PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – What do you get when a BFL All-American winner, a pro with a “very special” spot, a guy with back-to-back second-place finishes, a recent Northern Division points champion, and a pro who is THE guy on a lake make up the top five of a tournament? Well, we’re about to find out, because that’s where we find ourselves after the first day of the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Northern Division opener on Lake Champlain.
Despite a significant shift in weather conditions compared to practice – today saw clouds and a solid north wind after sun and flat calm all week – there were still 31 bags over 18 pounds and four topping the 20-pound mark, with 2025 BFL All-American winner Matteo Turano leading by 2 ounces over Kyle Patrick with 20-6.
“Honestly, today was my best day all week,” said Turano, who is only three weeks removed from winning the BFL All-American on Lake Hamilton. “I came up here just to have some fun, and I can’t believe I’m leading after today.”
Sacking up 19 pounds within the first hour certainly can make a believer out of anyone, because that’s what Turano did today.
While some lamented the wind and clouds, Turano said it helped his shallow smallmouth bite. He admits he’s using forward-facing sonar, but instead of trying to cover large areas for loners, he’s targeting groups of fish he’s seeing, and today, they were far more willing to bite than during practice.
As for tomorrow, he still feels he can easily crack the 19-pound mark with how many fish he’s catching, but right now, he’s just riding the positive wave he’s on.
“I’m definitely on a roll (after the All-American),” Turano said. “So, I’m just gonna enjoy it, and I’ll be happy with what I get.”
While Turano is content, Patrick is anything but. You would be as well, if you had what he believes he has.
“It’s very cool what I’m doing,” Patrick said. “I caught 40 fish over 3 1/2 pounds today and finally had to leave at 10:30 a.m. I think my spot has 400 to 500 fish.”
Not bad for something he found in the final hour of practice and didn’t think much of even after finding it. You see, all week he tried to force a smallmouth bite only to strike out. So, he finally scrapped it and went for largemouth on the last day of practice. While doing that, he found a spot where he looked down and visually saw a handful of big smallmouth swimming around. Yet, that still didn’t stop him from focusing on largemouth to start today.
“I had a 4 1/2-pounder marked that I went to first thing this morning, but she was gone,” Patrick said. “I was in the area and figured I might as well check that other spot around 8 a.m. By 10:30, I had to leave because I’d caught more than 40 fish over 3 1/2 pounds.”
Needless to say, Patrick is a little excited about what he’s stumbled into, especially since he jumped off a 5-pounder that would’ve given him the lead and he came in 45 minutes early today.
“I didn’t think I’d be in the lead, but at a certain point I had to stop fishing my spot,” Patrick said. “I knew if I could leave them and do it again tomorrow, I’d be in good shape.”
On the opposite end of the spectrum, last year’s winner, Kyle Cortiana, wishes he had a spot loaded with fish. Instead, he had to run-and-gun all day to scrape together his 20-pound bag, which puts him tied for third with Hayden O’Barr.
“I probably only caught seven fish over 3 pounds today,” Cortiana said. “I truly thought I was going to suck today, but I’ve been here enough times to know what they should be doing.”
That experience was enough to keep him in contention, but for how long, he doesn’t know.
“It’s a grinder for me,” Cortiana said. “So, tomorrow I’ll keep hitting new water trying to sack up as much as I can, because Saturday’s forecast looks rough.”
Top 10 pros
1. Matteo Turano – 20 – 6 (5)
2. Kyle Patrick – 20 – 4 (5)
3. Kyle Cortiana – 20 – 1 (5)
3. Hayden O’Barr – 20 – 1 (5)
5. Bryan LaBelle – 19 – 14 (5)
6. Brody Campbell – 19 – 13 (5)
6. Daryl Biron – 19 – 13 (5)
8. Ryan Latinville – 19 – 11 (5)
8. Tucker Smith – 19 – 11 (5)
10. Emil Wagner – 19 – 10 (5)