Lake Champlain Day 3 Coverage
Complete coverage of the final stop of the 2019 FLW Tour season
QUICK LINKS
FLW Live Leaderboard – CLICK HERE
2:00 p.m. – Dudley culls, final report
David Dudley is closing the door on the AOY title. He just had a 4-pound smallmouth crush his swimbait to help him cull up to over 17 pounds. John Cox has 15 ½ in the box and would need at least 19 pounds to catch Dudley at this point.
Along with FLW Live, were closing down the blog and leaderboard for the day. The anglers who ran down to Ti are mostly running back up north at this point so their weights won't change much. On the contrary, the pros up north can still make some moves. Be sure to watch the live weigh-in at 4 p.m. ET to see who makes the top 10 and goes fishing on Championship Sunday.
1:35 p.m. – Smallies are getting fired up
The sun finally came out and the smallmouth are turning on a little. John Voyles had an extremely slow start, but has caught three keepers in a row and is now back in the top 10. David Dudley just caught a 4-pounder to cull up at least a half pound. Ron Nelson and Austin Felix both made tiny culls not long ago.
As good as the largemouth bite has been, it has slowed down big time for most pros. The only angler that’s still catching green fish consistently is Bryan Schmitt. There are actually locals crushing fish around Schmitt’s area too.
Tyler Stewart is just leaving Ti to head back north. He knows he has milked his area pretty good today and wants to give himself extra time to get him and his fish back safely. He could also run into a bonus smallmouth near takeoff before he checks in.
|
PLACE |
NAME |
DAY 1 LBS-OZ (#FISH) |
DAY 2 LBS-OZ (#FISH) |
DAY 3 LBS-OZ (#FISH) |
DAY 1 – 3 LBS-OZ (#FISH) |
BEHIND |
|
1 |
CASEY SCANLON |
20 – 0 (5) |
17 – 11 (5) |
19 – 8 (5) |
57 – 3 (15) |
|
|
2 |
TYLER STEWART |
22 – 3 (5) |
17 – 14 (5) |
16 – 0 (5) |
56 – 1 (15) |
1 – 2 |
|
3 |
DARYL BIRON |
19 – 12 (5) |
18 – 7 (5) |
16 – 12 (5) |
54 – 15 (15) |
2 – 4 |
|
4 |
AJ SLEGONA |
18 – 10 (5) |
18 – 11 (5) |
17 – 8 (5) |
54 – 13 (15) |
2 – 6 |
|
5 |
ERIC JACKSON |
17 – 6 (5) |
18 – 8 (5) |
18 – 8 (5) |
54 – 6 (15) |
2 – 13 |
|
6 |
HENSLEY POWELL |
19 – 14 (5) |
18 – 4 (5) |
15 – 12 (5) |
53 – 14 (15) |
3 – 5 |
|
7 |
BRYAN SCHMITT |
17 – 10 (5) |
17 – 2 (5) |
18 – 12 (5) |
53 – 8 (15) |
3 – 11 |
|
8 |
TOM REDINGTON |
20 – 7 (5) |
16 – 8 (5) |
16 – 8 (5) |
53 – 7 (15) |
3 – 12 |
|
9 |
DAVID DUDLEY |
19 – 3 (5) |
17 – 1 (5) |
17 – 0 (5) |
53 – 4 (15) |
3 – 15 |
|
10 |
AUSTIN FELIX |
19 – 0 (5) |
18 – 11 (5) |
15 – 8 (5) |
53 – 3 (15) |
4 – 0 |
12:55 p.m. – Largemouths have taken over
Going into the tournament we knew good weights could come from both smallmouths and largemouths, but it seems like green fish are taking over. Seven of the top 10 pros are all strictly targeting largemouths, mostly in Ti.
We just learned that Kurt Mitchell, but has 15 pounds in the box. Kurt is fishing for largemouth but is catching the occasional smallie. Tyler Stewart just made a cull to get up to roughly 16 pounds down in Ti. Schmitt, who is targeting largemouth up the lake, managed to stick a quality fish to push his limit up to 19 pounds.
John Cox is still a few pounds behind David Dudley. Cox is just burning a bunch of shallow cover looking for a few big bites to get him back in this thing.
