On Day 1 he bagged 23-pounds, 8-ounces, and started the tournament off with a hot hand.
“Day 2 of the tournament, I ran to make one of my drifts, and I started about 75 yards before I got to where I had my waypoints. It was 45 feet deep and I caught a 5-pounder. That was a huge clue. I ended up catching a 6-pounder there on the final day in 44 feet of water. Those are some of the deepest fish I’ve ever caught.”
He averaged better than 20 pounds of smallmouth per day over the following three days of competition to finish the event in third place. He also regained the AOY lead with a 17-point margin headed into the eighth stop.
Cayuga Lake
On Day 2 of practice Canterbury started putting together the pattern that he ultimately rode throughout the tournament. With limited knowledge of Cayuga, he attempted to find fish in some of the more popular areas revealed by past tournaments held there. Fishing a large grass flat near takeoff, he began dissecting the vegetation and gradually connecting the dots.
“I ran out about a mile in front of the take-off area at sunrise, and put my trolling in the water and didn’t pick it up until 12 o’clock.” He said. “I just started casting a worm and worked my way out to 12 or 14 feet. Then I’d work my way back in to 7 or 8 feet. I’d catch a 3-pounder, then I might fish another 30 minutes or so without a bite and then catch another 3-pounder.
“I got into a little area where I could see the grass. A lot of that other grass I wasn’t able to see with my eyes, but could follow the edges of it on my depth finder. When I got in that area where I could see the grass, I caught a 4-pounder. There was a clump or grass to the right of where I had caught that one, and I threw over there and caught a 2 1/2.”
That was the first time all morning Canterbury had multiple bites in an area.
“I marked a waypoint and put a ‘stop sign’ and I wrote 'good.' I fished up about another hour or so and caught another 4-pounder where I could see the grass. So, I started keying in on that.
“The first morning I ran straight to that first waypoint, and when I got to it I hit Spot Lock, and I went to catching them. I caught three fish in four casts. And they were good ones. I caught about 17 pounds, and then cranked up and ran to my second waypoint where my first cast caught a 5-pounder. I had a pretty good bag then, around 20 pounds.”