By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

The future is now.

For years, BassFans have been clamoring to consume tournament bass fishing at the highest competitive levels the same way sports fans enjoy other sports – live. The challenges and obstacles to executing such an endeavor were thought to be insurmountable.

Last year, B.A.S.S. launched its new Bassmaster Live feature, which offers the capability to broadcast live streams from cellular-connected cameras on the water and beam them to an online audience on Bassmaster.com. It’s been a smashing success for B.A.S.S.

The live component will be the centerpiece of this week’s Elite Series Classic Bracket, set to take place on the upper Niagara River near Buffalo, N.Y., where a berth in next year’s Bassmaster Classic will be awarded to the winner. The entire event will be streamed live online and Wednesday’s action will be available to users of the WatchESPN mobile app.

The format of the event will be a first of its kind for B.A.S.S. There will be no daily weigh-in as anglers will weigh each fish caught on the water, with the help of a boat official, and be credited with their best five bass for the day.

The first round (quarterfinals) will play out over Tuesday and Wednesday with the cumulative weight generated over those days determining which anglers advance to Thursday’s semifinals. The two semifinal winners will meet Friday in a 6-hour head-to-head match to determine the champion.

The match-fishing format will be a departure from the normal 8-hour day on the water competing against a large field. It’ll also give fans a bird’s eye view of how each competitor breaks down the water in a short amount of time and how they make adjustments on the fly. Officials in each boat will give periodic updates to each angler about their competitor’s performance.

The boundaries for competition are the International Railroad Bridge, which sits just north of the Peace Bridge, to the north Grand Island Bridge, which gives the anglers roughly 15 miles of water to choose from, along with a few feeder creeks.

Of the eight competitors, Dean Rojas has probably the most casts under his belt on the upper Niagara River, but it’s been a few years since he was here with the Elite Series in 2008. Same goes for Kevin VanDam, who as the winner of the Cayuga Lake Elite Series last month, drew the top seed for this week’s event.

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

BassFan Lake Profile

> Lake name: Upper Niagara River
> Type of water: Great Lake
> Surface acres (full pool): 34,000
> Primary structure/cover: Humps, rock piles, islands, docks
> Primary forage: Perch, gobies, crawfish, emerald shiners
> Average depth: 12 to 16 feet
> Species: Smallmouth, some largemouths
> Minimum length: 12 inches
> Reputation: Good numbers of fish with some big ones mixed in; can be inconsistent
> Weather: It’ll be blue skies, sunny and warm most of the week with the wind picking up Thursday and Friday, which could impact how effectively some areas can be fished
> Water temp: Low to mid 70s
> Water color/visibility: Clear (10 to 12 feet)
> Water level: Slightly low to normal due to very dry summer
> Fish in: Various depths
> Fish phase: Post-spawn, some summer
> Primary patterns: Tubes, crankbaits, wobble-heads, swimbaits, topwater, dropshot
> Fishing quality (1=poor, 5=great): 2
> Biggest factors: Timing. Three-hour sessions in the first round will put emphasis on decision-making and execution.
> Biggest decision: How long to spend on each stretch.
> Wildcard: Big largemouth. They’re not as prolific as smallmouth in the river, but a couple good green fish could swing the outcome of any match this week.

For a better look at the upper Niagara River, check out the embedded map below, courtesy of Navionics:




Expect a Mix

With the eastern arm of the upper Niagara, also known as the American or Tonawanda Channel, serving as the playing field this week, it could bring a largemouth element into the equation, says Terry Jones, one of the longest tenured guides on the eastern end of Lake Erie who operates 1st Class Bass Charter service.

The eastern arm has multiple islands and related shoals as well as a couple creeks that could offer an alternative to smallmouth pursuits.

“The western arm tends to have more smallies, but the east river offers more of a mix,” said Jones. “There are more weeds and docks. It’s a lot different. There are a lot of current breaks where that grass grows. Anything that breaks the current should hold fish.”

The average current speed in the Tonawanda Channel is 2 miles per hour, but it can vary based on the channel’s width. It’s some of the strongest current any of the competitors will have fished in. Depending on where some competitors choose to fish, the current (and wind) will impact techniques and tactics.

“It’s fast, but fish will still get behind structure like pilings,” Jones added. “It’s not like an inland lake where you’d use a 1/4-ounce weight to get your bait down. You might see guys using 3/4-ounce or more.”

Matchups

Here’s a breakdown of the head-to-head matchups:

Quarterfinals
July 19
8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
> 1) Kevin VanDam vs. 8) Drew Benton: VanDam is coming off a win at Cayuga Lake 90 minutes down the road and is supremely confident in one-on-one scenarios, especially up north. Just check his Major League Fishing record for evidence. Meanwhile, this will be a whole new experience for Benton, an Elite Series rookie with limited smallmouth acumen. He’ll carry a nothing-to-lose mentality into the matchup.

