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| Cal Lane earned the win with three spectacular days on Lake Champlain. Photo by Rob Matsuura. |
Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Press Release
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Cal Lane spent most of the 2026 season coming about as close as possible to winning without actually winning – a theme for him in 2025 as well. On Sunday, that all went out the window. Lane put together one of the best tournaments ever witnessed on Lake Champlain to take down Stop 6 Presented by VOSKER in style and close the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech regular season with a bang.
Weighing more than 20 pounds every day of the event, Lane caught a three-day total of 65 pounds, 7 ounces, which broke the record for largest three-day catch at Lake Champlain in MLF/FLW history, eclipsing the 64-1 Kyle Cortiana caught in the 2024 Toyota Series event there. His 23-15 on Day 2 was the third-heaviest five-fish bag in Champlain history for MLF/FLW, and for his efforts, he took home $100,000 as well as a spot in REDCREST 2027, which happens to be in his home state.
Finishing second, Matt Becker weighed 63-16, and also fished a basically perfect Champlain event. Banks Shaw cracked nearly 22 pounds on the final day to move up to third and also ice down his second consecutive 7 Brew Anger of the Year title.
Exploration earns Lane the win
For a few years, the theme on Champlain has been LiveScope, LiveScope and more LiveScope; as open-water and smallmouth have yielded the majority of the multi-day wins on the lake. If there’s a secondary trend, it’s that tournaments can be won all over the lake, maybe more than has ever been possible. Lane proved that at Stop 6 with a perfectly executed combo of smallmouth and largemouth.
On the first day of practice, Lane stuck to the Inland Sea (a historically excellent area) and put up terrible results. His second practice day, fighting big wind and a bad prior day, he expanded.
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