Green fish carry Feider to Day 1 lead at Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain

Aug. 8, 2024

Elite_eventLogo_2024_Champlain_Raster.pngPLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Since he started coming to Lake Champlain as an Elite Series angler, Seth Feider has never caught two 5-pound largemouth in the same day.

That changed on Day 1 of the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain as the New Market, Minn., pro landed a 6-pounder and another largemouth over 5 ½ pounds to anchor a 23-pound, 11-ounce limit of green fish that lifted him to the top of the leaderboard on Thursday.

“Those really big 5’s are super rare,” he said. “I’ve never caught two in the same day, but I did today, and they go a long way when everyone is catching 3- and 4-pound fish. I don’t know how the rest of the week will play out, but I had a really fun day.

“There’s no place I’d rather win one than on Champlain.”

On a day where 100 limits of bass were caught, 21 of which were over 20 pounds, Feider holds a 1-pound advantage over second-place Greg DiPalma and a 2-pound advantage over third-place Kyle Patrick.

It is the 2022 Angler of the Year’s biggest bag ever at Lake Champlain, adding to an already impressive track record at the famed fishery in eastern New York. He has two second-place finishes in 2017 and 2020 as well as a fourth in 2021. Last year, however, Feider missed the Day-3 cut and finished a disappointing 67th.

“Last year hurt,” he said. “I have a really good track record on this lake. It fishes a lot like home, just with bigger fish. I love fishing here.”

Feider opened the morning targeting the pelagic smallmouth Lake Champlain has become known for in the last several years with his forward-facing sonar. That turned out to be a particularly frustrating venture for the veteran angler.

“They were giving me problems, so I said to hell with them, and I went bass fishing,” Feider said. “I was just sucking at ‘Scoping. I was missing my casts, landing short, not getting bit and I lost one. I had a spot (close by) that is decent for largemouth, so I’ll go catch a few of them and then come back and Scope and it won’t bother me as much when they won’t eat my minnow.”

It was a day-altering decision as Feider landed his first lunker largemouth within his first couple of casts in the area. After landing another 4-pounder, Feider fully committed to the largemouth bite and fished seven or eight different areas, three of which produced his bag. A jig and a Texas rig were his most productive baits, while his biggest bass ate a frog.

Unlike in years past, Feider has found the largemouth are more spread out than they usually are. He got bites around wood, docks, rock and grass throughout the day. Most of the 25 bass Feider landed were between 2 and 3 pounds on Day 1.

“Normally you can go to a bay and camp out. This year, there are some bays I go into to catch one bass I shook off. It’s not an endless supply,” Feider said. “It’s probably because of the high water. When they were grouped up, they were more offshore in the submergent vegetation. The high water has them doing a little bit of everything.”

The Elite pros enjoyed sun and relatively calm conditions for most of Day 1, but change is on the way as the remnants of Hurricane Debby are forecast to move through the area starting on Friday, with stormy conditions continuing through Saturday morning.

That will make life much more difficult on Feider as far as navigating the fishery.

“If it gets windy, it will be really hard for me to catch them. A lot of my stuff is protected but getting from (here to there) will be a problem,” he said.

DiPalma, meanwhile, landed his entire 22-11 limit of smallmouth in the first two hours of the day off two shallow boulders in 12 feet of water. The Millville, N.J., pro believes the crawfish population is high in the area and has seen several smallmouth spit up crawfish as he was fighting them.

He primarily used a drop shot and a jighead minnow to land his limit.

“There are definitely fish in the area. It is a niche little area, and I have it to myself,” DiPalma said. “Tomorrow, the wind is going to change and the next day it is going to change again. These are smallmouth, and they can swim away.”

Once he filled out his limit, DiPalma made a long run south to the Ticonderoga region of Lake Champlain to try and catch a 6-pound largemouth. While he caught plenty of bass, he did not land the giant bass he was looking for.

Patrick landed a 21-11 mixed bag on Day 1 to land in third place. He anchored his bag with a 6-2 largemouth, which was the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day. The rookie from Cooperstown, N.Y., spent the day targeting smallmouth, landing three on the day.

