Gainey Enjoying The View While Figuring Out The Smallmouth For Northern Everstart On Champlain
Nick Gainey relaxed on the deck of the bed and breakfast on the shore of New York’s Lake Champlain more than a thousand miles from his home in Charleston, S.C., watching the brilliant hues of the sun setting across the lake, and wondered what was going on with the bass the weekend before the FLW EverStart Northern Division’s second tournament of the season.
He had come to the lake a week before the tournament to get a jump on some of the other competitors, but the fish had not been following normal patterns.
“I have a little history here. I’ve usually finished in the money and I’ve made the top 10, but I have been struggling in practice. I can catch a limit every day, but the numbers are off and the size is off. They are not biting like they are supposed to,” said Gainey who is second in points in the EverStart Northern Division. “I don’t know if the fish are in post spawn or what. They are not grouped up. You catch one here and catch one there. It’s been frustrating.”
Gainey finished second in the first Northern Division tournament of the year at Kerr Reservoir in North Carolina last month and he hopes to stay in the top echelon with a strong tournament on Champlain.
“My objective is to make the top 10 and stay up in the points. The next event is at Thousand Islands and the last event is on the Potomac River where I have made two top 10s, so I am excited about the schedule,” he said.
“But, I have got to figure them out here. I have been going out every morning at 6 o’clock and fishing until 5 o’clock every day. I have found two little areas where I caught a 3-pounder and a 4-pounder. Those are the kinds of areas you need in the tournament.”
Gainey noted that the FLW Tour held a tournament on Champlain several weeks ago that was dominated by largemouth bass. He spent one day cruising the banks and fishing for largemouths.
“I caught 20 to 25 largemouths, but no three-pounders. If you go down south the largemouths down there are under grass mats and you can catch them flipping or throwing a frog. But I am not going to run 70-75 miles. If the wind blows you can’t get back, so I am going to take my chances on catching these smallies up north.”
Usually, he said, smallmouth fishing on Lake Champlain is a no-brainer.
“It’s really Bass Fishing 101. You come up here and throw either a drop-shot or a Carolina rig.
The tournament starts Thursday so Gainey has from now until then to figure out the smallmouth. Meantime, he and his wife are enjoying their surroundings and the nice weather.
“We love it up here. We’ve been up here at least 8 to 10 times in the last 10 years or so. It’s just beautiful country with the Adirondack Mountains and farms everywhere. When you think of New York you automatically think of New York City with its traffic and people, but this is so far out in the country it is almost surreal,” he said.
“I can get out on the lake and see the Adirondacks out in Vermont or look the other way towards New York. It’s just beautiful country.”
FLW EverStart Series – Northern Division
Jul 19-21, 2012
Lake Champlain
Dock Street Landing
