St. Lawrence River: Day 4
1:36 p.m. — Solomon Glenn reports that JT Thompkins is having a stellar final day.
“He went on a flurry of 5-pounders,” the photographer reported.
But what’s hurting him is that a 4-pounder in his livewell died and therefore cannot be culled.
He’ll need a 6-pounder or two to make a serious charge.
1:36 p.m. — Cory Johnston is a notorious sandbagger.
Is there two pounds of sand in that bag?
1:00 a.m. — Two hours to fish – seven Century Belts.
12:26 p.m. — Photographer Chase Sansom asked Trey McKinney how he felt about catching the game-changing 6-pounder.
“Ecstatic,” was the response.
It appears his current spot is loaded with big fish. He might be able to tough it out here, continue to upgrade and ensure a variety of accomplishments.
12:17 p.m. — Trey McKinney just carefully worked a true giant into the boat.
It weighed 6 pounds, culling out a 3-12.
“I’m so glad I stopped here,” he said.
Indeed.
He has an estimated 106 pounds, which would be the highest four-day limit of smallmouths ever. If he can pair that with the win it’ll be just an additional feather in his cap on top of the AOY.
11:47 a.m. — We’ve hit a bite window, as evidenced by the fact that JT Thompkins just won a long battle with a 6-pound smallmouth.
“He don’t need a cull tag, that’s a fact,” Thompkins said.
11:39 a.m. — Cory Johnston just culled out a 4-pounder with one that looked to be about 2 pounds bigger.
That unofficially puts him over 100 pounds here again. He’s done it twice before.
11:32 a.m. — Trey McKinney told photographer Chase Sansom that catching his fifth keeper of the day “took a lot of the pressure off.”
Still, he probably won’t be satisfied with anything less than the win AND the AOY title.
That’s a pretty big lift against this field.
“I need to catch a 5-pounder,” he said.
11:24 a.m. — Fisher Anaya needs to move up today to claim the Rookie of the Year title but right now he finds himself in last place.
He has a 17-pound limit in the boat with room for growth.
He’ll need to make a major charge as no one else in the top 10 is letting off the gas.
11:24 a.m. — Solomon Glenn has been following Evan Kung hopscotching around, covering water on a series of underwater humps.
He’s been in the river but is now heading out to the lake where he’s done serious damage the last few days.
11:16 a.m. — While four anglers have unofficially topped the 100 -mark, none of the 10 fishing today have yet hit 23 pounds – at least according to the weights they’re punching in.
That means we could and likely will see a lot of shuffling before the end of the day.
There’s lots of time left to fish and a few fives and the occasional six could rocket someone up the leaderboard.
A bunch of additional 3- and 4-pounders won’t help much.
11:15 a.m. — It appears that Trey McKinney’s decision to throw a 3-pounder back earlier will not come back to haunt him.
He just boxed smallmouth number five.
“Before I had a limit I was not a good person to talk to,” he said.
He’s over 100 pounds, but unofficially a few ounces behind Kung.
"I would think we're going to see 10 Century Belts to be honest by the end of the day," Chris Johnston remarked.
10:51 a.m. — Steve Bowman is watching Brandon Cobb, who just landed a 15-pound drum.
They’re mixed in with the smallmouths and hard to distinguish. Yesterday the drum wouldn’t bite and he caught a 5-pound smallmouth on the same exact drop.
Bowman is riding with former Elite Travis Manson, who now guides up here.
Travis said that the small area where Cobb is fishing is a prime area for giant smallies. He caught most of his 6-pound-plus fish last year from this zone.
10:42 a.m. — Trey McKinney is all-in on winning and the title.
We just watched him throw back a fish that could be part of a 20-pound limit, but that weight won’t get it done.
If he’d kept it and it died, it wouldn’t be cullable and could prevent him from amassing a truly giant bag.
The next fish made the cut.
“Not a big one but bigger,” he said. “This one’s going to go for a ride with us.”
10:42 a.m. — Tucker Smith continues to catch fish, but with the smallest one in his livewell at 4.70 pounds, it’s tough to upgrade.
Catching leaping smallmouth is fun, but if they don’t help they’re just a time-waster.
