Smallmouth fishing up north is just different. Only in this region could you have a tournament where the Top 10 last week went out and averaged better than a 4-pound average across four days of competition, 80 pounds of smallmouth or more each, and then go to another fishery down the road where those weights pale in comparison.
Rookie of the Year frontrunner Joey Cifuentes III has put the first 6-pound smallmouth of the week in the boat, less than an hour and a half into fishing. That’s bigger than any bass caught last week at Champlain, even as absolutely stellar as that lake is. Paul Mueller caught a 7-pound, 13-ounce smallmouth here in 2020. Jay Przekurat and Cory Johnston boated more than 100 pounds here last year; that’s 20 smallmouth averaging more than 5 pounds each. This place is special.
