Regardless of your feelings on smallmouth fishing in these northern events, there are so many storylines to follow in this event. We have one of the tightest three way Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year races in history going into this final event. It is a three-horse race between brother of two-time defending AOY Cory Johnston, back-to-back runner up Trey McKinney and veteran Drew Cook who is having an amazing consistent season and momentum off of Lake Champlain.
On top of that, Fisher Anaya is trying to chase down Pro-Guide Batteries Rookie of the Year leader Caleb Hudson who has pretty much led the rookies all season and it is only close because he was 4 minutes late to check in on day 3 at Lake Champlain.
While we don’t have re-qualification lines in Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing, in the real world of the Bassmaster Elite Series we will have 10 hungry Turtlebox Bassmaster Open Pros ready to move up to the Elite Series which means there are several anglers fighting to re-qualify for 2027.
Lastly, many of you reading this are battling for bragging rights in your local Fantasy Fishing groups and some even still are within striking distance of winning some great prizes from Rapala, so make sure you stack your team with smallmouth experts.
With this year’s finale moving back to Clayton, NY accessing Lake Ontario will be much more convenient and weather will be less of a factor than when events take off out of Waddington. If projected wind forecasts stay true, expect some anglers making big runs for giant bags of smallmouth and we could see several anglers break the 100-pound mark in the final event.
BUCKET A: JOHNSTON
Chris Johnston has numerous Top 10s on this system and his lone win was here out of Clayton. Honestly, I expect both Johnston’s to be in the Top 5 come tournament end, but I am going to give the nod to Chris, while Cory will probably still lock up AOY. You can’t go wrong with either one.
Low percentage play
If you feel like you need a pick that can hang with the favorites with lower percentage, look no further than Patrick Walters, he has won here, has a great track record in last four visits and is not afraid to make the big runs.
BUCKET B: FOUTZ
Jacob Foutz has had some giant days at St. Lawrence river, but has not fully put together a consistent event to make a Sunday appearance. Although, a Day 1 late penalty caused him to have a bad Champlain event, and when Foutz has a chip on his shoulder, he seems to shine the brightest. I think Foutz has more upside over the widely picked consistency of Gussy in Bucket B.
Sneaky stats
Just because Dakota Ebare doesn’t show any tournaments in his Bassmaster profile, doesn’t mean he has not found success on the St. Lawrence River. He is a great option if you are looking for a sneakier pick with a solid track record from July through September.
BUCKET C: FUJITA
For me it was a toss up between Taku Ito and Kyoya Fujita in Bucket C, but I got a feeling Fujita will bounce back after a super tough Champlain event. Taku does have more events and a win here, but I will take the slightly lower percentage of Fujita.
Sleeper Pick
The Sleepy Assassin (Austin Felix) was a culling error away from a solid event at Champlain and has a very consistent track record at the St. Lawrence and has never missed the weekend cut. This week could be his first Sunday appearance out of Clayton.
BUCKET D: MCCORMICK
While BP is getting the majority of love in Bucket D from Fantasy owners, I do not think the is the safe pick that he once was. His last two appearances at the St. Lawrence have been in the 90s, not saying he won’t catch them, just be aware. I am going to try to be a little sneaky here and take Tristan McCormick. He has several strong finishes here back to his college days and in the 2025 Bassmaster Open and lists this as his favorite fishery.
Safer Pick?
Canadian Evan Kung will be fighting for his Bassmaster Elite Series career in this event, he needs to climb a few points to get above the 70th place AOY safe line. He does have two top 20 finishes on the St. Lawrence out of Waddington against both the Elite and Open fields.
BUCKET E: GALLANT
Cooper Gallant is having a tough season, but started to turn things around recently at Lake Champlain. He lists the St. Lawrence as one of his favorite fisheries and while he does have an 84th place finish on his Bassmaster resume out of Waddington, that was due to a nine minute late penalty. Be confident that Cooper will finish his season strong and do not fear the 70 plus percent Fantasy pick.
Rookie Pick
If you want a young angler with upside that knows northern smallmouth, look no further than Michigan angler Aaron Jagdfeld. He is good with his electronics and has St Clair and Great Lakes smallmouth experience. I would not be shocked to see him flirting with a Sunday appearance.
Falcon Rods Bassmaster Drain the Lake Challenge
Here we are at the final event of the 2026 Falcon Rods Bassmaster Drain the Lake Challenge. This additional Fantasy Fishing game not only offers a fresh way to play the game, but a completely separate prize pool. Drain the Lake is an elimination or survivor style game where you can only use an angler once all season.
Did you have enough good smallmouth anglers left on your roster to hold on?
Tristan McCormick
Jay Przekurat
Chris Johnston
Cory Johnston
Taku Ito
Jacob Foutz
Alex Redwine
Evan Kung
