The Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at the St. Lawrence river is officially underway. Anglers experienced the whole gamut of weather during practice. Calm and sunny, windy and cloudy and to cap it all off, a torrential downpour.
But Day 1 of the event starts as pretty as a picture. A little chill in the air this morning with temps in the mid-50s and anglers sporting hoodies in mid-July. The wind is calm currently, and predicted to stay south of 10 miles per hour today. On the St Lawrence River, these conditions will trigger the same decision in almost every angler’s mind, head to the lake.
Lake Ontario is a beast, one that can get as rough as the ocean in high winds. But better than average big brown smallmouth live out there. History dictates that, if you want a shot at winning this thing, you’ve got to head out on Ontario any chance you get. And the getting is good today, so the anglers are biting. Almost every boat that left the dock this morning headed out towards the lake.
One interesting factoid to mention though, in a local tournament here Saturday where it took 28- pounds, 14- ounces to win, the lake was off-limits. That’s a giant bag of smallmouth and a little foreshadowing that maybe this year the river will play more than normal. Based on where the majority of the field is headed this morning, it looks like if an angler did figure something in the river during practice, he’ll have it all to himself.