12:05 p.m. – Schmitt, Redington, Jackson
Bryan Schmitt’s marshal says the Maryland pro has something figured out. He just culled up two pounds and missed two 4-pounders. Right now, Schmitt is in 11th place.
Joseph Webster and Tom Redington are both sitting with about 16 pounds of green fish in their livewells. Redington has been fishing in an area with minimal cell coverage, which is why we just got a report on him.
Eric Jackson keeps culling down in Ti. When our camera boat pulled up on him he literally called his shot. Eric said, “Fishing is when you don’t know if you’re going to catch a fish, catching is when you know you’re going to catch a fish.” Then right on cue, Eric casted out and caught a 4-pounder… “We call that catching right there.” He is definitely in contention to go fishing on Sunday.
11:25 a.m. – Schmitt gets a big, Biron
Bryan Schmitt could be a little bit of a dark horse to make the top 10 cut. He just stuck a legit 5-pounder near some shallow cover. If he were to tack on another quality fish like that, he’d be well within the top 10.
One of the scrappier bedding smallmouth David Dudley hooked up with busted his line. After re-tying, Dudley threw back in and caught the fish, which was still carrying his previous hook and bait. Unfortunately, the fish did not help cull. Now, he’s running to the spot that he pulled 19 pounds from on day one.
Daryl Biron is making consistent culls down in Ti. His marshal has him estimated at around 17 pounds or so. Daryl doesn’t weigh his fish in the boat, so it’s a complete estimation as to what he has.
Eric Jackson continues to cull and has close to 17 pounds now. He’s putting together a nice day on his first-ever FLW Tour day three.
Our on-the-water reporters say the wind is really starting to rip. If it continues, pros are going to find themselves facing some long runs back to weigh-in later.
10:40 a.m. – Bunch of updates
Chad Warren has been bombing around Ti today and has managed to scrape up a respectable limit worth somewhere between 14 and 15 pounds.
This is Eric Jackson first day three ever on the FLW Tour and he has a limit. Jackson has been culling largemouths a little bit at a time and currently has a little over 11 pounds.
Joseph Webster just caught his fifth fish. He’s also down in Ticonderoga chasing largemouths. A couple of his keepers look pretty chunky, but he definitely needs a couple more kickers to have any hope of making the top-10 cut.
John Cox started on largemouths this morning but is now chasing smallies. His change in tactics has rewarded him with a couple culls. Cox still has his work cut out for him though if he is going to chase Dudley down. He has a magic rock that was loaded with quality largemouths that he found later in the day yesterday. You can guarantee that rock will be hit hard by him this afternoon.
The fish on Voyles’ juice spot shrunk big time today. He could only get 2-pounders to bite, so he decided to make a run to one of his secondary areas, but he hasn't caught any there yet.
9:50 a.m – Scanlon is hammering them
Casey Scanlon is keeping the beatdown rolling down in Ti. He just culled up to 20 pounds or so. It looks like he’s throwing a moving bait to get his fish to eat.
Tyler Stewart is really feeling the local fishing pressure. Two of his best spots in Ticonderoga have had people fishing all over them this morning. He’s still in good shape considering he has a 14-pound limit in the livewell, but he’ll have to battle through the frustration of sharing spots the rest of the day.
Elsewhere, Nick LeBrun and Kurt Dove both have limits for around 15 pounds. Bryan Thrift has mostly largemouths in the box, but is now starting to cull up with some brown fish. David Dudley has all 3-plus-pound smallies in the box and is still plucking them off beds.
9:00 a.m. – Brasher, Slegona, AOY
Christopher Brasher’s marshal just reported that the Texas pro has about 16 ½-pounds in the boat. It looks like Brasher is targeting both brown and green fish. His last largemouth weighed almost five pounds.
A.J. Slegona is staying consistent with his smallmouth. He’s culled up to over 17 pounds already. Another upgrade or two and he may have his biggest bag of the week.
John Cox just caught a 2-pound, 7-ounce largemouth from under a wind-blown dock. John knows he needs a pretty big bag if he wants to take back the AOY lead from Dudley. Largemouth seems like the best way for him to do so. Dudley, on the other hand, said he is playing “zone defense,” meaning he’s just going to do what he can to sack up the best limit of smallmouths he can and hope John doesn't get that 20-plus-pound bag of green fish.
