BFL Tournament on Lake Champlain

Welcome to the new Angler's Art blog! This is the first in a series of blogs that I will write talking about my experiences in the world of fishing tournaments.

I am a professional photographer by weekday, shooting everything from still life shots to fashion shots, in my studio in NJ or on location in NYC. On the weekends, from Spring to Fall you can find me at a tournament, competitive fishing. It is my passion to get out there on the water and bring in the biggest fish I can catch! It's where many of the ideas and shots for Angler's Art come from.

I hope you enjoy reading about my experiences out on the water!

It's day one of practice before 104 pros and their partners take on the water at Lake Champlain for the Walmart BFL Tournament. Pretty calm conditions, water is clear and the forecast is perfect.

It’s a recipe for tough fishing for some anglers. I had a great practice, ran 68 miles south to check out the run. Pre-fished the Ticonderoga area on Thursday with some four pounders in the boat. I spent all day up north of Plattsburgh on Friday. Now it was decision time and I decided to fish north where I found good large mouth and smallmouths.

By mid-day, I was culling between my largemouths and smallies, but I was gaining only ounces and time was against me.

Using a Poor Boys goby dropshotting in 8-12 feet of water and flipping a Reactions Beaver in thicker grass I was only able to bring 14lbs - 8ozs to the scales. I weighed in at 7th place, but by the end of the tournament I fell to 29th. It did bring my standing up to 56th place, just 6 places from making the regionals on the Potomac River in the fall and with one final tournament on the flats to go. Moving up the standings to the last tournament of the season, is the only way to get fired up.

So I got in my truck and headed home, thinking the whole way home about the next tournament!

Looking forward to the final event!

John