By B.A.S.S. Communications Staff
Chris Johnston’s primary spot on Lake Oahe doesn’t look particularly special, but it holds big smallmouth that have lifted him to the lead at the Bassmaster Elite Series event in Mobridge, S.D. with a two-day total of 37 pounds, 12 ounces.
Entering Day 2 in 7th place with 18-15, the Otonabee, Ontario native caught 18-13 Friday and holds a 7-ounce lead over 2ns-place Austin Felix and a 10-ounce lead over 3rd-place Patrick Walters.
“I’m thrilled with it,” Johnston said. “I caught them all right where I caught them yesterday. I had them by about 9:30. There’s not a lot of fish there and I wasn’t seeing many left. But after I caught them yesterday morning, I didn’t see any fish. So, some new ones moved up today and I was able to catch them.”
While the north wind raced across Lake Oahe the entirety of the day, creating rough and wavy conditions, the 2021 St. Lawrence River Elite champion caught a limit quickly using mostly the new Spro CJ Smasher as well as a couple of other baits. A key adjustment, however, led to two big bites late in the morning.
“I am (Garmin) LiveScoping around and today they actually pushed out deeper on me,” Johnston said. “I had three good ones and I wasn’t seeing any more, so I pushed out deeper and caught two more big ones and left it after that.”
There isn’t anything remarkable about his primary area. While there is a hard bottom and access to deep water, Johnston said there is nothing that really sets it apart from anything else on the lake other than the quality it seems to hold.
He added that he has been the only angler in the area.
“If I get bit there, they are big ones,” he said. “In practice, I caught two 4s there and every fish seems to be 3-plus pounds. There are just better quality fish in this one little area.”
With a limit filled and the wind battering much of the lake, Johnston began his journey back to check-in three hours early. Winds are predicted to calm down significantly and shift to the east on Saturday, which will allow him to move more freely around Lake Oahe.
“I don’t think the fishing is going to be any better with the calm weather, but I can hit more spots,” Johnston explained. “Today I left almost three hours early to come back. I didn’t know how rough it was going to be. I figured I had a decent weight and there was no point in pushing it and beating my boat up. It will give me a lot more fishing time.”
As boat 80 on Day 1, Felix was discouraged to find several competitors on his best spot first thing in the morning, forcing him to scramble to collect the 14-02 limit that put him in 34th. But with a much more favorable boat number Friday, Felix vaulted up the leaderboard with a tournament-best 23-03 sack of smallmouth that has him in 2nd place with a two-day mark of 37-05.
“Honestly, I could just get on something. With the wind the way it was the last two days, you can’t fish that much and the fish are on pretty obvious stuff. The spot I started on today had four boats on it (yesterday) so I kept driving,” he said. “Today, I got on it and my first drop was a 2 3/4, my second drop was a 5 1/2 and then it slowed down a little.
“Lee (Livesay) pulled in and we took our time and grinded it out. We each probably caught 10 or 15 off of that hole.”
Felix’s Day-2 bag resembled more of what he thought Lake Oahe would be like when he finished his pre-practice last August.
“I had over 25 one day and over 26 another day,” Felix said. “There were giants everywhere. It wasn’t like you would catch six fish. You would catch a 5-pounder and 10 bass would follow it to the boat and sit under the boat, and you could catch all 10 of them if you wanted to.”
Walters held steady in 3rd place with 37-02, adding 16-13 to his Day 1 bag of 20-05. He said he caught a quality smallmouth early on, but had to grind out the rest of his bites.
“It was probably 10:30 when I had three fish and by 11:30 I had five,” Walters said. “There are some good fish in the area. I thought 15 per day after three days would put you in the Top 10. I got lucky and got some really good bites the last two days.
“What I have seen is also better than what I thought. If you get a good day, I think I can catch more than what I caught the first day.”
With calmer conditions ahead, Walters said Lake Oahe could show what it is really made of the rest of the tournament.
“I think it can show out if I can get to my destination and fish for them,” he said. “I am catching them panning (forward-facing sonar) and catching them out deep – and with that water today, it makes it hard to fish. If you can get down there in an efficient amount of time and move around, you can catch them.”
The field has been cut to the Top 47 anglers for Saturday, and the Top 10 will compete on Sunday for a first-place prize of $100,000.
