Cory Johnston Wins 2025 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at St. Lawrence River!

Canadians: Erik Luzak 3rd!

By David A Brown

BASS Press Release

WADDINGTON, N.Y. — Cory Johnston’s high standards kicked in the extra motivation he needed to turn in his best performance of the week and tally a three-day total of 74 pounds, 15 ounces to win the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at St. Lawrence River presented by SEVIIN.

With three decades of local fishing, the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series star from Otonabee, Canada took seventh place on Day 1 with 24-7 and gained three spots with a second-round limit of 24-1.

For many, that’s pretty good fishing. Not for Johnston.

“It’s crazy to say, but 24 pounds out here really isn’t a good day and anything over 25 is what you need to win,” Johnston said. “This is a special place.”

Taking his own advice, Johnston stepped on the gas and sacked up a final-round limit of 26-7 and came within an ounce of hitting that 25-pound average. He finished with a margin of 2-11 over Day 2 leader Zack Goutremout.

2019 FLW Cup Lake Hamilton Day 2: Bryan Thrift Leads with 27-10 lbs!

Canadians Luzak 17th & Johnston 46th

By Curtis Niedermier 

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Thrift readies for his first FLW Cup Championship.
(Photo: FLW)

For the second day in a row, Shelby, N.C., pro Bryan Thrift will go to bed with the lead in the 2019 FLW Cup at Lake Hamilton. Today, Thrift weighed in 12 pounds, 7 ounces for a two-day total of 27-10. He leads Florida pro Kyle Walters by 1 1/2 pounds.

For the most part, the pros who made the top 10 this week seem very confident that the final day could be the best of the week – a slugfest by Hamilton standards. Sunshine makes the bite go at Lake Hamilton this time of year, and there’s sunshine in the forecast. 

Thrift is the exception. He isn’t sure what to expect.

For the last two days, Thrift has run all over Hamilton, fishing deep, fishing shallow and having to scrape and claw for every bite. He thinks the fishing pressure has taken its toll, but what makes him most uncomfortable is that he’s not dialed in well enough to know that he can pull up on specific spots and get bit in expected ways.

“I don’t know where I can go catch one,” Thrift says. “I know where to throw, but I don’t know where I can catch one. And I don’t like that.

“Nothing seems to outshine anything else,” he adds. “I’ve caught some on reaction baits. I’ve caught some dragging worms. I’ve caught some on topwater. It’s just kind of a hodgepodge of anything.”

Thrift only had six keeper bites today. The morning bite was really slow for everyone, especially for the leader. He only had two fish by 1 o’clock. 

That’s when the former Angler of the Year made a key adjustment. 

“I just kind of put my head down and just made myself slow down and milk an area out and finally caught a limit,” he says. 

2019 FLW Cup Lake Hamilton Day 1: Bryan Thrift Leads with 15-03lbs!

Canadians Luzak 11th & Johnston 13th
By Curtis Niedermier 
FLW PRESS RELEASE

Thrift is a master of August junk fishing.
(Photo: FLW)

Bryan Thrift claims he was surprised to catch 15 pounds, 3 ounces to get the lead on day one of the 2019 FLW Cup at Lake Hamilton, but if he’s really surprised he’s the only one. Like usual, the Shelby, N.C., pro was the favorite coming into the tournament, and he’s way overdue to finally get a Cup win. Everyone expected this.

However, earning the win will take holding off Louisiana pro Nick LeBrun, who’s only 3 ounces behind the leader and is as dangerous as they come in a scorching hot summertime event with a tough bite. 

Interestingly, Thrift and LeBrun are fishing some of the same types of areas, but their approaches are much different. 

LeBrun is dialed on a specific shallow pattern. Thrift is running a little bit of everything. He says for him that’s typical of fishing in the South in August. 

“Today went a lot better than I expected. I said I was going to be happy if I caught 10 pounds because I hadn’t caught a lot of 2-pounders in practice,” Thrift says. “We had a lot of cloud cover today, and I think that really improved the bite some. I started shallow and caught a limit on a buzzbait in a couple hours. The rest of the day I bounced around between deep and shallow and made a few good culls here and there. It was just kind of fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants fishing. I’m not really dialed in on one specific pattern; just kind of sampling seven or eight different patterns.”

He’s not committed to an area, either. Thrift ran all over the lake today, not quite from dam to dam. It was a tad reminiscent of the early years of Thrift’s career when he barely sat in one spot long enough for his boat wake to settle.

“That’s just August fishing,” he says. “I caught fish off places I never got a bite in practice. I know every brush pile and every stretch of bank on this lake has got a fish on it. I think sometimes they bite and sometimes they don’t in August, so running behind people doesn’t really matter because they might have fished it when the fish weren’t ready to feed.”

LeBrun’s day was quite different. He caught about a dozen bass, and every fish came on one bait. 

