MASSENA, N.Y. – This year’s Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Northern Division event on the St. Lawrence River was one of the best ever, with zero room for doubt. With three different pros passing the 70-pound mark, making long runs and fishing only in the river, the season finale was a heavyweight battle, and dramatic up until the last bass was weighed.

As usual, lots of drifting and dragging baits got the call on the St. Lawrence, but, between innovative anglers and forward-facing sonar, there are hints of new ways to fish the river on the horizon.

1. Clayton area pays off for Smith

Running a long way, Casey Smith earned the win and narrowly missed out on Fishing Clash Angler of the Year in the process.

“I would target fish up in bait in the morning, and when they were down I would drag,” Smith said.

Smith went with a 5-inch Deps Sakamata Shad on either a 3/8- or 1/4-ounce head, as well as a football jig made by Dean Gibbs in a 3/8-ounce model with a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Lil’ General. For the minnow, Smith used 10-pound braid and a 12-pound leader, and a Douglas XMatrix 744 spinning stick.

2. Cortiana ices AOY and nearly wins

Also making the long run, Kyle Cortiana slipped up slightly on Day 2, but fished a very impressive tournament nonetheless. Finishing one spot behind Smith, he earned the Fishing Clash Angler title by a single point, with his worst finish being 15th on the Potomac.

Doing a few different things, the Oklahoma pro used a BOOYAH Flash Point in the deep and shallow models, a YUM YUMbrella Flash Mob Jr. and a drop-shot with a 3.25-inch Great Lakes Finesse Drop Minnow in smelt and spicy melon. Cortiana used Kistler rods and reels for all his techniques and threw the umbrella rig on a 7-foot, 10-inch Kistler KLX. For his drop-shot, he used and loved the new Trokar TK150VP hook in a No. 2.

Deeper, Cortiana stuck with the umbrella rig and the drop-shot, but he was able to mix in the jerkbait for shallow fish.

“With the jerkbait, it was the shallow flats with current – they’d be up there roaming,” he said. “You wouldn’t see them with forward-facing sonar until they showed themselves. And, sometimes I called the fish up with the jerkbait from 25 feet of water, it was really fun.”

3. Long haul also pays for Piraino

Making one of the longer runs of anyone in the Top 10, Dante Piraino caught an even 70 pounds on the week, which would have been good enough to win most years.

Piraino fished a drop-shot with a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flat Worm as well as an oddball lipless bait. For the drop-shot, he used an Abu Garcia Fantasista spinning rod with an Abu Garcia Revo Rocket, 10-pound braid and a 5-pound Sunline Sniper leader. For the lipless, he used a 7-foot, 6-inch, medium-heavy Abu Garcia Fantasista X, an Abu Garcia Revo SX Rocket and 18-pound Sunline Shooter.

“I fished deep most of the week and bummed around from 25 to 40 and hopped around from hole to hole,” he said. “I was targeting the backside of shoals that had little current breaks for them to sit behind. Not even breaks that were visible, just the backside of humps that they could sit behind to break the current. The last day I slid in shallow, I caught my big one deep, but that kind of saved the day.”

4. C-rig plays for Miller

Fishing in the Clayton area mostly, Colby Miller did the bulk of his damage deep.

Out deep, the Louisiana pro relied on a Carolina rig with a 1-ounce Epic Baits weight, a Zoom UltraVibeSpeed Craw and a 3/0 Owner Rig-N-Hook. For his setup, he used a Shimano reel, an Edge MBR736-1, and 18-pound Shimano Mastiff for his mainline with a matching 14-pound leader.

“I was strictly looking for basketball-sized rock in 35- to 45-foot of water,” Miller said. “I normally spend all my time in the Morristown and Alexandria Bay area, but this year it seemed like there were a lot of boats in that area, so I went up towards Clayton.”

5. Anderson drifts for another Top 10

Always a factor on the river, Brent Anderson drifted his way into another Top-10 finish and led for the first two days.

He used two baits primarily – around crawfish-eating bass, Anderson went with a 1/4-ounce Beast Coast O.W. Sniper in dirtbag trailered with a Z-Man Finesse TRD in molting craw. Around fish that were feeding on gobies more, he used a drop-shot with a 3/8-ounce Alley’s Tungsten weight, a No. 1 Owner Cover Shot and a mix of green Ned-style baits. For his rod and reel, he used a 6-foot, 10-inch Ark Invoker Tour Series rod, a Lew’s Custom Lite spinning reel, 10-pound Seaguar Smackdown and an 8-pound Seaguar InvizX leader.

