Elite Series pro Emil Wagner claims the title at the very first Elite Qualifier tournament on Lake Champlain.
Now that the tournament is
complete, he can shout it even louder.
Wagner, a 27-year-old Progressive
Bassmaster Elite Series pro, topped the 105-angler field with a three-day
total of 15 bass weighing 69 pounds, 2 ounces. That’s the heaviest three-day
winning total on Champlain in B.A.S.S. history, which is saying a lot given how
frequently B.A.S.S. has visited this 278,000-acre mammoth fishery that forms a
large portion of the New York/Vermont border.
Because Wagner is already qualified
for next year’s Elites, he was one of 10 anglers in the field who wasn’t
eligible to earn EQ points at Champlain. He made the 20-plus hour journey from
Marietta, Ga., because he enjoys fishing Champlain more than any other
tournament water in the world. There was also a $58,049 check awaiting the
winner, which Wagner happily pocketed after hoisting the first Nitro
Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier presented by Bass Pro Shops trophy aloft
Saturday afternoon at Plattsburgh Boat Basin on the Champlain shore.
“I asked my buddies when we were on
the way up here, ‘Why are we driving this far to fish this tournament?’” Wagner
said. “We all just love catching smallmouth … This place is the absolute best.”
Wagner climbed atop the leaderboard
on Day 2 after catching a 23-9 limit, which tied for second heaviest of the
derby. Combined with the 22-2 he caught on Day 1, he entered Championship
Saturday with 45-11 and a mere 2-ounce lead over Day 1 leader Matt
Messer.
Wagner caught 23-7 on Saturday to
pull away from Messer, who caught 22-12 on the final day and finished second
overall with 68-5.
The 23-year-old native of Warfield, Ky., said finishing second was bittersweet, but he was happy to leave Champlain with a full 95 EQ points. That puts him atop the EQ standings with two of the three EQ events to go — at Alabama’s Wheeler Lake on Oct. 2-4 and Florida’s Lake Okeechobee on Nov. 13-15. The Top 10 in the EQ points standings when those events are complete will earn invites into the 2026 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series.
“You always want to win, and it
does sting a little when you get second place,” Messer said. “But I’m happy
with it. Making the Elites is my main goal and I got a great start in the
points. Hopefully, I have two good tournaments in front of me.”
Both Wagner and Messer targeted
Champlain’s storied smallmouth bass this week, but their approaches were a bit
different. Messer ran dozens of miles each day and settled into different spots
on the giant lake each day. He grabbed the lead on Thursday with a 23-9 limit
and followed with 22 pounds to put himself within reach of the tournament
title.
Wagner, meanwhile, targeted the
same 1-mile stretch of Champlain each day, catching more than 50 smallmouth
bass both Thursday and Friday. The spot didn’t produce anywhere near that
number of bites on Saturday, so Wagner had to move to keep himself in contention.
“I think I caught 25 (that weighed)
over four pounds yesterday on that spot, and they just were all gone today,”
Wagner said. “I was freaking out a little bit, so I made the big adjustment. I
had no other choice. Then I caught three really good ones in the new spot and
that’s what won the tournament for me.”
Wagner’s initial hotspot saw bass
suspended in about 15 to 30 feet of water with a bottom of 50 to 60 feet. He
suspects that continued wind gusts higher than 20 mph scattered the fish in
that area, forcing him to relocate. Saturday’s best bites came from over a sand
flat about 7 feet below Champlain’s clear water. A dramatic drop down to about
40 feet was the perfect place for the smallies to ambush the minnows and
alewife that were in abundance this week.
Wagner said the situation was very
similar to when fishing for spotted bass back home.
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