Desforges overcomes rough day to maintain Stren lead

After coming up short on day two, Edwards tops co-angler field

CLAYTON, N.Y. – Success didn’t come easy for Burlington, Ont. pro Mike Desforges, but at least it came. Indeed, maintaining his day two lead at the Stren Series Northern Division event in New York’s 1,000 Islands required bumpy travel, a lot of patience and the willingness to ditch a plan that wasn’t working.

After topping the pro division on day two with his 40-pound, 9-ounce total, Desforges added 19-8 on day three and held his position. On the third day, the top pro made a 70-mile run into Lake Ontario’s Canadian waters where he targeted rocks and weeds with jerkbaits and spinnerbaits.

“I wanted to get away from all of the boats and fish where the fish weren’t so pressured,” he said of his strategy. “Also, if I found something out there, hopefully it would be something that would last for four days.”

Desforges put three good smallmouth in his livewell within the first couple of hours, but when increasing wind stirred the big lake into 3- to 4-foot seas with a tight chop, the blustery conditions impeded effective presentations.

“As soon as I sat down on my first spot, it got really rough,” he said. “Not only for getting bites, but landing fish was pretty tough.”

Desforges made a decision that could have cost him big-time. “I went largemouth fishing in the middle of the day because it was getting too rough to do what I was doing to catch the smallmouth. I pretty much wasted two hours of the day because I didn’t get anything that could help me in the end.”

Once he determined the green bass deal wasn’t happening, he finished his day on a couple of smallie spots that he had fished a day earlier. These spots yielded enough quality to complete a limit.

Desforges expanded his day two lead from a slim margin of five ounces to a more comfortable 2-pound, 9-ounce advantage. Of course, Desforges knows that even this larger lead can fizzle if his fish refuse to cooperate or if weather becomes a serious limitation. If either scenario materializes, Desforges said he will look at his backup spots closer to the launch site, including a few leeward spots.

Hartley hurdles into second

Firmly committed to the St. Lawrence River, Grove City, Ohio pro Charlie Hartley returned to the rock reef that yielded the biggest bass of day one, put him in fourth on day two and lifted him to second place on day three with a 57-8 total.

Fishing drop shots with Venom gobies and Berkley Gulp! leeches in 20-40 feet, Hartley caught his second consecutive 20-pound bag – this one weighing 20-2. Fishing his baits on 8-pound Berkley fluorocarbon line was essential for stealthy presentations.

Hartley said that his spot has loads of quality smallmouth, but they are playing hard-to-get. “They don’t come quickly. I had three fish at 11 o’clock. You can see them follow the bait up on the (sonar), but very seldom are they biting.

“I think these fish are getting (wise) to me. When I found these fish in practice, you couldn’t drop down without catching one.

In third place, Matthew Martin of Chittenango, N.Y. fished weeds and rocks in 8-10 feet of water within a Lake Ontario bay about 40 miles south of Clayton. He improved from 16th place on day two with a 19-pound, 11-ounce bag that boosted his total to 54-6.

Martin said he fished a weightless Texas-rigged worm in the early morning and then switched to a half-ounce jig once the day’s heat intensifies. He also took Snickers Big Bass honors with his 5-pound, 13-ounce smallmouth?

Daniel Welch of New Martinsville, W.V. caught a limit weighing 17-13 and took fourth with 53-10, while Derek Strub of Elora, Ont. placed fifth with 53-7.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top-10 pro leaders at the Stren Series 1,000 Islands event:

6th: Michael Beebe, of Conneautville, Penn., 53-3

7th: Michael Iaconelli, of Runnemede, N.J., 52-13

8th: Trevor Jancasz, of White Pigeon, Mich., 52-2

9th: Joseph Sancho, of New Windsor, N.Y., 51-13

10th: Al Gagliarducci, of Agawam, Ma., 51-10

Limitation can’t lick Lefebre

On day two, Keebler pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Penn. hit a rock that knocked a chunk out of his motor’s gear casing and badly damaged his prop. Lefebre was able to make the 40-mile run back to port, but he was not about to risk another run on day three, so he used his trolling motor to fish docks within a mile of the morning checkout.

Amazingly, Lefebre turned in his best performance of the event – 18 pounds, 10 ounces for a sixteenth place finish with 49-1. Flipping jigs was most effective.

Overcoming the anxiety of limited mobility was important for Lefebre’s mental preparation. “I was never more than a mile from the check-in (point). The key was just getting all of those places I wanted to go out of my mind and knowing that’s all that I had and just fishing all day.”

Co-angler Edwards builds big lead

Dustin Edwards of Ellington, Conn. missed the day two top spot by two ounces, but he took over the lead on day three with a 5-pound, 5-ounce margin. After weighing 16 pounds, 9 ounces on each of the first two days, Edwards brought 16-6 to the scales and locked up his top-10 qualification with a total of 49-8.

Edwards caught his day three fish by dropshotting in 10-20 feet of water over rocks and grass. He used a 3-inch black Berkley Gulp! leech on his dropshot.

Today was basically the perfect day,” he said. “We pulled up to our first spot and as we’re idling up to it, I grabbed my dropshot and threw it over the side. As I took my life jacket and rain paints off, I picked up my rod and there’s a 4 1/2-pounder on it. In the first 10 seconds of the day, I have a 4 1/2-pounder in the boat.”

Mark Keniston, of Camden, NY placed second with 44-3 and Zackery Seal, of Eldred took third with 42-11. In fourth place, Jeff Zeisner of Arva, Ont. had 42-5 and Cory Leonard of Castalia, N.C. was fifth with 41-2.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top-10 co-angler leaders at the Stren Series 1,000 Islands event:

6th: Richard McCrory, of Point-Clare, Qc, 41-0

7th: Tim Elliott, of Kenbridge, Va., 40-9

8th: Jerry Thompson, of Bemidji, Mn., 40-7

9th: James Richardson, Sr., of Harrison, Ohio, 40-5

10th: Scott Keefe, of Hinesburg, Vt., 40-4

Darren Izumi, of Milton, Ont. caught the biggest bass on the co-angler side, a 5-pound, 5-ounce smallmouth. Also, Isumi’s 21-pound, 2-ounce stringer was the largest in both divisions for day three.

Day four of Stren Series action on 1,000 Islands continues at Saturday’s takeoff, scheduled to take place at 6:45 a.m. (EST) at French Creek Marina located at 250 Wahl St. in Clayton, N.Y.