By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor


Nobody gave Glenn Browne much of a run for the trophy and the 1st-place prize money at last week's Lake Champlain Northern Rayovac – the Floridian prevailed by a margin of nearly 10 pounds. The two anglers just below him in the final standings were just a little more than a pound apart, but they went about compiling their sacks in dramatically different fashions.

Runner-up Otis Darnell, a Virginia resident making just his second visit to the lake, employed a swimbait to catch largemouths that were hanging around woody cover. Joe Lucarelli, a New Hampshire resident with vast experience on Champlain, pulled slow-moving baits across big flats en route to catching three nearly identical bags of smallmouths.

Here are some of the specifics of their patterns.

2nd: Otis Darnell

> Day 1: 5, 20-02
> Day 2: 5, 18-12
> Day 3: 5, 14-14
> Total = 15, 53-12

Darnell arrived at Champlain with the idea that he'd fish the northern part of the lake and disdain the long runs south to Ticonderoga (the area that produced Browne's winning stringers). He had a superb practice and caught 4-pound-plus largemouth in several different locales from a variety of cover.

He eventually settled on a 1-mile stretch in the Missisquoi River that featured dense stands of wood. Four of the five biggest fish he caught in the event came from a single 50-yard stretch.

"I actually found my best spot in the last hour of the last day of practice," he said. "I pulled up to one place and caught a 5-pounder, and then I ran three-quarters of a mile and caught another one that was almost 5.

"Those fish were fat, so I knew they were the ones I'd be targeting. I felt like that area had thousands of them and there was nobody else around."

He was one of four anglers who exceeded the 20-pound mark on day 1. His weights went down from there, but he compiled enough to hold off everyone except Browne.

He estimated that he caught between 50 and 60 fish on each of the first 2 days. They came from water depths ranging from 1 1/2 to 8 feet.

All of his weigh-in fish were enticed by a swimbait that he declined to identify.

"I'll say that it's a Keitech-style swimbait and it's a pretty good sized one," he said. "I was swimming it, but I was also pitching it to specific spots. Nobody else was fishing that style."

> Swimbait gear: 7'8" heavy-action Dobyns Champion Extreme Mike Long Signature Series rod, Daiwa Zillion Type R casting reel, 20-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line, 5/0 Lazer TroKar or 6/0 Owner swimbait hook, unnamed swimbait.

Main factor in his success – "I had my stuff to myself and nobody else was fishing that style."

Performance edge – "I bought that Dobyns rod just before the tournament specifically for throwing that bait, and it was perfect."



FLW
Photo: FLW

Joe Lucarelli weighed three straight bags in the 17-pound class to finish 3rd.

3rd: Joe Lucarelli

> Day 1: 5, 17-09
> Day 2: 5, 17-04
> Day 3: 5, 17-14
> Total = 15, 52-11

Lucarelli, a longtime Champlain ace with numerous wins and high finishes on his ledger, was caught a bit off guard as the tournament approached.

"About a week before I fished a local tournament and I couldn't believe how much things had changed over a 7- to 10-day period," he said. "It was kind of amazing, really.

"I'd been catching them on reaction baits, but then they got to where they didn't want anything that was off the bottom. It was bizarre."

He focused his attention on two large areas that he could drag bottom-hugging baits through. His fish came from water in the 15- to 17-foot depth range.

"Once you establish sort of a home base and get on a group of fish, then you can branch out and find specific pieces of cover that are all within 10 minutes of each other. I think there's still a lot of fish trying to find the places they want to be (for the summer). There's a lot of single roamers – you catch one, then you might go a mile before you run into another one. In 2 weeks, though, a lot of those places could be loaded."

> Dropshot gear: 7'1" medium-action G. Loomis NRX 852 rod, Shimano Sustain 2500 spinning reel, 16-pound unnamed braided line (main line), 10-pound unnamed fluorocarbon leader (15'), 3/8-ounce unnamed teardrop dropshot weight, unnamed size 1 hook, Yamamoto Slim Senko (green-pumpkin).

> Carolina-rig gear: 7'3" medium-heavy G. Loomis NRX 873 rod, Shimano Metanium casting reel (6.2:1 ratio), 15-pound unnamed fluorocarbon line, glass bead (red) 3/4- or 1-ounce Strike King tungsten flipping weight, barrel swivel, 12-pound unnamed fluorocarbon leader (2 1/2'), Strike King Rage Tail Shellcracker (green-pumpkin).

Main factor in his success – "I made one good decision on day 2. I don't like fishing the New York arm with a big west wind because the current's going north and it screws things up. I took a little boat ride and got to the inland sea by 12 o'clock and I ended up culling for a couple pounds."

Performance edge – "The Mercury Verado engine on my Phoenix (boat) is absolutely sweet. Also, my Lowrance unit was really important with a lot of the bait so deep in the grass."

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