Top lures at Lake Champlain 2026

Largemouth or smallmouth. Catching both species by fishing in shallow vegetation with flipping tactics or finessing offshore. You could do it all at the SPRO Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain. The fishing was just that good. Photo: Craig Lamb

The split season prevented use of forward-facing sonar in this tournament, and the anglers took advantage of redirecting strategies to structure fishing. Bryan Schmitt delivered the complete package with a winning weight of 81 pounds, 7 ounces.

Schmitt steadily climbed up the leaderboard beginning in 10th place with 19-11, and then 19-7, 23-8 and finally 18-13 to seal the win. Schmitt previously won at Champlain with the 2021 Elite and a 2016 Northern Open.

Relying on a variety of lures — instead a single bait commonly used for scoping — was the common denominator for the top finishers. That winning equation added to the viewing and learning experience of this tournament for fans and anglers.

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Carl Jocumsen (10th; 72-14)

Jocumsen concentrated on flipping and pitching around grass edges and isolated vegetation. His best bait was this CrushCity Knuckle Bug, rigged with VMC Heavy Duty Worm Hook and 3/4-ounce VMC Tungsten Weight.

Lee Livesay (9th; 74-1)

Livesay chose a trio of lures for covering the water column of his strike zones.

Leading off was this 6th Sense Dogma. He used this exact same bait to score a Top 10 on Champlain in 2021.

For flipping applications he used this 6th Sense Bodega Craw, rigged on 2/0 BKK Armor Point Heavy Cover Flipping Hook with 3/8-ounce weight.

For finesse tactics he used this 6th Sense Flush, rigged weightless on a 5/0 BKK Wide Gap R Hook.

Beau Browning (8th; 77-1)

Browning chose baits for working grassy bottom contour depth variations and for shallower areas.

A primary bait was this 1/2-ounce Z-Man ChatterBait Elite EVO with Z-Man ChatterShad for a trailer.

Alternatively, he made a Carolina rig with a Z-Man prototype craw, rigged on 4/0 worm hook with 5/8-ounce Carolina rig weight.

For finesse applications he used a Z-Man Fuzzy NuggetZ, rigged on a drop-shot hook with a nail weight.

Cory Johnston (7th; 77-12)

Johnston rotated between an urchin and a finesse swimbait.

That choice was this 6th Sense Party Minnow, rigged on No. 2 BKK prototype hook with 1/4-ounce 6th Sense Drop Shot Weight.

He also used this 6th Sense Abstract rigged with 1/8-ounce 6th Sense Drop Shot Weight.

Brandon Lester (6th; 78-2)

Lester alternated between an urchin and a drop-shot rig.

He made it with a 6.5 LIVETARGET Finesse Worm, rigged on 4/0 Mustad Grip-Pin Edge Soft Plastics Hook with 3/16-ounce weight.

Lester also used this 19mm urchin bait rigged with a 4×4 Baits prototype hook.

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Drew Cook (5th; 79-0)

Cook used a crankbait and stayed on a roll with a wacky rig that’s paid off for him throughout the season.

That setup was the SPRO Wacky Snack rigged weightless wacky style on No. 2 Gamakatsu B10S Stinger Hook.

For covering water, he used this SPRO Little John MD 50.

Caleb Sumrall (4th; 79-1)

The trestles of a railroad bridge held fish all week for Sumrall. Skirted jigs with heavy tackle proved most beneficial.

A primary bait was this 1/2-ounce Missile Baits Ike’s Mini Flip, rigged with Missile Baits D Bomb for a trailer.

He also used this 3/4-ounce SPRO CJ Flip with Missile Baits D Bomb.

Seth Feider (3rd; 79-12)

Feider committed to smallmouth on the final day after mixing his catch with quality largemouth earlier in the tournament. A drop shot flipped into deep grass produced his catch for Championship Sunday.

He made it with a Z-Man Big TRD, rigged on 1/0 VMC NK Finesse Neko Hook, with 3/8-ounce WOO! Tungsten Drop Shot Weight.

Chris Johnston (2nd; 80-7)

Johnston split his time between catching limit-filling smallmouth and then looking for kicker largemouth to add quality to his daily limits.

He used this Hideup Coike Fullcast, rigged on 4/0 Gamakatsu Extra Wide Gap Double Hook with 1/8-ounce weight.

He made a weightless wacky rig with this 4-inch worm, rigged on 1/0 Gamakatsu G-Finesse Drop Shot Hook. He simply added a 1/8-ounce weight to the same rig for a drop shot.

Bryan Schmitt (1st; 81-7)

Schmitt ran a program based on various hard spots such as isolated rock mixed with vegetation. That varied approach required using lures for the entire water column.