Desforges looking to double up

Canadians rule at 1000 Islands Stren Series event

CLAYTON, N.Y. – In August of 2008, Mike Desforges of Burlington, Ontario, won the Stren Series event at 1000 Islands. And now he is posed for a repeat performance.

At the day two weigh-in of the 2009 Stren Series event at 1000 Islands, Desforges weighed in another 20 pounds, 5 ounces of smallmouth bass to take the overall lead with a two-day total of 43 pounds, 3 ounces. He now has a 2-pound cushion going into the final day.

And Desforges is not the only Canadian reeling in big bass at this contest; in fact, seven of the top 10 all hail from Canada and many of them are running out into the treacherous waters of Lake Ontario to do their smallmouth damage.

As for Desforges, he had to catch quite a few more bass today to get to his targeted weight of 20 pounds.

“Yesterday I caught a 5- and a 6-pounder early, so I did not have to push my spots very hard,” he said. “But today I had to go through about 25 keepers to get to 20 pounds. I probably culled about 10 times so I’m afraid I beat my spots up pretty good.”

Desforges continued to use a jerkbait and tube to catch his fish today, sometimes relying on the jerkbait to find his fish.

“I had a couple on beds yesterday; I did not have that luxury today,” he added. “My goal for tomorrow is another 20 pounds. If the wind cooperates, I should be able to catch that again. Today it was a bit choppy in the morning then it laid down in the afternoon. If it would do that tomorrow, it would certainly help me.”

Johnston second

Day one leader Chris Johnston of Peterborough, Ontario, slipped to second place today with a 17-pound, 13-ounce catch for a two-day total of 41 pounds, 4 ounces.

Johnston played it a little conservative today because he broke the tie-down strap on his trolling motor.

“I wanted to go another 40 minutes past where I caught them yesterday but because of the busted tie-down on my electric motor, I decided to just fish where I did yesterday,” Johnston said. “Once I caught 17 pounds I decided to stay there and catch as much as possible so I did not have to risk breaking my electric motor by bouncing it around in the waves. Tomorrow I want to see if I can go to my best spot, which is about 2 hours away.”

Today Johnston fished a jerkbait, Senko and drop-shot on 4 to 10-foot shoals for his catch.

Laframboise third



Rob Laframboise of Sault St. Marie, Ontario, weighed in the biggest catch of day two – 22 pounds, 6 ounces – to move into third place with a two-day total of 40 pounds, 14 ounces.

For what it’s worth, Laframboise is Desforges roommate, so the two are working similar patterns.

“I’m fishing shallow and fast on Ontario, covering a lot of water with fast lures to attract the fish,” he said. “When I get a good fish to come up on my lure without eating it, I cast a soft plastic back in there and sometimes that works. The biggest key is probably a certain kind of boulder that I’m looking for. Each day I’ve been able to expand my areas and find new places.”

Strub fourth

Derek Strub of Elora, Ont., is in fourth place with two-day total of 39 pounds, 1 ounce.

While other leaders are up fishing shallow in Ontario, Strub is fishing out deep offshore in the middle portions of the lake.

“I’m making about a 60- to 70-mile run and fishing deep offshore structure with a drop-shot TiggerX Spade-tail worm, which is a pheromone based bait,” Strub detailed. “I’ve got a lot of waypoints out there, but I’m only concentrating on three or four areas that seem to be holding quality fish.”

Belinda fifth



Tom Belinda of Hollidaysburg, Pa., rounds out the top five in the Pro Division with a two-day total of 37 pounds, 12 ounces.

Belinda is also fishing out in Ontario, concentrating on a spawning flat in 4 to 5 feet of water.

“I can see about half the fish I’m catching but with the cloud cover this afternoon they got a lot harder to see; plus I think without the sun, they don’t lock on the beds near as well.”

Belinda noted that he is using a soft-jerkbait to catch his fish.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros in the Stren Series Northern Division at 1000 Islands after day two:

Mike Neilson of Markham, Ontario, caught the Folgers Big Bass in the Pro Division weighing 5 pounds, 7 ounces, which put him in sixth with a two-day total of 36-7.

7th: Jeff Magee of Yarker, Ontario, two-day total of 35-8

8th: Chad Pipkens of Holt, Mich., two-day total of 35-3

9th: Glenn Babineau of Mechanicville, N.Y., two-day total of 34-12

10th: Rob Webster of Janetville, Ontario, two-day total of 33-12

Chandler leads co-anglers

JC Chandler of Tunnel Hill, Ga., leads the Co-angler Division of the Stren Series event at 1000 Islands with a two-day total of 27 pounds, 15 ounces.

Dave Kovack of Lancaster, Pa., is in second place in the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of 26 pounds, 14 ounces.

Robert Sweeney of Baltimore, Md., in now in third place with after day two with a two-day total of 26 pounds, 10 ounces.

John Newman of Chapel Hill, S.C., holds down the fourth place position with a two-day total of 26 pounds, 7 ounces.

George Yund of Albany, N.Y., rounds out the top five with a two-day total of 25 pounds, 15 ounces.

Big bass

David Benoit of Brattleboro, Vt., and Jeremy Limerick of Punxsutawney, Pa., tied for the Folgers big bass in the Co-angler Division on day two weighing 4 pounds, 14 ounces.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers in the Stren Series Northern Division event after day two:

6th: Larry Evans of Southpoint, Ohio, two-day total of 25-9

7th: James Schneider of Watervliet, N.Y., two-day total of 24-4

8th: Anthony Savino of Marlboro, N.Y., two-day total of 24-0

9th: Jeff Chisholm of Belleville, Ontario, two-day total of 24-0

10th: Stephen Semelsberger of Mt. Airy, Md., two-day total of 23-4

Day three of the Stren Series event at 1000 Islands will begin Saturday at 6:15 a.m. from French Creek Marina.