Ryan Flaro and Scott Lefebvre Win 2016 Berkley B1 Event with 43.59lbs!

Monster smallmouth abound!
By Luigi De Rose

Photo: Mark Weare

On the first chilly weekend of autumn, 101 teams ventured on the bass rich waters of Lake Saint-Francis, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Qc, Canada trying to win the Berkley B1 tournament. If the wind is light, this tournament is a smallmouth whack fest. At the end of the two-day event, Team Radioworld's Ryan Flaro and Scott Lefebvre claim the tournament with 43.59lbs. Claiming the prize of a Z518 Ranger Boat and Mercury Motor package plus two championship rings is quite a haul. Flaro and Lefebvre grabbed top spot by the slimmest of margins, just 0.01 over Eric Danis and Eric Lamarche who landed 43.58lbs. You cannot get closer than that! Third place Nicolas Gendron and Jason Gramada also narrowly missed the win with their 43.54 pound total. This weekend, once again displayed why many consider Lake Saint-Francis one of the top smallmouth lakes on the planet.

Bryan Schmitt Wins 2016 BASS Northern Open on Lake Champlain!

Crayfish key to win. 

John Neporadny Jr.

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Bryan Schmitt fed Lake Champlain bass a steady diet of a crayfish imitator this week to win the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open finale.

Crayfish bodies in live well helps Bryan key on baits.
(Photo: BASS)

Fishing in only his fourth Bassmaster Open, Schmitt won the pro division title and took home the top prize of a Triton 19 TrX/Mercury 200 Pro XS rig worth $45,000 and $6,528 in cash.  He finished with a winning total of 15 bass weighing 59 pounds, 13 ounces.

Schmitt admitted to losing one “giant” fish Friday but boated everything else to finish the day with an 18-14 limit.  The Deale, Md., angler caught a heavyweight limit of smallmouth Thursday but the rain and clouds slowed down his smallmouth bite Friday.  He still concentrated on smallmouth but his limit included a mixture of two green and three brown bass. “I had to adjust a little bit,” he said. “I fished one spot Friday that had largemouth and smallmouth.” 

2016 BASS Northern Open Lake Champlain Day 2: Schmitt Take Lead with 40-15lbs!

Schmitt's on big smallmouth

John Neporadny Jr.

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Bryan Schmitt had planned on catching a mixed bag of largemouth and smallmouth bass on Lake Champlain, but he strictly targeted smallmouth Thursday to take the lead in the pro division of the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open #3.

Two 20lb limits key as leaderboard flip flops.
(Photo: BASS)

When the lake' surface turned slick in the afternoon, Schmitt knew what to do. He knew Lake Champlain smallmouth liked to feed on calm, sunny days.

"So I leaned on the smallmouth as hard as I could and that really helped me out," said Schmitt, who took over the lead with 40 pounds, 15 ounces.

"I had a lot of fun out there and hopefully I have one more day of it." The Deale, Md., angler caught a five-fish limit of smallmouth bass weighing 20-6 today, while on Wednesday he weighed in a mixed bag of largemouth and smallmouth totaling 20-9.

The first morning Schmitt concentrated on largemouth and caught a couple of keepers but had to switch over to a smallmouth pattern that he ran the rest of the day to complete his limit. Thursday he decided to stick with brown bass especially when the weather turned favorable for a smallmouth bite.

2016 BASS Northern Open Lake Champlain Day 1: Tacoronte Grabs Lead with 21-03lbs!

Only three Classic spots left!
John Neporadny Jr.
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Big smallmouth seal Day 1 lead. (Photo: BASS)

Guessing his primary spot would be taken, Jesse Tacoronte went to his Plan B spot and took over the pro division lead at the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open on Lake Champlain. 
“Since I was the last boat (in the takeoff) I figured I would go to my worst water first but it turned out we were done there by 9 o’clock,” Tacoronte said. The Orlando, Fla., angler quickly caught his limit of smallmouth bass and culled to accumulate 21 pounds, 3 ounces by 9 a.m.
“I didn’t expect that quality of fish to be in that one spot because that was my ‘B’ water,” Tacoronte said. The rest of the day Tacoronte “dinked around” because he wanted to save the best spots he found in practice for the rest of the tournament.

Drop Shot Success with FLW Pro Angler Shin Fuake.

Shin Fuake is one of the very best on the FLW Tour and BASSMASTER Opens. He can credit much of his success to the drop shot rig. Heck, he qualified for the 2016 Bassmaster Classic with a win using a drop shot. Listen to how Shin sets up this gear and his top baits.

