WADDINGTON, N.Y. — After standing backstage waiting to weigh-in, listening to so many 20- and 19-pound bags hitting the scales before him, David Walker said it sounded like they were weighing the same five bass over and over.
“I’m shocked,” said Walker, after Day 1 of the HUK Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence presented by Go RVing. There were 20 five-bass limits weighing 20-plus pounds atop the leaderboard and another 30 anglers weighed at least 18 pounds. “For as many guys to catch that many big fish, it’s not an area, it’s not technique, it’s the river.”
The St. Lawrence River, which has long been a special place in bass tournament fishing history, reached new heights Thursday. Walker’s bag weighed 19-1, and he’s in 33rd place.
“I’ve never seen it like this,” said Mark Davis, who finished sixth here in 2015 and 20th in 2013. “Golly, 20 stringers over 20 pounds. My gosh almighty, it’s phenomenal.”
Davis was one of the last of the 109 anglers to weigh-in. He could only laugh after hearing another angler’s bag announced at 19 pounds, dropping Davis’ 17-10 down one more spot – to 51st place.
“Fifty-first place with 17-10,” Davis said. “That’s just crazy.”
The St. Lawrence River has been a semi-annual stop on the Elite Series for the past five years. In 2013, Brandon Palaniuk won with a stunning four-day total on a smallmouth bass fishery of 88-12. In 2015, Edwin Evers took the title with 77-10. After this week’s practice days, the consensus was the river would fish better than in 2015, but not as good as 2013.
Then Kevin VanDam showed up with a first-place bag of 24-5, topping Palaniuk’s best day of 23-9 in 2013. All bets are off now.
“It’s just unbelievable,” said Davis. “It knew it was going to be good, but I didn’t know it was going to be this good. I never would have believed these fish would have kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger. The four-pounders are just out the yazoo now.”
There’s always one qualifier after a big day on a smallmouth bass fishery: “Smallies are famous for being there one day and gone the next,” said Bill Lowen, who is second with 23-6.
However, Lowen, like so many of the leaders, can’t wait to get back on the river again. The guys who caught ‘em Thursday, not only left the fish biting, but didn’t even touch some of what they considered prime spots.
“I’ve definitely got a lot of spots going,” said Seth Feider, who is third with 22-11. “I was pretty much done by 10 o’clock, and I went looking. About 2:30 I found a really good spot. I broke off a four-pounder, then jumped off a 4 ½. I’m excited to get back out there tomorrow. It’s going to be a fun week.”