Day 2 Standings
1. Chris Johnston -- Otonabee, ON -- 10 -- 37-12 -- 100
Day 1: 5, 18-15 -- Day 2: 5, 18-13
2. Austin Felix -- Eden Prairie, MN -- 10, 37-05 -- 99
Day 1: 5, 14-02 -- Day 2: 5, 23-03
3. Patrick Walters -- Summerville, SC -- 10, 37-02 -- 98
Day 1: 5, 20-05 -- Day 2: 5, 16-13
4. Marc Frazier -- Newnan, GA -- 10, 36-06 -- 97
Day 1: 5, 16-04 -- Day 2: 5, 20-02
5. Caleb Kuphall -- Mukwonago, WI -- 10, 36-04 -- 96
Day 1: 5, 14-14 -- Day 2: 5, 21-06
6. Brandon Card -- Salisbury, NC -- 9, 34-04 -- 95
Day 1: 5, 21-10 -- Day 2: 4, 12-10
7. Taku Ito -- Chiba, JAPAN -- 10, 34-01 -- 94
Day 1: 5, 17-04 -- Day 2: 5, 16-13
8. Tyler Rivet -- Raceland, LA -- 10, 33-11 -- 93
Day 1: 5, 14-12 -- Day 2: 5, 18-15
9. Matt Robertson -- Kuttawa, KY -- 10, 33-09 -- 92
Day 1: 5, 16-01 -- Day 2: 5, 17-08
10. Jake Whitaker -- Hendersonville, NC -- 10, 33-03 -- 91
Day 1: 5, 17-02 -- Day 2: 5, 16-01
11. Drew Cook -- Cairo, GA -- 10, 32-00 -- 90
Day 1: 5, 20-06 -- Day 2: 5, 11-10
12. Jeff Gustafson -- Keewatin, ON -- 10, 31-12 -- 89
Day 1: 5, 19-09 -- Day 2: 5, 12-03
13. Brandon Cobb -- Greenwood, SC -- 10, 30-13 -- 88 -- $1,000.00
Day 1: 5, 18-13 -- Day 2: 5, 12-00
14. Cody Huff -- Ava, MO -- 10, 30-09 -- 87
Day 1: 5, 14-05 -- Day 2: 5, 16-04
15. Frank Talley -- Temple, TX -- 9, 30-06 -- 86
Day 1: 5, 18-00 -- Day 2: 4, 12-06
16. Bryan New -- Saluda, SC -- 10, 30-00 -- 85
Day 1: 5, 19-05 -- Day 2: 5, 10-11
17. Pat Schlapper -- Eleva, WI -- 10, 30-00 -- 84
Day 1: 5, 10-15 -- Day 2: 5, 19-01
18. Lee Livesay -- Longview, TX -- 10, 29-11 -- 83
Day 1: 5, 10-10 -- Day 2: 5, 19-01
19. Luke Palmer -- Coalgate, OK -- 10, 29-06 -- 82
Day 1: 5, 13-05 -- Day 2: 5, 16-01
20. Scott Canterbury -- Odenville, AL -- 10, 29-04 -- 81
Day 1: 5, 15-07 -- Day 2: 5, 13-13
21. Seth Feider -- New Market, MN -- 10, 29-02 -- 80
Day 1: 5, 15-14 -- Day 2: 5, 13-04
22. Brock Mosley -- Collinsville, MS -- 10, 28-13 -- 79
Day 1: 5, 16-07 -- Day 2: 5, 12-06
23. Masayuki Matsushita -- Tokoname-Shi, JAPAN -- 10, 27-15 -- 78
Day 1: 5, 13-12 -- Day 2: 5, 14-03
24. Chad Pipkens -- Dewitt, MI -- 10, 27-11 -- 77
Day 1: 5, 15-11 -- Day 2: 5, 12-00
25. Chris Zaldain -- Fort Worth, TX -- 10, 27-10 -- 76
Day 1: 5, 16-02 -- Day 2: 5, 11-08
26. Gerald Swindle -- Guntersville, AL -- 10, 27-05 -- 75
Day 1: 5, 15-05 -- Day 2: 5, 12-00
27. Caleb Sumrall -- New Iberia, LA -- 9, 27-01 -- 74
Day 1: 5, 18-08 -- Day 2: 4, 08-09
28. Micah Frazier -- Newnan, GA -- 10, 27-00 -- 73
Day 1: 5, 18-03 -- Day 2: 5, 08-13
29. Darold Gleason -- Many, LA -- 10, 26-10 -- 72
Day 1: 5, 14-03 -- Day 2: 5, 12-07
30. Drew Benton -- Blakely, GA -- 10, 26-03 -- 71
Day 1: 5, 14-12 -- Day 2: 5, 11-07
31. Skylar Hamilton -- Dandridge, TN -- 8, 25-15 -- 70
Day 1: 5, 16-00 -- Day 2: 3, 09-15
