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PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – A Maryland angler took home the $100,000 winner’s check Sunday at the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on Lake Champlain thanks to a fish he caught within 15 minutes of the close of the four-day competition.
Bryan Schmitt, of Deal, Md., said the championship was sealed by a 3 ½-pound smallmouth that gave him a 12-ounce upgrade of his catch of the day, allowing him to secure his first Elite Series win with a four-day total of 78 pounds, 5 ounces, according to Bassmaster.com.
“I pulled up to a buoy cable this afternoon right before time to come in and saw two fish on my (Garmin) LiveScope,” Schmitt told Bassmaster.com. “I threw that drop shot in there, felt the bite and didn’t really think it was a bass. But it turns out it was a bass — and without that fish I don’t win.
“When things like that are happening, man, it’s a special week.”
And things weren’t always going his way, he said.
On Saturday, he had two key fish break his line. Then on Sunday, he lost several bass because of something he says he should have never allowed to happen.
“Today, it took me three lost fish to realize that the point on my drop-shot hook had bent in,” he said. “That’s not a smart move. Out of those three, I’ll bet you at least one of them was a big one because they were on a spot where I had caught three 4-pounders this week.
“I was able to overcome those kinds of mistakes — somehow.”
To catch his bass, Schmitt used a Spro Spin John, a Neko-rigged Missile Baits Quiver Worm and a Missile Baits Ned Bomb on a drop-shot rig. After three good days, the weigh of his five fish on Sunday only totaled 16-pounds, 10-ounces, but that was enough to win.
“I caught a couple of key fish on the spinbait, but the Quiver Worm produced the bulk of my fish for sure,” he said. “I was fishing it on a Hayabusa Spin Muscle Guard Hook with a little nail weight just to get it down.
“These fish are smart, I guess. You could throw a jig in there and they wouldn’t bite it, but they would eat that Quiver Worm.”
Schmitt held off Texas pro Keith Combs, who finished with 77-13 — just 8 ounces behind Schmitt. Chris Zaldain, also from Texas, finished third with a four-day total of 76 pounds, 15 ounces. Comb won $36,000. Zaldain took home $30,000.
Jamie Hartman, the only a New York State native in the tournament (he now lives in Arkansas), finished 73rd. He went home with $2,500.
See the tournament’s final standings and money won by anglers on Bassmaster.com.
The biggest bass of the tournament was landed by Dale Hightower, of Oklahoma. His 5-pound, 15-ounce largemouth was caught on Thursday, the first day of the competition.
From Lake Champlain, the 95 Elite Series anlers now travel to the season-ending Farmers Insurance Bassmaster Elite Series tournament at the St. Lawrence River based out of Waddington.
That tournament begins Thursday and ends Sunday. Once again, the winner’s check there will be $100,000, with other cash and prizes at stake.
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