Lake Champlain kicks off the New York Swing for the Bassmaster Elite Series. With 435 square miles of surface area, Champlain holds incredible numbers of both largemouth and smallmouth bass.
In 2006, when the Elite Series visited Lake Champlain, high water conditions were conducive to flipping and pitching and Denny Brauer weighed in 80.3 pounds for nearly an eight pound margin of victory over Brent Chapman. Currently, the water level is sitting at 96.15 feet, which is considered slightly above average for this time of year and a full three feet lower than during the 2006 Elite Series stop.
The big question is whether the winning weight will consist of smallmouth or largemouth. In 2006, Kevin Van Dam was the only competitor to reach the final day relying on the smallmouth bite. This year, the largemouth bite could be the key again because the post spawn smallmouths appear to be scattered.
Weather conditions will also play a key role as a number of competitors have committed to making the long run south to fish largemouth. The forecast calls for thundershowers and light wind, conducive for open water smallmouth fishing as well as long runs to Ticonderoga, a well known largemouth area.
Here’s what some of the competitors are saying:
Matt Sphar
“My practice was pretty rough. It has been pretty bad weather out there and where I’ve caught fish before; they didn’t seem to be there. I’ve adjusted and have some fish in a few spots. I’m fishing smallmouth but I’ve found a few little spots with largemouth also.”
“I’m from New York but I’ve only fished Champlain two times before in Open tournaments. Other than that, I’ve never even fished here. It’s kind of weird because everybody thinks that I’m a local but I think most of these guys have been here more than me.”
“I had high hopes coming into it and I do know how to fish for smallmouth, so hopefully I can turn things around for tomorrow. I think that the largemouth guys will probably win because the smallmouths seem to be in a funk. There may be a few guys catching schooling smallmouth but I don’t know how consistent that will be.”
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Jared Lintner
“I don’t really know what exactly I’m going to do. I know that I’m going to target both largemouth and smallmouth. I’m going to mix it up and see what happens. The biggest problem with the wind is being able to run and fish spots that are five to ten miles apart. You just get beat up and can’t run around and fish them easily. I haven’t caught many fish in one area so hopefully the wind will lay down.”
“The problem is, there are a lot of people fishing for the same fish, so it’s going to be interesting. This could be one lake where it just doesn’t go my way because I haven’t found any single area with a good concentration of fish. I’m already stressed out but I’m done worrying about it.”
Lintner
could be the next winner with the
"baby" pattern because his
wife is due on July 22nd.
"It's one day at a time,"
said Linter. |
Bill Lowen
“Practice was decent and I have been catching both largemouth and smallmouth but my largemouth bite is better.”
“I think that I’m going south regardless of how hard the wind blows. If it takes me three hours to run down and three hours to run back then I’ll just have to deal with it. I’m just going to swing for the fence and go for it. There’s about thirty miles of open water to get through before it calms down so I’m just going to take my time and get through it.”
“I think that it will take fourteen pounds a day to make the top 50 and at least seventeen pounds a day to make the top 12.”
Paul Hirosky
“Practice was really good and really bad. Some of my stuff was awesome but I had less of it. I have three key areas that are really good but last year I probably had six key areas. If I don’t have to split those areas up, it could be really good. I’ll just have to wait to get down south and see what happens.”
“Hopefully the wind stays down but if it blows, I’m going to sink my boat trying to get there. I’m going to make the run no matter what. If it takes me four hours to get down there and four hours to get back, then I’ll just fish for a half an hour, but I’m making the run.”
“I think there’s going to be a lot more pressure down south than last year and that is what has me worried. Last year I had confidence that all my spots could survive but these are small areas and a lot of traffic could hurt.” |
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“I think that around thirteen pounds a day will make the top 50 cuts and at least seventeen pounds a day will make the top 12 cut.”
Denny Brauer
“Fishing is excellent, it always is up here. Last year the water was four foot higher with a lot of water up in the reeds. This year, the water is only a foot in the reeds and it’s really clear. I’m going to fish different water but I still think fishing will be good.”
“I’m fishing largemouth. The first few times I fished here, I focused on smallmouth but they are so fun that you can really forget what you are here for. Last year I decided that I was intentionally not going to fish for smallmouth and focus on largemouth and I’m going to do the same this year.”
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Frank Scalish
“My practice was up and down but the fish that I’m catching are good ones. I’m fishing all smallmouth and I’ve got several areas that are holding quality fish but I need good weather so I can get to them. If the weather gets rugged, it could prevent me from getting to my spots.”
“I have two distinctly different patterns for my smallmouth, but I need to cover water and the weather could prevent me from fishing some spots correctly. I’m crossing my fingers.”
“Fourteen pounds a day should be right at the top 50 cut and between seventeen and eighteen pounds a day for the top 12 cut.” |
Jeff Kriet
“With the long light up here, I’ve been able to put in eighteen hour practice days but I haven’t been catching huge strings. It’s a weird deal because I’ve been able to catch bigger smallmouth than last year but I can’t find a group of them, they are really spread out.”
“I think the tournament is going to be won down south by a guy who can get down there all four days. I’m not going down there so I’m going to try and catch largemouth in the morning and spend most of the day on smallmouth. I’m hoping to come out of this tournament with $10,000.”
“The fishing is always good here, but comparable to what it can be, it’s not very good right now. To make a check I think it will take twenty-seven pounds and to win it will take a nineteen pound average.”
Brian Snowden
The bites seem to be a little more scattered and I can’t find a lot of fish in the grass. I’ve caught quite a few smallmouth, but not the quality that I need. I’ll be focusing on largemouth in this tournament.”
“I hear we might be having quite a bit of wind tomorrow so I might take out the deep-V boat. If the trees are rustling in the morning, I’ll be in it. I have no problem fishing out of it.”
Jon Bondy
“I found some good smallmouth the first day and was feeling pretty excited but today it was really windy so I couldn’t get on what I wanted to fish. I’m focusing on smallmouth and never even made a cast for largemouth. We are in the north; I’ve got no business fishing for largemouth.”
“The weather is going to factor in because there’s a slight cold front coming through tonight and it might shut down the shallow grass bite a little bit. It shouldn’t affect the deep water smallmouth, but you never know until you get out there in the morning.”
“I should take fifteen pounds a day to make a check and at least seventeen pounds a day to make the top twelve.”
As with each Elite Series event, The BASS ZONE will be On Location all week with our up-to-the-minute “On the Water
Blog,” “Reel-time Chat,” and post-day
interviews.
NOTE:
Harold
Allen and Mark Jeffreys will be featured in a
new section called "Wide Open"
Check out the updates throughout the New York
swing. CLICK
HERE STAY
TUNED!!!!!!
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