TW_Staff
08-25-2009, 10:03 AM
It's not all that unusual for an angler to make up a 4-pound deficit to win on the final day. But leapfrogging 18 anglers in the process is a rare feat, indeed.
Former FLW Tour pro Jason Knapp of Pennsylvania pulled off that feat over the weekend at the Champlain Bassmaster Northern Open. After catching 17-pound sacks the first 2 days, he brought in a massive 22-pound stringer on the last day to climb from 19th place all the way to the top of the final standings.
Knapp came to Champlain with the idea of notching a Top 5 and cashing a good paycheck. He'd bombed at the Northern opener at the Chesapeake Bay in April (143rd) and was all but out of contention for the Bassmaster Classic berths and Elite Series invitations that will go to the top points finishers at the end of the season.
"I knew I'd need a really high finish to make any money, so I was looking to get around the best fish possible," he said. "I had a fairly decent practice catching quality, but I just wasn't getting a whole lot of numbers.
"I caught 18 pounds of smallmouths on the first (practice) day and I felt okay about that, but I didn't know if I could do it 3 days in a row. The weather dictates so much of what happens there and if it had blown hard, I wouldn't have been real comfortable with what I was doing. But I also knew it would be a gamble fishing for largemouths."
He decided that his game plan would consist of catching a limit of offshore smallmouths on a jig or a dropshot rig as quickly as he could in the morning, and then spending the rest of the day in search of kicker largemouths with a flipping stick. That's a common blueprint for tournaments at Champlain, and it always comes down to locating the right groups of fish, followed by near-flawless execution in putting them in the boat.
Competition:
Knapp had committed himself to remaining in the north end of the lake. His smallmouth area was about a 10-minute run from the launch in Plattsburgh, N.Y., and his largemouth spot another 10 minutes beyond that.
Day 2 was pretty much a carbon copy of the previous day, both in terms of weight and how events unfolded. The only difference was he weighed two largemouths and gained the confidence to devote the entire final day to the green fish. He thought he might've blown any chance of winning he had when a 4-pound largemouth was able to spit out his flipping bait.
"The first two days I got a limit of smallmouth casting a black 1/2-ounce Deps football head jig in about 15 feet of water," he said. "I did the same thing Saturday but then I went flipping. That's what won it for me.
"Since I culled most of my smallmouth, I fished slow and focused on getting a big (largemouth) bite," he said.
"I kind of thought I'd dropped the ball right there," he said. "I should've had about 18 1/2 pounds."
Day 3 went stunningly well right from the get-go as he boxed 18 pounds within the initial hour. He estimated that he caught 15 keepers for the day and the five he weighed were nearly identical in size – about 4 1/2 pounds each.
He did all his damage from one grassy area with water that was about 3 feet deep.
"As to why those fish were there, I'm really not sure. I found other areas just like it and never got bit. There were bluegill spawning in there, though, and there was a mix of grass with a lot of eel grass around."
Winning Gear:
Flipping gear: 7'6" heavy-action Kistler flipping stick (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=KLTXF), Shimano Curado (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCER) casting reel (7:1 ratio), 65-pound unnamed braided line, 1/2- or 3/4-ounce Penetrator tungsten weight, 4/0 Gamakatsu EWG hook (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GOSWG), prototype Mizmo creature bait (black/blue).
Jig gear: 7' medium-heavy Kistler rod (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=KLTC), same reel, 12-pound unnamed fluorocarbon line, 1/2-ounce Deps football jig (black), unnamed chunk trailer (black).
Dropshot gear: 6' fast-action Kistler dropshot rod, Shimano Stella (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SSTD) spinning reel, 6-pound unnamed fluorocarbon, 3/8-ounce homemade weight, 1/0 Gamakatsu dropshot hook (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GSS), Mizmo Scorpion (green-pumpkin).
Main factor – "Being able to change up and go for the largemouth – not being content to catch 17 pounds for 3 straight days."