10:32 a.m. — Photographer Solomon Glenn is watching Fisher Anaya struggle in his attempt to move up in the tournament and claim the Rookie of the Year award.
“He’s only got a couple in the box,” he said. “Lots of fish are not committing and he lost a really big one.”
He has made a long trip up the river in search of fresh fish.
10:28 a.m. — Photographer Shane Durrance reports that Tucker Smith has moved to a little bit deeper water.
“He said that he feels like the bigger fish are starting to pull out of the shallows and he has found an area where there is chunk rock right near the drop. He’s throwing a minnow style bait. He said that every single day he’s come out here, the school seem to keep getting bigger and bigger.”
Could he pull out a dark horse win?
10:23 a.m. — Tucker Smith just culled out a 4-pounder and is now unofficially over 100 lbs.
He’s already accomplished that feat on Lake Fork, so assuming he gets back to weigh-in safely and on-time he will join a small club of anglers who’ve earned Century Belts on both largemouths and smallmouths.
9:38 a.m. — Trey McKinney has certainly had a much slower morning on Championship Sunday, but his cameraman Jake Latendresse reports that he’s seeing a lot of fish in his electronics but they’re just not biting yet. As we’ve seen each day, bite windows have been critical to take advantage of and that’s exactly what the Illinois pro is hoping to experience soon with just two keepers in the boat.
9:33 a.m. — As Cory Johnston fills out his limit, Trey McKinney has unofficially and perhaps temporarily slipped down to 8th place.
This race has gone down to the last day and likely will stretch until the last cast is made.
9:16 a.m. — Cole Sands is unofficially the first angler to hit the 100 pound mark.
8:33 a.m. — It took until about 8:30, but Trey McKinney is officially on the board.
The fish is small compared to what he’s been catching over the first three days but it’s an icebreaker.
8:33 a.m. — Evan Kung is the first angler to a limit.
He’ll likely have to cull most or all of them to win but it has to be a relief to have five in the box – and a ticket to go giant-hunting.
8:13 a.m. — Fisher Anaya will win Rookie of the Year if he can move up at least one spot.
That would tie him with Caleb Hudson in points, but Anaya would win a tiebreaker – total weight on all Days 1 and 2 over the course of the season.
Hudson dramatically moved up into the cut after a tough Day 1, then did his job again yesterday, rising to 19th and making it a battle.
Anaya is catching his fish on an urchin this morning.
8:09 a.m. — Trey McKinney, who entered Day 4 in the lead, doesn’t have a fish in the livewell yet.
He reports that he’s seeing plenty of them but can’t hook up.
They’ll chase his dropshot but they won’t commit. Plenty of time left.
8:06 a.m. — Evan Kung went from possibly not returning to the Elites next year to possibly making the 2027 Bassmaster Classic.
He is at least temporarily in the lead of the event – which would provide a Golden Ticket.
6:50 a.m. — Trey McKinney: “I’m ready for it to be over.”
6:47 a.m. — Weather report: We’re going to have a little more wind again today and rain on and off. How is this going to change the bite and the ability to get around?
The former clearly didn’t affect anything for the worse on Thursday, but by now some of the fish have been beaten up a bit and may be more wary.
St. Lawrence River: Day 3
1:57 p.m. — Chase Sansom continues to bring the fire with his gallery of Trey McKinney’s Saturday efforts. CLICK HERE to check it out.
1:37 p.m. — Day 1 leader Tucker Smith is back on a big bag -- he said it’s over 25 and a half.
Smith is fishing deeper than most other anglers in the area and is sticking with a jighead minnow. He’s covering a ton of water searching with his scope in about the 30 foot zone.
The 4-pounder pictured above was no help to the bag.
1:27 p.m. — Shane Durrance just sent us a video of Easton Fothergill fighting and landing a 6-pound smallmouth.
The Minnesotan Classic champ is having an excellent day, with at least 25 pounds in the livewell.
If you’ve heard of the “baby pattern,” maybe this is the dawn of the “hospital pattern.” Fothergill spent much of the practice period in a hospital bed in a scary situation that ultimately seemed to be resolved.
1:22 p.m. — Photographer Solomon Glenn has been following Bryant Smith off the grid, and reports that the average catch has been nowhere near the size of what he landed Thursday and Friday.
