Lucarelli goes large for Stren lead on Champlain

Connolly hammers ‘em in co-angler division

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Changing weather changes fishing, but the changes aren’t necessarily always negative. Just ask Joe Lucarelli, who leads the pro division in the Stren Series Northern Division event on Lake Champlain.

With a cold spell working its way into the area, anglers fished in cool, sunny conditions with a peppy wind building to about 15 mph by day’s end. The front jostled the fish just enough to stymie, or at least slow a few patterns. Nevertheless, Champlain delivered a respectable dose of what Champlain is known for and heavy sacks were many. The pro field generated 128 limits, with co-anglers posting 78 quintets.

Hailing from Center Harbor, N.H., Lucarelli bagged a limit weighing 21 pounds, 8 ounces. Sticking to the lake’s north end, he targeted grass with scattered rocks in 9-11 feet of water. He fished a 1/2-ounce green pumpkin jig for part of the day and threw a green pumpkin Gary Yamamoto Flappin’ Hog rigged Texas style, pegged with a 1/2-ounce weight.

Unsure of how the cold front would affect his fish, Lucarelli fished experimentally at first. The day’s results were a little surprising to him, but a lead is a lead.

“I went after the green fish first just to see what this front would do to them,” Lucarelli said. “I knew it was going to make them chew or it was going to crush them. I caught a good one right off the bat and then nothing else.

“I moved on and tried to smallmouth fish because I usually catch smallmouth here but I couldn’t make it happen. So I kept on going back to large mouth and I got one, got another one and just dedicated the rest of the day to (largemouth).”

Lucarelli said that a slow, methodical presentation was his focus. Anchoring his stringer with a real show-stopper, he also took the Folgers Big Bass award for his 6-pound, 4-ounce largemouth.

Notably, Lucarelli’s father, Steve placed ninth. He also stayed in the north end, but fished a different area. Fishing Carolina rig with a green pumpkin lizard, the elder Lucarelli concentrated on smallmouth bass.

“He went green, I went brown,” Steve said. “I couldn’t be prouder. I’d take (a position) behind him in a heartbeat.”

Defoe gets cranky for second

When a bait is producing, you don’t put it down until it stops producing. Well, it didn’t take long for second place pro Ott Defoe to retire his green pumpkin jig.

“On my very first cast of the day I caught about a 4-pounder,” he said. “After that, I couldn’t get another bite on the jig.”

Switching to a chartreuse and blue crankbait, the Knoxville, Tenn. pro got on a more productive pattern and ended up the only other angler to break 20 pounds. He caught a limit weighing 20-6.

Spending the majority of his day in an area about a quarter of a mile long, Defoe thoroughly covered his water. “I’m fishing one little area and just looking for groups of active fish.”

In third place, Mark Desjardin of Vassalboro, Maine threw a chartreuse crankbait and fished a green pumpkin Senko on a dropshot to sack up 19 pounds, 15 ounces. Sitting just an ounce behind Desjardin is Jim Gildea of Westin, Mass., with 19-14. An ounce also separated Gildea and fifth-place pro Raymond Gratton of Swanton, Vt., who bagged 19-13.

Best of the rest

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

6th: Chris Johnston of Peterborough, Ontario, 19-12

7th: Dave Lefebre of Union City, Penn., 19-5

8th: Jason Ober of Johnstown, Penn., 19-0

9th: Steve Lucarelli of Meredith, NH, 18-15

10th: Michael Wolfenden of Warwick, RI, 18-10

Top co-angler Connolly drops into lead

James Connolly caught a limit weighing 18 pounds, 15 ounces to lead the co-angler division. Connolly began his day fishing tubes, but when his partner, sixth-place pro Chris Johnston started whacking fish, it didn’t take long to realize the need to adapt.

“I was fishing with an angler from Canada and he was using a bait called `A Slammer’ – it’s new and you can’t get them in the States yet,” Connolly said. “I caught one good one on a tube and then I asked (Johnston) if I could use one of his baits and he gave it to me.

“The bait was green pumpkin and it had a flat head and a thin, tapered tail. I fished it on a dropshot. That bait was the key. It’s something that the fish don’t see and they ate it up.”

Connolly said he and his partner fished over a very productive hump in the lake’s north end: “(Johnston) was on a good spot. When we first got there, he had a fish on before I even got to stand up. We stayed in that area and just had a field day.

Randy Almeida of Malden, Mass. placed second with 17-15, while Dave Kovack of Lancaster, Penn. took third with 17-14. Patrick Chow of Gilford, Ontario sits in fourth with 17-3 and Terry Chapman of Stanley, N.C. is fifth at 16-14.

Best of the rest

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

6th: Micah Frazier of Newman, Ga., 16-7

7th: Brian Garrity of Moosup, Conn., 16-4

8th: Gary McClain of Chesapeake, Va., 16-3

9th: Bill Ertel of Toms River, N.J., 15-15

10th: Alonzo Evans of Sarasota, FL, 15-12

Neil Farlow of Frankford, Ontario had the biggest co-angler bass, a 5-pound, 2-ounce largemouth.

Day two of Stren Series action on Lake Champlain continues at Thursday’s takeoff, scheduled to take place at 6:30 a.m. (EST) at Dock Street Landing, located at 5 Dock Street, Plattsburgh N.Y.