Bubbles in Champlain
Day-two cloud cover spells end to sight-fishing after extraordinary day one
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – After a day of abundant sunshine that brought the sight-fishermen out in droves, the sky over Lake Champlain returned to its pretournament cloudy state for the morning of day two. As a result, the startlingly high number of fish brought in by Wal-Mart FLW Tour competitors Wednesday could fall a bit today.
Jim Moynagh, No. 2 in the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year points race that will end this week, agrees with that assessment, noting that if he brought in a weight today identical to his day-one limit of 15-11, he could move up the leaderboard five or 10 spots.
“My whole strategy was to fish for bedding smallmouths, but the weather conditions in practice made it difficult to find them,” Moynagh said. “Yesterday it finally got sunny and flat, and I expected to clean up on bedding smallmouths, but I didn’t. Today we’re back to cloud cover, so sight-fishing for bedding bass is out of the question.”
Like Moynagh, Anthony Gagliardi is fishing for points this week as much as fish, as he is the current points leader and could lock up his first FLW Tour Angler of the Year title today. He, too, expects a tougher day out there today, but put things into perspective.
“I feel pretty sure the numbers will go down, but it’s still Champlain,” Gagliardi said. “It will still be good. There won’t be quite as many sight fish caught, but yesterday was an exceptional day.”
As the 200-boat field left Thursday morning, with many of the competitors gunning for lucrative championship slots, Gagliardi has the most on the line. However, he appeared to be in true champion form as he calmly strolled the dock before takeoff.
“My nerves get to me a little bit in the morning, but once I get out there, I’m OK,” he said. “If it is supposed to happen, it’ll happen. I’ve got some confidence today.”
Gagliardi, Moynagh and the rest of the field will weigh in their catches today beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern at the Plattsburgh Boat Basin, located at 5 Dock St. in Plattsburgh. 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.
Thursday’s conditions:
Sunrise: 5:09 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 60 degrees
Expected high temperature: 83 degrees
Wind: SSW at 10 mph
Maximum humidity: 65 percent
Day’s outlook: rain showers ending this morning with ample sunshine in the afternoon