But as he was moving through a section of grass in 15 to 20 feet of water, he received a surprising largemouth bite that clued him into a different bite.

“I committed to smallmouth, and I was throwing a Berkley Flat Worm and I got a largemouth bite. So, I pulled some rods out of the box and caught that 6-2 and a 4-2,” Patrick said. “It was fortunate that I ran into some largemouth.

“They were congregated in one section. It’s not like you can do that anywhere on the lake. I would have had 18 pounds if I had just smallmouth.”

A jig, a drop shot and a Damiki rig were Patrick’s three best baits on Day 1.

Alabama’s Justin Hamner, winner of 2024 the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors, leads the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 669 points. Tennessee’s Jacob Foutz is second with 654 points, followed by Illinois rookie Trey McKinney in third with 652 points. Missouri’s Cody Huff is fourth with 650 points and Chris Johnston of Canada is fifth with 639.

McKinney also leads the Dakota Lithium Elite Series Bassmaster Rookie of the Year standings with 652 points, followed by Tennessee’s John Garrett in second with 638 points and Alabama’s Wesley Gore in third with 628.

The full field will launch from the Plattsburgh City Dock beginning at 7 a.m. ET Friday and return for weigh-in at 3 p.m. The field will be cut to the Top 50 anglers after the Day 2 weigh-in before the Top 10 anglers take center stage on Championship Sunday.

Coverage of the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain will air on FS1 on Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bassmaster LIVE will be streaming on Bassmaster.com each day.

The Adirondack Coast and City of Plattsburgh are hosting the tournament.

 

2024 Bassmaster Elite Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2024 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro ShopsDakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Progressive Insurance, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2024 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew’s, Lowrance, Marathon, Triton Boats, VMC

 

About B.A.S.S.B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.

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Media Contact: Chad Gay, Communications Manager, 205-313-0945, cgay@bassmaster.com

 

2024 Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain 8/8-8/11
Lake Champlain, Plattsburg  NY.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 1