With the sun and lower winds this morning he’s pushed up in about 10 feet of water, casting a dropshot to smallmouths he finds on his ActiveTarget. Earlier he had some trolling motor issues forcing him to not move around and search for fish but he seems to have got it going again.
Jeff Gustafson is also having his worst day so far. He says he’s never been turned down by so many smallmouths.
The ones he is catching and in the 3-pound range or smaller. He’s been moving around shallow points trying to locate some bigger fish.
1:15 p.m. — Bassmaster writer Christopher Decker has been crunching the numbers and sends the following:
Something to watch as the day comes to a close are the anglers who are in danger of losing their Elite qualification status. In order to avoid religation, angler needs to finish 70th or higher in the points. Evan Kung has done his job and unless he doesn't make it back to weigh-in, he will be back in 2027.
Caleb Sumrall currently sits 22nd in the tournament, safely inside the Top 70 in points unofficially. Brad Whatley currently sits in 15th in the tournament standings, no doubt helping his cause.
Other names to keep an eye on include Logan Parks, who is safe, but his moving up or down the standings today has real impact on other anglers like Clifford Pirch, Wes Logan and Brandon Card. t’s been far from a perfect day for AOY contender Cory Johnston, but he has over 2 hours left and he’s still catching fish.
12:55 p.m. — It’s been far from a perfect day for AOY contender Cory Johnston, but he has over 2 hours left and he’s still catching fish.
He just culled out a 3-pounder, but according to Zona, “looking in that livewell he still has lots of room to grow.”
He has suffered several painful fish losses today on camera and seems to be showing some understandable frustration. It'll be a test of his mettle to see if he can power through that.
There were lots of late-day heroics Thursday and Friday. Why should we expect any less today?
11:55 a.m. — With about 3 hours left to fish, Trey McKinney unofficially retains the lead with over 80 pounds of Lake Ontario bass.
Meanwhile, we have a total of four anglers on pace to hit the century club.
Expect some of these names to drop off the top 10 by day’s end, courtesy of a handful of 5- and 6-pounders coming from down the leaderboard.
10:58 a.m. — Caleb Hudson is not making it easy on Fisher Anaya in the Rookie of the Year race, but Anaya is adjusting.
He just moved out to the lake for the first time and added his biggest fish of the day.
10:48 a.m. — With great power comes great responsibility.
Shane Durrance just reported that with an estimated 24 pounds in the livewell, past Bassmaster Classic champ Easton Fothergill “just spent over 10 minutes weighing, placing cull tags and making 100% sure which one was going to get culled.”
Fothergill uses a balance beam AND weighs them twice.
“He said that when you are in a smallmouth derby up here it usually comes down to ounces.”
10:40 a.m. — Steve Bowman reports that “It’s a whack fest here with Matt Robertson and Wes Gore. Both are catching them regularly. Gore is winning the numbers game. But Robertson is winning the weight game.”
“Gore says he has about 19, BassTrakk shows him at 13 and change.
Robertson just hooked into one that took some time to get to the boat. So long in fact that Gore caught two in the 3-pound plus range in the middle of Robertson’s monumental battle.
That fish turned out to be one of the largest smallies I’ve seen caught in competition. Well over 6 pounds and will grow his weight, culling an almost 5-pounder.
He’s light on his BassTrakk as well. Both of these anglers are having a fun day. Robertson keeps encouraging Gore to catch all the 3-pounders so he could catch the big ones. It sounded like a joke but it turned into reality.
10:18 a.m. — Photographer Dalton Tumblin reports that Caleb Hudson isn’t backing down today as he continues to strive for ROY.
With 24 pounds already in the livewell, he’s head hunting for the right culls.
Hudson is roaming around on the big lake, using FFS to drop straight down on a large underwater shoal about 20 feet deep.
10:09 a.m. — Steve Bowman has landed outside Bayfield where Wesley Gore and Matt Robertson are fishing.
Robertson has already built a chunky sack that has him in the top 10. Gore is not terribly far behind that around 20th.
“We’ve not been here 5 minutes and each of them have hooked up twice,” he said. “One of those a double. Robertson’s have been smaller. But he’s in a position that makes it hard to cull. Gore on the other hand has culled twice.
