2021 Bassmaster Elite St. Lawrence River Day 1: Bernie Schultz Leads with 25-05lbs!

Chris & Cory Johnston Tied for 2th & Gustafson 15th

Bernie Schultz, of Gainesville, Fla., is leading after Day 1 of the 2021 Farmers Insurance Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River with 25 pounds, 5 ounces. 

BASS PRESS RELEASE

WADDINGTON, N.Y. — A patient approach to what Bernie Schultz described as a slow area rewarded the Gainesville, Fla., pro with a five-bass limit that weighed 25 pounds, 5 ounces to lead Day 1 of the Farmers Insurance Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River.

 

“I found a spot near where I fished last year,” Schultz said of his upriver area, near Chippewa Bay. “I haven’t seen another tournament boat in two years and I hope I don’t — unless it’s a camera boat.”

 

Schultz, whose best finish on the St. Lawrence was sixth place in 2013, described his spot as a flat approximately 200 yards long with depths of 3 to 8 feet. Starting on one end of the flat in practice, he quickly caught a 4-pounder, and by the time he’d completed his drift, he had another 4- and two 3-pounders.

 

“It’s a really good area and it’s protected,” Schultz said. “That’s what I like about it — it has everything the fish want and it has everything I need to fish, no matter what the weather does.

 

“There are numerous islands and I’m cradled right in the middle of them. I decided to start there today and it was a good call. It started quickly and I left them biting.”

 

Despite an impressive performance, which included the day’s Phoenix Boats Big Bass — a 6-2 — Schultz said the spot he fished required such a laborious effort that he believes most anglers would have abandoned it.

 

“It’s a precise drift that I’m making,” he said. “It’s slow enough that if anyone practiced there, they probably would have gotten discouraged.

 

“The fish are in certain sections of the flat and I had to locate them today because they moved a little bit. I had a 5, that 6-2 and a 3-pounder pretty quickly, but after that I had to move around on the flat to find them.”

 

Schultz fished a diverse arsenal of baits including a 1/2-ounce Hildebrandt Drum Roller spinnerbait, a Shimano jerkbait (debuting next week at ICAST), a 1/8-ounce black Marabou jig, a drop shot with a green pumpkin Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm and a Ned rig with a 3-inch green pumpkin watermelon laminate Yamamoto Senko.

Scott Canterbury Reclaims BASS Elite Angler of the Year on Lake St. Clair Day 2

Canadians Cory Johnston 4th, Chris Johnston 14th & Gussy 29th
By Bryan Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Canterbury rebounds and take AOY lead.
(Photo: BASS)

Scott Canterbury began this week’s Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship on Lake St. Clair with a nine-point lead in the season standings.

 He wobbled a bit during Sunday’s opening round due to technical problems and fell briefly into third place. But after a nice rebound Monday, the crown is once again his to lose.
 
Canterbury, a Bassmaster Elite Series newcomer from Odenville, Ala., caught five bass Monday that weighed 21 pounds, 13 ounces and pushed his two-day total to 39-8. That places him in 16th place for the week, but restores him to a slim lead in the AOY Championship season standings with a total of 846 points.
 
With one day left to fish, Texas pro Chris Zaldain (842) is in second, followed by Arkansas pro Stetson Blaylock (840), Canadian Cory Johnston (838) and Brandon Lester (814) of Tennessee.
 
“Yesterday was a real a struggle for me, but I rebounded today,” said Canterbury, who fished all day Sunday without the use of depthfinders on the front of his boat. “After yesterday, I felt like I needed to catch 20 pounds each of these last two days. I got 21 pounds today, and I’ll still like my chances if I can catch 20 more pounds tomorrow.
 
“I said coming in if I could get around that 57-pound mark — that’s 19 pounds a day — I’d have a chance. I’m a little ahead of that pace right now.”
 
Canterbury, who has led the AOY race since early summer, had once hoped just to survive the Elite Series’ New York swing — which was fair, considering he’d never fished the St. Lawrence River or Cayuga Lake. He did better than that, finishing third and 11th in the two events, respectively.
 

Jamie Hartman Wins 2019 Bass Elite Cayuga Lake with 80-13lbs!

