Champlain proved diverse and plentiful
Although I had never been to Lake Champlain prior to our coverage of the Walmart FLW Tour Major held last week, I had always heard that it was as diverse a fishery as it was plentiful. The Tour anglers certainly validated both statements. During the four-day event we saw thousands of fish caught and it was dealer’s choice as to which technique was employed. There were certain baits that bested others of course, but for the most part, if you backed your boat in Champlain, you were going to catch fish.
One of the more interesting aspects of this event was the geographical distance between top contenders. Largemouth and smallmouth were brought in from all over the lake with some anglers running hundreds of miles in a day’s time. Fuel stops, high winds and mechanical issues were all moving parts of an ever-changing equation.
Although David Dudley inevitably won the event fishing the north end of the lake, I spent my four days of coverage 120 miles south in a popular area of the lake known as Ticonderoga. Ticonderoga is historically loaded with shallow grass and largemouth bass. This year there was slightly less grass but no fewer bass than were expected.
Most anglers that fared well in Ti targeted the grass. The vast amounts of submerged and topped out milfoil and hyacinth offered plentiful cover for the anglers to spread out and only a few of the more productive areas saw pressure from multiple Tour anglers. The cramped quarters paled in comparison to the twenty-boat-per-acre pressure that we saw a month or so ago on the Potomac.
Instead, anglers picked their own patches of grass apart using an assortment of chatterbaits, swim jigs, swimbaits, soft plastics and heavy jigs. Some of the shorter, sparser grass was torn through using squarebills and the topped out mats were flipped and frogged.
The key to fishing Ti was getting the most out of whatever time you were allowed to fish by the conditions. If everything went right, you could have six or seven hours depending on your boat number. One or two things go wrong, and all of a sudden you have an hour or two to fish if you make it there at all.
The anglers that did the best either had a few really productive spots or covered as much water as possible. Second place finisher, Jacob Powroznik, had one rock vein in the middle of a grass bed where he knew he could catch fish fast. On days two, three and four Powroznik capitalized on this spot catching as many as five fish on his first five casts. He would then move on to another area and milk it dry.
On the other hand, anglers like third-place finisher Blake Nick chose to put the trolling motor on high and keep a squarebill in hand. Nick caught only a few fish in the grass and instead chose beating the banks as his primary pattern. Nick employed a squarebill and jig to do the majority of his damage in Ticonderoga as he would burn through an area trying to pick off whatever aggressive fish were there.
Of the original 126-boat field, around 50 boats made the trek south to Ticonderoga on days one and two and seven of the final top 10 spent the majority of their event there. Ti contenders boasted several 20-pound-plus bags but of the anglers in Ti, Powroznik made the most impressive run at the title, never falling below third place all week.
However, Dudley took home the title as well as the Angler of the Year trophy, asserting himself once again as one of the most impressive fishermen on Tour today. Champlain was a blast to cover and now it’s Lake Lanier and the Forrest Wood Cup just around the corner. Congrats to all the anglers and I look forward to seeing you at the Cup in August. Until then, see you out on the water.