Thrift, Lavictoire Tied at the Top on Champlain
Day 1 of the Toyota Series Presented by A.R.E. Northern Division event on Lake Champlain lived up the billing, with 12 pros breaking the 19-pound mark and the top three all edging past 20 pounds. Tied with 20 pounds, 6 ounces for the lead, super local Thomas Lavictoire Jr. tallied five green fish for his leading weight. Bass Pro Tour superstar Bryan Thrift made his weight with five brown fish. In third, local Bryan Labelle made the run to Ti for 20-4 worth of largemouth. Going into Day 2, basically everyone is in the hunt, and the fishing has been really good, so cut day is likely to be an exciting affair tomorrow.
For Thrift, the day didn’t really go to plan, as he ended up burning one place pretty well.
“It started out really slow. I caught one real quick, like barely a 2-pounder, and then a 3-pound largemouth,” says the Shelby, N.C., pro. “I had one area I wasn’t wanting to fish; I was kind of wanting to save it. I ended up having to go there and I caught everything I weighed on a drop-shot and a 5-inch Damiki Stinger, Neko-rigged.
“That was pretty much my day. I think I caught seven or eight maybe,” Thrift adds. “I didn’t catch a bunch of fish by no means. I didn’t in practice either. Everything I caught came off one spot, and it’s not a big area. I don’t know if there’s going to be anything left there if I fish it tomorrow.”
Thrift has had his best success on Champlain when he’s mixing largemouth and smallmouth, but he says this practice hasn’t produced more than the occasional decent largemouth. Today, the wind and waves got up pretty good in the afternoon, and Thrift is hoping they’ll subside tomorrow.
“I need it to be slick calm,” Thrift adds. “I need to run everything I’ve got to catch a good bag. If I can’t move around, I think I’m done.”
A veteran of Champlain with three MLF wins on the big lake, Lavictoire last won in 2013 at almost this exact time of year. Understandably cagey about his success on Day 1, the Vermonter says he targeted largemouths specifically.
“It was a great day,” Lavictoire says. “It could have been a better day. I dropped a 4-pounder in my first two casts and had a 3-pounder I could have culled, but I guess that’s the way it goes. Depending on the wind, I might not be able to fish as effectively tomorrow, but they bit early and they bit often and the quality was there.”
Top 10 Pros
1. Thomas Lavictoire Jr. – 20 – 06 (5)
1. Bryan Thrift – 20 – 06 (5)
3. Bryan Labelle – 20 – 04 (5)
4. Jason Bacon – 19 – 14 (5)
4. Stephen Estes – 19 – 14 (5)
6. Dakota Ebare – 19 – 10 (5)
7. JJ Judd – 19 – 08 (5)
8. Tim Aldrich – 19 – 07 (5)
9. Martin Villa – 19 – 05 (5)
10. Jim Vitaro – 19 – 03 (5)
10. Chris Adams – 19 – 03 (5)