32. Kenta Kimura -- Osaka, JAPAN -- 10, 25-14 -- 69
Day 1: 5, 12-03 -- Day 2: 5, 13-11
33. Cory Johnston -- Cavan, ON -- 10, 25-07 -- 68
Day 1: 5, 10-06 -- Day 2: 5, 15-01
34. Buddy Gross -- Chattanooga, TN -- 10, 25-04 -- 67
Day 1: 5, 12-15 -- Day 2: 5, 12-05
35. Hunter Shryock -- Ooltewah, TN -- 10, 24-10 -- 66
Day 1: 5, 12-09 -- Day 2: 5, 12-01
36. Stetson Blaylock -- Benton, AR -- 10, 24-03 -- 65
Day 1: 5, 09-14 -- Day 2: 5, 14-05
37. Alex Redwine -- Blue Ash, OH -- 10, 24-02 -- 64
Day 1: 5, 12-11 -- Day 2: 5, 11-07
38. KJ Queen -- Catawba, NC -- 7, 24-01 -- 63
Day 1: 5, 19-01 -- Day 2: 2, 05-00
39. Jay Przekurat -- Stevens Point, WI -- 10, 23-14 -- 62
Day 1: 5, 16-15 -- Day 2: 5, 06-15
40. Clifford Pirch -- Payson, AZ -- 10, 23-10 -- 61
Day 1: 5, 12-08 -- Day 2: 5, 11-02
41. Bob Downey -- Detroit Lakes, MN -- 10, 23-09 -- 60
Day 1: 5, 15-04 -- Day 2: 5, 08-05
42. Josh Douglas -- Isle, MN -- 8, 23-07 -- 59
Day 1: 5, 18-10 -- Day 2: 3, 04-13
43. Bryan Schmitt -- Deale, MD -- 10, 23-07 -- 58
Day 1: 5, 14-11 -- Day 2: 5, 08-12
44. Rick Clunn -- Ava, MO -- 10, 22-14 -- 57
Day 1: 5, 13-01 -- Day 2: 5, 09-13
45. Brad Whatley -- Bivins, TX -- 10, 22-12 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 16-03 -- Day 2: 5, 06-09
46. Gary Clouse -- Winchester, TN -- 8, 22-12 -- 55
Day 1: 4, 10-14 -- Day 2: 4, 11-14
47. Brandon Lester -- Fayetteville, TN -- 10, 22-11 -- 54
Day 1: 5, 10-02 -- Day 2: 5, 12-09
The following anglers did not make the cut and will not fish on day 3.
48. John Crews Jr -- Salem, VA -- 10, 22-09 -- 53 -- $2,500.00
Day 1: 5, 09-15 -- Day 2: 5, 12-10
49. Wes Logan -- Springville, AL -- 10, 22-09 -- 52 -- $2,500.00
Day 1: 5, 10-00 -- Day 2: 5, 12-09
50. Matt Arey -- Shelby, NC -- 10, 22-04 -- 51 -- $2,500.00
Day 1: 5, 12-02 -- Day 2: 5, 10-02
51. Justin Hamner -- Northport, AL -- 10, 21-15 -- 50 -- $2,500.00
Day 1: 5, 09-06 -- Day 2: 5, 12-09
52. Koby Kreiger -- Alva, FL -- 10, 21-11 -- 49 -- $2,500.00
Day 1: 5, 13-15 -- Day 2: 5, 07-12
53. Bill Lowen -- Brookville, IN -- 10, 21-11 -- 48 -- $2,500.00
Day 1: 5, 12-15 -- Day 2: 5, 08-12
54. Keith Combs -- Huntington, TX -- 10, 21-02 -- 47 -- $2,500.00
Day 1: 5, 10-07 -- Day 2: 5, 10-11
55. Steve Kennedy -- Auburn, AL -- 10, 20-15 -- 46 -- $2,500.00
Day 1: 5, 13-13 -- Day 2: 5, 07-02
56. Justin Atkins -- Florence, AL -- 10, 20-14 -- 45 -- $2,500.00
Day 1: 5, 13-13 -- Day 2: 5, 07-01
57. Todd Auten -- Lake Wylie, SC -- 10, 20-11 -- 44 -- $2,500.00
Day 1: 5, 09-14 -- Day 2: 5, 10-13
58. Paul Mueller -- Naugatuck, CT -- 9, 20-04 -- 43 -- $2,500.00
Day 1: 5, 14-11 -- Day 2: 4, 05-09
59. Hank Cherry Jr -- Lincolnton, NC -- 9, 19-15 -- 42 -- $2,500.00
Day 1: 5, 11-13 -- Day 2: 4, 08-02
60. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, FL -- 10, 19-15 -- 41