Angler                   Hometown              No./lbs-oz  Pts   Total $$$

1.  Seth Feider            New Market, MN           5  23-11  103
Day 1: 5   23-11
2.  Gregory DiPalma        Millville, NJ            5  22-11  102
Day 1: 5   22-11
3.  Kyle Patrick           Cooperstown, NY          5  21-11  101   $1,000.00
Day 1: 5   21-11
4.  Patrick Walters        Eutawville, SC           5  21-10  100
Day 1: 5   21-10
5.  Brandon Lester         Fayetteville, TN         5  21-08   99
Day 1: 5   21-08
6.  Jacob Foutz            Charleston, TN           5  21-04   98
Day 1: 5   21-04
7.  Robert Gee             Knoxville, TN            5  21-01   97
Day 1: 5   21-01
7.  Wesley Gore            Clanton, AL              5  21-01   97
Day 1: 5   21-01
7.  Chris Zaldain          Fort Worth, TX           5  21-01   97
Day 1: 5   21-01
10. Matt Herren            Ashville, AL             5  21-00   94
Day 1: 5   21-00
11. Will Davis Jr          Sylacauga, AL            5  20-15   93
Day 1: 5   20-15
12. Austin Felix           Eden Prairie, MN         5  20-14   92
Day 1: 5   20-14
13. Joey Cifuentes III     Clinton, AR              5  20-13   91
Day 1: 5   20-13
13. Matt Robertson         Kuttawa, KY              5  20-13   91
Day 1: 5   20-13
15. Jay Przekurat          Plover, WI               5  20-09   89
Day 1: 5   20-09
16. Koby Kreiger           Alva, FL                 5  20-08   88
Day 1: 5   20-08
17. John Cox               Debary, FL               5  20-07   87
Day 1: 5   20-07
18. Jacob Powroznik        North Prince George, VA  5  20-06   86
Day 1: 5   20-06
19. John Garrett           Union City, TN           5  20-01   85
Day 1: 5   20-01
19. Logan Latuso           Gonzales, LA             5  20-01   85
Day 1: 5   20-01
21. Chris Johnston         Otonabee Ontario CANADA  5  20-00   83
Day 1: 5   20-00
21. Wes Logan              Springville, AL          5  20-00   83
Day 1: 5   20-00
23. Cody Huff              Ava, MO                  5  19-15   81
Day 1: 5   19-15
23. Trey McKinney          Carbondale, IL           5  19-15   81
Day 1: 5   19-15
25. Cooper Gallant         Bowmanville Ontario CAN  5  19-14   79
Day 1: 5   19-14
26. Bob Downey             Detroit Lakes, MN        5  19-13   78
Day 1: 5   19-13
26. Jeff Gustafson         Kenora, ON Ontario CANA  5  19-13   78
Day 1: 5   19-13
28. Cory Johnston          Otonabee CANADA          5  19-12   76
Day 1: 5   19-12
28. Tyler Williams         Belgrade, ME             5  19-12   76
Day 1: 5   19-12
30. Justin Hamner          Northport, AL            5  19-11   74
Day 1: 5   19-11
30. Bryan Schmitt          Deale, MD                5  19-11   74
Day 1: 5   19-11
32. Drew Cook              Cairo, GA                5  19-10   72
Day 1: 5   19-10
32. Logan Parks            Auburn, AL               5  19-10   72
Day 1: 5   19-10
34. Jason Christie         Dry Creek, OK            5  19-07   70
Day 1: 5   19-07
34. Caleb Sumrall          New Iberia, LA           5  19-07   70
Day 1: 5   19-07
36. Shane LeHew            Catawba, NC              5  19-01   68
Day 1: 5   19-01
36. Lee Livesay            Longview, TX             5  19-01   68
Day 1: 5   19-01
38. Ed Loughran III        Richmond, VA             5  19-01    0
Day 1: 5   19-01
39. Taku Ito               Dalton GA JAPAN          5  19-00   65
Day 1: 5   19-00
40. Alex Wetherell         Middletown, CT           5  18-15   64
Day 1: 5   18-15
41. Michael Iaconelli      Pitts Grove, NJ          5  18-13   63
Day 1: 5   18-13
41. Alex Redwine           Blue Ash, OH             5  18-13   63
Day 1: 5   18-13
43. Carl Jocumsen          Queensland TN AUSTRALIA  5  18-12   61
Day 1: 5   18-12
44. David Mullins          Mt Carmel, TN            5  18-11   60
Day 1: 5   18-11
45. Caleb Kuphall          Mukwonago, WI            5  18-10   59
Day 1: 5   18-10
45. JT Thompkins           Myrtle Beach, SC         5  18-10   59
Day 1: 5   18-10
47. Kyle Norsetter         Cottage Grove, WI        5  18-09   57
Day 1: 5   18-09
47. Clifford Pirch         Payson, AZ               5  18-09   57
Day 1: 5   18-09
49. Clark Wendlandt        Leander, TX              5  18-09   55
Day 1: 5   18-09
50. Hunter Shryock         Ooltewah, TN             5  18-08   54
Day 1: 5   18-08