Regardless they are laying the wood to these river fish.
10:02 a.m. — Evan Kung – fighting for a win-and-you’re-in Classic spot – has unofficially claimed the lead with 21+, keeping him pace for a Century Belt.
His earlier move to go shallow has clearly paid off, but he’ll need to cull a few times to be sure of a spot on Championship Sunday.
9:49 a.m. — Steve Bowman reports that Fisher Anaya hooked up with a 4-pound plus and after a fantastic fight got it in the boat. He didn’t keep it long though.
Judging that it was hooked deep he made the choice to release it. He still has three in the well.
All of that preceded a hook up with what was likely a smaller fish. We could tell by his demeanor the fish wasn’t one he had to have. He got it close to the boat and it came unpinned.
He’s moving down the bank. Making very few casts won’t throw unless he sees a 4 to 5 on his FFS. So he’s committed to building a big bag today.
So committed he just left with the proclamation that he’s headed to the lake. He likely needs two or three in that 5-pound range to feel comfortable in what is likely his final day in the run for the Rookie of the Year.
9:42 a.m. — Shane Durrance reports that Evan Kung has made an adjustment, pushing shallower.
It paid off almost immediately with his best fish of the morning.
9:35 a.m. — Easton Fothergill dropped a 7-pound smallmouth in the livewell earlier. That’s the fish of a lifetime for many people and he has to assume it’ll be Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the tournament.
It likely won’t be.
Cole Sands just landed a 7-2. It doesn’t even look like a smallmouth it’s so fat.
It would be the second biggest in St. Lawrence Bassmaster history after Paul Mueller’s 7-13 from 2020. Kenta Kimura’s 7-pounder was previously second biggest.
9:27 a.m. — Local guide Dean Meckes told Bassmaster photographer Shane Durrance that he's not surprised by the slow morning most anglers are experiencing.
"(Meckes) just told me that when you have a full moon, especially with clear skies, smallmouth move shallower because the goby spawn on every full moon when the water temps are above 58 degrees," Durrance reports.
So it makes sense that anglers who have been fishing deep all week would struggle, but Meckes said they just have to wait it out until the gobies move off the shallows.
"He thinks the bite should get better around midday," Durrance said.
9:17 a.m. — Seigo Saito is watching the rapidly-rising Easton Fothergill, who had a 7-pounder this morning and then added two in the 4-pound class.
As Seigo was typing, Fothergill added a 5-pounder, which should put him past 20 pounds, with one spot remaining in his livewell.
9:14 a.m. — Chase Sansom said that it’s super slick where Trey McKinney is situated this morning.
His 5-10 was preceded by a 4-pounder, but again he’s catching them out of very deep water. He didn’t want to risk having a 4 that he couldn’t cull so he dropped it back in the drink.
9:00 a.m. — Shane Durrance reports that Evan Kung started off the morning with a 4-pound smallmouth but then things got tough.
No more bites for nearly an hour.
“He just turned to me and said, ‘I think the lack of wind is going to make this difficult for me today,’” Durrance wrote.
Kung is seeing plenty of fish but cannot get them to bite.
8:31 a.m. — After throwing back one fish because it was too small, Trey McKinney is on the board.
It’s not a 6-pounder, but a 5-10 is a pretty darn good start. He’s fizzing the fish to make sure it survives and he doesn’t suffer a fish care penalty. The fish came out of 45 feet of water.
He admitted to experiencing some nerves and jitters this morning, but at least for now he’s in the driver’s seat.
8:07 a.m. — Easton Fothergill has reported a 7-pound smallmouth, the biggest of the week if that proves to be true. As a reminder, the biggest smallmouth in Bassmaster tournament history was Paul Mueller’s 7-13 here in 2020.
7:55 a.m. — Bassmaster did a takeover of the Clayton Harbor Municipal for the 2026 Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River, but there was one cruiser tied up in one of the slips this morning when takeoff began. Jeff Dall and his wife Lynn Thibert were watching the festivities from their back deck as anglers tied up, rigged their tackle and then headed out for the third day of competition.
Turns out they weren't there by accident.