Day 1: 5, 10-03 -- Day 2: 5, 09-12
61. Carl Jocumsen -- Queensland, AUS -- 10, 19-10 -- 40
Day 1: 5, 10-12 -- Day 2: 5, 08-14
62. Derek Hudnall -- Zachary, LA -- 10, 19-07 -- 39
Day 1: 5, 09-00 -- Day 2: 5, 10-07
63. Jason Williamson -- Aiken, SC -- 8, 19-04 -- 38
Day 1: 3, 04-08 -- Day 2: 5, 14-12
64. Ray Hanselman Jr -- Del Rio, TX -- 10, 18-15 -- 37
Day 1: 5, 07-07 -- Day 2: 5, 11-08
65. Clent Davis -- Montevallo, AL -- 10, 18-13 -- 36
Day 1: 5, 11-11 -- Day 2: 5, 07-02
66. Brandon Palaniuk -- Rathdrum, ID -- 9, 18-11 -- 35
Day 1: 4, 11-15 -- Day 2: 5, 06-12
67. Ed Loughran III -- Richmond, VA -- 10, 17-14 -- 34
Day 1: 5, 10-11 -- Day 2: 5, 07-03
68. Kyle Welcher -- Opelika, AL -- 10, 17-11 -- 33
Day 1: 5, 09-04 -- Day 2: 5, 08-07
69. Bernie Schultz -- Gainesville, FL -- 10, 17-08 -- 32
Day 1: 5, 07-10 -- Day 2: 5, 09-14
70. Jacob Powroznik -- North Prince George, VA -- 9, 17-01 -- 31
Day 1: 5, 11-06 -- Day 2: 4, 05-11
71. Shane LeHew -- Catawba, NC -- 9, 16-12 -- 30
Day 1: 4, 09-14 -- Day 2: 5, 06-14
72. Joseph Webster -- Hamilton, AL -- 9, 16-09 -- 29
Day 1: 4, 07-06 -- Day 2: 5, 09-03
73. Jason Christie -- Park Hill, OK -- 7, 16-00 -- 28
Day 1: 2, 03-12 -- Day 2: 5, 12-04
74. Jamie Hartman -- Newport, NY -- 8, 16-00 -- 27
Day 1: 3, 09-02 -- Day 2: 5, 06-14
75. David Mullins -- Mt Carmel, TN -- 10, 15-09 -- 26
Day 1: 5, 09-15 -- Day 2: 5, 05-10
76. Michael Iaconelli -- Pittsgrove, NJ -- 10, 14-10 -- 25
Day 1: 5, 05-15 -- Day 2: 5, 08-11
77. John Cox -- Debary, FL -- 10, 14-05 -- 24
Day 1: 5, 09-05 -- Day 2: 5, 05-00
78. Mark Menendez -- Paducah, KY -- 10, 14-05 -- 23
Day 1: 5, 08-04 -- Day 2: 5, 06-01
79. Matt Herren -- Ashville, AL -- 7, 13-11 -- 22
Day 1: 4, 08-11 -- Day 2: 3, 05-00
80. Mike Huff -- London, KY -- 7, 13-04 -- 21
Day 1: 5, 09-00 -- Day 2: 2, 04-04
81. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, LA -- 7, 13-04 -- 20
Day 1: 5, 08-07 -- Day 2: 2, 04-13
82. Cliff Prince -- Palatka, FL -- 8, 11-15 -- 19
Day 1: 5, 06-11 -- Day 2: 3, 05-04
83. Joshua Stracner -- Vandiver, AL -- 6, 11-05 -- 18
Day 1: 5, 10-03 -- Day 2: 1, 01-02
84. David Williams -- Newton, NC -- 10, 10-11 -- 17
Day 1: 5, 05-10 -- Day 2: 5, 05-01
85. Daisuke Aoki -- Minamitsurugun, JAPAN -- 8, 10-06 -- 16
Day 1: 5, 07-04 -- Day 2: 3, 03-02
86. David Fritts -- Lexington, NC -- 4, 09-15 -- 15
Day 1: 4, 09-15 -- Day 2: 0, 00-00
87. Jonathan Kelley -- Old Forge, PA -- 5, 08-02 -- 14
Day 1: 2, 04-12 -- Day 2: 3, 03-06
88. Matty Wong -- Honolulu, HI -- 6, 07-11 -- 13
Day 1: 5, 06-09 -- Day 2: 1, 01-02
89. Jacob Foutz -- Charleston, TN -- 4, 07-08 -- 12
Day 1: 3, 06-09 -- Day 2: 1, 00-15
90. Gregory DiPalma -- Millville, NJ -- 4, 04-02 -- 11
Day 1: 1, 01-00 -- Day 2: 3, 03-02
