St. Lawrence River Elite Series

Brent Chapman – Competition recap
Saturday, August 10, 2013

> Day 1: 5, 16-05
> Day 2: 5, 18-01
> Day 3: 5, 20-05
> Total = 15, 54-11 (27th place)

I'm still in shock, honestly. I thought I'd blown it and dug myself a hole as far as making the Classic and all that. Yesterday when I left the weigh-in, I was totally convinced I was going to finish 60th or so, and then on my way back to the camper I looked up and saw I was going to make (the 50-cut). Then to have a day like I had today was just awesome.

Ultimately, I probably fished a little too fast the first day. The fishing got tougher, but I caught better fish even though I got a lot fewer bites than I did in practice.

I caught the majority of them on a dropshot, but yesterday and today I caught two key fish on a jerkbait. The jerkbait fish were in 3 feet of water and the dropshot fish came from 25 to 40 feet. I also caught the deepest bass I've ever caught – 55 feet.

I came up here and did what I needed to do. Now I just need to have a decent tournament at St. Clair to make sure I make the Classic.

Aaron Martens – Practice wrap-up
Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Practice went well and I caught quite a few fish, but getting the big bites is kind of challenging. I caught a 7 1/2 on Monday, which was my biggest smallmouth ever. I wish I could catch it tomorrow – you never know, but the odds are against me.

This place has a huge population of fish and they're very healthy, but I expected to see more 5- and 6-pounders than I have. I know the lake has them, but I'm not going to take that gamble and run that far.

I think 20 pounds would be a respectable weight on the first day and I think quite a few guys will have that. Twenty-two to 24 pounds is very possible.

Brent Chapman – Practice wrap-up
Wednesday, August 7, 2013

I've got one thing working and I hope it continues. It's about as reliable as it should be, I think, for this type of fishing. I wish I had another pattern or two to go with it, but from talking to people, I'm catching the right kind of fish. It's definitely going to take some weight here.

Some guys are saying it's going to take 16 or 17 pounds a day to make the Top 50. I'm going to say 17 – I'd hate to say more because I'd rather it be less – but a lot is going to depend on what the wind does. Today there was a harder wind out of the south and it wasn't really supposed to blow at all, so I don't know what that means for tomorrow.

I've always said the best smallmouth fishing in the country was on Lake Erie at Buffalo, but this might have it beat. I'll let you know in a few days. Some people say Lake St. Clair is the best, but as far as numbers and quality, I don't see it beating this. If it does, then we've got another fun week ahead of us.

Brent Chapman – Day 1 practice report
Monday, August 5, 2013

It's going to be a toad-fest, for sure. These tournaments are interesting, but they're also kind of nerve-wracking because you don't know what kind of weights you're going to need – no bar has been set yet – but I definitely saw some quality today.

The biggest thing I'm wondering is how much everything's going to hold up. There could be a lot of people fishing the same stuff and we're liable to stick a bunch of fish in practice and that'll make it tougher for the tournament. I eliminated some water today so I'm hoping I have something to build on tomorrow.

I was at Lake Ontario one time years ago, but I came up here last year, the day after I won the Angler of the Year, and just rode around for a day to get an idea of the lay of the land. Ontario is great fishing, but it's a long ways off and there's a lot of good fishing between here and there.

The thing is that up here you still have to fish for them. On the lake, if a guy finds the right place, it's just a matter of dropping the bait down to them.

I'm going to commit to smallmouths. From talking to the locals when I was up here last year, you can't win on largemouths, so what's the use in fishing for them?