CLAYTON, N.Y. – It’s not the size of the mouth, but the body surrounding it that Stren Series Northern Division anglers will consider as they fish their way through a gorgeous day in New York’s 1000 Islands region.
With the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario offering distinctly different fisheries, anglers have the option of compiling their heaviest limits with largemouth or smallmouth bass.
Waiting for his boater on the French Creek Marina dock, co-angler Cody Kupferschmidt from Ontario said brown or green bass could produce a competitive stringer: “I think it depends on where you’re fishing. Guys who are fishing Lake Ontario will be catching a lot of smallmouth, but in the river it’s going to be all largemouth.”
As the tournament field gathered at the mouth of French Creek, the morning sun cast its gilded radiance
across cloudless skies. A forecast of light winds brought the promise of calm waters and a pleasant outlook for a productive fishing day.
With tranquil weather on tap for most of the tournament, anglers should be able to run wherever they wish. Such conditions are especially beneficial to those headed for the Great Lakes, where windy days can churn the waters into an angry slop.
Productive tactics will vary from cracking tubes and wiggling finesse worms for smallies to flipping jigs for largemouths. Massachusetts boater Dave Cioppa will start with a topwater bait and then work an aggressive pattern over grass patches in 4 to 7 feet of water.
“Later in the morning, I’m going to go flipping little clumps of weeds with ¾-ounce jigs and Senkos,” he said. “You flip it in there and pop it right out to try and get a reaction strike.”
During the late morning and early afternoon hours, Cioppa might switch to a spinnerbait – also run through grass with a snappy retrieve.
“Later on, if things are slowing down, I’m going to hit the grass
clumps with the spinnerbait and rip it right through,” he said. “I’m just trying to give them something different to look at if there are (several boats in the area).”
Cioppa said he will make a two-hour run to the first of many spots he intends to fish on Lake Ontario: “We’re going to make a little milk run. We’re going to stop about 35 times today.”
Tony DaDante of Bufalo, N.Y., and his co-angler, Mike Madden of Toledo, Ohio, will run down to Lake Erie and take advantage of conditions that have greatly improved since recent blustery days.
“This is nice weather to get back on the bite. It’s been tough with 50-mph winds,” DaDante said. “I think a lot of us are going to go out in the lake and see if we can get lucky with some of these brown fish.”
As DaDante noted, a heavy bag of smallies can earn the big check, but location will prove intrinsic to 
success: “I think the history says you can win the tournament with smallies. If you find them bunched up, you can have a heck of a day.
“They’re corralling baitfish in deep water, and you just have to drop to them. We’re going to do a lot of motoring around to see if we can bring home the big fish.”
Targeting Erie’s condensed structure in 30 to 60 feet will be DaDante’s plan, he said, and bait selection will be simple: “Mike brought two poles, a drop-shot and a drop-shot. I brought five poles – all with drop-shots.”
Anglers will be targeting the 18- to 19-pound mark for competitive stringers. Conditions are ripe for several nice bags with a handful of stud smallies, possibly in the 5- to 6-pound range.
Tournament logistics
The Stren Series event, which runs Aug. 20-23, is the second event of the Northern Division’s 
schedule of four regular-season tournaments. The total purse for the 1000 Islands event is $275,225. The winning pro could earn as much as $65,000 in cash and prizes if various contingencies are met, and the winning co-angler could earn as much as $35,000.
Action continues at today’s weigh-in, scheduled to take place at 3 p.m. EDT at French Creek Marina located at 250 Wahl St. in Clayton, N.Y. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins also will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 20823 N.Y. State Route in Watertown, N.Y., beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Wednesday’s conditions
Sunrise: 5:14 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 50 degrees
Expected high temperature: 73 degrees
Water temperature: 70-72 degrees
Wind: N at 3-6 mph
Humidity: 45 percent
Day’s outlook: sunny