmaster.com. FS1 will host the morning action on August 15 from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. before heading to Bassmaster.com. Championship Sunday coverage can be found on FS1 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and conclude on Bassmaster.com.

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