Gussy just 10 ounces short, Cory Johnston 7th.
By Bryan Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASE

New York native Hartman captures 2 Elite victories in the last 3 events.
(Photo: BASS)

On Sunday afternoon, for the second time in three tournaments, Jamie Hartman claimed a Bassmaster Elite Series victory.

Both were special. But he couldn’t deny this one meant just a little more.

Fishing in his home state of New York, Hartman caught five bass that weighed 22 pounds, 4 ounces Sunday and jumped from fourth place into the winner’s spot at the SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Cayuga Lake with a four-day total of 80-13.

After all the bass had been weighed, Hartman carried the blue trophy into a boisterous crowd of fans who were eager to hug and high-five their hometown favorite. It was a stark contrast to the celebration he was basically denied when he earned his first victory two months ago at Lake Guntersville and a severe thunderstorm rolled through just as he was handed the trophy.

“It just couldn’t be any better than this,” Hartman said. “For it to happen right here in my home state with all of my family here, it’s incredibly special.

“This is where my heart is. It’ll be hard to top this — ever.”

Hartman was one of the few anglers all week whose trajectory was consistently headed upward. He caught 16-14 Thursday, 19-9 Friday, 22-2 Saturday and 22-4 Sunday.

2019 Bassmaster Elite Cayuga Lake Day 3: Jeff Gustafson Maintains Lead with 64-05!

Cory Johnston 6th & Chris Johnston 20th.
By Bryan Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Gussy on the verge of his first Elite win, a first for any Canadian.
(Photo: BASS)

As Jeff Gustafson struggled through a difficult Saturday at the SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Cayuga Lake, he assumed he would probably fall out of the lead.

What he didn’t know is that most of the field was struggling right along with him — and despite catching five bass that weighed only 15 pounds, 4 ounces, he held on to first place with a three-day total of 64-5.

The Canadian pro will now lead the Top 10 remaining anglers into Championship Sunday with a chance to earn his first Bassmaster Elite Series victory and the $100,000 paycheck that goes with it.

“Today went by a lot quicker than the last two days when I had those big bags,” said Gustafson, who started the event with catches of 23-11 and 25-6. “I’m pretty surprised to be in this position. Hopefully I can close the door and catch those big fish again like I did the first two days.”

Despite his Day 3 dropoff, Gustafson has more than a 4-pound lead over second-place angler Chris Zaldain (60-0), who also struggled Saturday bringing in only 14 pounds. Minnesota pro Seth Feider caught just 15-14 and is in third with 58-11.

Gustafson was shocked to still be at the top of the standings.

“I was pretty sure I would have enough to stay in the Top 10,” he said. “But I figured I’d be probably fourth or fifth and playing catchup.

“I figured there would be another parade of 20-pound bags.

Aaron Martens Wins 2017 BASS Elite Lake Champlain Tournament!

23-05Lbs limit on Sunday seals win!
BASS PRESS RELEASE

From 19th place to 1st!
(Photo: BASS)

Nobody thought it was possible, Aaron Martens least of all. But on the final day of competition at the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain presented by Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels, Martens massed a 23-pound, 5-ounce sack of bass and stunned the crowd, and the field, who all thought such a feat was impossible. He edged second-place finisher Seth Feider of Bloomington, Minn., by a little less than a pound.
 
“I'm still in shock,” Martens said, surrounded by reporters behind the stage, trophy at rest beside him on a chair. “I can’t believe I won. It still hasn’t set in yet.”
 
Martens, originally from California but now a resident of Leeds, Ala., wasn’t sure how much his limit weighed — it’s difficult to judge weight at a tournament where winners can be decided by ounces. But his bag included a 6-2 largemouth that was second only to Seth Feider’s 6-4 bass, which won the Phoenix Boats Big Bass Award of $1,500 for the tournament.
 
“I didn't know how much I actually had,” Martens said. “The only time all day when I thought I had a shot to win was when I saw 23-5 on the scales. The BASSTrakk (unofficial leaderboard) said I had 20-11. I thought I maybe had 22. But I just didn’t know. I overestimated BASSTrakk the first day, so maybe I got a little gun-shy and underestimated today. I’m still really in shock.”
 