“I’m staying shallow. I’m running the bank. But I’m doing something a little bit different,” says LeBrun. “I think I’m making some casts that maybe a lot of guys aren’t making. I think that I’m able to kind of run water that’s already been picked over, but we’ll kind of find that out tomorrow.

TOP 10 BELOW

Erik Luzak and Ashley Rae Win 2018 FLW CANADA CUP!

Top team moving closer to 2019 Forrest Wood Cup!
By Luigi De Rose 

Ashley and Erik cash 10 grand and move closer to FLW Cup.
(Photo: Margaret Garnier/facebook)

		Position		PRO	CO-ANGLER	DAY 1	DAY 2	DAY 3		TOTAL
		1		ERIK LUZAK	ASHLEY RAE	20.55	18.55	16.45		55.55
		2		COOPER GALLANT	DANNY MCGARRY	21.55	18.25	12.45		52.25
		3		DAVE MACDONALD	MIKE BRAYFORD	16.1	17.55	16.9		50.55
		4		BOB IZUMI	DARREN IZUMI	15.45	18.35	15.85		49.65
		5		PETE GARNIER	BOB DECKERT	15.65	15.1	18.5		49.25
		6		DEREK GOLDIE	STEVER ERIC-MARKOVIC	17.5	15.45	14.95		47.9
		7		PHIL CURTIS	BRENT VALERE	16.25	16.85	14.55		47.65
		8		SCOTT BURNS	GORD ROGERS	17.65	16	12.95		46.6
		9		PAUL TSIGARUS	TERRY HICKEY	14.95	17.7	13.7		46.35
		10		DAN RISORTO	GERARD COCKS	20.75	12.9	11.95		45.6

Full results

Erik Luzak and Tom Hardy Win the CSFL Classic!

Very little news as of late but Erik Luzak and Tom Hardy won the Classic  narrowly beating out Dave Chong and Oliver Grigull. Erick and Tom has a commanding lead on Day 1 powered by a 5.65 lb largemouth. Dan Risorto and Frank Perciasepe grabbed third at the two-day CSFL Classic.

More info tomorrow. 

2013 CSFL Classic Winners Erny and Franklin Janzen with 62.65lbs!

By Luigi De Rose

Erny and Franklin Janzen lead wire to wire during the 2013 CSFL Classic. Fishing under diverse conditions and a lake restriction on Day 1, this father and son team proved they know smallmouth. With a three-day creel of 62.65 pounds they kept the late charging team of Erik Luzak and Tom Hardy at bay. IBASSIN wishes to congratulate the Janzens.

Full Standings:

Position	Angler	Co-Angler	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Total Weight
1	ERNY JANZEN	FRANKLIN JANZEN	20.85	20.3	21.5	62.65
2	ERIK LUZAK	TOM HARDY	14.55	22.65	21.8	59
3	CESARE RUSCIO	MIKE QUESNELLE	18.5	20.9	18.4	57.8
4	RYAN JOHNSON	CALLUM JOHNSON	17.4	20.5	16.7	54.6
5	KAL VAISANEN	BILL WALKER	17.9	20.7	14.8	53.4
6	BRIAN GARDY	MIKE BLEWETT	14.9	18.55	16.25	49.7
7	CORY JOHNSTON	CHRIS JOHNSTON	12.3	22.8	13.95	49.05
8	DEREK STRUB	MIKE DESFORGES	15.75	19.2	12.5	47.45
9	BILL TODD	BRIAN MOORE	15.6	15.6	15.45	46.65
10	RYAN CROWLEY		11.4	19	14.9	45.3
11	COADY GRANT	MIKE ALLEN	14.35	14.85	15.7	44.9
12	JASON CHRISTIE	JOHN RYCHELL	17.55	13.55	13.6	44.7
13	PETE GARNIER	ROB LAFLEUR	10.8	20.5	12.9	44.2
14	DAN MIGUEL	BRYAN LOW	8.8	21.5	13.75	44.05
15	JAY SHORT	CHRIS WALTER	15.6	14.25	13.05	42.9
16	BILL DUNLOP	RYAN JAYNES	11.05	11.2	20.55	42.8
17	STEVE ROWSWELL	MATT CAMPBELL	12.95	13.1	9.65	35.7
18	MIKE BROWN	CASEY RUTTAN	13.6	7.05	14.75	35.4
19	JOE MUSZYNSKI	SCOTT MURISON	18.75	16.2	0	34.95
20	WAYNE MISSELBROOK	DAVE KENNEDY	16.6	17.05	0	33.65
21	KIRK SULLIVAN	LINDA ROYLE	12.2	11.2	7.2	30.6
22	JASON GREENTREE		10.85	6.75	12.95	30.55
23	PETER TUZ	MIKE TUZ	18.5	7.8	1.2	27.5
24	BARRY GRAVES	JASON GOUGH	8.05	18.35	0	26.4
25	JOHN MACDONALD	STEVE HAWKINS	14.15	0	0	14.15
26	DAVE CHONG		0	0	3.65	3.65