WADDINGTON, N.Y. — On a northern fishery that features predominantly smallmouth bass, teams from the southern part of the country found success on Day 1 of the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops, as three of the top five teams originate from below the Mason-Dixon Line.
Kentucky Lake natives Tristan McCormick and Stevie Mills from Bethel University caught a limit of smallmouth weighing 24 pounds, 9 ounces to vault them into the Day 1 lead while South Carolina natives Hunter Bond and GL Compton from Clemson caught a 23-12 bag full of smallmouth to land in second-place.
Meanwhile, the fifth-place team of Jack Tindell and Brett Fregia from Lamar State College Orange are based out of Texas and landed a limit of smallmouth worth 22-14.
While McCormick and Mills catch smallmouth on the Tennessee River, the environments are wildly different. When he hooks up with a smallmouth on the St. Lawrence, Mills can see the bass long before it reaches the boat, something he isn’t used to at home.
“You have current at Kentucky Lake, but this is all natural and it is always flowing,” Mills said. “That’s why these fish are as strong as they are. We don’t ever get to fish anywhere like this where you get to see 20-foot down. I like it a lot.”
The common denominator for success for the Clemson and Bethel teams is an understanding of current and current breaks. McCormick said Kentucky Lake has a lot of current in the spring that will position the smallmouth in a similar way as the St. Lawrence River.
“These fish position on current and this river has current 365 days of the year,” he said. “On Kentucky Lake, they position on a little point, bar or rock piles, something to tuck behind and ambush. So when you throw that bait out there and bring it over their head they are going to swim up and get it.”
When the current stops at Kentucky Lake, the fish will begin to roam, Mills said. Meanwhile on the St. Lawrence the current is a constant environmental factor and current breaks play all the time.
While it is their first trip to the St. Lawrence River, Compton and Bond have used some of their knowledge on previous smallmouth venues to help out at this event. But current is the biggest aspect that has translated to this river system.
“We used our knowledge of current and tried to put together a good gameplan,” Compton said. “It’s very different as far as how they set up, but current is current. Fish set up on current in similar ways everywhere. We tried to roll with that like we do on rivers back home.”
With Clemson University located on the shores of Lake Hartwell, Compton and Bond spend much of their time on the famed fishery. Areas of that lake, like the Upper Keowee River area, have heavy current at times and catching spotted bass in that section has related to the type of fishing they are doing on the St. Lawrence, Compton said.
The two teams will look to keep the momentum going on Day 2 of the National Championship. Make sure you tune into the blog for updates on how the day is going for both Bethel and Clemson. Weigh-in begins at 2:45 p.m. ET on Bassmaster.com.