WADDINGTON, N.Y. — Bassmaster emcee Dave Mercer ran out of superlatives about a quarter into the Day 1 weigh-in at the HUK Bassmaster Elite at the St. Lawrence River presented by Black Velvet. After three days of practice, the anglers told everyone who would listen that this was going to happen.
However, it was still hard to believe what came across the weigh-in stage Thursday: 52 five-bass limits weighing over 20 pounds, led by Matt Lee’s 27-pound, 12-ounce bag. There were seven bags weighing 25 pounds or better. And almost every single bass brought to the scales was a giant, football-shaped smallmouth.
“I said after practice there would be multiple bags over 25 pounds and 50th place would be 20 pounds,” noted Kevin VanDam, who won here last year with a four-day total of 90 pounds, 3 ounces. “That’s just what I saw in practice, and I wasn’t the only one saying that.
“The fish have just gotten so healthy. Part of it might be the time of the year. Maybe they’re just continuing to grow, but it’s a whole different world than last year.”
Last year there were 20 bags weighing 20 pounds or more on Day 1, led by VanDam’s 24-5. He weighed 22-3 Thursday and sits in 30th place.
Brandon Palaniuk, another angler who has a victory here (in 2013), also predicted Wednesday that this would be a slugfest, saying his goal was 100 pounds. That sounded crazy then. It seems reasonable now. But Palaniuk knew the difference that late August makes in the size of these fish.
When VanDam won last year, the tournament ended on July 23rd. When Edwin Evers won in 2015, it ended on Aug. 2. When Palaniuk won in 2013, the tournament ended on August 11. Time of year played the biggest role in Thursday’s slugfest, according to Palaniuk.
“After I won in 2013, I came back in late August and caught 24 ½ one day, 27 the next and then 28 ½,” Palaniuk said. “And those were weighed on scales. These fish just get set up and fed up. Every time we’ve been here before the fish have been real spread out and not fully fattened up. You look at them now – a 15-incher is 3 ¼ pounds. There’s nowhere else where it’s like that, not even (Lake) St. Clair.”
Palaniuk had a sub-par day, weighing “only” 20-15, which has him in 43rd place.
“I fully expected to be able to catch 25-plus,” he said. “If you lose as many fish as I did, you just can’t reach 25 pounds. I lost like 15 fish. I have no clue why. I did nothing different than I did in practice (when he was catching 25 pounds a day) or any other time.
Palaniuk believes a 30-pound limit of smallmouth bass is possible on the St. Lawrence River this week, noting that Matt Lee’s bag of 27-12 weighed 28 pounds before a 4-ounce dead fish penalty.
“There are plenty of 6-pounders here to have a 30-pound bag,” Palaniuk said. “Matt had 28. If you can catch 28, 30 is possible.”
There were multiple 6-pounders weighed Thursday, topped by Brett Hite’s 6-12.
Suddenly goals that seemed impossible on a smallmouth bass fishery appear within reach, like a four-day winning weight of 100 pounds and five-bass limit of 30 pounds. That’s how much Day 1 on the St. Lawrence River changed the game.