PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (Aug. 19, 2024) – Boater Thomas Lavictoire Jr. of West Rutland, Vermont, caught a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 3 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Lake Champlain. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Northeast Division. Lavictoire earned $3,377 for his victory.
Lake Champlain is a legendary smallmouth fishery, and in this era of forward-facing sonar technology, it would not be surprising to hear that the Champlain BFL event was won scoping smallmouths with a jighead-minnow. Of course, with all the focus on that approach, it leaves other opportunities open. And that’s exactly what Lavictoire exploited to get the W.
He said he “went solely for largemouth.”
“Largemouth have been ignored and have replenished, and if you get five of those you’re in good shape,” he said.
High winds challenged the field on Saturday, with 6- to 8-foot waves in some areas. Thankfully for Lavictoire, he had plenty of big-fish spots pegged up north. Though he had to run through some gnarly waves, he was mostly protected once he got to his areas.
“I fished from the ramp in Plattsburgh to Missisquoi Bay and back,” he said. “I mainly fished a jig all day. I fished a lot of rock and grass and a lot of boat docks, pilings, drop-offs, ledges – anything that I’ve fished in the past and caught big ones off of.”
Lavictoire ran a milk run of about 25 spots, mostly tossing a homemade jig (made by a buddy) that resembles a perch or bluegill. He thinks the biggest key was sticking to his game plan of avoiding chasing numbers of fish and targeting big bites.
“I think (the key was) mostly just putting myself in productive areas, ignoring the wind, ignoring the forward-facing sonar thing that everybody does and sticking with my game plan – the idea that if I get five big largemouth I can beat those smallmouth,” he said.
And, in case you were wondering, as exciting as it is to watch fish chase your lure on sonar, it’s also a pretty darn good time catching them by dragging or pitching a jig.
“It’s so much fun,” Lavictoire added. “So much fun.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Thomas Lavictoire Jr., West Rutland, Vt., five bass, 22-3, $3,377
2nd: Jason Stoddard, St. Albans, Vt., five bass, 22-0, $1,689
3rd: Jim Sweeney, West Dover, Vt., five bass, 19-4, $1,128
4th: Ed Casey, Whiteford, Md., five bass, 19-0, $731
4th: Jason Shipton, Muncy, Pa., five bass, 19-0, $731
6th: Josh Kauffman, Marysville, Pa., five bass, 18-14, $1,091 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
6th: Jared Phillips, Addison, N.Y., five bass, 18-14, $591
8th: Stephen Draghi, Sparrow Bush, N.Y., five bass, 18-12, $507
9th: Preston Vargo, Port Henry, N.Y., five bass, 18-10, $450
10th: Christopher Sanno, Landisburg, Pa., five bass, 18-7, $809
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Christopher Sanno of Landisburg, Pennsylvania, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 1 ounce, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $415. Randall Given of Laurel, Delaware, won the co-angler division and $1,648 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 17 pounds, 5 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Randall Given, Laurel, Del., five bass, 17-5, $1,648
2nd: Eric Reynolds, Bloomingburg, N.Y., five bass, 16-8, $824
3rd: Scott Minch, Feasterville, Pa., five bass, 16-4, $549
4th: Matthew Belmore, Indian Lake, N.Y., five bass, 15-15, $385
5th: Michael Bell, Ogdensburg, N.Y., five bass, 15-13, $480
6th: Michael Bahnweg, Union Dale, Pa., 15 - 11 (5) $302
7th: Shawn Minch, Feasterville, Pa., five bass, 15-3, $477
8th: Melvin Smitson, Baltimore, Md., five bass, 15-2, $247
9th: Brent Navari, Colchester, Vt., five bass, 15-1, $220
10th: Hunter Navari, Colchester, Vt., five bass, 14-5, $192
Shawn Minch of Feasterville, Pennsylvania, earned the Big Bass co-angler award of $202, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 12 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After three events, Christopher Sanno of Landisburg, Pennsylvania, leads the Fishing Clash Northeast Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 712 points, while Lenny Baird of Stafford, Virginia, leads the Fishing Clash Northeast Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 722 points.
The next event for BFL Northeast Division anglers was planned for Aug. 18 on Lake Champlain.
https://dev.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-champlain-81924.html
Bass Fishing League (BFL) News