Smallies Not As Far Along This Time Around

By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

This week, BassFans won’t be reading about Elite Series competitors making daring, 2-plus hour trips one-way from Waddington, N.Y., to Lake Ontario in an effort to tap into the bounty of smallmouth bass that swim in the waters of the lake’s eastern end.

Knowing that’s how Brandon Palaniuk won the 2013 Elite Series derby in New York’s North Country, there’s no doubt a slew of competitors would’ve ignored the river and made the journey to the big water this week.

That won’t be an option since, at the request of the local organizers, B.A.S.S. placed a boundary at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, effectively putting Lake Ontario off limits and confining the 107 competitors to the still-spacious waters of the famed St. Lawrence.

Being that this week’s tournament falls a couple weeks earlier on the calendar than the 2013 derby (mid-August), most have found the bass to be not as eager to bite and not grouped up on deeper structure or current breaks. Some contend the majority of smallmouths are in the typical “post-spawn funk” and it’s made practice a bit of a challenge in trying to narrow down patterns.

“It’s like fishing a new body of water for me,” said Palaniuk, who didn’t make a meaningful cast in the river during the 2013 tournament. “I’m trying to defend my title this week, but I’m defending it on a totally different body of water.”

Still, it’s expected the winner will need daily limits of 4-pounders to prevail at the sixth stop on the schedule, but with the deep-water smallmouth not bunched up, it could open the door for some competitors to bring largemouth into play.

Some competitors have noted potentially similar circumstances to BASSFest at Kentucky Lake, where practice was mostly a grind and the fishing improved as the tournament wore on. They’re hoping for the same scenario to play out this week.

The current has been consistently strong during practice and winds are expected to remain out of the southwest, meaning it’ll be blowing with the current, a much more favorable scenario for anglers.

Before getting into more about the bite, here's the lowdown on the river itself.

BassFan Lake Profile

> Lake name: St. Lawrence River
> Type of water: Primary drainage for the Great Lakes Basin
> Surface acres: N/A (competitors will have access to approximately 100 miles of the river)
> Primary structure/cover: Humps, points, rock piles, weed beds, sandbars, reeds, mats
> Primary forage: Gobies dominate, but crayfish and various minnows are also available
> Species: Smallmouths and largemouths
> Length limit: 12 inches
> Reputation: A virtually untapped bass fishery with prolific numbers of both smallmouths and largemouths weighing 3 pounds or more
> Weather: Stable through the weekend with southwest winds between 10 and 20 mph
> Water temp: High 60s to low 70s
> Water visibility/color: Clear
> Water level: Normal
> Fish in: 2 to 40 feet
> Fish phase: Post-spawn/summer
> Primary patterns: Dropshots, tubes, flipping, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, jerkbaits, jigs, swimbaits, topwaters, plastics
> Winning weight: 84 pounds
> Cut weight (Top 12 after 3 days): 55 pounds
> Check weight (Top 50 after 2 days): 31 pounds
> Fishing quality (1=poor, 5=great): 3 for the St. Lawrence River
> Biggest factors: Weather – it can reposition fish and alter their mood quickly
> Biggest decision: Deep or shallow – either could be the ticket to victory
> Wildcard: Largemouths could play a bigger role than they did in 2013

To get a closer look at how the St. Lawrence lays out, check out the map below, courtesy of Navionics:

Transition Time

Ontario native Derek Strub (pronounced Str-oob) is the superintendent of the Grand River Conservation Authority and also an accomplished bass angler with a long history of success on the St. Lawrence River and the eastern end of Lake Ontario (he won the 2010 Kingston Canadian Open and has three Top-10s in Rayovac Series events on those fisheries).

Strub will be competing in the Thousand Islands Open that also kicks off Thursday, but he shared some of his insights on how the fishing has been and things to look for this week.

“It’s going to be a lot different without the wild card of going to the lake,” he said. “It was a miracle that Palaniuk was able to do that like he did. That lake is famous for fish moving around so it’s pretty staggering that he was able to stay on them like he did.”

A few weeks ago, Cory Johnston won a BFL on the St. Lawrence targeting spawning and post-spawn smallmouth near the mouth of the river. Strub believes there could still be a few fish holding shallow, but the vast majority are still working through the post-spawn cycle. He said any sort of deep structure or contour change that causes a current break will be productive.

