Champlain a copy of last year

If not for leader Bryan Schmitt’s three-day total of 62-4, this year’s Day 4 final at Lake Champlain would look like a carbon copy of last year’s. Jamie Hartman led after three days last year with 59-12. Chris Zaldain is second after three days this week with 59-13. Ed Loughran III was 10th last year after three days with 57-0. Austin Felix and Justin Hamner are in 8th and 9th this year with 57-0. Caleb Sumrall is 10th with 56-13. 

Schmitt is the outlier. Granted, his lead of 2 pounds, 7 ounces isn’t huge, but second through 10th place are separated by only 3 pounds. Schmitt, who won a BASS Open here in 2016, sounded anything but confident at Saturday’s weigh-in, however.

“I don’t know how we got it done today, to be honest with you,” said Schmitt, who weighed 19-4 to go with his bags of 21-11 on Day 1 and 21-5 on Day 2. “Tomorrow is the day, that’s all I know, whoever catches them tomorrow.” 

In recent history, that’s what it has come down to at Lake Champlain – whoever catches them on the final day. Last year Brandon Palaniuk weighed 21-6 the final day to jump from fifth place to first. In 2017, in a tournament that was shortened to three days due to high winds, Aaron Martens jumped from 19th place to first with 23-5 on the final day. (Despite being in 19th place, Martens was only 3-1 out of the lead after two days.)

“I can’t get my smallmouth to go,” Schmitt said. “I think that’s the key to this for me. I really feel like my largemouth are barren now. They’re gone.” 

Five more 20-pound limits were weighed-in Saturday, three by anglers who didn’t make the top 10 final. Keith Combs had the big bag of the day of 20-14. It vaulted him from 16th place to third. The Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite has evolved into a 10-man, one-day shootout, just like it has in the recent past at Lake Champlain.

As Schmitt said, “Tomorrow is the day, that’s all I know, whoever catches them tomorrow.”