By B.A.S.S. Communications Staff
Bryan Schmitt has insisted for two days in a row that big smallmouth will be the key this week if he wins the Bassmaster Elite Series event at Lake Champlain. However, he just keeps catching big largemouth.
The Maryland resident caught a five-bass limit Friday that weighed 21-05 and moved from 2nd place into the lead with a two-day total of 43-00.
Once again, his bag was anchored by a big largemouth — this time a 4-15.
“I’ve burnt my largies down,” Schmitt said. “I got some lucky bites today. They happened on some places that I like fishing, but I know they were lucky bites.”
One of those lucky bites came late in the day and helped him upgrade into the lead.
“I pulled up on a spot this afternoon and made a cast with a spybait,” he said. “As I was reeling it in, something boiled out beside me and a baitfish jumped out of the water. I cast over there and caught a 4-pound smallmouth.
“That, to me, is very lucky. Little things like that have been happening for me this week.”
Besides good fortune, Schmitt has also benefited from the generosity of fellow Elite Series competitor John Crews.
The Virginia pro and founder of Missile Baits gave Schmitt a “goody bag” that was filled with Quiver Worms in the green-pumpkin flash color. Schmitt said both species have been eating the worms when conditions will allow.
The smallmouth he expected to rely on Friday let him down, partly because of wind that blew much harder than it did on day 1.
“My spot that I caught three big smallmouth off of yesterday, it was very rough and I couldn’t fish it the way I wanted to,” he said. “I still saw them on my (Garmin) LiveScope, but I just couldn’t do it right.
“Tomorrow, if it’s calm, I’m really going to have to make that happen.”
Like every angler in the field, Schmitt is also hoping for more sunshine during Saturday’s semifinal round. He said it would play a big role in making both species of bass more predictable.
“Sunlight and shade position my largemouth,” he said. “These big isolated clumps that I’m fishing, they’re going to be on them instead of roaming all around. It can maybe be better, but we don’t know.
“I've really got to catch some smallmouth tomorrow to keep it going.”
Schmitt can’t afford to slip with Pennsylvania pro Destin DeMarion just behind him in 2nd with 40-08 and Texas pro Chris Zaldain in third with 40-06. Another Texas angler, Lee Livesay, is 4th with 40-05, while Canadian Jeff Gustafson is 5th with 40-00.
DeMarion, who caught 19-06 despite technical difficulties on day 1, got things straightened out and added 21-02 to his total on day 2.
“I started where I caught my biggest largemouth yesterday and didn’t really do anything,” DeMarion said. “I started running some other stuff and ended up catching my biggest fish of the day right after I left that spot. I was pretty pumped.”
Though it was his second choice, the spot produced a solid limit of 17 pounds. Then as DeMarion was running new water, he caught enough big largemouth to cull up to his final mark.
His bag included three smallmouth in the 4-pound range, one near 3 1/4 and a 5-pound largemouth.
“It was a blast,” he said. “A lot of people are starting with smallmouth and moving in when they see a good spot for largemouth. But I’m kind of bucking the trend and fishing for largemouth first. Then I’m using smallmouth to cull out the smaller largemouth.”
After noticing smallmouth were feeding on giant alewives, Zaldain has been using two of the baits he’s always most dangerous with — a big swimbait and a flutter spoon. They helped him catch 20-11 on day 1 and 19-11 on day 2.
“On the third day of practice, I realized they were keyed in on some really big baitfish, and that perked me up,” Zaldain said. “It’s kind of the same thing as southern swimbait fishing when they’re keyed in on big gizzard shad. It’s the same thing up here with them eating 6- and 7-inch alewives.”
Zaldain said the bass he’s catching aren’t relating to structure. Instead, they’re roaming around chasing baitfish, and he’s using his electronics – plus the tell-tale signs of nature – to stay near them.
“I’ve got waypoints dropped on them, but they’re dropped more for the area than they are for a specific rock or a boulder,” he said. “I see birds working. I see signs of baitfish busting.