> 4) Jacob Powroznik vs. 5) Koby Kreiger: Close friends off the water, Powroznik said previously he would basically concede the match to Kreiger, whose only likely path to the ’17 Classic is to win this event. Powroznik is as versatile as they come while Kreiger has loads of experience on Great Lakes rivers like the Detroit and St. Clair.

1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
> 3) Brett Hite vs. 6) Keith Combs: This is the toughest match to handicap as the two proven winners have never fished a tournament on this water. Both are known as top-tier grass fishermen, while Hite loves to finesse and Combs loves to crank. Each could find the upper Niagara to their liking based on their strengths.

> 2) Jordan Lee vs. 7) Dean Rojas: Rojas will have the upper hand as far as experience/comfort level goes, but Lee has proven he has the skills to get acclimated to new surroundings in quick fashion. New York has been good to Rojas in the past while Lee knows this experience will only benefit him down the road.

July 20
8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
> Hite vs. Combs
> Lee vs. Rojas

1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
> VanDam vs. Benton
> Powroznik vs. Kreiger

Semifinals
July 21
8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
> VanDam-Benton winner vs. Powroznik-Kreiger winner
> Hite-Combs winner vs. Lee-Rojas winner

Finals
July 22
8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
> Semifinal winners



Notes from the Field

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

Jordan Lee
“I rode the whole area that we get to fish. I don’t know anything about this place, but from what I can tell, it’s not going to be a whack-fest. I think it’s going to be a deal where you catch one or two off one spot and move around. I fished hard. I didn’t get on anything solid. I caught most of them on a dropshot because that’s what I have confidence in. Basically, I tried to get a feel for how it lays out.

“The other deal is you only get 3 hours so it’s going to be a challenge. You have to put fish in the boat. It’ll be interesting to see in the morning what the weights will be like.”

Koby Kreiger
“I caught a few fish today, but I didn’t have near as many bites as I thought I’d have. The only thing I can compare it to is the Detroit River and St. Clair River and it definitely doesn’t fish like they do. I’m definitely going to be fishing different than I did today. The fish are doing different things than I what thought they’d be doing.

“I caught one largemouth today. Maybe it was blind luck, but a lot of the largemouth fishing people did here in the past, we can’t go fish it because we can’t go into a marina or residential canal. In years past, those largemouth areas played a larger role.”

Keith Combs
“I thought it would be really easy, but today was really tough. The wind was tough. That made it a challenge. I had a rough day. I’m hoping that if it calms down, the fishing will improve. I didn’t have a banner day. I caught a few, but not what I thought it would be. I got so frustrated with smallmouth fishing that I went to fish for largemouth for about 20 minutes, then said, ‘Nah, I need to go back to smallmouth.’

“I’m only fishing against one guy. I may have a bad day and he could have a worse day and I advance, but someone could catch a big bag and the guy you’re fishing against catches a little bit bigger bag. I don’t have a lot of experience here and if the weather changes, it could help me out because I don’t have a lot going.

“You’re going to be racing the clock. With only 3 hours, the biggest thing coming in was if anyone has any prior experience here or if someone got dialed into something good, they could blow it away. Three hours is not enough time to adjust and falling behind up north is hard to overcome.”

Kevin VanDam
“The wind made it challenging. I did a lot of graphing, but with the wind there’s so much floating grass it made it a challenge to fish. It’s going to be different. It’s not the lake. I know that.

“I didn’t get many bites today and caught a lot of small fish. I’ve never fished here before. I didn’t fish the Canadian side like some guys did, but I feel like the two parts of the river are different. With the 3-hour format, it’s going to make it interesting. Just like the first time I fished MLF, it’ll take a little bit to get a grasp of it. There are no points on the line. It’s not a big purse. It’s all about that Classic berth, so it’s really first or nothing here. You only have to beat seven guys, but to do it each round is a challenge. I know that from MLF, but this short format fits my style.”

Launch Info

> Anglers will launch each day from Anchor Marine (1501 Ferry Rd, Grand Island, NY 14072). There will be no daily weigh-in ceremony during this event.

Weather Forecast

> Tues., July 19 – Clear, Sunny - 81°/57°
- Wind: From the NW at 5 to 10 mph

> Wed., July 20 – Clear, Sunny - 85°/65°
- Wind: From the SW at 5 to 10 mph

> Thurs., July 21 – Clear, Sunny - 91°/72°
- Wind: From the SW at 10 to 20 mph

> Fri., July 22 – Chance of Thunderstorms - 92°/73°
- Wind: From the SW at 10 to 20 mph

Notable

> The anglers will make their initial runs by boat to their chosen locations before the competition clock starts. Weights can be tracked on Bassmaster.com via the BASSTrakk feature that’s used during Elite Series tournaments.

> The winner will receive $10,000 and a berth in the ‘17 Bassmaster Classic. The runner-up will receive $8,000, 3rd and 4th will each get $6,000 and 5th through 8th will take home $5,000 each.