G-MAN is the 2016 Toyota Bassmaster Elite Angler of the Year!

Feider wins event with 26lb bag of smallmouth!
BASS PRESS RELEASE

G-Man finally is crowned AOY!
(Photo: BASS)

Gerald Swindle of Guntersville, Ala., clinched his second Angler of the Year title at the 2016 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship at Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota.
 
A total purse of $1 million was paid out to the Top 50 Bassmaster Elite Series pros, along with berths to the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro. Swindle collected $100,000, and the remaining 49 anglers earned shares of the remaining $900,000.
 
The Top 39 anglers in the points standings have secured berths into the Classic next March on Lake Conroe near Houston, Texas.
 
Swindle, a 15-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier, failed to catch a limit on the first day of the championship, but he figured out the fish and on the final day brought in 22 pounds.
 
“The last thing I wanted was to win this title without catching the kind of fish that Mille Lacs is known for producing,” Swindle said. “I left the docks this morning with the full intention of going out and catching them how I wanted to catch them. I threw a jerkbait and a vibrating jig and had an awesome day. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut.”
 
Swindle said a 7-pound largemouth he caught during the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Elite at Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Ala., in late April was the turning point for his season.

2016 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship at Mille Lacs Lake Day 2: Swindle Banking on Point Spread!

Swindle down, but far from out. 

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Another impressive day of hefty smallmouth astonished fans during the second round of the $1 million Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship at Minnesota's famed Mille Lacs Lake.

Points gap favours G-Man.
(Photo: BASS)

On Thursday, the Top 50 qualifiers from the Bassmaster Elite Series produced 23 limits exceeding the 20-pound mark. Today's field did one better by bringing 24 limits to the scales exceeding 20 pounds.

While that's an impressive turnout yet again, the angler who catches the heaviest three-day limit of bass does not win this tournament; rather points are the key to victory this week.

Gerald Swindle of Guntersville, Ala., held onto his Angler of the Year lead after weighing 15 pounds, 13 ounces, which brought his two-day total to 25-6. He improved on Thursday's performance, but Keith Combs of Huntington, Texas, is within 28 points of Swindle in the AOY race.

2016 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship at Mille Lacs Lake Day 1: Swindle Misses Smallmouth Fest!

Omori bags giant 26 pound smallmouth limit
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Terrible day reduces AOY lead for G- Man.
(Photo: BASS)

Giant limits of smallmouth bass created quite the spectacle during the first weigh-in of the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship at Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota.
 
Twenty-three anglers crested the 20-pound mark with their individual five-fish daily limits. While that’s very impressive, this tournament isn’t won by the heaviest three-day total. Rather, it’s all about crowning the best angler of the 2016 season.
 
Gerald Swindle of Warrior, Ala., came to Mille Lacs with a 43-point lead over Keith Combs of Huntington, Texas. Swindle didn’t have to do much coming into this tournament to lock up the AOY title. But during Thursday’s first round, the 15-time Classic qualifier struggled to locate the right fish.
 
Swindle brought only three bass to the scales that weighed 9 pounds, 9 ounces.
 

2017 Costa FLW Series Schedule Released

by FLW

FLW announced today the 2017 Costa FLW Series schedule, which will consist of three events in each of the five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western – along with the no-entry-fee Costa FLW Series Championship to be held on Kentucky Lake in Paris, Tenn.

The top 40 pros and co-anglers in the final point standings in each division after three qualifying tournaments will advance to the 2017 Costa FLW Series Championship, provided they fished all three qualifiers in a division.

The highest finishing pro from each of the five Costa FLW Series U.S. divisions based on final results at the 2017 Costa FLW Series Championship qualifies for the 2018 Forrest Wood Cup along with the highest finishing pro from the International Division at the championship. The top five overall finishers who have not already qualified as division representatives also qualify, for a total of 11 Costa FLW Series pros advancing to the 2018 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing.

Complete rules and entry dates will be announced soon.

2017 Costa FLW Series Season Schedule:

Central Division

• March 30-April 1 - Lake Dardanelle - Russellville, Ark.
• June 8-10 - Kentucky Lake - Gilbertsville, Ky.
• Oct. 12-14 - Lake of the Ozarks - Osage Beach, Mo.

Northern Division

• June 22-24 - Lake Champlain - Plattsburgh, N.Y.
• July 27-29 - 1000 Islands - Clayton, N.Y.
• Aug. 24-26 - Potomac River - Marbury, Md.