"We reserved a slip in February," Quebec's Jeff Dall said. "Right after we made the reservation, they shut it down."
So why did they pick this weekend?
"We wanted to come for (the tournament)," Jeff said.
It's just one more example of the international character of this sport.
7:05 a.m. — Photographer Shane Durrance reports that as blastoff ensues there are already two locals on Trey McKinney’s expected starting area. It’s a public body of water, so that’s their right, and Trey overcame similar issues yesterday, but it’s obviously not what he’ll want on what may prove to be the biggest day of his young career.
6:46 a.m. — This just feels like a season where little if anything will be resolved until the last day, or even the last hour. That means the AOY, possibly the ROY, the tournament itself, Classic qualifications and perhaps some anglers’ Elite Series careers. There’s so much potential for movement – as long as you’re still fishing.
St. Lawrence River: Day 2
1:56 p.m. — Seigo Saito repots that Kyoya Fujita has had a slower day than yesterday, but has gradually put some of the puzzle together and now has 24 pounds of Lake Ontario smallmouths in the livewell.
1:46 p.m. — With another 4-12 to cull, McKinney made short work of that obstacle.
Almost immediately after the near 7-pounder, he added another fish about 6.
He’s in the 29-pound range, pushing on the all-time Bassmaster smallmouth limit record, 30 pounds, the win and the AOY title. The only thing that would seem to prevent him from culling again and again going forward is the time it takes to fight these fish on light line.
Let’s see how hard he pushes it or if he heads back to Clayton.
With a little over a hour left, a timing issue or fish care penalty could be crippling. But right now he can do no wrong.
1:40 p.m. — The magic keeps on coming.
Trey McKinney’s smallest fish in a massive limit was 4-12, but somehow he made that fish irrelevant.
His most recent catch is a 6-11 giant, a cull of almost 2 pounds. That makes approximately 28. He has a 4-14 left to cull.
“We’re going to make Cory work for it,” he said.
1:33 p.m. — Trey McKinney fished his first tournament at 11 years old, which means that he’s been competing more than half of his life.
It may also be the most documented rise of a young star in pro fishing’s history, with a digital trail a mile long.
If Iaconelli is Jordan, who lived in the analog era, perhaps McKinney is LeBron, on the radar, followed and photographed from the beginning.
1:28 p.m. — McKinney continues to keep his foot on the pedal. With his latest cull, he’s up to the 26-pound mark.
“The big ones can’t quite resist the big minnow,” he said.
1:10 p.m. — Trey McKinney’s at it again today, this time on a much flatter Lake Ontario. Photographer Chase Sansom grabbed another gallery of the AOY leader. CLICK HERE to check it out.
12:53 p.m. — Where it all began: Ike at the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship (above). He won that, but unlike Bryan Kerchal he did not win a Classic through that grass roots qualification.
He later did so through the Invitationals, which happened to pass through the St. Lawrence that year.
12:27 p.m. — Obviously, our reporting is incomplete and there’s some sandbagging going on, but with a few hours to fish Robert Gee is the only angler reporting a catch over 25 pounds.
Is it possible we’ll see the cut weight go down?
Addendum: Immediately upon posting that, Cory Johnston caught a 5-4, which moved him up from 24-12 to 25-6.
The cut weight could still go down, but these guys have a way of producing late-day heroics, and with flatter conditions they should have more time to fish today than they did yesterday.
11:23 a.m. — Right now, 1st, 2nd and 3rd are all battling for either Angler of the Year or Rookie of the Year.
10:58 a.m. — Trey McKinney just landed fish number five in his quest to stay alive in the tournament and control his own destiny in the AOY race.
“I don’t know how big she is but she is gigantic,” he said as he fought her.
She ended up being 4 3/4 pounds.
He’s culled up to an estimated 23 pounds, which has him unofficially in 2nd (with lots of anglers not reporting) behind Cory Johnston – his current nemesis.
BassTrakk has them an ounce apart but right now points might matter more than individual ounces. The other thing that matters, of course, is what they need to cull. Trey has a 3-8 in the box and Cory has a 4-5.
10:38 a.m. — Photographer Solomon Glenn reports that Mike Iaconelli is having a good time in his last Elite Event.
