Elite

Early action on St. Lawrence

Catch up with Paul Mueller, Chris Johnston, and Clark Wendlandt as they get started on the second day of the 2022 Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River!

Posted on
Photography by
Kyle Jessie
Paul Mueller came into Day 2 of the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite Series at St. Lawrence River sitting in 4th-place with 25-9.
Once Mueller arrived at his starting spot, he began scanning the area with his forward facing sonor.
Only a few minutes after he began fishing, Mueller hooks up with a keeper.
Not the same quality that he caught on Day 1, but a solid start nontheless.
Unlike Day 1, Lake Ontario was pretty choppy this morning, making it more difficult to efficiently fish this area.
Mueller hooks up again, this time with a much better fish.
Solid start for the Connecticut pro.
Not far from Mueller was Chris Johnston who also found himself in the Top 10 after Day 1.
It seemed ironic that Mueller and Johnston were fishing close by, because these two anglers battled it out on Lake Ontarion in 2020 as well.
Johnston hooks up almost immediately after he arrived, but it was not the quality he’s looking for.
It’s usually not a great sign on this body of water if you can boat flip the fish.
After pulling the trolling motor to head to a new spot, Johnston hooks up again.
Johnston deployed the trolling motor to fight the fish.
Once again, not a big fish, but a keeper nontheless.
Not far from Mueller and Johnston was Clark Wendlandt, who also found himself inside the Top 10 headed into Day 2.
Wendlandt has a history of success on the St. Lawrence River, including back to back Top 10s over the last two years.
The Texas pro roamed around a flat, focusing on isolated targets.
Wendlandt also utilized his forward facing sonar to find the fish.
A solid start to the morning put Wendlandt in a good spot to start the day, but he went through a bit of a slow period late in the morning.
A solid cull for the veteran angler.
He gets rigged back up and gets back out there.
Not long after his first cull, Wendlandt hooks up again.
These great lakes smallmouth are extremely strong, so Wendlandt let them run out their energy then went in for the scoop.
Another solid upgrade.
Wendlandt appeared to find something that he liked, then worked the area over. This payed off as he hooks up with another solid upgrade.
Slowly but surely, Wendlandt is making his way back into the Top 10 on BassTrakk.

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