“That’s where my waypoints are, but the fish are never in the same area twice.”
The big of the day, a 5-11 largemouth, was caught by Minnesota pro Seth Feider. With a day-2 bag of 19-07 Friday, Feider is now in 6th place with a two-day total of 39-02.
With 697 points, Feider now holds a solid lead in the race for Angler of the Year over South Carolina pro Patrick Walters (640) and Oklahoma pro Jason Christie (628). Christie suffered a 2-pound penalty Friday for making a cast with six bass in his livewell.
Feider said he believes he might be one good day away from locking up the title.
“I think if I can catch 19 or 20 pounds tomorrow, it’ll just about be done,” he said. “If I can do that, I think it would take a breakdown or a disqualification or something like that the rest of the way to keep it from happening.
“If it’s meant to be, it’ll be.”
The Top 45 remaining anglers will resume competition Saturday with takeoff scheduled for 7 a.m. ET from Plattsburgh City Marina. Weigh-in will be held back at the marina at 3 p.m.
After Saturday’s round, only the Top 10 pros will advance to day 4 with a chance at the $100,000 top prize.
Day 2 Standings
1. Bryan Schmitt -- Deale, MD -- 10, 43-00 -- 100
Day 1: 5, 21-11 -- Day 2: 5, 21-05
2. Destin DeMarion -- Grove City, PA -- 10, 40-08 -- 99
Day 1: 5, 19-06 -- Day 2: 5, 21-02
3. Chris Zaldain -- Fort Worth, TX -- 10, 40-06 -- 98
Day 1: 5, 20-11 -- Day 2: 5, 19-11
4. Lee Livesay -- Longview, TX -- 10, 40-05 -- 97
Day 1: 5, 20-05 -- Day 2: 5, 20-00
5. Jeff Gustafson -- Keewatin, ON -- 10, 40-00 -- 96
Day 1: 5, 20-03 -- Day 2: 5, 19-13
6. Seth Feider -- New Market, MN -- 10, 39-02 -- 95
Day 1: 5, 19-11 -- Day 2: 5, 19-07
7. Caleb Sumrall -- New Iberia, LA -- 10, 38-15 -- 94
Day 1: 5, 18-15 -- Day 2: 5, 20-00
8. Buddy Gross -- Chickamauga, GA -- 10, 38-13 -- 93
Day 1: 5, 21-13 -- Day 2: 5, 17-00
9. Carl Jocumsen -- Queensland, AUS -- 10, 38-09 -- 92
Day 1: 5, 20-05 -- Day 2: 5, 18-04
10. Drew Cook -- Cairo, GA -- 10, 38-08 -- 91
Day 1: 5, 19-05 -- Day 2: 5, 19-03
11. Patrick Walters -- Summerville, SC -- 10, 38-04 -- 90
Day 1: 5, 18-03 -- Day 2: 5, 20-01
12. Randy Pierson -- Oakdale, CA -- 10, 38-02 -- 89
Day 1: 5, 21-00 -- Day 2: 5, 17-02
13. Luke Palmer -- Coalgate, OK -- 10, 38-02 -- 88
Day 1: 5, 17-09 -- Day 2: 5, 20-09
14. Shane LeHew -- Catawba, NC -- 10, 38-02 -- 87
Day 1: 5, 18-11 -- Day 2: 5, 19-07
15. Justin Hamner -- Northport, AL -- 10, 38-02 -- 86
Day 1: 5, 18-14 -- Day 2: 5, 19-04
16. Keith Combs -- Huntington, TX -- 10, 37-12 -- 85
Day 1: 5, 18-15 -- Day 2: 5, 18-13
