concentrate on largemouths, the main
lake slicked off in the morning, and he
couldn’t resist the temptation to fish
for easy smallies. It was a good call, as
Nelson plucked a quick limit of small-
mouths off one rocky flat in the first 30
minutes before swapping to large-
mouths. Though he caught one large-
mouth off a bed in the morning, his
final two kickers both came in a shel-
tered bay with the sun high and shining
in the afternoon.
Most of Nelson’s smallmouth spots
were north of Plattsburgh on the New
York side of the main lake. His large-
mouth grounds were more varied, rang-
ing from bedding areas in a spot known
as “the Gut,” which is a passage between
two islands, to areas with cruising fish up
on the north end of Isle La Motte and the
Inland Sea. The common factors were
grass and calm, clear water.
Keys to Victory
Nelson’s species mix was what put
him over the top, but his recognition of
the correct lake stage was just as
important. Due to a cool spring, the
bass in Champlain were running
behind, particularly in the cooler main
lake. That meant smallmouths were on
the bed anywhere the water was still
down in the low 60s. Some folks
cashed checks on postspawn small-
mouths, but Nelson didn’t chase any of
the usual summertime patterns on
Champlain. He stayed up shallow and
used his eyes to capitalize on the num-
ber of smallmouths and a few key
largemouths on beds.
Oftentimes the winner has a story
of an improbable fish catch or some-
thing out of the ordinary going right for
them. Nelson has two.
On day two and day three, the
Michigan pro nearly lost one of his kick-
er largemouths. One shredded his line
on a piece of metal in the water, but he
still managed to get it to the boat. The
other actually broke off 10-pound-test
line in the net after it got tangled in
some pencil reeds. Landing both of
those fish was almost certainly the
margin of victory.
FOLLOWING THE THERMOMETER FOR SPAWNERS
Fish spawn at different times on most lakes, but the differ-
ences that location and temperature can have on the spawn
are rarely showcased as boldly as they were in June on
Champlain. Of the top 10 pros, seven focused primarily on
spawning smallmouths, and they almost all did it in some of
the coolest water Champlain had to offer.
Champlain runs south to north, and the main basin of the
lake is about 400 feet deep in places. It’s deep and cool enough
to be home to numerous salmon and lake trout. All that cold
water takes a long time to warm up, and this year it kept the
water temperature in the main drag – from Converse Bay to well
north of Plattsburgh – in the 50s and low 60s well into late June.
It’s no coincidence then that not a single top 10 pro focused on
spawning smallies in the shallower and more sheltered Inland
Sea or up north in the shallower water around Rouses Point,
where the water temps had crept up higher.
Fishing steeper slate and shale banks and shallower,
rocky flats with exposure to the main basin, pros Brett
Carnright (fifth), Shayne McFarlin (sixth) and Ryan Latinville
(eighth) made hay north of Plattsburgh. Ranging farther
south into the main lake and generally fishing a little flatter
ground, Chris Adams (second), Neil Farlow (seventh) and Rob
LaMoy (10th) smoked the spawning smallies as well.
McFarlin says he was looking for water that was right
about 62 degrees. His starting grounds were about 64
degrees on the final day. Both Farlow and Adams racked up
16-plus pounds from slightly cooler water farther south to
finish strong on day three.
CO-ANGLER CHAMPION
A couple of soft plastics rigged on jigheads did most of the sight-fishing duties for
the winner.
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2017 I FLWFISHING.COM
Name: Daniel Weaver
Hometown: Macon, Ga.
Winning Weight: 44-01 (15 fish)
Winning Program: Daniel
Weaver, brother of FLW
Tour pro Joshua Weaver,
took the lead on the first
day with a big bag of 18
pounds, 7 ounces caught
down south and then
stayed steady on the final
two days when his pros fished
the north end of the lake. Daniel says he
caught most of his weight on day one with
a Gambler Big EZ swimbait, and his biggest fish
with a Texas-rigged Strike King Rage Craw.
Fishing up north on day two, he continued
with the Big EZ and culled late with small-
mouths caught on a No. 90 River2Sea
Whopper Plopper. On the final day, while fish-
ing behind day-two leader Shayne McFarlin,
Daniel made long casts with a drop-shot to
wrangle up his winning limit.
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