Gluszek goes ahead at Champlain
Mixed bags key for leaders
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – With each major league tournament that comes to Lake Champlain in September, mixed limits of largemouths and smallmouths look to be the perfect combination for taking the top positions.
Certainly a limit of Champlain smallmouths can get a pro into the 17- to 19-pound range, but a 5-pound-plus largemouth or two is what it takes to get over the 20-pound mark.
Consider that after day one of the Walmart FLW Series event on Lake Champlain, the top three positions are taken up by pros who are targeting both species. And it’s no coincidence those three pros have a lot of past experience on Lake Champlain.
Leading the BP Eastern Division event after day one is Pete Gluszek of Mount Laurel, N.J., with five bass for 21 pounds, 7 ounces.
Gluszek bounced back and forth between smallmouth spots and largemouth spots today, and when it was time to weigh in, his limit consisted of four green fish and one brown fish.
“When I come to Lake Champlain, I try to find situations where largemouths and smallmouths are either feeding together or are approximate to each other in a small area,” Gluszek revealed.
“That allows me to make adjustments quickly, because both fish tend to cycle from day to day or even hour to hour. One hour the smallmouths might be biting like crazy, and when that bite dies, the largemouths might start eating a couple of miles away. So having both species located in a close proximity allows for shucking and jiving between the two and having the best of both worlds.”
Gluszek won a Stren Series event on Champlain in September 2006, working the same kind of back-and-forth pattern.
“The only thing worrying me this time is I only have one area where both species are close together,” he added. “Last time I had several places like that. If the wind blows or this place gives out, I could be in trouble.”
As for personal preference, Gluszek admits he would rather catch smallmouths.
“If I’m fishing for fun, you can’t beat smallmouths,” he added. “But in September on Lake Champlain, targeting largemouths is the key to winning big tournaments.”
Lefebre second
Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa., is in second place with five bass weighing 20 
pounds, 11 ounces.
Lefebre’s limit was anchored by the biggest bass caught on day one: a 7-pound, 2-ounce Lake Champlain largemouth.
“That’s the biggest bass I’ve ever caught on Champlain, and it might be the biggest bass I’ve ever caught in the North,” Lefebre said of the lunker.
The Kellogg’s pro targeted both species of bass today, but ended up weighing in all largemouths.
“I had some smallies in the well during the day, but it just so happens I ended up culling them all out,” Lefebre explained. “I felt like the largemouth bite was a little stronger than the smallmouth bite today, so I stuck with it more. But it could be just the opposite tomorrow. I’ve got 17 rods on the deck, and I’m prepared to fish for either species at any given time.”
For this event, Lefebre plans to utilize not just the two different species but the whole length of the lake as well.
“I actually wanted to go way south this morning, but the wind was too bad, so I just decided to fish close and survive,” he added. “This lake is all about fishing the weather from day to day, and that’s what I’m going to do. Even though I caught 20 pounds up here today, if it’s calm tomorrow, I’ll have no problem going all the way south. You have to be prepared for everything, and at the same time, you really can’t force anything.”
Wolak third
David Wolak of Wake Forrest, N.C., is in third place with a limit weighing 20 pounds, 7 ounces.
Wolak’s mixed bag consisted of two smallmouths and three largemouths.
If Wolak’s version of Lake Champlain fishing sounds similar to Gluszek’s or Lefebre’s, that’s because it is, especially in terms of being able to comfortably harness the two species of bass.
“I love the fall on Champlain, because both the largemouths and smallmouths get active and feed at the same time,” said Wolak, who used to live in Pennsylvania. “This is my comfort zone: bouncing back and forth between the two species is how I like to fish.”
Wolak, too, said he felt like the largemouth bite was better today than the smallmouth bite, so he therefore chose to spend more time on largemouths.