17. Brandon Lester -- Fayetteville, TN -- 10, 37-10 -- 84
Day 1: 5, 20-01 -- Day 2: 5, 17-09
18. Taku Ito -- Chiba, JAPAN -- 10, 37-09 -- 83
Day 1: 5, 20-07 -- Day 2: 5, 17-02
19. KJ Queen -- Catawba, NC -- 10, 37-06 -- 82
Day 1: 5, 18-00 -- Day 2: 5, 19-06
20. Garrett Paquette -- Canton, MI -- 10, 37-04 -- 81
Day 1: 5, 19-05 -- Day 2: 5, 17-15
21. Austin Felix -- Eden Prairie, MN -- 10, 37-03 -- 80
Day 1: 5, 18-02 -- Day 2: 5, 19-01
22. John Crews Jr -- Salem, VA -- 10, 37-02 -- 79
Day 1: 5, 19-06 -- Day 2: 5, 17-12
23. Matt Robertson -- Kuttawa, KY -- 10, 36-12 -- 78
Day 1: 5, 17-11 -- Day 2: 5, 19-01
24. Micah Frazier -- Newnan, GA -- 10, 36-08 -- 77
Day 1: 5, 19-08 -- Day 2: 5, 17-00
25. Chris Johnston -- Otonabee, ON -- 10, 36-07 -- 76
Day 1: 5, 17-01 -- Day 2: 5, 19-06
26. Kenta Kimura -- Osaka, JAPAN -- 10, 36-06 -- 75
Day 1: 5, 18-01 -- Day 2: 5, 18-05
27. Jason Christie -- Park Hill, OK -- 10, 36-04 -- 74
Day 1: 5, 18-04 -- Day 2: 5, 18-00
27. Randy Sullivan -- Breckenridge, TX -- 10, 36-04 -- 74
Day 1: 5, 18-00 -- Day 2: 5, 18-04
29. David Fritts -- Lexington, NC -- 10, 36-03 -- 72
Day 1: 5, 16-12 -- Day 2: 5, 19-07
30. Shane Lineberger -- Lincolnton, NC -- 10, 36-03 -- 71
Day 1: 5, 17-08 -- Day 2: 5, 18-11
31. Ray Hanselman Jr -- Del Rio, TX -- 10, 36-02 -- 70
Day 1: 5, 17-04 -- Day 2: 5, 18-14
32. Brandon Palaniuk -- Rathdrum, ID -- 10, 36-02 -- 69
Day 1: 5, 18-09 -- Day 2: 5, 17-09
33. Brandon Card -- Salisbury, NC -- 10, 36-02 -- 68
Day 1: 5, 18-05 -- Day 2: 5, 17-13
34. Chad Pipkens -- Dewitt, MI -- 10, 35-14 -- 67
Day 1: 5, 19-01 -- Day 2: 5, 16-13
35. Brandon Cobb -- Greenwood, SC -- 10, 35-02 -- 66
Day 1: 5, 16-02 -- Day 2: 5, 19-00
36. Drew Benton -- Blakely, GA -- 10, 34-15 -- 65
Day 1: 5, 15-08 -- Day 2: 5, 19-07
37. John Cox -- Debary, FL -- 10, 34-13 -- 64
Day 1: 5, 17-06 -- Day 2: 5, 17-07
38. Cody Hollen -- Beaverton, OR -- 10, 34-12 -- 63
Day 1: 5, 16-11 -- Day 2: 5, 18-01
39. Frank Talley -- Temple, TX -- 10, 34-11 -- 62
Day 1: 5, 15-13 -- Day 2: 5, 18-14
40. Marc Frazier -- Newnan, GA -- 10, 34-10 -- 61
Day 1: 5, 16-02 -- Day 2: 5, 18-08
41. Matt Arey -- Shelby, NC -- 10, 34-09 -- 60
Day 1: 5, 15-13 -- Day 2: 5, 18-12
42. Gregory DiPalma -- Millville, NJ -- 10, 34-09 -- 59
Day 1: 5, 16-06 -- Day 2: 5, 18-03
43. Bill Weidler -- Helena, AL -- 10, 34-08 -- 58
Day 1: 5, 17-11 -- Day 2: 5, 16-13
44. Dale Hightower -- Mannford, OK -- 10, 34-05 -- 57
Day 1: 5, 19-05 -- Day 2: 5, 15-00
45. Chad Morgenthaler -- Reeds Spring, MO -- 10, 33-15 -- 56
Day 1: 5, 18-02 -- Day 2: 5, 15-13
The following anglers did not make the cut and will not fish on day 3.
46. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, LA -- 10, 33-15 -- 55 -- $5,000
Day 1: 5, 17-09 -- Day 2: 5, 16-06
47. Ed Loughran III -- Richmond, VA -- 10, 33-13 -- 54 -- $5,000
Day 1: 5, 16-09 -- Day 2: 5, 17-04
48. Cory Johnston -- Cavan, ON -- 10, 33-12 -- 53 -- $5,000
Day 1: 5, 17-11 -- Day 2: 5, 16-01
49. Chris Groh -- Spring Grove, IL -- 10, 33-10 -- 52 -- $5,000
Day 1: 5, 18-09 -- Day 2: 5, 15-01
50. Scott Canterbury -- Odenville, AL -- 10, 33-10 -- 51 -- $5,000
Day 1: 5, 17-11 -- Day 2: 5, 15-15
51. Wes Logan -- Springville, AL -- 10, 33-09 -- 50 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 16-09 -- Day 2: 5, 17-00
52. Clark Wendlandt -- Leander, TX -- 10, 33-08 -- 49 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 14-14 -- Day 2: 5, 18-10
53. Matt Herren -- Ashville, AL -- 10, 33-08 -- 48 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 15-02 -- Day 2: 5, 18-06
54. Joshua Stracner -- Vandiver, AL -- 10, 33-07 -- 47 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 16-03 -- Day 2: 5, 17-04
55. Mike Huff -- London, KY -- 10, 33-06 -- 46 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 16-05 -- Day 2: 5, 17-01
56. Jake Whitaker -- Fairview, NC -- 10, 33-05 -- 45 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 17-09 -- Day 2: 5, 15-12
57. Darold Gleason -- Many, LA -- 10, 33-04 -- 44 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 18-08 -- Day 2: 5, 14-12
58. Cliff Prince -- Palatka, FL -- 10, 33-03 -- 43 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 17-03 -- Day 2: 5, 16-00
59. Bryan New -- Belmont, NC -- 10, 33-02 -- 42 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 13-07 -- Day 2: 5, 19-11
60. Hunter Shryock -- Ooltewah, TN -- 10, 33-02 -- 41 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 17-03 -- Day 2: 5, 15-15
61. Pat Schlapper -- Eleva, WI -- 10, 33-02 -- 40 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 16-09 -- Day 2: 5, 16-09
62. Brock Mosley -- Collinsville, MS -- 10, 32-15 -- 39 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 16-08 -- Day 2: 5, 16-07
63. Steve Kennedy -- Auburn, AL -- 10, 32-14 -- 38 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 18-08 -- Day 2: 5, 14-06
64. Gerald Swindle -- Guntersville, AL -- 10, 32-11 -- 37 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 17-09 -- Day 2: 5, 15-02
65. Brian Snowden -- Reeds Spring, MO -- 10, 32-11 -- 36 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 15-15 -- Day 2: 5, 16-12
66. David Mullins -- Mt Carmel, TN -- 10, 32-07 -- 35 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 15-02 -- Day 2: 5, 17-05
67. Caleb Kuphall -- Mukwonago, WI -- 10, 32-07 -- 34 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 17-03 -- Day 2: 5, 15-04