2017 Bass Elite Lake Champlain Day 2: Wheeler Takes Lead!

Gunning for 2nd win this season

BASS PRESS RELEASE
The second round of the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain presented by Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels dawned with clear, high skies and still-as-glass conditions. Jacob Wheeler of Indianapolis, Ind., took advantage and boated a 20-pound, 12-ounce limit of smallmouth bass, which catapulted him 29 spots up the leaderboard to first place with one day left to fish. His two-day, 10-fish total is 38-8.

Wheeler’s story is remarkable not only because of his dramatic movement up the standings, but also because he did it with smallmouth. Although Champlain is a legendary smallmouth fishery, tournaments here, when held in late July and early August, are traditionally won with at least some largemouth. Even second-place Seth Feider, a smallmouth specialist, is targeting largemouth, and he weighed four of them today.

“Obviously it was a heck of a day,” Wheeler said. “I caught about 50 bass today and had the fish on to have a legitimate 22-pound bag of smallmouth. I think there’s 20 more pounds in that same area. This lake is phenomenal. You just can’t beat a lake where you can catch 20 pounds of smallmouth.”

2016 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship at Mille Lacs Lake Day 2: Swindle Banking on Point Spread!

Swindle down, but far from out. 

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Another impressive day of hefty smallmouth astonished fans during the second round of the $1 million Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship at Minnesota's famed Mille Lacs Lake.

Points gap favours G-Man.
(Photo: BASS)

On Thursday, the Top 50 qualifiers from the Bassmaster Elite Series produced 23 limits exceeding the 20-pound mark. Today's field did one better by bringing 24 limits to the scales exceeding 20 pounds.

While that's an impressive turnout yet again, the angler who catches the heaviest three-day limit of bass does not win this tournament; rather points are the key to victory this week.

Gerald Swindle of Guntersville, Ala., held onto his Angler of the Year lead after weighing 15 pounds, 13 ounces, which brought his two-day total to 25-6. He improved on Thursday's performance, but Keith Combs of Huntington, Texas, is within 28 points of Swindle in the AOY race.

Ott DeFoe Wins 2016 BASS Elite Mississippi River with 63-10 Pounds!

DeFoe rallies in last few hours. 

Dave Precht
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Ott DeFoe maintained his lead for the third day in a row to earn his first career regular-season Bassmaster Elite Series victory at the Plano Bassmaster Elite at the Mississippi River presented by Favorite Fishing.
 
DeFoe, of Knoxville, Tenn., produced a five-bass limit that weighed 12 pounds and 1 ounce on Championship Sunday taking his four-day total to 63 pounds, 10 ounces. 

Ott rallies as spillway bass disappear. (Photo: BASS)

DeFoe’s performance barely ousted Minnesota native Seth Feider who weighed in 13-8 for a total of 62-7, which was good enough for a second-place finish.
 
DeFoe’s victory earned him a $100,000 paycheck and a title that he has been striving for since his rookie season in 2011 — the same season the now 31-year-old pro was crowned Bassmaster Elite Series Rookie of the Year.
 


“I’ve done well in La Crosse before,” DeFoe said. “It’s an amazing fishery, and I feel very comfortable fishing here. I felt that I located the right fish during practice that might keep me competitive during each day of competition, and I’m thankful the pattern held up.
 
“It’s hard for me to put into words what winning this tournament means. 

2016 BASS Elite Mississippi River Day 3: Ott DeFoe Continues to Lead with 51.09 Pounds!

DeFoe banks on spillway.

BASS COMMUNICATIONS

Ott DeFoe widened his lead in the Plano Bassmaster Elite at the Mississippi River presented by Favorite Fishing on Saturday, if ever so slightly.

DeFoe of Knoxville, Tenn., weighed in 16 pounds, 7 ounces in the third round of the four-day Elite Series tournament for a total of 51 pounds, 9 ounces. That's 2 1/2 pounds ahead of second-year Elite pro Seth Feider of Bloomington, Minn., who has 48-15. DeFoe had a 1-14 lead Friday.

Ott sticks it out at spillway to scoop lead. (Photo: BASS)

That doesn't sound like much of a margin, but in a fishery where big bass of the day is usually under 5 pounds and only ounces separate many of the positions in the standings, it will take a stumble by DeFoe and a stellar day for Feider. In fact, most of the difference between the two can be accounted for by the 6-pound, 1-ounce largemouth — a giant in this fishery — DeFoe caught at the end of the day Friday.