By the Numbers: Lake Champlain
A closer look at the final stop of the 2019 FLW Tour season
The 2019 FLW Tour season comes to a close later this month on Lake Champlain, a lake that just about guarantees a fun finish and lots of smallmouths.
Here’s a look at what to expect from Champlain, by the numbers.
2
Number of FLW wins Ron Nelson has on Champlain (both in Costa FLW Series competition). Of the current Tour field, only Scott Martin has more wins on the fishery.
3
Number of current Tour pros who have fished at least 10 FLW Tour events on Champlain. Gary Yamamoto, Scott Martin and David Dudley have all fished exactly 10 FLW Tour events on the fishery. Randy Blaukat, Glenn Chappelear, Jim Moynagh, Larry Nixon and Jim Tutt have all fished nine.
5
Number of top-10 finishes Scott Martin has to his name on Champlain. That’s the most by any current Tour pro. All five of those were also top-5 finishes (three wins).
7-2
Weight of the biggest bass weighed in an FLW tournament on Champlain, landed by Dave Lefebre in 2008.
14
Miles across at Champlain’s widest point. The lake is 107 miles long and has about 587 miles of shoreline.
14-10
Weight of the New York-record longnose gar, caught from Champlain by Michael Gatus last September. The Vermont record is 18-12 and was caught by Texas A. Aiken in 2007.
18
Number of days Lake Champlain was considered one of the Great Lakes. In 1998, Congress passed a bill that incorporated wording to reclassify Champlain and include it on the list of Great Lakes. After 18 days, Congress rescinded that standing, though the funding resources (which were the main focus of that part of the legislation) remained in place.
21
Number of FLW events (all circuits) FLW Tour pro Nick Gainey has fished on Champlain – far and away the most of the current Tour field. Jim Tutt (16) and Gary Yamamoto (14) are next closest.
24-4
Largest one-day weight total for an FLW event on Champlain, weighed in by Gary Yamamoto in 2011. David Dudley is close behind with a 24-pound bag of his own that he caught in 2012.
57
Number of events FLW has held on Lake Champlain, dating back to 1994, across the Tour, BFL and Costa FLW Series.
63-8
Weight (in pounds) of the largest three-day winning total on Champlain, weighed in by Glenn Browne in the 2015 Costa FLW Series event on Champlain.
64
Average depth (in feet) of Lake Champlain.
80
Approximate number of islands on Champlain.
81
Weight of the largest four-day tournament total in FLW competition on Champlain, weighed in by Dave Wolak in 2011.
90
Estimated number of fish species that call Champlain home (according to Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department).
102
Number of 20-plus-pound bags weighed in on Champlain across all FLW competition.
142
Number of miles from home Plattsburgh, N.Y. is for the closest Tour angler. Canadian Charles Sim finally gets a 2019 Tour event in his neck of the woods.
400
Approximate maximum depth in feet of Lake Champlain.
490
Surface area (in square miles) of Lake Champlain, making it the 13th-largest lake in the United States.
2,530
Miles from Jimmy Reese’s hometown of Witter Springs, Ca., to Plattsburgh, N.Y. That’s the largest distance for any tour angler, save for South Africa’s Michael Matthee (7,923 miles).
6,623-11
Largest four-day combined weight for an entire tournament field in FLW competition on Champlain. All told, 189 pros caught 2,486 keepers in the 2009 FLW Tour event.
42,452
Population of the largest city on Champlain, Burlington, Vermont. Plattsburgh, site of takeoff for the 2019 FLW Tour event, is the second-largest city on the lake.