VanDam, Hite Only Ones To Crack 10 Pounds

By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

The upper Niagara River proved to be a tough nut to crack Tuesday as day 1 of the Bassmaster Elite Series Classic Bracket unfolded near Buffalo, N.Y.

A couple of competitors remarked that it reminded them of the Three Rivers that converge in Pittsburgh based on the number of small fish that were caught during the course of the two 3-hour sessions today. Four of the eight anglers registered limits and three came during the morning portion of the competition, which will lasts through Friday.

Top seed Kevin VanDam caught the biggest limit of the day, a 10-04 effort in the morning that has him comfortably in front of No. 8 seed Drew Benton, who scored just one keeper for 1-06.

Jacob Powroznik and Koby Kreiger both caught limits in the other morning matchup with Powroznik (9-14) holding a 1-pound lead over his roommate going into Wednesday.

The afternoon featured a much tougher set of conditions with gusty winds and Brett Hite managed the lone limit of the two afternoon matches. His 10-02 output gave him a slight lead over Keith Combs, who caught three for 7-15.

Jordan Lee, the No. 2 seed, logged four keepers for 7-15, which gave him a 4-pound, 4-ounce lead over Dean Rojas, who caught three for 3-11.

Below is a brief summary of how the four quarterfinal matches stand after 1 day of competition:

> Match 1: Kevin Van Dam: 5, 10-04; Drew Benton: 1, 1-06
> Match 2: Jacob Powroznik: 5, 9-14; Koby Kreiger: 5, 8-14
> Match 3: Brett Hite: 5, 10-02; Keith Combs: 3, 7-15
> Match 4: Jordan Lee: 4, 7-15; Dean Rojas: 3, 3-11

The anglers who competed Tuesday afternoon (Hite-Combs and Lee-Rojas) will return to the water Wednesday morning for the completion of their matches while the group that fished Tuesday morning (VanDam-Benton and Powroznik-Kreiger) won’t fish again until Wednesday afternoon.

Smallmouth were the predominant species today as finesse and reaction baits both produced. Most anglers moved around a good bit, targeting current breaks and eddies as well as shorelines and offshore structure while Powroznik and Hite committed themselves to fishing large concrete bridge supports for the duration of their rounds.

It’s worth noting that at the angler’s briefing meeting Monday night, the competitors were told they would be permitted to watch the Bassmaster Live video stream while they were not on the water competing. After some discussion, the anglers came to a consensus that being able to watch the live feed shouldn’t be allowed and tournament director Trip Weldon changed the rule.

The weights registered Wednesday will be added to Tuesday’s totals and the cumulative weights will be used to determine who advances to the semifinals on Thursday. The semifinal winners will meet Friday with a berth in the 2017 Bassmaster Classic on the line.

VanDam: It’s Far From Over

> Day 1: VanDam – 10-04 (5), Benton – 1-06 (1)

VanDam was surprised by the lack of size to the fish he caught and surmised that a 12-pound stringer may be a good result for a full day’s work on the upper Niagara. Initially, he thought the river reminded him of the Detroit River or St. Clair River in Michigan, but he amended that comparison after today’s round.

“I don’t think there’s a bunch of quality in this river,” he said.

He opted to start with and stick with a jerkbait today as a way to maximize his time. He threw a deep-diving version as well as the regular model of his namesake Strike King bait. Most of his fish came out of 6 to 8 feet of water.

“With only 3 hours, you have to be able to cover water,” he said.

His first spot proved productive and popular. As the top seed, he was the first boat to leave the launch area. He headed south and settled on a spot. Moments later, Benton pulled into the same stretch, but peeled off and headed back down river when he realized VanDam was where he wanted to start.

VanDam said he’ll fish tomorrow afternoon as if he’s tied with Benton.

“I’ll be watching the leaderboard closely,” he said. “I had a lot of people watching me today and some of them were fishing (after I left). I’ll have to try to save some stuff. I hope to get off to a good start and then go practice and check out some new stuff.”

Benton didn’t make excuses for his lack of production today. He’d never seen the river prior to Monday’s practice session and he says he’s typically a slow starter on new water.

“I hit a bunch of places, but they didn’t work out,” he said. “I really thought I could run more current eddies and catch keepers. I hit a ton of stuff and couldn’t get bit.”

He said he lost what felt like a 3-pounder and another fish hit his bait twice, but never hooked it. Tomorrow, he might scrap the smallmouth playbook and try to make something happen with largemouths.

“I might go up that Tonawanda Creek and go largemouth fishing,” he said. “I know I won’t make up ground smallmouth fishing. I certainly don’t see myself catching 16 pounds of smallmouth out here.”

Powroznik Didn’t Budge

> Day 1: Powroznik – 9-14 (5), Kreiger – 8-14 (5)

While Kreiger moved around a fair bit Tuesday morning, Powroznik camped on the pilings of the south Grand Island Bridge within eye sight of the blast-off point all morning.

Powroznik held a small lead most of the round before Kreiger edged ahead once he finished his limit. Powroznik caught an upgrade in the final minute that gave him the 1-pound cushion after day 1.

“There are so many bass in that area,” Powroznik said. “It’s the only current break in the middle of the river for miles. It’s a no-brainer.”

He caught eight keepers, but had several other bites that he didn’t connect on. He fished mostly a dropshot and tube.