He’s journeyed way out in the lake and pretty much has the area to himself, although AOY contender Drew Cook was in the area for a little bit.
Ike is using his Active Target to spot fish on a large flat point. He’s currently got over 21 and is trying to fish at least one more day!
10:14 a.m. — Photographer Chase Sansom reports that Robert Gee has 26+ and a goal in mind.
“Dude, I want to break the all-time smallmouth record,” Gee said. “I’m going to try to put it all over them today.”
10:00 a.m. — Day 1 leader Tucker Smith has a decent limit by conventional standards but he’ll likely have to cull them all out to maintain a shot at the victory – or even progressing to Sunday.
9:53 a.m. — Photographer Dalton Tumblin reports that Cory Johnston is clearly frustrated after breaking off a giant fish right at the boat and then slamming the rod down in response. This is the third fish in a row that he’s lost. So, while he’s sitting at the top on BassTrakk, he’s certainly not feeling on top right now.
“As I’m typing this, he just put one in the boat to make a cull,” Tumblin added. “This should lift his spirits a little. Right now, he’s on the big lake fishing a giant underwater point in roughly 22 feet of water.”
9:53 a.m. — The Day 1 weigh-in was insane, with 97 limits and 90 of the 98 anglers weighing in at least 20 pounds. Bassmaster’s Mike Suchan ran the numbers, and the average weight of a bass crossing the scales was a staggering 4 pounds, 10 ounces. To put that into perspective, the average size yesterday was just 5 ounces behind the 2024 Lake Fork Elite and 4 ounces behind the 2008 Lake Falcon Elite.
Comparing a northern smallmouth fishery to renowned big-bass largemouth factories is pretty mind-blowing.
9:29 a.m. — Photographer Chase Sansom reports that Robert Gee and Trey McKinney are fishing side by side and having an amiable conversation.
Gee, who has contended here previously but struggled yesterday, says that he has about 26 pounds with one over 6. He needs to cull out some of those pesky 4-pounders
9:02 a.m. — If you’re an Ike fan and you’re not watching Live, drop what you’re doing and tune in now.
Not only is he hooking and sometimes landing big smallmouths, but he’s putting on a “Greatest Hits” album of Ike references, motions and emotions.
We even got an OT Fears reference from Zona.
8:57 a.m. — On a morning when Cory Johnston has been doing everything he can to grab the AOY title, Trey McKinney just issued a shot across the bow – an estimated 5-12 smallmouth.
“Long and fat, like we like ‘em,” he said.
7:18 a.m. — Chase Sansom’s Day 1 gallery of Trey McKinney might be one of the best in Bassmaster history. CLICK HERE to check it out.
7:15 a.m. — Anglers who finish in the top 70 are in no danger of relegation, regardless of their historical AOY average finish. Here’s the Mendoza line (above).
7:13 a.m. — With double-qualifiers, the Classic cutline should be somewhere in the mid-40s. Here are the current standings (above).
6:53 a.m. — Per Chris Johnston, his brother Cory’s batteries did not get a charge last night so he’s back at the hotel trying to get a little more juice in them. Could AOY be decided by a hotel electrical malfunction?
St. Lawrence River: Day 1
1:00 p.m. — With two hours left to fish and many anglers still not reporting, here’s your unofficial top 10.
12:57 p.m. — Chase Sansom reports that Kyle Norsetter is among the conglomerate of boats at Cape Vincent.
“He’s got north of 21 pounds with a 5 and a half pounder in the well and two 3-pounders he needs to get rid of. He can get rid of those two fish with some quality 4-pounders he’ll jump right back up in the top 10”
12:37 p.m. — After a runner-up finish at last week’s Open on Lake Erie, Nick Trim is keeping the late season momentum going. It’s not fast and furious, but he’s culled his way up to about 24 pounds. He’s scoping carefully, casting judiciously.
12:34 p.m. — While Wesley Gore isn’t showing up on BassTrakk, he’s having a solid day, with an estimated 24 pounds – and that’s after losing a couple of giants. He’s close to takeoff, picking apart breaklines near humps with a dropshot.
12:19 p.m. — Dalton Tumblin reports that Easton Fothergill has gone from fighting an illness earlier this week in the hospital to fighting his way up the leaderboard today.
