Elite

Monumental Monday morning for Johnston

Head out with Day 3 leader Chris Johnston as he tries to seal the deal at the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at the Mississippi River!

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Photography by
Andy Crawford
Canada’s Chris Johnston held nearly a 2-pound lead going into Championship Monday of the 2022 Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Mississippi River, and he ran straight to a flat from which he has been snatching smallmouth all weekend.
Within minutes he was hooked up on a good bass.
Johnston’s first bass is swung into the boat.
A little trophy shot for the BASS Live camera …
… and it was right back to work.
Johnston was focused on a grassy flat, but he had to adjust from the previous days. Today, rising water levels was pushing water onto the flat instead of pulling out of the shallows. Sho he had to throw onto the flat instead of the working the edge of it.
The change put him on another fish.
Another keeper is in the boat.
Every bait he used would get caught in the vegetation at some point, but that’s where the bass were hanging.
Another keeper is in the boat.This fish was a chunky bass that helped him maintain his lead.
After 30 or so minutes without a bite, Johnston pulled up and moved to another shallow grass bed near Stoddard.
Johnston finally got a big bite in a grass bed …
… but the fish spit the frog.
Johnston reacted to the loss of the critical bite.
The bass was deep in standing grass with submerged grass covered by duck seed.
A few minutes later Johnston got another shot.
This time Johnston swung the bass into the boat, provoking a fist pump.
And then he was off to check one of his other areas.

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