Evan Williams Bourbon Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River

[OhioFisherman]

I am just guessing that most of those largemouth came from back bays and areas sheltered from the current, they aren't dumb enough to fight that current full time. LOL

[misfish]

What ever it takes to get into the top 12, works for me Paul.

[OhioFisherman]

It would be interesting to see them hold an event on Lake Simcoe?

[misfish]

It would be interesting to see them hold an event on Lake Simcoe?

 

If they did, that would be awesome. Wonder if I could get a loaner boat to fish it? Not that I would get in the top 12 hell, even the 50, but it would be a blast to rub shoulders with them..

 

Lets see what STUNDAY brings.

Edited August 1, 2015 by Brian B

[OhioFisherman]

I saw a couple of the tournaments you guys had there, 7 pound smallies with this crew could also get interesting? Seems like a great group of people to hang out with.

[OhioFisherman]

As near as I can tell from this ike has 3 for 10# it's early, he will need more.

 

http://www.bassmaster.com/tournaments/basstrakk

Edited August 2, 2015 by OhioFisherman

[woodenboater]

Rooting for Ike and Powroznik.

[OhioFisherman]

I don't have a particular favorite, but kudos to all of them, even the ones not fishing today. Most of the lakes I fished in tournaments were 2000 acres or less, and being able to find fish consistently and get them to bite could be difficult. I can't imagine trying to do the same in a 100 or so mile long area.

 

LOL, there has to be a million spots that look good? Modern electronics has sure made their jobs easier?

 

The hot lure for Muskie on the St. Lawrence next week might be a struggling smallmouth finish?

[OhioFisherman]

Ike also can stick gobies and walleye! LOL

[misfish]

He can throw the eye in the front well and have it for dinner. LOL

 

Stupit gobies. I never knew they would hit a drop shot when I started doing it. Thought the bait had to be on the bottom for them to eat it.

[misfish]

It,s time again. Wonder if it,s a smallie bag or a largie bag or a mix bag.

 

This is going to be interesting.

 

Get to see the rides as well. Decked out fishing machines.

Edited August 2, 2015 by Brian B

[misfish]

BUCKETS

[manitoubass2]

My feed is down. Whos looking good?

 

Ike or bertrand????

[misfish]

Both are out. Small bags

[misfish]

Buckets held til the 2nd to the end.

 

The it was clear. Smallies rule.

 

Great bag of fish.

 

$100,000 WIN. My gawd.

 

MC , Mr, Mercer, did a great job on all the wiegh ins. probly makes more doing that then fishing tournys. LOL

 

Dave, that was

Edited August 2, 2015 by Brian B

[manitoubass2]

So did evers pull it off or???

Edited August 2, 2015 by manitoubass2

[manitoubass2]

Site will not load for me darnit

[woodenboater]

yup, back to back winner. huge last bag, 17 lbs something.

[OhioFisherman]

http://www.bassmaster.com/tournaments/bassmaster-elite-st-lawrence-river/leaderboard

 

Yes, Evers won, I think this was two in a row on the Elite series for him? I didn't see any great lakes silver bass caught? ( sheephead ) maybe they don't show those? LOL

 

Different though, I had no idea they spent that much time fishing shallower water for smallies there, here it is a deep deal in the summer months. Smallies here in back bays is almost always over and done by June.

[manitoubass2]

As a bass angler i will target shallow water in almost any lake for smallies.

[OhioFisherman]

The difference in fisheries manitou? I saw an article and pictures last week of snow that had been piled up from last winter in parts of New York still melting. I heard a couple of the anglers involved in that tournament make references to the concept that the spawn had just finished and the smallies hadn't moved en mass to deeper water?

 

I only fished a couple of lakes in extreme western New York, and both seemed to have a summer climate a lot closer to Ontario's than us. Once summer hits here smallies shallow seem an oddity, I have caught more walleye casting to rocky areas of the lake Erie islands mid summer than smallies.

[MrSimon]

I was up on the river for three days during the tournament. It was neat to see the pros buzzing around and I got to fish the same shoal as a few of them for a while. I couldn't tell who they were though.

 

I totally agree with the general consensus of the pros that the smallies were spread out, sluggish, hard to find .... but big. I caught three four pounders, a couple of 2.5 pounders, and a 27" walleye, but that was it. No small ones and they sure as heck weren't bunched up anywhere I could find.

 

Frankly, it was really tough fishing. The heavy wind and strong current aren't easy to deal with. It's also such a dang big river that it feels like finding a needle in a haystack. It sure is a beautiful place to fish though!

 

There were a couple of nasty thunder storms that rolled through in the evenings.

 

PS - I did spend one day fishing over on Black Lake. It's night and day different from the River and I had a ball. I caught a bunch of perch, a half dozen nice bass, and about six million bluegill and sunfish. It was such a breath of fresh air to not fight current all day.

[OhioFisherman]

Mr. Simon, was it your first time there? I wondered how much time some of them spent fishing areas sheltered from the wind and current? It's probably a given for the guys that were fishing for largemouth, but sheltered areas off islands and points on the river.

 

They are pros, some probably had to try them?

[manitoubass2]

The difference in fisheries manitou? I saw an article and pictures last week of snow that had been piled up from last winter in parts of New York still melting. I heard a couple of the anglers involved in that tournament make references to the concept that the spawn had just finished and the smallies hadn't moved en mass to deeper water?

 

I only fished a couple of lakes in extreme western New York, and both seemed to have a summer climate a lot closer to Ontario's than us. Once summer hits here smallies shallow seem an oddity, I have caught more walleye casting to rocky areas of the lake Erie islands mid summer than smallies.

Yeah different water bodies for sure. But one thing ive found consistant in current is smallies can almost alway be found shallow, especially in river systems.

 

But these guys know a f of alot more about bass then me lol,thats for certain.

 

Presentation in current takes alot of practice.

[MrSimon]

Mr. Simon, was it your first time there? I wondered how much time some of them spent fishing areas sheltered from the wind and current? It's probably a given for the guys that were fishing for largemouth, but sheltered areas off islands and points on the river.

 

They are pros, some probably had to try them?

 

No, I've fished that area a number of times. I found the best way to fish in current is to point the boat into the current and use the trolling motor to slow the drift down enough that you can fish vertical with a drop shot while drifting with the current. It's a pretty effective way to cover water and stay on good structure. Strong winds really test your batteries, but it works.

 

The vast majority of the pros were most definitely fishing for smallies. The fish were spread out more than I've seen in the past. Shallow to deep ... rocks to weeds ... current to slack water .... and everywhere in between. They just weren't using any particular pattern, which made it really hard to find them in numbers.

 

I saw the pros bouncing all over the place like ping pong balls. A few of them stuck to the same spot all four days, but most of them were running and gunning looking for bites.

 

Everyone always talks about how deep you have to fish on the St. Lawrence .... some guys even talk about catching bass and walleye in 100 FOW in the shipping channel. They say things like, "the fish have gone deep to get away from the gobbies". I don't know, maybe that's true .... but all my fish came in 15-30 FOW, including the nice walleye and a ton of perch.

 

Honestly, I think the fishing on the SLR is going to keep getting worse. Sure the gobies are a great food source for big bass and walleye, but they eat all the baby fish. No baby fish means no big fish down the road.