Walters Climbs To Top With 28-05 Stringer

By B.A.S.S. Communications Staff

CLAYTON, N.Y. – Patrick Walters had a solid game plan, but calling a Day-1 audible ultimately allowed him to reach the three-day total of 80 pounds, 6 ounces that leads the Bassmaster Elite Series event at the St. Lawrence River.

“I threw back a 5-02 and a 5-03 today,” said Walters, a Summerville, S.C., native vying for his fifth B.A.S.S. win. “When I culled those fish, I knew I’d have a great day and it was time to head to the hill.”

Walters started strong with a Day-1 limit of 24-14, then added 27-03 on Friday. Saturday saw him catch 28-05 – his best bag so far and the event’s second-heaviest catch. He heads into the final round with a 1-01 advantage over Kyle Welcher.

Hailing from Opelika, Ala., Welcher locked up the Bassmaster Angler of the Year title Saturday. The award comes with a $100,000 first-place prize.

“I really can’t even believe it’s true just yet,” Welcher said in his trademark measured tone. “This is going to be my proudest moment in fishing for a long time.”

Days 2 and 3 saw Walters making an hour-long run into Lake Ontario, where he targeted unpressured fish over shoals on the Canadian side. When Day 1 brought strong southerly winds and 6- to 8-foot waves, Walters decided to forgo the rough ride and fish at the mouth of the St. Lawrence.

Doing so gave his spot a rest and when Walters fished there the next two days, he caught his fish quickly. That allowed him time to locate other spots, some of which contributed to his limits.

“I got lucky this week with the wind blowing the first day of the tournament,” Walters said. “I didn’t run to the lake and I caught 24-14, which is way bigger than I thought I’d catch. I was just trying to catch 20 pounds.

“That saved me from going to my fish in the lake. After I fished that spot, I found new areas there and culled up two big ones late in the afternoon. If I had gone there (on Day 1), I wouldn’t have been able to (expand).”

Walters said he had his Day-2 weight by 10:30 a.m. On Saturday, he had 25 pounds by 11 a.m. and found two key upgrades in new areas.

Walters, who claimed his first Elite Series win in 2020 at Lake Fork in Texas, said he has made methodical laps around his key spots this week, catching all of his bass on a dropshot.

“I was using forward-facing sonar and trying to pick out key fish,” Walters said. “There are a lot of fish in the area and if you catch every single fish, that takes up a lot of time.

“It felt good to hunker down on them. Today was the biggest bag of smallmouth I’ve ever caught.”

Turning in daily limits of 25-10, 27-12 and 25-15, Welcher sits in second place with 79-05.

For three days, Welcher made a long run into Lake Ontario to fish the Prince Edward Point area. He knew Day 1 would deliver a beating. But coming into the event atop the AOY standings, he was determined to do all he could to close the deal.

“I had a slim lead coming into this tournament, so I came in thinking AOY still had to be won, and I wasn’t going to do anything to lay up,” Welcher said. “I was going to take the big risk.

“I would rather lose taking a big risk and trying to win than play it safe and lose. I’d never get over it. I took that big risk and that’s definitely what saved my week.”

Welcher is fishing scattered rock in 20 to 25 feet and catching all of his bass on a dropshot with a 1/4- to 3/8-ounce weight.

Chris Johnston of Otonabee, Ontario, is in third with 78 pounds. Placing third on Day 1 with 28-03, Johnston added a second-round limit of 24-11 and moved up one spot. His third-round limit weighed 25-02.

After the second day’s weigh-in, Johnston lamented the issue of dealing with more quantity than quality. Returning to the same area of Lake Ontario’s Canadian waters, he faced that scenario again on Saturday.

“I caught a lot of fish and normally when you’re catching a lot of fish in the areas I’m fishing, you get high 4- and 5-pounders, but I didn’t get the quality today,” said Johnston, who won the 2020 Elite event at the St. Lawrence. “I got two nice kickers today, but I had three 4 1/2-pounders. I’m not very happy weighing in 4 1/2-pounders on this fishery.”

Johnston is catching his fish on a dropshot with a SPRO CJ Smasher. Varying his weight and leader sizes has occasionally helped convince a stubborn fish.

Kenta Kimura of Osaka, Japan won the $1,000 Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day award Saturday for his 7-00. That fish also now leads the race for Big Bass of the Week

The Top 10 remaining pros will take off at 7 a.m. ET Sunday from the Antique Boat Museum. The weigh-in will be held at the museum at 3 p.m., with the winner earning $100,000 and an automatic berth in the 2024 Bassmaster Classic.

