Shafer spanks ‘em on Champlain

Big bag of smallies builds hefty margin in Stren Northern co-angler victory

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Thomas Shafer’s Stren Series Northern Division win on Lake Champlain was like a Fourth of July fireworks display. However, instead of reds and blues and greens and silvers twinkling in the New York sky, this was one brown blast after another.

When the Pine City, N.Y., angler took to the stage, he had the look of a competitor who couldn’t wait to make some noise. Once he reached into his bag, there was no stopping the forthcoming explosions.

Boom! Big smallie. Boom! Another big smallie. Boom! Boom! Boom! Another, and another, and another. Five bronzy beauts with dark mascara lit up the stage and nearly beat the sides off the FLW in-water weigh-in tank.

That’s the kind of show folks come to see – and certainly one that anglers like Shafer enjoy performing.

“I got the right draws and the right water,” he said of his pro partners. “I got to fish the way I like to fish.”

Shafer weighed his biggest stringer of the tournament in the final round – a 19-pound, 8-ounce job that raised his total to 62-1 and gave him a 5-pound, 12-ounce winning margin.

Paired in the final round with pro winner Jason Ober, Shafer benefited from the vast numbers of fish his partner had located in the middle of the lake’s north end. Dropshotting and Carolina rigging with green pumpkin Speed Craw did the trick for him, but only with the right presentation.

“It was basically dead-sticking – throw it out and let it lay,” Shafer said. “Every once in a while, I’d give it a little shake and pick it up. If it was heavy, the fish was there.”

Shafer placed second on day one with 16-4, took the co-angler lead on day two with a 32-pound total and fell back to second on day three with 42-9. He actually tied on day three with Chris Girourard of Epsom, N.H., but Girourard’s heavier daily weight broke the tie.

Girouard slides back to second

Girouard fished with second-place pro Chris Baumgardner and spent the morning hours in creeks at the north end of Champlain. After that pattern fizzled, they fished a local community hole.

Using a dropshot, Girouard caught a limit weighing 13 pounds, 12 ounces to end with a total of 56-5.

The last to weigh, the normally reserved Girouard exhibited a little showmanship by teasing the audience and Tournament Director Ron Lapin before pulling out the last of his 5-fish limit.

With Shafer the obvious winner at that point, Girouard said: “This is going to have to be a big fish.”

Well, it wasn’t enough for the win, but a hulking smallmouth – every bit of 5 pounds – drew well-deserved applause.

Frazier pops into third

Micah Frazier of Newnan, Ga. climbed three four spots from his day-three placement to finish third. He caught 18 pounds, 4 ounces in the final round for a total of 55-8.

Frazier said the bite was slow to start in the morning, but the action improved as the skies cleared and sunshine prevailed. He caught his fish on a bone colored Pop-R.

Praising his partners – particularly his final-round pro, Gregg Seal – Frazier said: “I got good draws. I got people who were on fish.”

Amazed at Champlain’s incredible productivity, Frazier noted: “I’ve caught more fish in the last four days than I’ve probably caught all year.”

Zeisner fulfills goals, places fourth

Entering the final round in tenth place, Jeff Zeisner of Arva, On. raced up the leaderboard by catching a 17-pound, 1-ounce limit that gave him a fourth-place total of 53-9.

“I had two goals for today: I wanted to catch enough weight to be able to sit in the hot seat and I wanted to have fun with my pro (Chad Pipkens). I did that, so I’m happy.”

Roberts reels himself into fifth

David Roberts of Sunderland, Ma. fished dropshots and topwater frogs and caught a limit weighing 13 pounds, 15 ounces. Starting the day in sixth place, he finished in fifth with a total of 51-5.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top-10 co-angler leaders at the Stren Series Lake Champlain event:

6th: Chris Adams of Rutland, Vt., 49-15

7th: Moo Bae of West Friendship, Md., 49-8

8th: Ryan Bowman of Seneca, S.C., 46-9

9th: Michael Sweeney of Attleboro, Ma., 46-1

10th: Marc Wagy of Dewitt, Va., 40-0