A little Champlain in the sun
FLW AOY, championship berths on line as season’s final event begins in New York
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – As if on cue, the sun finally rose over the shimmering waters of Lake Champlain as the Wal-Mart FLW Tour launched its sixth and final regular-season tournament of 2006 Wednesday morning.
Cloudy weather and some nasty storms buffeted the big lake in the days leading up to the tournament, but FLW Tour anglers will have a whole new look at the prolific bass fishery Wednesday with bluebird skies and slick summer conditions prevailing.
And that, certainly, will play right into the hands of many competitors who’ve spent the last week or two scouting spawning smallmouth bass. The lake’s famous bronzebacks are up in droves, locked on beds in scattered areas throughout the lake at the moment. It’s a sure bet that a fair portion of those beds are consequently locked into many pros’ GPS units in the form of coordinates. Many, many coordinates.
Shinichi Fukae, already a two-time winner on tour this year, is a solid threat to take an unprecedented third win this week. Known for his tireless pretournament practice routine, he said Wednesday morning that he has no fewer than 740 spots in Lake Champlain marked in his GPS unit for this week. Drawing on his 24th-place finish here two years ago – the same year he won Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year – Fukae said he’s using about 400 spots he marked for that tournament and added another 340 or so in the two weeks he practiced prior to this event.
“I’m fishing for smallmouth,” he said, smiling.
But Fukae’s not alone in that regard, surely. Everybody has smallie beds marked in their GPS; the question remains, who will catch the biggest ones? To that end, watch out for the largemouth factor. The water here is high, and a lot of shoreline cover is now flooded and accessible not only to the fish, but also the fishermen.
AOY on the line
For the second year in a row, Prosperity, South Carolina’s Anthony Gagliardi is vying for the Angler of the Year title heading into the final event. He leads with 868 points.
Sitting 35 points behind him, however, is the ever-dangerous Jim Moynagh. A northern smallmouth technician who has admittedly been looking forward to this event all season long, the Carver, Minn., pro has 833 points.
Also right in the thick of the points race are Matt Herren of Trussville, Ala., with 832 points and rookie sensation Gabe Bolivar of Ramona, Calif., with 828.
At a lake like Champlain, where just a few ounces could mean the difference between first and 50th place, Gagliardi’s lead is about as far from secure as they come.
Tournament logistics
The Pro Division winner at Lake Champlain will take home $100,000, and the Co-angler Division winner will earn $20,000. There are 200 anglers competing in each division.
The full field competes in the two-day opening round for one of 10 slots in Friday’s competition, based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for day three, and co-angler competition concludes following Friday’s weigh-in. The top 10 pros continue competition Saturday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.
Anglers take off at 6:30 Eastern time each morning from Plattsburgh Boat Basin located at 5 Dock St. in Plattsburgh. Wednesday and Thursday’s weigh-ins will be held at Plattsburgh Boat Basin beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 25 Consumer Square in Plattsburgh beginning at 4 p.m.
For bass-fishing fans unable to attend the festivities in person, you can catch all the weigh-in action live at FLWOutdoors.com with FLW Live. Show time starts at 3 p.m. Eastern.
Wednesday’s conditions
Sunrise: 5:08 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 65 degrees
Expected high temperature: 78 degrees
Water temperature: 68-74 degrees
Wind: S at 6 mph
Maximum humidity: 48 percent
Day’s outlook: sunny