Day 3 Standings

1. Patrick Walters -- Summerville, SC -- 15, 80-06 -- 104
Day 1: 5, 24-14 -- Day 2: 5, 27-03 -- Day 3: 5, 28-05

2. Kyle Welcher -- Opelika, AL -- 15, 79-05 -- 103 -- $1,000
Day 1: 5, 25-10 -- Day 2: 5, 27-12 -- Day 3: 5, 25-15

3. Chris Johnston -- Otonabee, ON -- 15, 78-00 -- 102
Day 1: 5, 28-03 -- Day 2: 5, 24-11 -- Day 3: 5, 25-02

4. Kyoya Fujita -- Minamitsuru, JAPAN -- 15, 76-09 -- 101
Day 1: 5, 24-10 -- Day 2: 5, 26-15 -- Day 3: 5, 25-00

5. Taku Ito -- Chiba, JAPAN -- 15, 75-02 -- 100
Day 1: 5, 24-14 -- Day 2: 5, 27-07 -- Day 3: 5, 22-13

6. Kenta Kimura -- Osaka, JAPAN -- 15, 74-09 -- 99
Day 1: 5, 25-12 -- Day 2: 5, 21-04 -- Day 3: 5, 27-09

7. Cory Johnston -- Cavan, ON -- 15, 72-02 -- 98
Day 1: 5, 19-14 -- Day 2: 5, 27-04 -- Day 3: 5, 25-00

8. Justin Hamner -- Northport, AL -- 15, 70-04 -- 97
Day 1: 5, 21-12 -- Day 2: 5, 23-03 -- Day 3: 5, 25-05

9. Matty Wong -- Honolulu, HI -- 15, 69-02 -- 96
Day 1: 5, 25-10 -- Day 2: 5, 20-09 -- Day 3: 5, 22-15

10. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, FL -- 15, 69-00 -- 95
Day 1: 5, 24-07 -- Day 2: 5, 22-06 -- Day 3: 5, 22-03

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not fish on day 3.

11. Luke Palmer -- Coalgate, OK -- 15, 68-12 -- 94 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 25-06 -- Day 2: 5, 23-05 -- Day 3: 5, 20-01

12. Matt Robertson -- Kuttawa, KY -- 15, 68-08 -- 93 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 22-09 -- Day 2: 5, 23-13 -- Day 3: 5, 22-02

13. Chris Zaldain -- Fort Worth, TX -- 15, 68-04 -- 92 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 22-04 -- Day 2: 5, 24-13 -- Day 3: 5, 21-03

14. Cody Huff -- Ava, MO -- 15, 68-02 -- 91 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 22-01 -- Day 2: 5, 19-13 -- Day 3: 5, 26-04

15. Drew Cook -- Cairo, GA -- 15, 68-02 -- 90 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 20-06 -- Day 2: 5, 23-07 -- Day 3: 5, 24-05

16. Tyler Rivet -- Raceland, LA -- 15, 67-15 -- 89 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 24-01 -- Day 2: 5, 23-12 -- Day 3: 5, 20-02

17. Joey Cifuentes III -- Clinton, AR -- 15, 67-15 -- 88 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 23-07 -- Day 2: 5, 23-02 -- Day 3: 5, 21-06

18. Cooper Gallant -- Bowmanville, ON -- 15, 67-14 -- 87 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 26-12 -- Day 2: 5, 21-09 -- Day 3: 5, 19-09

19. Austin Felix -- Eden Prairie, MN -- 15, 67-03 -- 86 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 18-06 -- Day 2: 5, 23-03 -- Day 3: 5, 25-10

20. Clent Davis -- Montevallo, AL -- 15, 66-15 -- 85 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 23-09 -- Day 2: 5, 22-02 -- Day 3: 5, 21-04

21. Gregory DiPalma -- Millville, NJ -- 15, 66-10 -- 84 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 21-11 -- Day 2: 5, 24-13 -- Day 3: 5, 20-02

22. Josh Douglas -- Isle, MN -- 15, 66-09 -- 83 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 22-11 -- Day 2: 5, 18-07 -- Day 3: 5, 25-07

23. Brandon Cobb -- Greenwood, SC -- 15, 66-09 -- 82 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 24-07 -- Day 2: 5, 20-07 -- Day 3: 5, 21-11

24. Jay Przekurat -- Stevens Point, WI -- 15, 66-06 -- 81 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 23-15 -- Day 2: 5, 19-04 -- Day 3: 5, 23-03

