Frames from Champlain
Final morning photo gallery from the FLW Series event
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Lake Champlain’s big winds calmed over night allowing the top 10 pros to breathe a little easier before departing for the fourth and final day of the FLW Series on Lake Champlain.
Forecasts call for heavy clouds in the morning and decreasing winds throughout the day, which will change conditions yet again for the finalists.
The Dock Street Landing was buzzing with final day preparations this morning, starting with leader Pete Gluszek pulling jigs back out of his rod locker for the calmer conditions today.
Here’s a closer at some of the other activities going on before launch on day three.
Breakfast of champions
Two Japanese pros made the top 10 at Lake Champlain this week: BP pro 
Shin Fukae and Yamaha pro Takahiro Omori.
This morning the two countrymen broke bread together in classic Japanese fashion, sharing rice bowls.
“It’s good!” Omori exclaimed. “It has seaweed in it.”
Mmmm, seaweed, breakfast of champions.
In addition to two Japanese pros, the final field also consists of three Bassmaster Classic Champions – Omori, Luke Clausen and Boyd Duckett – as well as three BP pros: Fukae, David Walker and Jim Moynagh.
Largemouths inland
On Lake Champlain, the Inland Sea is known for its big smallmouths while the southern portion of the lake is known for its largemouths.
This week, BP pro Jim Moynagh has been bucking the trend a little by targeting largemouths in the Inland Sea and it’s a plan that has put him in striking distance of an FLW Series win.
Each day Moynagh has weighed in quality largemouths from the Inland Sea.
“I actually found this area several years ago in the spring when the largemouths were spawning,” Moynagh said. “I remember seeing some really good ones in there and I figured it couldn’t hurt to check it in the fall.”
Moynagh is flipping soft plastics to catch his largemouths.
Better to see you with
Jacob Powroznik of Prince George, Va., currently in third place, is also fishing 
in the Inland Sea, but he is focusing on smallmouths in 20 to 30 feet of water with Carolina rigs and drop-shots.
An important component of such deep fishing is a graph and Powroznik was tuning up his front deck electronics this morning.
“You have to be able to see it all – rock, grass, fish, your own lures – to know what’s going on down there,” Powroznik said. “Without this, I’m lost.”
Arts and crafts
Kellogg’s pro Jim Tutt was conducting an arts and crafts seminar in his boat, coloring Baby Brush Hogs with a chartreuse pen.
“With all those yellow perch down there, I think a little chartreuse helps,” Tutt said. “I think the dipping dye is too much – it puts too much yellow on the bait. But these chartreuse markers put just enough highlight on the tails to get some attention.”
After carefully coloring his lures, Tutt impales his works of art on a Carolina rig and feeds them to 4-pound smallmouths.
Secret lures
BP pro David Walker (5th) is usually a bit reserved about the lures he uses in a 
tournament, so when the goods come out, you better pay attention.
Walker has been targeting largemouths this week with power baits and here’s a sneak peek at what he’s got tied on.
“I’m really amazed that my area has held out as long as it has,” Walker commented this morning. “I was pleasantly surprised by what I caught there yesterday. Hopefully I can get another day out of it today.”
Off they go
Moments before the official launch, anglers reflect on their day with presentation of colors and the National Anthem.
The final day weigh-in of the FLW Series on Lake Champlain will begin Saturday at 4 p.m. at Trinity Park in down town Plattsburgh.
Saturday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:31 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 63 degrees
Expected high temperature: 73 degrees
Water temperature: 65 degrees
Wind: ESE at 5 to 10
Day’s outlook: cloudy in the a.m., sunny in the p.m.