CLAYTON, N.Y. – Jacob Foutz weighed the biggest limit of smallmouth bass in Elite Series history on Day 1 at the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at the St. Lawrence River – 27 pounds, 15 ounces. Stetson Blaylock almost matched it on Day 2. His five-bass bag weighing 27-11 is now the second-biggest bag of smallmouth bass in Elite Series history.
“I think 30 (pounds) is possible,” said Blaylock, who took big bass of the day honors with a 6-11. “It would not surprise me to see it. That’s the biggest bag (of smallmouths) by three pounds that I’ve ever caught.”
It was second verse almost same as the first at the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario. After 61 bags of 20 pounds or more were weighed Thursday, 54 hit the scales Friday. All 90 anglers weighed a limit each day. The 450 bass brought to the scales Thursday weighed 1,881-7; the total Friday was 1,845-7 – just over a 4-pound average both days.
Blaylock’s big day vaulted him from 32nd place with 21-15 on Day 1 to 4th place with 49-10.
“Today was just a special day,” he said. “Even after that, I ended up catching another 20-pound bag just trying to find new water.”
The 34-year-old Blaylock, who is from Benton, Ark., knows everything would have to go right for anyone to reach that 30-pound mark with five smallmouth bass. But there is plenty of evidence that it’s possible swimming in the clear waters of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.
“(Thursday) should have been a little better,” he said. “But those fish didn’t bite for me. You’re always going to lose some smallmouth. I lost some yesterday and I lost some today that definitely would have helped. My first drop of the morning I lost another 5-plus-pounder that would have helped.”
With the weather being basically the same the last two days, Blaylock can point only to timing as the difference.
“Honestly, I just kind of set my mind to don’t over-think it this week,” he said. “Just go fishing. Everybody knows that the forward-facing sonar is huge here. Being able to see those fish, and with the calmer days we’ve had, that made it really, really nice to make accurate casts.
“I noticed today that a lot of those fish didn’t eat (his lure right away). I think a lot of guys are reeling their bait in. I just let it sit there. A lot of times they may follow it 10 or 20 feet before they bite it. Did I figure something out? Probably not, but today it worked.
“I think it’s timing. I don’t think it’s conditions at all. Where I saw those fish yesterday, I went back because I knew there was big ones. I didn’t even go until 10 o’clock. But when I pulled up there, on the first two casts I caught two fives. A little later on, on that same place, I caught a six and another heavy five on back-to-back casts out of the same little cluster of fish.
“That never happens. Obviously, to have a giant bag, things have to go differently than they normally do. This was one of those days.”
Blaylock said he caught one bass in 50 feet of water and another as shallow as 10 feet. He didn’t want to get specific about lures but said they were all finesse type baits.
Blaylock said his all-time best five-bass limit was 36 pounds at Lake Fork. But Friday’s 27-11 of smallmouth would be “probably the fourth biggest bag of bass (of any species) I’ve ever weighed-in.”
“It was just a fun day,” he said. “One of those days you live for.”