8:30 a.m. – Stewart finds a few
After a slow start, Tyler Stewart got a quad of fish to hit a squarebill, two of which are over 4 pounds. The other two are fish that he will probably want to cull before the day is over.
Bryan Thrift was able to cull up a few more pounds. He was getting his fish to hit a topwater, but now is needing to slow down to get bites. Here’s a video of Thrift smacking some smallmouths with a spook on day one.
8:15 a.m. – Scanlon, Powell get 5
Hensley Powell is putting a moving bait to work down in Ti. He managed to bag five keepers worth about 13 pounds. Casey Scanlon is in the unofficial lead now, though. He just landed No. 5 for roughly (and unofficially) 17 pounds on the day.
Tom Redington snatched his first keeper of the day – a 3 ¾-pounder. His bite really turns on in the afternoon, so anything before then will really help.
8:00 a.m. – Limits
Bryan Thrift and David Dudley each had quick flurries and picked up limits. They aren’t the biggest limits, but it’s a good start. Dudley has about 13 pounds, and he has a ton of time to upgrade. He’s putting the pressure on John Cox, who needs 1 pound, 14 ounces more that whatever Dudley has today to catch up in the AOY race.
Down in Ti, things are going well for Casey Scanlon and Chad Warren. Scanlon has three keepers in the boat and Warren just bagged a 3-pounder. Things are quiet for Tyler Stewart, though. The past few days, he’s bagged his first keeper literally within a couple casts. Hopefully he can get things going here before the pressure sets in.
7:35 a.m. – First catches of the day
Nick LeBrun broke the ice this morning by bagging a nice three-pound largie. He was fishing a cosway when he picked up the fish on a reaction bait. He had some local company on the spot, but they kindly backed off to let Nick do his thing. He’s been tossing around a swimbait to start the day.
Tyler Stewart and the rest of the Ticonderoga convoy are just getting their lines wet for the first time of the morning. The first reported fish was a 4-pounder from Casey Scanlon. We should see the rest of the Ti crew bag some green fish here soon.
The smallmouth chasers are also getting things going. Joel Willert, A.J. Slegona, Austin Felix, Ron Nelson, and David Dudley have all plucked fish off beds already. We should see them all climb the leaderboard fast since they are targeting individual fish that are likely to bite.
6:30 a.m. – Day three on Champlain is underway
We're down to 30 anglers in the FLW Tour's last stop of the 2019 season. The Angler of the Year and Polaris Rookie of the Year races are still up for grabs, and second-year pro Tyler Stewart is haflway to his first win on Tour. There will be storylines apletny today.
Speaking of storylines, one of the biggest for the remaining 30-angler field is undoubtedly going to be the weather. After a couple beautiful days filled with sunshine, there's rain in the forecast on day three. Considering how many pros are sight-fishing for smallmouths, cloudy conditions and wind could swing the pendulum in favor of those searching for postspawn green fish, not to mention the time it might take to make long runs (to Ticonderoga, for instance). Stewart has spent his time in Ti so far this week, and while the weather might make largemouth fishing the more favorable option, it could take away from the time Stewart and others fishing in that area have to get to and from the dock.
Follow along with our live coverage of the tournament right here, and be sure to follow along with the FLW Live video feed throughout the day.
CONDITIONS
Temperature at takeoff: 65 degrees
Forecast high: 82 degrees
Sky: Mixed clouds and sun, showers and thunderstorms possible
Precipitation: 50 percent chance
Wind: SSE at 5 to 10 mph
TOURNAMENT DETAILS
Presented by T-H Marine
Hosted by City of Plattsburgh and Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau
Takeoff: 6:30 a.m. ET at Plattsburgh City Marina, 5 Dock Street, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Weigh-in: 4:00 p.m. ET (days three and four) at Plattsburgh City Marina, 5 Dock Street, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
FLW Expo: 2-6 p.m. ET at Plattsburgh City Marina
FLW Live: 2:30 p.m. ET through the end of weigh-in