Hibdon hammers 23-0 for Champlain lead

Legendary BP pro sacks all largemouths; smallmouth limits round out top five in FLW Series Eastern

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – For the last several years, largemouth bass have been the ticket to winning major bass tournaments on Lake Champlain, and from the looks of things after the day-one weigh-in of the Wal-Mart FLW Series BP Eastern event, that trend might continue.

BP pro Guido Hibdon of Gravois Mills, Mo., sacked an impressive bag of largemouths today weighing 23 pounds even to take the day one lead in the BP Eastern Division event on Champlain.

Lurking behind Hibdon is a host of pros dialed in to solid smallmouth patterns. Whether or not the largemouth bite will hold up over the next three days should prove interesting.

While many might assume that Hibdon’s monstrous bag of largemouths came from the southern end of Champlain, that was not the case.

“I didn’t go too far at all,” Hibdon chuckled hesitantly about the length of his run today. “Now my bite might not hold up another day, but some of these guys overlooked a solid largemouth bite pretty darn close to here.”

Hibdon had his weight by 9 a.m. and quit at 10 a.m. to make a lengthy run to the south to pick up his son Dion who was stranded due to knocking off his lower unit. The younger Hibdon did not fare too bad either, as he weighed in 18 pounds, 13 ounces to start the event in 10th place.

Hibdon noted that he and Dion are fishing the exact same way in two completely different areas of the lake. He also revealed that he lost two other big bass that “got hung up in the thick stuff.”

About his best water, Hibdon said he is running a pretty defined pattern on a lot of different places as opposed to milking one area for his catch.

“I don’t know what tomorrow will bring,” he said. “I still have plenty of water to fish, and hopefully I won’t have to go out and fool with those smallmouths.”

Bylotas second

Brian Bylotas of Olyphant, Pa., blasted out of the gates with a mixed bag of largemouths and smallmouths for 20 pounds, 8 ounces to take second place.

Half of Bylotas’ weight came from two largemouths, a 6-pounder and 4-pounder, which he caught at the end of the day on an isolated largemouth spot.

“I smallmouth fished most of the day,” Bylotas said. “After I got a decent limit of smallies, I stopped on one of my best largemouth places and caught those two good ones pretty quick, and then I left. Hopefully there are a few more of those big ones there.”

“I’d like to keep running that program the rest of the week,” he added. “Catch a solid bag of smallies and then catch one or two big largemouths off that one spot to bolster my catch by a few pounds.”

Correia third

Danny Correia of Marlborough, Mass., caught 20 pounds, 6 ounces of smallmouths to start the event in third place.

Despite the barrage of largemouth victories over the last few years, Correia is boldly predicting that smallmouths will win this event.

“The largemouths have just been hammered here the last few years,” Correia said. “There are only a few places where those quality largemouths live, and with a 200-boat field hunting them down over the last few days of practice, I don’t see largemouths holding up for another three days. There are too many more quality smallmouths out there.”

For that reason, Correia has targeted smallmouths on the edges of flats.

“It got calm today, and I started fishing a fast bait on top,” he noted. “When the fish would come up and show themselves on the fast bait, I’d pitch right back in there with a slow bait and get them to bite.”

Kreiger fourth

Gain pro Koby Kreiger of Okeechobee, Fla., started his day largemouth fishing, but after losing a couple of big fish, he moved out and started smallmouth fishing.

The adjustment worked perfectly, as Kreiger proceeded to bag 20 pounds, 3 ounces worth of smallies for fourth place.

“I’m working one big flat with grass on it,” Kreiger said. “I’ll go a while without a bite and then hit a wad of them, and then it’s game on. At one point today I caught nine smallies in a row. But connecting with them is not that easy. There’s a lot of water on this flat, and at times I’ll go a long time without a bite. But if I can get one to bite – hang on – because there are more right there.”

Wendlandt fifth

Kellogg’s pro Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas, committed himself to a smallmouth bite today for a starting weight of 19 pounds, 11 ounces for fifth.

Like Correia, Wendlandt firmly believes smallmouths will go the distance to the winner’s circle in this event.

“I hope they keep bringing in those largemouths,” Wendlandt quipped after Hibdon laid 23 pounds of largies in the weigh tub. “I hope everyone keeps fishing for them. I love what I’m doing, and there is no one else doing it.

“Since practice started, I have not made a single cast with a `slow bait,'” he added about his style of fishing. “I’ve thrown a fast bait every day since I’ve been here. A lot of places I’m fishing I found in previous tournaments, and this time around I’ve figured out how they’re positioned on those spots a little bit better.”

Big bass

Bud Pruitt of Spring, Texas, landed the big bass in the Pro Division weighing 6 pounds, 7 ounces, worth $476.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros in the Wal-Mart FLW Series BP Eastern Division event on Lake Champlain:

6th: David Wolak of Wake Forest, N.C., five bass, 19-9

7th: Matt Herren of Trussville, Ala., five bass, 19-3

8th: Tommy Martin of Hemphill, Texas, five bass, 19-1

9th: Glenn Browne of Ocala, Fla., five bass, 18-15

10th: Tony Couch of Buckhead, Ga., five bass, 18-13

Coward leads co-anglers

When day one of the FLW Series on Lake Champlain started at 6:30 this morning, Wally Coward of Beech Island, S.C., had never caught a smallmouth in his life.

When he returned to the weigh-in this afternoon with 18 pounds, 9 ounces of giant smallies to take the day-one lead in the Co-angler Division, he understood why so many anglers are crazy about Lake Champlain.

“This has just been an incredible day,” said an elated Coward. “I fished with Danny Correia (3rd place), and he is a class guy with 20 years of fishing experience – I couldn’t have asked for a better draw.”

Coward followed Correia up with a drop-shot and soft plastics for his catch.

“I’ve never fished like that,” he added. “Danny knew exactly what he was looking at on that depth finder. He’d tell me where to cast, and the next thing I knew, I had a big one on. It was unreal.”

Baciuska, Phillips tied for second

Lynn Baciuska of Afton, N.Y., and Castrol co-angler Mark Phillips of Fayetteville, Ark., are tied for the second-place position, each with 17 pounds, 2 ounces.

Baciuska got quite a treat today fishing with BP pro Shin Fukae. His limit of fish consisted of all smallmouths caught on tubes and drop-shots.

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Phillips shared the boat with Scott Green of Waterbury Center, Vt., and caught three largemouths and two smallmouths for his 17 pounds, 2 ounces.

Dererk Savage of Port St. Lucie, Fla., is in fourth place with five bass weighing 16 pounds, 14 ounces.

Marc Lamphier of Burlington, Vt., rounds out the top five in the Co-angler Division with 16 pounds, 7 ounces.

Big bass

Tom Luciano of Pottersville, N.Y. landed the big bass in the Co-angler Division weighing 5 pounds even for $290.00.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers in the Wal-Mart FLW Series BP Eastern Division event on Lake Champlain:

6th: Brent Hatton of Colonial Heights, Va., five bass, 16-1

7th: Wesley Watson of Kill Devil Hills, N.C., five bass, 15-4

8th: Bob Blackerby of Chelsea, Ala., five bass, 15-1

9th: Ryan Valentine of Jonesboro, Ark., five bass, 15-1

10th: Pete Bridges of Tallapoosa, Ga., five bass, 14-14

Day two of the BP Eastern event begins Thursday morning at 6:30 from the Dock Street Landing located at 2 Dock St. in Plattsburgh.