By Jody White, Invitations Press Release
MASSENA, N.Y. – Technically, the Johnston family is not inevitable on the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario, but this weekend, they looked pretty hard to beat. On Lake Ontario, Cory and Lynn Johnston won the Thousand Island Open out of Kingston – with more than a 5 1/2 -pound average per fish. Meanwhile, running nearly to Lake Ontario every day, Chris Johnston weighed 76 pounds, 1 ounce over three days to win Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 6 Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches in fine style.
Finishing second (again!) Hayden O’Barr tallied 68-8 on the week, and Banks Shaw, Brent Anderson and Clay Reece all got over 67 pounds, but nobody was really close to Johnston after he sailed through Day 2. The win is Johnston’s second at the FLW Tour or Invitationals level, his first coming back in 2018 on the Harris Chain. For this win, he pocketed $80,000 and burnished his already sterling record on the big river.
Quick recovery puts Johnston on top
After making a long run on Day 1, Johnston wasn’t exactly feeling the love from his favorite river early on.
“I went to some spots that were new to me, to be honest,” he said. “I found them in practice and made a long run to them, and they were pretty loaded in practice. I was pretty excited. And, I had four spots where I thought they were all 4 1/2-plus, and there were five to 10 fish per spot.
“Some of them were gone, some wouldn’t bite, and the wheels started spinning,” he said. “It was 11:00. I had two hours left to fish. And I’m like, ‘I’ve got to get out of this area.’”
Luckily, Johnston is long on experience on the St. Lawrence, and he had some good backup stuff in the tank.
“I went to a different section of the river, and I landed on a couple spots, and they were biting every spot,” he said. “I just stayed in the other zone where I caught them at the end of the day, and it produced every day. I probably shouldn’t leave that area again, to be honest.”
TOP 10 BELOW
When his closest competition faltered on Day 2, Johnston was able to go into Day 3 with a solid lead. Though he didn’t immediately catch the winning bag, he wasn’t nervous for long.
“I’ve been super close many times on the St. Lawrence with MLF or FLW in the past,” he said. “I won my first Toyota Series here four or five years ago in Massena. This is my second time back, so it’s been good to me. I’ve led on the St. Lawrence probably four or five times and blew it on the final day, so there’s always a little nerves going out there, but catching a few early kind of took the nerves away and it made for a pretty good day fishing today.”
Smallmouth standards carry the load
Fishing mostly familiar water, Johnston stayed fairly deep and drifted a lot and used LiveScope and a minnow some.
For drifting, Johnston mostly used a 3/8-ounce Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Tube, and he used a minnow on a 5.3-gram Gamakatsu Horizon Jig Head. Launching his baits on a Daiwa Tatula Elite with an 8-pound Seaguar Tatsu leader, he used 16-pound Seaguar PEX8 braid, which he thinks made a big difference in his presentations.
“It’s the best [braid] I’ve ever used, but the key is being able to get your bait a long ways away from the boat,” he said. “Even ‘Scoping, my LiveScope is set out to 100 feet. I still have to cast further than that because the current sucks my bait down. When it’s actually in the strike zone, it’s usually 70, 80 feet from my boat, but you’ve got to cast 130 feet to get it down there.”
Running close to Ontario every day, Johnston mixed old standards with some new places and tweaks to come out on top yet again.
“I hit a couple spots that have been good to me in the past,” Johnston said. “I saw boats on them in practice, and there weren’t any in the tournament, which shocked me. But that’s part of the reason is because they’re so hard to catch. So, just knowing they’re there and just figuring out a way to get them to bite was the key this week, and then, finding a couple new areas.
“I’d never caught them on a few areas where I caught them in this tournament,” he added. “So, it’s not just going to fish the same old water. You’ve got to relocate them every year, because it seems like if you find a new spot, they seem to bite a little better. They don’t necessarily live there all year, but if they’re there for a week and you can find them on that little staging point, you can put a little hurting on them.”
Points picture complete after St. Lawrence finale
While Shaw took home Fishing Clash Angler of the Year and Polaris Rookie of the Year on Saturday, it took Day 3 to finalize everything else. In the end, Shaw, Mitchell Robinson, Jacob Walker, Bobby Lane and Dustin Smith made up the top five, earning four invitations to the Bass Pro Tour, while Lane defended a spot on the BPT, as he’s already on the roster. Should they accept their invitations, the newest crop of BPT anglers appears to be supremely talented, and it’d be no surprise to see them adapt well to the next level.
The top 36 pros in the standings made the Invitationals Championship on the Mississippi River, and it came down to the last day there as well. On the final day, Blake Smith and Marshall Hughes both had a chance to fish their way into the championship, and tough final days knocked them out. Meanwhile, Alex Davis, with 918 points, was the last man in by the skin of his teeth.
The Tackle Warehouse Invitationals are back in action Sept. 5-7, on the Mississippi River for the Championship, which is presented by Phoenix Boats.
Top 10 pros
1. Chris Johnston – 76-1 (15) – $80,000
2. Hayden O’Barr – 68-8 (15) – $30,000
3. Banks Shaw – 67-14 (15) – $20,000
4. Brent Anderson – 67-9 (15) – $18,000
5. Clay Reece – 67-3 (15) – $17,000
6. Nick Hatfield – 66-12 (15) – $16,000
7. Mitchell Robinson – 66-4 (15) – $15,000
8. Brett Carnright – 66-3 (15) – $14,250
9. Lane Olson – 65-14 (15) – $13,000
10. John Murray – 65-6 (15) – $13,000
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