“The shallow fish won’t compare to deep fish if you can get on them,” he added.

He says the fishing in general is just as good and maybe better than it was when the Elite Series last visited. He remembers winning the Canadian Open with roughly 60 pounds over 3 days 5 years ago.

“Now, it’s 67 or 68 or even more,” he said. “Not long ago, a 6-pounder was considered a huge fish here. I don’t know if it’s global warming or what, but the fish continue to get bigger down there as the growing season gets longer.”

Their main forage base continues to be the round goby, an invasive species that’s become a chief source of nutrients for Great Lakes smallmouth.

“The size of the fish is 100 percent about the gobies,” Strub said. “That’s not going to change. They’re the dominant forage base and surprisingly, a jerkbait is still a big player because, believe it or not, fish still remember what an emerald shiner looks like.”

Every Point Counts

With the field down to 107 anglers this week following the recent unexpected withdrawals by Jared Miller, Kelly Jordon and Yusuke Miyazaki – all of whom pulled out for medical reasons – the day-2 cut will go back to the traditional Top 50. At the start of this season, the Top 53 advanced to day 3, giving a few more anglers a chance to improve their finish and collect more points toward the AOY chase and Classic berths.

Four points separate Dean Rojas, Justin Lucas and Aaron Martens at the top of the standings, but there will be plenty of shuffling this week in what figures to be a tight tournament weight-wise.

From Shaw Grigsby in 10th to Jonathon VanDam in 36th (the initial points cut off for Classic qualification), it’s a span of 56 points and from VanDam to Steve Kennedy in 55th, it’s a 39-point difference. Bottom line: When the anglers say every ounce counts, it’s not a recycled cliché. They’re speaking the truth.

Notes from the Field

Following are practice notes from a few of the anglers who'll be competing this week.

Jacob Powroznik
“On a scale of 1 to 10, the bite’s about a 2 right now. I still think it’ll take a good weight to do well, but the last time they were here guys were catching 30 to 50 fish a day. It’s nowhere near that right now. I haven’t figured it out yet.

“On Monday, I could’ve had 17 to 18 pounds and Tuesday was about the same, but it’s a grind. The current’s really strong so finding any kind of current break is key, but we all know about them because of the electronics. It’s going to be a deal where you have to put your head down and just grind it out.

“If the lake would’ve been accessible, I would’ve never practiced in the river. That lake’s a lion and we’re fishing a kitten.”

Kotaro Kiriyama
“It’s very different from last time. The water’s higher and I think the season has been slow. I think the fish are behind schedule. Two years ago, I was catching them in 35 to 40 feet. Now, they’re up in 20 to 25 feet. It’s been pretty random.

“I’m not getting as many bites this time. It’ll be a lot of finesse tactics and power-fishing. You’re going to have to move around a lot.”

Brandon Palaniuk
“It’s definitely different than it was. For me, it’s hard to judge because I never fished the river. The only time I made a cast in the river was when I had 10 minutes left when I got back to the ramp. I never fished the river 2 years ago.

“I haven’t been able to find anything where they’re grouped up. It’s been one here or one there. You think they’re spread out everywhere but they’re not everywhere. I’ve caught them from 3 feet to 45 feet. It’s not like last time. I drove to the lake with four rods in my boat and three had the same thing tied on. Now, I’ve got 15 rods on my deck and I’m still trying to figure it out.”

Marty Robinson
“It does seem a little tougher than the first time, which is expected. It always is. In my opinion, a clear body of water with a lot of pressure is a much bigger deal than a reservoir like Kentucky Lake where you have some stained water and a lot more fish. I just don’t think this place has a ton of fish per acre, but when you catch one it’s a good one.

“I had about 10 bites Monday and I was satisfied with that, but Tuesday was tougher. I’ve been graphing a lot of places, but also fishing a lot of places. Here you can run over the end of a point and it might have five or six smallmouth on it, but it doesn’t seem like they group as tight together as largemouth do on some lakes.

“I’m still expecting to see some big weights this week. The majority of the Top 12 will be smallmouth, but there are definitely some good largemouth in this river. I think they probably haven’t been pressured as much as the smallmouth over the last few years.”

Matt Lee
“My dad and my brother and I came up here a month ago and they were spawning everywhere and it was phenomenal. It was one of the best fishing trips I’ve ever been on. I don’t know what’ s wrong with them now. It seemed like guys were catching a lot more fish 2 years ago. I think they’re in some sort of post-spawn funk.