68. Bill Lowen -- Brookville, IN -- 10, 32-07 -- 33 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 16-12 -- Day 2: 5, 15-11
69. Hank Cherry Jr -- Lincolnton, NC -- 10, 32-04 -- 32 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 14-13 -- Day 2: 5, 17-07
70. Skylar Hamilton -- Dandridge, TN -- 10, 32-03 -- 31 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 16-04 -- Day 2: 5, 15-15
71. Paul Mueller -- Naugatuck, CT -- 10, 32-00 -- 30 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 18-02 -- Day 2: 5, 13-14
72. Brad Whatley -- Bivins, TX -- 10, 32-00 -- 29 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 18-01 -- Day 2: 5, 13-15
73. Jamie Hartman -- Newport, NY -- 10, 32-00 -- 28 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 17-02 -- Day 2: 5, 14-14
74. Todd Auten -- Lake Wylie, SC -- 10, 32-00 -- 27 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 16-14 -- Day 2: 5, 15-02
75. Kelley Jaye -- Dadeville, AL -- 10, 31-09 -- 26 -- $2,500
Day 1: 5, 17-02 -- Day 2: 5, 14-07
76. Clifford Pirch -- Payson, AZ -- 10, 31-09 -- 25
Day 1: 5, 15-03 -- Day 2: 5, 16-06
77. Stetson Blaylock -- Benton, AR -- 10, 31-07 -- 24
Day 1: 5, 14-01 -- Day 2: 5, 17-06
78. Koby Kreiger -- Alva, FL -- 10, 31-04 -- 23
Day 1: 5, 14-07 -- Day 2: 5, 16-13
79. Mark Menendez -- Paducah, KY -- 10, 31-02 -- 22
Day 1: 5, 17-07 -- Day 2: 5, 13-11
80. Bob Downey -- Hudson, WI -- 10, 31-00 -- 21
Day 1: 5, 17-06 -- Day 2: 5, 13-10
81. Jason Williamson -- Wagener, SC -- 10, 30-12 -- 20
Day 1: 5, 17-03 -- Day 2: 5, 13-09
82. Rick Clunn -- Ava, MO -- 10, 30-05 -- 19
Day 1: 5, 14-10 -- Day 2: 5, 15-11
83. Tyler Rivet -- Raceland, LA -- 10, 30-02 -- 18
Day 1: 5, 14-13 -- Day 2: 5, 15-05
84. Justin Atkins -- Florence, AL -- 10, 30-00 -- 17
Day 1: 5, 19-10 -- Day 2: 5, 10-06
85. Kyle Welcher -- Opelika, AL -- 10, 29-10 -- 16
Day 1: 5, 16-12 -- Day 2: 5, 12-14
86. Rob Digh -- Denver, NC -- 10, 29-07 -- 15
Day 1: 5, 14-13 -- Day 2: 5, 14-10
87. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, FL -- 10, 28-03 -- 14
Day 1: 5, 16-11 -- Day 2: 5, 11-08
88. Kyle Monti -- Okeechobee, FL -- 10, 26-15 -- 13
Day 1: 5, 12-14 -- Day 2: 5, 14-01
89. Robbie Latuso -- Gonzales, LA -- 10, 26-13 -- 12
Day 1: 5, 12-02 -- Day 2: 5, 14-11
90. Yusuke Miyazaki -- Forney, TX -- 10, 26-01 -- 11
Day 1: 5, 13-07 -- Day 2: 5, 12-10
91. Harvey Horne -- Bella Vista, AR -- 10, 24-15 -- 10
Day 1: 5, 13-14 -- Day 2: 5, 11-01
92. Bernie Schultz -- Gainesville, FL -- 10, 24-15 -- 9
Day 1: 5, 13-12 -- Day 2: 5, 11-03
93. Jay Yelas -- Lincoln City, OR -- 10, 22-10 -- 8
Day 1: 5, 17-12 -- Day 2: 5, 04-14
94. Derek Hudnall -- Denham Springs, LA -- 5, 16-11 -- 7
Day 1: 5, 16-11 -- Day 2: 0, 00-00
95. Quentin Cappo -- Prairieville, LA -- 7, 16-04 -- 6
Day 1: 2, 05-01 -- Day 2: 5, 11-03
