PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – This morning, the mind of BP pro Jim Moynagh was racing a million miles an hour.
Moynagh is currently in 6th place in the FLW Series on Lake Champlain, but on the dawn of day three, things were changing.
With a south wind picking up a head of steam outside the break wall, a heavy overcast above and the creak of a hundred sail boats swaying in the swells around him, Moynagh’s brain analyzed a dozen different scenarios per second.
Some of them he verbalized:
“Man, that one largemouth spot I’ve got is so far out of the way and I’ve got nothing else near it to fish,” he agonized. “If I get down there and it’s windy, I might eat up a lot of time running instead of fishing.”
“Maybe I’ll just stay up here and catch smallmouth today and if I hang in (the top 10) I’ll go back to those largemouths tomorrow.”
“You know what?” he paused. “I’ve got a couple of places up near Missisquoi Bay. That’s what I’ll do, go towards Missisquoi to stay out of that wind…”
“But those largemouths down there are some good ones. Man, I’m torn up right now about what to do. And I’ve got to make up my mind because takeoff is in 5 minutes.”
Moynagh’s predicament was one shared by many of the FLW Series pros this morning. A cloudy dawn and threat of south winds in the 15 mph range had a lot of anglers readjusting their plans.
For Kellogg’s pro Dave Lefebre, currently 2nd, the wind had the opposite effect; it eased his anxiety and made his day-three decision a snap
“I wanted to go south and if it was calm, I’d be in agony right now about whether to go down there or stay up here,” he explained. “But with a south wind building, my decision is made for me and it feels pretty good.”
Farther down the dock, Iams pros Chip Harrison, currently in 12th, was mentally engineering a way to claw his way into the top 10 for a chance to fish on Saturday.
“I’ve been hitting my deep stuff later in the day, but I’m probably going to it first this morning while I can still hold on it,” he commented. “Things are going to be a little different for everyone today.”
The day three weigh-in of the FLW Series event on Lake Champlain begins Friday afternoon at 2:30 at the Dock Street Landing in Plattsburgh.
Sunrise: 6:29 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 51 degrees
Expected high temperature: 66 degrees
Water temperature: 65 degrees
Wind: S 10 to 20 mph
Day’s outlook: cloudy and breezy