“Fothergill has had a great morning so far at the mouth of the St Lawrence,” Tumblin reported. “He is dragging along a long deep stretch of rocks and getting consistent bites. The only thing he needs now are some good culls to go with it.”
12:12 p.m. — Chase Sansom reports that rookie Aaron Jagdfeld is working the mouth of the river and putting on an absolute clinic.
“He’s right around the Cape Vincent area working these smallmouth deeper than anyone else I’ve seen today,” Chase said. “All the way down in 43 feet. He just caught one that culled him up to 22 pounds and some change. He knows he’ll need more than that to stay in fighting shape here on the St. Lawrence.”
“I know I’m gonna have to cull out every 4 pounder I’ve got to stay at the top,” Jagdfeld added.
12:08 p.m. — It appears that unlike the fictional Wally World, Takumi Ito’s Smallmouth Disneyland was open today. The only way for him to get back to the Classic is a super-high finish, possibly even a win.
He told Seigo Saito this morning that he is scared to run into the lake because of the gusty situation but that decision paid off. He made it to his spot and had a limit when Seigo found him. He said he has about 22 pounds and wants to cull out one more fish.
Immediately after saying that he caught a quality smallmouth and culled.
11:41 a.m. — Mark Menendez is not giving up his tour card without a fight.
11:42 a.m. — If you haven't seen Bassmaster photographer Chase Sansom's photo gallery of Trey McKinney's morning at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River — you need to click here.
11:01 a.m. — AmBASSador Peter Armlovich shared some pictures of Jeff Gustafson’s productive morning, which currently sees him in 2nd place.
“Just survived a major storm,” Armlovich wrote. “Roled through for 12 minutes. Had to hunter down for 12 minutes. Back at it now in light rain, dark skies.”
10:55 a.m. — See the pics below of Trey McKinney surfing on the big lake? It's part of a larger gallery that Chase Sansom is putting together, possibly one of the most epic, memorable and puke-inducing galleries in Bassmaster history. Stay tuned, you'll really want to see this one.
10:28 a.m. — It's rough in most places out there, but Solomon Glenn got a great roll of shots of "running and gunning" before they hit the sloppy stuff. CLICK HERE to check it out.
10:00 a.m. — Mike Iaconelli’s AFTCO raingear is putting in hard work today, but the streetwear sneakers may end up drenched on the trash pile.
9:55 a.m. — Photographer Solomon Glenn reports that ROY leader Caleb Hudson is having a decent morning, with four of the right quality fish. He’s primarily using a dropshot with a little urchin/shrimp bait around current breaks and humps.
9:26 a.m. — If Trey McKinney is feeling any pressure he’s definitely not showing it. The AOY leader is unofficially leading the tournament, too.
9:19 a.m. — Per BassTrakk, Caleb Sumrall – still fighting for a spot on the 2027 Elite Series – is the first angler to 20 pounds.
9:17 a.m. — Photographer Dalton Tumblin got what he could on Cory Johnston, but the conditions are making it tough on the media as well as the anglers.
“He’s making an hour run further out,” Dalton reported.
Chase Sansom is still out there dealing with estimated 6- and 7-footers, and a few rogues that measure higher than that.
“They’re the biggest waves I’ve been in,” he said.
The service crew, photographers and of course the competitors are all earning it today.
8:45 a.m. — Mark Zona: “Drew Cook has gone for an ocean run today. He has gone further than any other angler in the field.”
8:28 a.m. — Cory Johnston: “She is lumpy out here.”
7:08 a.m. — Per photographer Andy Crawford, the lake is a no-go or a game-time decision for many of the anglers.
“I’ve talked to several who said they were not going today, including Gussy,” he said. “Even Chris Johnston said he is going to the mouth of the river and making the decision.”
6:35 a.m. — River or lake? That’s the big question this morning as the anglers consider how to end their seasons. Historically the lake has produced bigger bags but at a greater cost to equipment. The rumors are that this week the river is also producing giant bags. The wind may determine the final choice.
6:37 a.m. — Drew Cook: “We’re going to the lake, come hell or high water. Either we’re going to catch them or we’re not going to make it….It ain’t gonna be no fun.”