“My smallmouth knowledge is limited anyway, but I figured they go from spawning and get out in the current and group up, but they’re not grouped up where they should be.

“You can go quite a while in between bites, too, or I can fish for not too long and catch several or fish for 30 minutes and catch one. I’m just focusing on places that face into the current. Down around the islands, there are a bazillion humps out there and in 2 full days of fishing I’ve only found a couple places where I’ve caught a couple good ones.”

Top 10 To Watch

With the above in mind and more, here, in no particular order, is BassFan's recommendation on the Top 10 to watch at this event:

1. Aaron Martens – Finesse tactics are one of Martens’ strong suits and his ability to read electronics and adjust to how fish are positioning is uncanny. He rarely misses the mark up north and could strengthen his AOY case with a strong finish this week.

2. Brandon Palaniuk – He won’t be able to fish the area that produced the winning fish for him back in 2013, but he’s still a threat when smallmouth are on the menu. He can ill afford to miss the cut – he’s missed three already – as he sits 50th in AOY points.

3. Brent Ehrler – Excels in events where electronics are critical and while this will be his first event at the St. Lawrence, he’s been on quite a roll since overcoming a bomb at the Sabine River back in March.

4. Jacob Powroznik – The Virginia native is no stranger to the North Country or having success targeting smallmouth. He won the shortened AOY event last year at Bay de Noc and has fished several Rayovac Series in the Thousand Islands. Also, if there are any late spawners hanging around, he has the eyes to pick them out.

5. Chris Lane – Turned 40 a couple weeks ago and despite a 77th at the St. Lawrence in 2013, he’s started to develop a decent northern game over the last few years. He won at Lake St. Clair 2 years ago and was 10th at Bay de Noc last fall.

6. Kevin VanDam – The 7-time AOY starts the stretch drive of the schedule in 7th place in points, meaning he has a legit shot at title No. 8. He was 14th at Waddington 2 years ago, missing the Top-12 cut by 7 ounces. If he turns in a similar finish, he’ll start to apply some pressure to the AOY leaders.

7. Dean Rojas – The current AOY points leader is extremely versatile and upstate New York has been good to him in the past, but he’s going to need to improve upon his 77th-place finish at Waddington from 2 years ago if he wants to maintain his razor-thin points lead.

8. Ott DeFoe – Took 3rd at the St. Lawrence back in 2013 and is up to 15th in points after missing checks at the first two tournaments. He’s well versed in fishing in current is never afraid to try something different.

9. Jonathon VanDam – A smallmouth specialist who’s always on the contenders list when the schedule heads north. He was the runner-up to Palaniuk 2 years ago and has won before on the Great Lakes (Green Bay) and has a firm understanding of all things smallmouth.

10. Chad Pipkens – Another Michigan native who cut his teeth targeting brown fish. A good showing this week could help him start to salvage what’s been a tough season so far.

Launch/Weigh-In Info

> Anglers will launch at 6:15 a.m. ET each day from Whittaker Park Boat Launch (State Road 37/Pine Street, Waddington, N.Y.). Weigh-ins will get under way at 3:15 p.m. at the same location.

Weather Forecast

> Thurs., July 30 – Rain early, then clearing - 88°/61°
- Wind: From the SW at 10 to 15 mph

> Fri., July 31 – Mostly Sunny - 83°/61°
- Wind: From the WSW at 10 to 20 mph

> Sat., Aug. 1 – Sunny - 84°/59°
- Wind: From the WSW at 10 to 15 mph

> Sun., Aug. 2 – Sunny - 84°/61°
- Wind: From the SW at 10 to 20 mph

Notable

> Brent Chapman checked in with his recap of practice today and his feelings fall in line with many other competitors: It's a tougher bite this time around. To read more about his preparation, click here to read our Pro View Report.

> As part of New York State’s tourism push that’s centered on showcasing the state’s bass fishing lakes, it was announced last weekend that B.A.S.S. will stage two events in the Empire State in 2016. One will most likely be an Elite Series tournament at Cayuga Lake in June with Union Springs/Auburn, N.Y., serving as the host communities. Lake Placid was mentioned by state officials as a venue for an event next July, but few details were given. The 2,500-acre lake is too small for an Elite Series tournament or a Northern Open and is better known as a trout fishery.