“The calm conditions really played into my hands today, because the way I’m fishing requires a lot of running around,” Wolak pointed out. “I went south a little bit, and I went north a little bit; when it’s calm like this, it makes things much more efficient. And that’s what this type of fishing is all about – efficiency – jumping from one species to the other requires being quick on your feet.”
Kreiger fourth
Koby Kreiger of Okeechobee, Fla., is the first pro on the leaderboard who weighed 
in all smallmouths. His five-bass limit puts him in fourth place after day one with 20 pounds, 5 ounces.
Kreiger is committed to smallmouths in one particular area.
“I practiced in this one area for four days,” the Prilosec pro said. “And I think a lot of it is timing – waiting them out. I’ll fish for a long while without a bite and then catch three nice ones in a row; then go a while without a bite and catch three more in row.”
Kreiger finished seventh in this event last year and noted that the fish are not nearly as ganged up as they were this time last year.
“I’m not getting near the bites I was getting last year,” he added. “It’s like the fish are more scattered and spotty. Even when I hit a patch of them, it’s not like last year when they would eat for while.”
Tutt fifth
Rounding out the fifth-place position is Kellogg’s pro Jim Tutt of Longview, Texas, who targeted smallmouth for 20 pounds even.
Tutt finished 11th in this event last year, missing the top 10 by a tiebreaker.
“The water is warmer than it was this time last year, and there seems to be a lot more grass,” Tutt said. “I have not really been able to catch them the way I’d like to, but I’ve slowed way down, and that seems to help.”
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top 10 pros in the FLW Series event on Lake Champlain after day one:
6th: Shinichi Fukae of Mineola, Texas, five bass, 19-10
7th: Brian Bylotas of Olyphant, Pa., five bass, 18-8
7th: Anthony Gagliardi of Prosperity, S.C., five bass, 18-8
7th: Richard Patterson of Windermere, Fla., five bass, 18-8
10th: Chip Harrison of Bremen, Ind., five bass, 18-7
Tanksley leads co-anglers
Michael Tanksley of Crossville, Tenn., leads the Co-angler Division with a limit weighing 
18 pounds, 14 ounces.
Tanksley, who had never fished Champlain before, got quite a treat today when he drew pro Chip Harrison and ended up on a pile of smallmouths.
“Fishing Champlain has been a dream of mine for a long time,” Tanksley said. “So today was like a dream come true, especially fishing with Chip. We have some good smallmouth fishing in Tennessee, but they are so abundant here, it’s amazing.”
Mitchiner in second
Sam Mitchiner of Garner, N.C., is in second place with a limit weighing 18 pounds, 11 ounces.
Mitchiner fished with Chevy pro Kim Stricker for his catch today.
“Kim took me to a place I had fished before in a Stren event and done well, so when we got there, my confidence went sky high,” Mitchiner said. “He is definitely on a pile of fish; I just got the right bites.”
Rest of the best
Andy Jenkins of Elkhart, Ind., is in third place with five bass weighing 18 pounds, 6 ounces.
Derrick Snavely of Rogersville, Tenn., is in fourth place with five bass for 17 pounds, 10 ounces.
Scot Keefe of Hinesburg, Vt., rounds out the top five with 17 pounds, 4 ounces.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers in the FLW Series event on Lake Champlain after day one:
6th: Don Howard of Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 17-2
7th: Ronald Mueller of Prosperity, S.C., five bass, 16-9
8th: Jess Caraballo of Danbury, Conn., five bass, 16-4
9th: Robert Walker of Concord, Mass., five bass, 16-1
10th: Chuck Thurlow of Auburn, Ala., five bass, 15-15
Big bass
Clinton Cody of Charleston, Tenn., caught the big bass in the Co-angler Division on day one weighing 5 pounds, 8 ounces. As reported earlier, Lefebre’s 7-2 led the pros.
Day two of the FLW Series on Lake Champlain will begin Thursday at 6:30 a.m. at Dock Street Landing located at 5 Dock St., in Plattsburgh.