25. Pat Schlapper -- Eleva, WI -- 15, 66-06 -- 80 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 22-12 -- Day 2: 5, 21-03 -- Day 3: 5, 22-07

26. John Crews Jr -- Salem, VA -- 15, 65-15 -- 79 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 20-06 -- Day 2: 5, 22-13 -- Day 3: 5, 22-12

27. Bryant Smith -- Roseville, CA -- 15, 65-14 -- 78 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 29-05 -- Day 2: 5, 19-04 -- Day 3: 5, 17-05

28. Alex Redwine -- Blue Ash, OH -- 15, 65-12 -- 77 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 23-03 -- Day 2: 5, 20-11 -- Day 3: 5, 21-14

29. Bryan Schmitt -- Deale, MD -- 15, 65-04 -- 76 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 18-15 -- Day 2: 5, 24-07 -- Day 3: 5, 21-14

30. Paul Mueller -- Naugatuck, CT -- 15, 65-03 -- 75 -- $11,000
Day 1: 5, 25-04 -- Day 2: 5, 20-07 -- Day 3: 5, 19-08

31. Jacob Powroznik -- North Prince George, VA -- 15, 65-03 -- 74 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 18-14 -- Day 2: 5, 22-15 -- Day 3: 5, 23-06

32. Bryan New -- Saluda, SC -- 15, 64-14 -- 73 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 18-13 -- Day 2: 5, 23-09 -- Day 3: 5, 22-08

33. Ed Loughran III -- Richmond, VA -- 15, 64-13 -- 72 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 19-12 -- Day 2: 5, 22-15 -- Day 3: 5, 22-02

34. KJ Queen -- Conover, NC -- 15, 64-06 -- 71 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 21-00 -- Day 2: 5, 23-08 -- Day 3: 5, 19-14

35. Gerald Swindle -- Guntersville, AL -- 15, 64-06 -- 70 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 21-15 -- Day 2: 5, 19-12 -- Day 3: 5, 22-11

36. Cole Sands -- Calhoun, TN -- 15, 63-09 -- 69 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 22-10 -- Day 2: 5, 21-02 -- Day 3: 5, 19-13

37. Stetson Blaylock -- Benton, AR -- 15, 63-09 -- 68 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 20-11 -- Day 2: 5, 22-09 -- Day 3: 5, 20-05

38. Brandon Card -- Salisbury, NC -- 15, 63-08 -- 67 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 17-10 -- Day 2: 5, 23-10 -- Day 3: 5, 22-04

39. Masayuki Matsushita -- Tokoname-Aichi, JAPAN -- 15, 63-03 -- 66 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 17-14 -- Day 2: 5, 24-04 -- Day 3: 5, 21-01

40. Joseph Webster -- Hamilton, AL -- 15, 63-03 -- 65 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 21-02 -- Day 2: 5, 19-12 -- Day 3: 5, 22-05

41. Kyle Norsetter -- Cottage Grove, WI -- 15, 62-13 -- 64 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 22-08 -- Day 2: 5, 19-13 -- Day 3: 5, 20-08

42. Jacob Foutz -- Charleston, TN -- 15, 62-11 -- 63 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 21-03 -- Day 2: 5, 23-10 -- Day 3: 5, 17-14

43. Bob Downey -- Detroit Lakes, MN -- 15, 62-08 -- 62 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 22-09 -- Day 2: 5, 19-07 -- Day 3: 5, 20-08

44. Will Davis Jr -- Sylacauga, AL -- 15, 62-06 -- 61 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 21-03 -- Day 2: 5, 21-01 -- Day 3: 5, 20-02

45. Alex Wetherell -- Middletown, CT -- 15, 61-08 -- 60 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 18-06 -- Day 2: 5, 22-09 -- Day 3: 5, 20-09

46. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, LA -- 15, 61-05 -- 59 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 18-02 -- Day 2: 5, 24-03 -- Day 3: 5, 19-00

47. John Cox -- DeBary, FL -- 14, 61-01 -- 58 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 23-10 -- Day 2: 5, 24-04 -- Day 3: 4, 13-03

48. Scott Canterbury -- Odenville, AL -- 15, 60-15 -- 57 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 21-14 -- Day 2: 5, 20-12 -- Day 3: 5, 18-05

49. Bill Lowen -- Brookville, IN -- 15, 60-13 -- 56 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 23-11 -- Day 2: 5, 25-03 -- Day 3: 5, 11-15

50. David Gaston -- Sylacauga, AL -- 15, 60-11 -- 55 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 22-03 -- Day 2: 5, 20-05 -- Day 3: 5, 18-03