Top Canadian Cory Johnston 4th
by Jody White
FLW PRESS RELEASE
Perfect weather and another cavalcade of smallmouths were the primary features of day two of the Costa FLW Series event presented by Power-Pole on Lake Champlain. Hanging tight to the lead, Brett Carnright of Plattsburgh, N.Y., put 19 pounds, 8 ounces on the scale and now boasts a 40-pound, 15-ounce total. In second, last year’s champion Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Mich., weighed 19-13 for a total of 40-8 and sits just 7 ounces off the lead.
 |
| Deep spawning smallmouth and local knowledge key for Brett. (Photo: FLW) |
Through two days, Carnright has mined bedding smallmouths north of Plattsburgh to tally up an impressive 20-pound average. Nearly everyone in the top 10 is leaning hard on spawning brown fish, but Carnright has things a bit more to himself than some of the other pros.
“I am fishing a lot deeper than any boat I’ve seen around me,” says the local angler. “I had 10 fish that I went to catch, and all 10 of them have been there. I’m very lucky that none of them had been picked. Some of them are very easy to catch, and some have just swum up to the trolling motor to look at the boat. It’s definitely extraordinary, but you have to have something extraordinary to win these.”
Top 10 Below
Going into the final day, it will be tough for Carnright to stay on his pace, but he’s still got plenty of decent fish left on beds to catch.
“I feel pretty good about it,” relays Carnright, who only needed to catch seven keepers on day two. “I’m not sure exactly how heavy some of the fish are. I caught a few in practice and weighed ‘em, and I looked at three that are still there that are over 3 1/2 pounds. I found a lot of new ones today, I don’t know exactly how big those ones are, but it’s possible to catch another 19 or 20 pounds.”
Last year Carnright finished fifth in the opener on Champlain. Back in 2016, he finished seventh in the Bassmaster Open held in September. Now, he’s got a shot at easily the biggest win of his young career.
“It’s definitely going to be the most important day of my life tomorrow,” says Carnright. “Bar none. It’s going to be do or die, it could be a career-maker type of deal.”
Top 10 pros
1. Brett Carnright – Plattsburgh, N.Y. – 40-15 (10)
2. Ron Nelson – Berrien Springs, Mich. – 40-8 (10)
3. Austin Felix – Eden Prairie, Minn. – 40-7 (10)
4. Cory Johnston – Cavan, Ont. – 39-11 (10)
5. Chris Adams – Shrewsbury, Vt. – 39-7 (10)
6. Ryan Latinville – Plattsburgh, N.Y. – 39-6 (10)
7. JJ Judd – Saint Albans, Vt. – 38-10 (10)
8. Chris Johnston – Peterborough, Ont. – 38-5 (10)
9. Bradley Dortch – Atmore, Ala. – 38-5 (10)
10. Joseph Wood – Westport, Mass. – 38-0 (10)
No comments:
Post a Comment