Tomorrow, Powroznik may lay off a bit as he’s been vocal about wanting to help Kreiger advance to the next round as he’s the only competitor currently outside the Classic cut line in the Angler of the Year points. Powroznik is currently 2nd in points.

“There’s no telling where I might go,” Powroznik said. “I might not make a cast until he gets about 10 pounds ahead and then I’ll go fishing for a bit. Who knows, I might zero tomorrow.”

For Kreiger, it was a decent start, save for one fish that got off.

“I lost one fish that was aggravating,” he said. “Other than that, there was one area I thought I’d catch them and I didn’t have a bite. That was puzzling.”

He shared VanDam’s assessment that the upper Niagara doesn’t hold near the level of quality fish that the eastern end of Lake Erie does.

“It was sort of tough Monday, but I thought maybe it was the storm and winds, but now I think this place is just sort of tough,” he said.

He stuck with typical smallmouth tactics – a dropshot and tube dragged on the bottom – and focused a lot on areas with hard bottom. The deepest fish he caught was in 26 feet of water.

“I have more work to do tomorrow,” he added.

Hite, Combs Like What They’re Around

> Day 1: Hite – 10-02 (5), Combs – 7-15 (3)

Hite’s smallest fish was a 1-01 squeaker that barely met the 12-inch length requirement. If he’d have landed a 3-pounder that broke him off later on, he’d have a pretty comfortable cushion on Combs, whose 3-09 kicker was the day’s biggest fish.

Coming into the event, Hite figured the best way to maximize his time in the quarterfinals was to find a small area that held a large population of fish. He believes he found it around the bridge pilings of the north Grand Island Bridge. That’s where he spent his entire session today with the mist of Niagara Falls visible in the background.

“I told myself that in the first round if I can find a place to hunker down on and just fish there and not run around, that was my goal coming in,” he said. "I think I found that area.

“The potential is there. Most of the fish are in the 2 1/2- to 3 1/2-pound range. They’re the right ones. That’s what I caught during practice.”

He was satisfied to come out of today with 10-plus pounds, considering he went nearly the entire first hour without a bite.

“For struggling early, to get five it was a good day,” he added. “It clued me in that if I go to the semifinals maybe where they position later in the day.

“I think there are plenty of fish there. Obviously, they live around those things and if you were to drop a camera down, I think it’d be scary to see how many are down there. There’s no place for them to go. They’re not going to leave a place where they have a beautiful current break with shade and a couple of them have big rock piles by them. Everything they need is there.”

Combs also likes what he found, but rather than settling on one area, the Texan cycled through seven spots three separate times this afternoon.

“I’m moving fast and when I pulled back into some areas, I got bit a few times,” he said.

He’s also anxious to see how those areas produce in the morning since he had better success during that portion of the day Monday during practice.

“Caught four in the first hour on Monday,” he said. “I’m hoping that continues tomorrow. There are no guarantees. It’s just tough out there now.

“I’m around some better fish. I didn’t have many bites in practice, but one of them was a (4-pounder). I had that good one today. I think I’m doing the right thing to catch a big bag. I feel better about the morning session. I think the way I’m fishing is more conducive to catching them early in the day. I don’t really have anything else going so I’m going to stick with it. Who knows, I could catch three again tomorrow and win or I could catch 18, but I think the potential is there to catch a 13- or 14-pound bag. I know that because I saw them today.”

Lee Jumped Around; Rojas Whiffed On Largemouth

> Day 1: Lee – 7-15 (4), Rojas – 3-11 (3)

Other than one area that produced two of his keepers on separate visits, Lee saw most of the upper Niagara during his 3-hour match against Rojas today.

He caught everything on a dropshot either off the bank or shore-oriented structure.

“There’s so much current on this river and there’s not a lot of offshore stuff,” he said. “I was expecting to drift a lot and that didn’t really work.”

He’s hopeful the places that produced today will help him out again in the morning.

“I’m hoping I can fish a couple of those places I got bit on first thing and hopefully get a couple quick and maybe try some new stuff,” he said. “I don’t really have a game plan. I just ran around and fished a lot of stuff. I’m just not getting a lot of bites and a 2-pounder seems to be a good fish. It’s about the same for everybody.

“If you can get a 3-pound bite, you’ll be doing good. I don’t see the weights being a whole lot better on the (6-hour) days. For tomorrow, I feel like it’ll be more or less the same. It’ll be tough, but I’ll try to get five in the boat.”

Rojas set out today thinking he could buck the smallmouth trend and capitalize on a stretch that held some largemouth Monday. When he returned to the channel behind Cayuga Island today, he came away empty after an hour and spent the remainder of the session scrambling to salvage what he could.

“It was not the start I was hoping for,” he said. “I shook off four decent fish yesterday. The area I was in is fishy, but there’s just not a big population of largemouth back there like I thought there was. I’ll take all of that stuff out of the boat and I’ll have 3 hours tomorrow to try to drag my way into the semifinals.”

He caught three smallmouth and feels that now with the largemouth temptation out of his system he can focus on erasing a 4-pound plus deficit.

“That’s two fish here,” he said. “I just think the areas where I caught them today will be better in the morning. I can spend more time doing it now. I caught three today and I think I can do more than that tomorrow. I feel good about it. I’m not out of it.

“If you give me a largemouth or two, it’s a different ball game. I don’t regret what I did. I knew what was there and they were easier.”

Weather Forecast

> 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