Performance edge – "My Yamaha outboard. Champlain is so rough all the time, even when the wind doesn't blow, but it got me out there and back every time and I was able to move around in those big waves."
TW Staff
Former FLW Tour pro Jason Knapp of Pennsylvania pulled off that feat over the weekend at the Champlain Bassmaster Northern Open. After catching 17-pound sacks the first 2 days, he brought in a massive 22-pound stringer on the last day to climb from 19th place all the way to the top of the final standings.
Knapp came to Champlain with the idea of notching a Top 5 and cashing a good paycheck. He'd bombed at the Northern opener at the Chesapeake Bay in April (143rd) and was all but out of contention for the Bassmaster Classic berths and Elite Series invitations that will go to the top points finishers at the end of the season.
"I knew I'd need a really high finish to make any money, so I was looking to get around the best fish possible," he said. "I had a fairly decent practice catching quality, but I just wasn't getting a whole lot of numbers.
"I caught 18 pounds of smallmouths on the first (practice) day and I felt okay about that, but I didn't know if I could do it 3 days in a row. The weather dictates so much of what happens there and if it had blown hard, I wouldn't have been real comfortable with what I was doing. But I also knew it would be a gamble fishing for largemouths."
He decided that his game plan would consist of catching a limit of offshore smallmouths on a jig or a dropshot rig as quickly as he could in the morning, and then spending the rest of the day in search of kicker largemouths with a flipping stick. That's a common blueprint for tournaments at Champlain, and it always comes down to locating the right groups of fish, followed by near-flawless execution in putting them in the boat.
Competition:
Knapp had committed himself to remaining in the north end of the lake. His smallmouth area was about a 10-minute run from the launch in Plattsburgh, N.Y., and his largemouth spot another 10 minutes beyond that.
Day 2 was pretty much a carbon copy of the previous day, both in terms of weight and how events unfolded. The only difference was he weighed two largemouths and gained the confidence to devote the entire final day to the green fish. He thought he might've blown any chance of winning he had when a 4-pound largemouth was able to spit out his flipping bait.
"The first two days I got a limit of smallmouth casting a black 1/2-ounce Deps football head jig in about 15 feet of water," he said. "I did the same thing Saturday but then I went flipping. That's what won it for me.
"Since I culled most of my smallmouth, I fished slow and focused on getting a big (largemouth) bite," he said.
"I kind of thought I'd dropped the ball right there," he said. "I should've had about 18 1/2 pounds."
Day 3 went stunningly well right from the get-go as he boxed 18 pounds within the initial hour. He estimated that he caught 15 keepers for the day and the five he weighed were nearly identical in size – about 4 1/2 pounds each.
He did all his damage from one grassy area with water that was about 3 feet deep.
"As to why those fish were there, I'm really not sure. I found other areas just like it and never got bit. There were bluegill spawning in there, though, and there was a mix of grass with a lot of eel grass around."
Winning Gear:
Flipping gear: 7'6" heavy-action Kistler flipping stick (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=KLTXF), Shimano Curado (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCER) casting reel (7:1 ratio), 65-pound unnamed braided line, 1/2- or 3/4-ounce Penetrator tungsten weight, 4/0 Gamakatsu EWG hook (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GOSWG), prototype Mizmo creature bait (black/blue).
Jig gear: 7' medium-heavy Kistler rod (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=KLTC), same reel, 12-pound unnamed fluorocarbon line, 1/2-ounce Deps football jig (black), unnamed chunk trailer (black).
Dropshot gear: 6' fast-action Kistler dropshot rod, Shimano Stella (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SSTD) spinning reel, 6-pound unnamed fluorocarbon, 3/8-ounce homemade weight, 1/0 Gamakatsu dropshot hook (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GSS), Mizmo Scorpion (green-pumpkin).
Main factor – "Being able to change up and go for the largemouth – not being content to catch 17 pounds for 3 straight days."
Performance edge – "My Yamaha outboard. Champlain is so rough all the time, even when the wind doesn't blow, but it got me out there and back every time and I was able to move around in those big waves."
TW Staff