Champlain Midday Update – Day 3
Good limits galore on the final day
You could not have scripted better weather for the final day of the Costa FLW Series event presented by Power-Pole on Lake Champlain. The docks were still dripping from the night’s rain at takeoff, but apart from some passing morning showers it’s been lovely. Now, under mostly light or calm winds, the day has cleared to reveal a brilliant blue sky. Only now, at noon, is the wind actually beginning to get up in a significant way at Plattsburgh.
For pros hoping to sight-fish for bedding smallmouths, today is exactly what they’ve wished for all week. Though many pros picked over their beds pretty thoroughly the first few days of the event, smallmouths are still moving up, and Brett Carnright saw several smallmouths that were new and actively spawning.
Top five patterns from day two
Leading the pack into the final day, Shayne McFarlin got his limit in no time flat. Now, he’s got right about 15 pounds of smallmouths in the livewell. Even so, all is not perfect for McFarlin. Aside from a 4-pounder he can’t catch, the Georgia angler has run out of fish north of Plattsburgh. To make matters worse, his trolling motor batteries are inexplicably dying.
In second, Chris Adams looks like a contender for the win. He started off fairly quickly after a long run and has 16-plus in the boat. Similarly, Ron Nelson and Neil Farlow both have about 15 pounds or so. Nelson has some good moving potential as well. He found a 5-pound largemouth on the bed early, but has been unable to catch it so far.
Brett Carnright looks like he might move as well. He reports about 16 pounds, and might have more like 17 pounds. He found a few large and uncatchable smallmouths while we watched and seems to have taken advantage of the good weather.
Scott Dobson had about 13 pounds when we found him, and he’d been disappointed by the postspawn smallmouths he was hoping to bank on. Otherwise, the situation is a mystery. Champlain is pretty huge, and we weren’t able to catch up with everyone out there.