“They’re in an area that has thousands of fish,” commented Bassmaster LIVE commentator Mark Zona about the 3-1/2 mile stretch of the Inland Sea where the current leaders Jay Przekurat, Kyoya Fujita, Cody Huff, and Greg DiPalma are fishing.
Managing fish is almost always a key component of any Elite Series championship campaign. There’s a constant guessing game going on in the head of the Elite angler on top, doing the best to catch as much as he can each day without catching a fish that could help him in the coming days of competition. The need to manage smallmouth in the summer here is non-existent.
These fish are pelagic, roaming the open and deep waters of Champlain in search of schools of baitfish. It’s hard for an angler to stay on the exact fish from cast to cast, let alone day to day. What we’re seeing as a result of this is that the top contenders are able to camp out in an area all day and fish as hard as they can for as many big bites as they can get. Catching a 3- and 1/2-pounder may not cull, but it doesn’t even matter, because the chances of catching that fish tomorrow are 1 in 1,000.
