Family affair

Two sets of father-son duos square off in Stren finale on Champlain

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Whenever family members compete, the propensity for turmoil runs high. In the case of final round action at the Stren Series Northern Division anglers on Lake Champlain, Mother Nature is the troublemaker.

With rainy, blustery conditions likely to last most of the day, anglers can count on fighting with the unyielding forces of meteorological moodiness. Fortunately, family relations are far more gentlemanly for Steve Lucarelli and his son Joe, along with Bruce Frazier and son Micah. Stepping up for the younger generation, Joe and Micah lead the pro and co-angler divisions, respectively. (Steve Lucarelli sits in fourth on the pro side; Bruce Frazier enters the final co-angler round in tenth.)

The day’s weather comes from the combination of a passing cold front and the affects of Tropical Storm Danny making its way along the eastern seaboard. It won’t be much of a sightseeing day on Champlain, but the forecast is doable. Since yesterday afternoon, Tournament Director Ron Lappin has kept close tabs on the weather and ultimately decided that conditions were safe enough to allow the finale to proceed.

Lappin summarized the outlook: “We talked to the Coast Guard 20 minutes before launch and there are 2- to 4-foot waves. The wind is out of the south and it’s supposed to switch from 8 a.m. to noon out of the southeast, then east and possibly by early afternoon, north-northeast, which seems to be the preferred wind direction on this lake.

“My fishermen were excited about going. They thought that this would even make some fish bite that hadn’t bitten this week with the calm conditions.”

Hailing from Center Harbor, N.H., Joe Lucarelli brings a 39-pound, 11-ounce total into the final round and holds a lead of 2-15 over second place pro Terry Baksay. Lucarelli has led since day one, but he has had to adapt on both days. After unsuccessfully seeking smallmouth on day one, he found enough largemouth to assemble a limit weighing 21-8, the largest stringer of the event, thus far. The next day, he tried for five more green fish, but had to change tactics and fill out his limit with brownies for a weight of 18-3.

Lucarelli said that despite some inconsistency, he believes both his largemouth and smallmouth spots hold plenty of fish to lock up a win today. He’s prepared to dropshot with Gary Yamamoto shad shaped minnows again for smallmouth or jigs and Texas-rigged Yamamoto Flappin Hogs for largemouth. He said he’d prefer to find what he needs in the 9- to 11-foot depths of his largemouth spots, rather than bounce around over smallie spots.

“With this weather, I’d rather have my largemouth pop, because (the area) is more protected in a little pocket,” he said. “The smallmouth are offshore in 20-30 feet.”

Baksay reached the final round by catching a 19-pound, 13-ounce limit on day two that pushed him up 20 spots to second. He threw a mix of dropshots, tubes and small jigs yesterday, but the Easton, Conn. angler said he’ll spend most of his final day cranking.

“The wind is going to be so hard, it’s going to be really tough to feel what we’re doing,” Baksay said. “I can get out of the wind and fish, but the really good stuff is too much out in the wind. We’ll probably just drift – the trolling motor will never hit the water today. It’s just a matter of drifting through the spot and seeing what we can catch.”

Third place pro Chris Johnston of Peterborough, Ontario has hung his fortunes on the dropshot and he’s going to stick with it today. Fishing rocks with sparse grass in 20 feet, he’s confident that the day’s rough weather won’t negatively impact his spots. Rigging a Slammer bait on his hook, Johnston will ensure bottom contact by rigging with a 3/8-ounce weight.

“The weather won’t hurt me, in fact, the wind may turn the fish on a little more,” Johnston said. “It’s just going to take me a bit longer to do my milk run. I’m going to hit 8-10 spots and they’re not that far away so I should be able to fish them in the wind.”

Micah Frazier of Newnan, Ga. holds a slim co-angler lead of just 9 ounces over James Schneider of Watervliet, NY. Frazier enjoyed a highly productive afternoon bite on day two when clear, sunny conditions made his bone colored Pop-R highly effective. He’ll likely go back to Carolina rigging today.

Tournament logistics

Weigh-ins, which are free and open to the public, will be held at Dock Street Landing beginning at 4 p.m. The Lake Champlain Stren Series tournament is hosted by the City of Plattsburgh.

Pros will fish for a top award of $25,000 plus a 198VX Ranger powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor and Lowrance electronics if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. If the winner is not a Ranger Cup participant, Ranger will award $7,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant in the contingency program.

Co-anglers will cast for a top award of a 177TR Ranger powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and trailer. If the co-angler meets the Ranger Cup guidelines, they will earn an additional $5,000. If the winner is not a Ranger Cup participant, Ranger will award $2,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant in the contingency program.

Saturday’s conditions:

Sunrise: 6:13 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 49 degrees

Expected high temperature: 62 degrees

Water temperature: 69-70 degrees

Wind: from the ESE at 10-15 mph

Humidity: 90 percent

Day’s outlook: Cloudy & rainy