PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (June 18, 2018) – Boater J.J. Judd of Saint Albans, Vermont, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 19 pounds, 14 ounces, to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Northeast Division tournament on Lake Champlain. Judd earned $5,138 for his win. Judd said he spent his day on a southern section of the main lake, and targeted smallmouths that were still spawning.
“I went to my five biggest ones that I had located and caught them,” said Judd, who notched his first career win in FLW competition. “I found fish in areas where they’ve spawned in the past, but with the water lower, they were surprisingly shallow. I think this is the tail-end of the spawn. A lot of the fish I found had been on beds for over two weeks and had lost quite a bit of weight.”
Judd said he fished a white Bass Pro Shops XPS Tender Tube with a ¼-ounce jighead on 10-pound-test P-Line fluorocarbon line.
“I throw white because I can see it well. I threw it in the bed and stared at it until I couldn’t see it, and that’s what told me it was in the fish’s mouth,” said Judd. “One of the big keys was my Costa sunglasses. On this lake, the green mirror finish helps me see really well.”
Around 10 a.m., Judd switched patterns and focused on postspawn smallmouth on the northern end of the lake in 18 to 20 feet of water with a 6-inch AYU-colored Roboworm Straight Tail Worm on a drop-shot rig.
“I fished near isolated boulders. I’d say 90 percent of the fish are done spawning up there. I culled up twice and went looking for a big largemouth to cap it off, but didn’t have any luck,” said Judd. “It was a tricky tournament to manage my fish. I’m fishing in the upcoming Costa (FLW Series) event this weekend and I didn’t want to burn too much, but I still wanted to do well.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: J.J. Judd, Saint Albans, Vt., five bass, 19-14, $5,138
2nd: Alec Morrison, Peru, N.Y., five bass, 19-13, $2,469
3rd: Jason Stoddard, Saint Albans, Vt., five bass, 19-10, $1,646
4th: Perry Marvin, Peru, N.Y., five bass, 19-0, $1,152
5th: Charles Sim, Nepean, Ontario, Canada, five bass, 18-14, $1,388
6th: Ronald Penders Jr., Rochester, N.Y., five bass, 18-13, $864
6th: Jesse Spellicy, Gouverneur, N.Y., five bass, 18-13, $864
8th: Jason Shipton, Muncy, Pa., five bass, 18-11, $741
9th: Brett Carnright, Plattsburgh, N.Y., five bass, 18-10, $617
9th: Travis Manson, Conshohocken, Pa., five bass, 18-10, $617
Brian Squires of Schenectady, New York, brought a 5-pound, 5-ounce bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $745. Mark Fenstermaker of Allentown, Pennsylvania, won the Co-angler Division and $2,436 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 17 pounds, 5 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Mark Fenstermaker, Allentown, Pa., five bass, 17-5, $2,436
2nd: Dylan Boyle, Coopersburg, Pa., five bass, 17-3, $1,218
3rd: William Ambler, Alderson, W. Va., five bass, 16-9, $1,014
4th: Henry McKee, Haddon Heights, N.J., five bass, 16-5, $618
5th: James Ohono, Bridgeton, N.J., five bass, 15-14, $487
6th: Craig Cleveland, Utica, N.Y., five bass, 15-10, $447
7th: Mike Urbania, Mentor, Ohio, five bass, 15-8, $365
7th: Chris Morrison, Columbia, Md., five bass, 15-8, $365
7th: Ryan Spaulding, North Bangor, N.Y., five bass, 15-8, $365
10th: Gordon Bocash, Woodstock, Conn., five bass, 15-7, $284
Wes Vyverberg of Rochester, New York, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 7 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $367.