51. Drew Benton            Panama City, FL          5  18-07   53
Day 1: 5   18-07
51. Gerald Swindle         Guntersville, AL         5  18-07   53
Day 1: 5   18-07
51. Matty Wong             Honolulu, HI             5  18-07   53
Day 1: 5   18-07
54. Jamie Hartman          Newport, NY              5  18-06    0
Day 1: 5   18-06
55. Scott Canterbury       Odenville, AL            5  18-05   49
Day 1: 5   18-05
55. Timothy Dube           Nashua , NH              5  18-05   49
Day 1: 5   18-05
55. Ben Milliken           New Caney, TX            5  18-05   49
Day 1: 5   18-05
55. Jake Whitaker          Hendersonville, NC       5  18-05   49
Day 1: 5   18-05
59. Brandon Cobb           Greenwood, SC            5  18-03   45
Day 1: 5   18-03
60. Brock Mosley           Collinsville, MS         5  18-02   44
Day 1: 5   18-02
61. Matt Arey              Shelby, NC               5  18-01   43
Day 1: 5   18-01
61. Cliff Prince           Palatka, FL              5  18-01   43
Day 1: 5   18-01
61. Kyle Welcher           Valley, AL               5  18-01   43
Day 1: 5   18-01
64. Kyoya Fujita           Yamanashi CA JAPAN       5  18-00   40
Day 1: 5   18-00
64. Bill Lowen             Brookville, IN           5  18-00   40
Day 1: 5   18-00
64. Bryan New              Leesville, SC            5  18-00   40
Day 1: 5   18-00
64. Luke Palmer            Coalgate, OK             5  18-00   40
Day 1: 5   18-00
64. Frank Talley           Belton, TX               5  18-00   40
Day 1: 5   18-00
69. Brandon Card           Salisbury, NC            5  17-15   35
Day 1: 5   17-15
70. Cole Sands             Calhoun , TN             5  17-14   34
Day 1: 5   17-14
71. Brad Whatley           Bivins, TX               5  17-13   33
Day 1: 5   17-13
72. Hank Cherry Jr         Lincolnton, NC           5  17-12   32
Day 1: 5   17-12
72. Mike Huff              London, KY               5  17-12   32
Day 1: 5   17-12
72. Jordan Lee             Cullman, AL              5  17-12   32
Day 1: 5   17-12
72. Scott Martin           Clewiston, FL            5  17-12   32
Day 1: 5   17-12
72. Bryant Smith           Roseville, CA            5  17-12   32
Day 1: 5   17-12
77. Mark Menendez          Paducah, KY              5  17-10   27
Day 1: 5   17-10
78. Chad Pipkens           Dewitt, MI               5  17-08   26
Day 1: 5   17-08
79. David Gaston           Sylacauga, AL            5  17-07   25
Day 1: 5   17-07
80. Jonathan Kelley        Old Forge, PA            5  17-05   24
Day 1: 5   17-05
81. Keith Combs            Huntington, TX           5  17-02   23
Day 1: 5   17-02
81. Greg Hackney           Gonzales, LA             5  17-02   23
Day 1: 5   17-02
83. Kenta Kimura           Osaka OK JAPAN           5  17-00   21
Day 1: 5   17-00
84. Buddy Gross            Chattanooga, TN          5  16-14   20
Day 1: 5   16-14
84. Pat Schlapper          Eleva, WI                5  16-14   20
Day 1: 5   16-14
86. Marc Frazier           Newnan, GA               5  16-13   18
Day 1: 5   16-13
87. KJ Queen               Catawba, NC              5  16-10   17
Day 1: 5   16-10
88. Stetson Blaylock       Benton, AR               5  16-08   16
Day 1: 5   16-08
88. Rick Clunn             Ava, MO                  5  16-08   16
Day 1: 5   16-08
90. Justin Atkins          Florence, AL             5  16-05   14
Day 1: 5   16-05
91. Tyler Rivet            Raceland, LA             5  16-00   13
Day 1: 5   16-00
92. Paul Mueller           Naugatuck, CT            5  15-13   12
Day 1: 5   15-13
93. John Crews Jr          Salem, VA                5  15-12   11
Day 1: 5   15-12
93. Steve Kennedy          Auburn, AL               5  15-12   11
Day 1: 5   15-12
95. Todd Auten             Clover, SC               5  15-05    9
Day 1: 5   15-05
96. Joseph Webster         Hamilton, AL             5  15-03    8
Day 1: 5   15-03
97. Jason Williamson       Aiken, SC                5  14-15    7
Day 1: 5   14-15
98. Ray Hanselman Jr       Del Rio, TX              5  14-04    6
Day 1: 5   14-04
99. John Soukup            Sapulpa, OK              5  14-00    5
Day 1: 5   14-00
100. Brandon Palaniuk       Rathdrum, ID             5  13-01    4
Day 1: 5   13-01
101. Bernie Schultz         Gainesville, FL          3  08-00    3
Day 1: 3   08-00