Elite

A look at Lake Champlain

Posted on
Written by
Mike Suchan
New York, New York. The Elite Series’ Northern Swing heads there for the final back-to-back events, with tournament titles, season awards, Classic berths and requalification on the line. Nowhere near the Big Apple, Plattsburgh kicks thing off with the Dakota Lithium Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain, Aug. 17-20.
Lake Champlain, designated a Great Lake for a short time, lies on the New York/Vermont border. It is 107 miles long and 14 miles at its widest point. The natural freshwater lake covers 490 square miles, averages 64 feet deep and has a maximum depth of 400 feet.
There have been 14 previous pro B.A.S.S. events — five Elite tournaments — on Lake Champlain, which ranks fifth in the northeastern rankings of Bassmaster Magazine’s Best Bass Lakes.
Lake Champlain offers diversity, quantity and quality. Anglers can pursue largemouth in shallows and smallmouth in rocky depths, or both. Winners have totaled around 80 pounds after four days, and it usually takes about 17 pounds a day to make the Top 50 cut and almost 19 to make Championship Sunday.
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.
Bryan Schmitt is the most recent Elite winner on Champlain, totaling 78 pounds, 5 ounces in 2021. “There are some lakes you go to that have both species, but the history is that, if you want to win, you gotta target (one or the other),” said Schmitt, who also won the 2016 Open there. “I feel certain there is winning potential with both species. You could win with just one.”
That can be a dilemma. Schmitt said smallmouth are usually the favored target in summer tournaments, and forward-facing sonar has improved that approach. Anglers should find success offshore in grass and rock as well as points and isolated boulders, where drop shots, Ned rigs and jerkbaits should work well.
Schmitt added he expects largemouth could play a bigger role this year as July rains have lake levels 3 feet higher than normal, flooding shoreline vegetation. A variety of baits, including jigs, soft plastics, buzzbaits and topwaters should be effective, and he said there should be good morning action.
Ticonderoga could play a factor this year, Schmitt said. Although it’s a 70-mile run, the area fishes more like a southern largemouth lake. “So, that’s going to be the wild card,” he said. “With all this higher water, it’s going to be like a cup of fresh life for Ticonderoga fishing. There are giant bags to be caught there.”
Still, Schmitt expects the smallmouth from midlake and the Inland Sea to rule the event. He said there should be many mixed bags, although he believes the Phoenix Boats Big Bass will be a largemouth.
The forecast calls from some rain during tournament days, and wind that can make running difficult. Temperatures should be agreeable, with highs in the upper 70s.
After the last event on Lake St. Clair, Brandon Cobb regained the lead in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year race from Kyle Welcher, albeit by one point. Cobb has 573 points through seven events, earning $1,000 bonuses each of the four times he’s ended a tournament with the lead. One more time and Cobb will take the AOY title and its $100,000 prize out of the $578,000 total payouts. Tyler Rivet and John Cox are 41 points back in third with 532, and Drew Cook is fifth with 529.
Joey Cifuentes, who won at Lake St. Clair for his second title of the season, leads the Dakota Lithium Bassmaster Rookie of the Year race with 516 points. Kyoya Fujita stands second 25 points back with Will Davis Jr., another rookie winner on the Elites, third with 460 points. The ROY receives $10,000. Six of the 11 rookies are inside the cut to make the 2024 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic, with two more having chances.
Seth Feider, the 2021 AOY winner, is among those on the Classic bubble at 39th, inside the current cut of 41st by only 1 point. Only 50 points separate anglers 29th to 48th in the year-long standings, so there will be jockeying for position. Canadian smallmouth expert Jeff Gustafson, the 2023 Classic champ, is just 25 points out, and fellow countryman Cory Johnston is in 51st, needing to make up around 35 points.
There are a number of anglers needing to do well to requalify for the 2024 Elites, adding impetus to the final two events. After Champlain, the Elites head three hours west to Clayton, N.Y., for the season-ending Minn Kota Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River. The winner will take the $100,000 first-place check and an automatic berth to the Classic on Grand Lake out of Tulsa, Okla.
Bassmaster LIVE kicks off Champlain coverage Thursday and Friday mornings at 8 a.m. ET on Bassmaster.com, Tubi and the FOX Sports platforms, while FS1 will broadcast live with the tournament leaders Saturday and Sunday.

Related