Top college teams from across the country will compete on the St. Lawrence River August 12-14 at the 2021 Carhartt College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops.

Photo by Kyle Jessie/B.A.S.S.

August 6, 2021

WADDINGTON, N.Y. — The best college anglers from across the country will take on one of the best smallmouth fisheries in the United States when the Carhartt College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops arrives at the St. Lawrence River in Waddington, N.Y., Aug. 12-14.

Teams will take off from Whittaker Park in Waddington at 6:30 a.m. ET and return for weigh-in starting at 2:30 p.m. Coverage of the event can be found at Bassmaster.com.

More than 100 teams qualified for the tournament, including teams from Auburn University, University of Michigan, Ohio State, Clemson University, Clarkson University and bass-fishing powerhouses like Bethel University, University of Montevallo, Bryan College and McKendree University.

“Obviously, it is one of the best smallmouth fisheries in the U.S., I believe,” Bassmaster Elite Series pro Chris Johnston said. “It has gotten a little tougher over the years. Not necessarily because of the fish population going down, but because they are more educated now. You have to use some more finesse tactics — some smaller baits, smaller profiles and some lighter line. But with that said, on nasty windy days, they are still smallmouth and they are still going to be really aggressive and act like they never saw a bait at times.”

Teams that finished in the top 10% in each of the four regular-season events, as well as the wild card event at Lay Lake, earned a spot in the national championship and will compete for not only a victory, but a chance to qualify for the College Classic Bracket and ultimately a spot in the 2022 Bassmaster Classic at Lake Hartwell.

The College Series last visited the upstate New York fishery in 2019, when the Sam Houston State duo of Jackson Carrell and Bryton Kurtz sacked 72 pounds, 13 ounces over three days to claim the title during a regular-season event, setting a College Series record for a three-day event until 2020, when Cole Sands and Conner DiMauro caught 84-12 at the Harris Chain of Lakes.

B.A.S.S. has hosted 20 major events at the St. Lawrence River, which took the top spot in 2019 on Bassmaster Magazine’s Top 100 Best Bass Lakes list. Johnston took home his first Bassmaster Elite Series victory on the famed fishery in 2020, catching 97-8 over four days to become the first Canadian to win an Elite Series event. In 2021, Japanese pro Taku Ito’s eye-popping final-day 26-pound limit propelled him to a convincing victory at the Farmers Insurance Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River with a four-day total of 90 pounds.

Located on the border of New York and Canada, the St. Lawrence River is a clear-water fishery with heavy current, Johnston said. On calmer days, you can see down to 20 feet, and in narrower sections of the river, Johnston said the current can be as fast as 3 miles per hour.

While there are always fish to be caught in shallow water, by mid-August the smallmouth are largely postspawn and have moved to deeper water.

“A lot of the fish are going to be set up out deep, which is pretty good because you can get on a big group of them,” Johnston said. “You can drift down with the current vertically jigging them and you might get one or two fish a drift; then you start the big motor up and go back up and do another drift over them. That’s probably going to be the dominant way to catch them.”

Johnston said he likes to target underwater islands and locate subtle differences in bottom composition during this time of the year.

“Really anything that is different on the bottom,” Johnston said. “There might be a whole bunch of rock and then all of a sudden there is a sandy stretch that is 100 yards and they will sit in the sand. Or vice versa. If there is a flat of sand and then some boulders or chunk rock, they will sit on that.”

Drop shots, tubes and Ned rigs have historically produced quantity and quality of smallmouth bass over the years, and Johnston believes that will be the case during this event.

Johnston added that finding smallmouth on the St. Lawrence River can be difficult at times because the current keeps the smallmouth anchored to the bottom, making it harder to see fish on an angler’s unit.

While smallmouth are largely the focus on the St. Lawrence River, Johnston said fishing for largemouth around docks and grass could produce some big bags and vault a team toward the top of the standings if things break a certain way.

“If someone puts in the time to figure out the largemouth, they could very easily come away with 20 to 23 pounds a day as long as there aren’t too many people doing it and you can get away from everyone,” Johnston said. “There is a chance it can be won on largemouth, but more than likely smallmouth.”

The Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops is being hosted by the Village of Waddington, St. Lawrence County Chamber and Clarkson University. This tournament is also supported by a Market New York grant from I LOVE NY/New York State’s Division of Tourism awarded as part of the Regional Economic Development Council initiative. The tournament and all associated festivities are planned to ensure the safety of anglers, marshals, staff and fans.