6. Howell mixes deep and shallow

Drifting and fishing shallow, Adam Howell kept the bass on their toes and put in another super consistent event for his second Top 20 in Toyota Series competition on the St. Lawrence.

Shallow, Howell went with a Shimano Zumverno 95 SP, and deep he “moped” with a 4-inch Jackall Driftfry on a 1/4- or 3/16-ounce head. For the jerkbait, he used a Shimano Curado, a 7-foot, 2-inch, medium light Shimano Zodias BFS rod and 12-pound Shimano Mastiff. For the minnow, the Canadian angler used a 2500 Shimano Miravel and a 7-foot, 2-inch, medium light Shimano Expride.

“I would fish anywhere from 2 feet of water to 50,” he said. “I would use the Driftfry, and whenever I fished a high spot, I’d start on the front side and work my way to the top. If I noticed at a certain point in the day, typically mid-afternoon, the fish move from sitting in the front of the drift or the back of the drift to the top of the drift, that’s when I’d start resorting to any high spots with current, with the jerkbait.”

7. Shuffield rides the jerkbait bite

After getting on a jerkbait bite for the Bass Pro Tour event prior to the Toyota Series event, Spencer Shuffield kept it rolling for another Top 10.

His two primary jerkbaits were a 4-inch Yo-Zuri 3DS Series Minnow and a prototype mid-depth Yo-Zuri “pro series” jerkbait. He threw both on a 6-foot, 10-inch, medium Ark Invoker Tour Series casting rod with an Ark Gravity 8 and 12-pound Yo-Zuri T7.

“I caught them all in the 6- to 12-foot range, throwing at holes and sand and grass edges,” Shuffield said. “I never saw a single bass, I’d just follow the jerkbait back and they’d shoot up off the bottom for it.”

Fishing mostly around Chippewa and to the east of Clayton, Shuffield stayed away from his historic haunts.

“I got on them really good with a jerkbait and a little jig up there, and that’s where I spent my Qualifying Round and the Knockout Round,” he said. “I stayed after the BPT and just kept learning more and more about that area. The jerkbait was the deal for big ones – I had a shot at 26-plus every single day, it’s just hard to keep them big ones on.”

8. Football and drop-shot work for Robinson

The youngest member of the Robinson clan, Mitchell Robinson knocked out bags in the low-20s each of the first two days to flirt with the win. On Day 3, he managed “only” 19 pounds and fell from second to eighth.

Fishing shoals and humps in Canadian waters on the west end of the river, Robinson used a Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm on a drop-shot and a Keitech Tungsten Football Jig with either a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flat Worm or a 3-inch Yamamoto Senko for the trailer. For his drop-shot, Robinson used a 3/4-ounce Strike King tungsten weight and a No.1 BKK DSS hook.

Robinson slung the drop-shot on a 7-foot, 1-inch medium light Phenix K2 Torzite with a Shimano Exsence reel and 10-pound P-Line X-Braid and an 8-pound P-L ine Tactical leader. For the jig, he used the same line, a Shimano Vanford and a 7-foot, 2-inch, medium-light Phenix M1.

9. Basics do the work for Hall

Kyle Hall didn’t do anything fancy on the St. Lawrence, locking a drop-shot with a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flat Worm in his hand and rolling from there. For his spinning reel, he chose the Abu Garcia Revo Rocket. Fishing in the Chippewa Bay zone, he stayed around 20- to 30-feet deep and bookended an 18-pound day with two bags over 23 pounds.

10. Olson does well again on the river

A consistent player on the St. Lawrence, Lane Olson knocked out another good one in smallmouth country.

“I fished Alexandria Bay, really, mostly mid-river,” Olson said. “I caught some real shallow, but most of them were 25- to 50-feet. I used to run a lot farther and I’d only give myself a few hours to fish. I stayed a little closer this time.”

Fishing mid-river, Olson plied a Carolina rig and a drop-shot. For the drop-shot, he used a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flat Worm, and he went with a Zoom UltraVibeSpeed Craw on the C-rig. He fished both with Edge rods, and used Seaguar Tatsu for his line, going with 17-pound for his mainline and 12-pound for his leader.