We are one week away from the 8th stop of the Bassmaster Elite Series on Lake Champlain in Plattsburgh, New York. This is the beginning of the northern swing that consists of the final two Elite Series tournaments of the season. The Elites have visited Plattsburgh and Lake Champlain 4 times in the last 7 seasons. Each time it seems like there is a mix between largemouth and smallmouth that play a role. Lake Champlain is such a versatile fishery where an angler can choose from many different techniques to get the job done. We will without a doubt see anglers have success with finesse presentations like drop shots, ned rigs, neko rigs, and Damiki/strolling rigs, but we could also see more power fishing techniques play a role such as topwater baits, jerkbaits, and flipping and pitching jigs/creature baits. We will suggest two anglers per bucket based on their strengths, momentum, tournament history on Lake Champlain, and more!
Note: Since Lake Champlain and St. Lawrence River are back-to-back events, we went ahead and published our picks for St. Lawrence River as well. Click here to read that one!
Let’s dive into it!
Bucket A: Cody Huff or Jay Przekurat
Photos courtesy of Bassmaster
| Angler | Cody Huff | Jay Przekurat |
| AOY Position | 3rd | 7th |
| Previous 3 Elite Finishes | 9th, 43rd, 2nd | 3rd, 6th, 5th |
| History on Champlain | 3rd in 2023 | 5th in 2023 |
| Strengths | Finesse | Finesse |
*Przekurat just won a Bassmaster Open on Lake St. Clair in July.
Bucket B: Kyoya Fujita or Taku Ito
Photos courtesy of Bassmaster
| Angler | Kyoya Fujita | Taku Ito |
| AOY Position | 40th | 39th |
| Previous 3 Elite Finishes | 13th, 62nd, 82nd | 1st, 90th, 30th |
| History on Champlain | 1st in 2023 | 30th, 31st, 10th |
| Strengths | Finesse | Finesse |
Bucket C: Austin Felix or Bryan Schmitt
Photos courtesy of Bassmaster
| Angler | Austin Felix | Bryan Schmitt |
| AOY Position | 58th | 54th |
| Previous 3 Elite Finishes | 67th, 84th, 11th | 58th, 76th, 19th |
| History on Champlain | 9th, 5th, 18th, 88th | 17th, 1st, 26th, 1st |
| Strengths | Northern smallmouth | Swim jig, but versatile |
*With MLF/FLW, Felix has two top 10s on Champlain, and Schmitt has three top 10s on Champlain with one being a BFL win.
Bucket D: Seth Feider or Paul Mueller
Photos courtesy of Bassmaster
| Angler | Seth Feider | Paul Mueller |
| AOY Position | 65th | 73rd |
| Previous 3 Elite Finishes | 43rd, 21st, 68th | 32nd, 98th, 101st |
| History on Champlain | 67th, 4th, 2nd, 24th, 2nd, 26th | 15th, 71st, 14th, 34th, 78th |
| Strengths | Smallmouth, flipping milfoil | Cranking, drop shot, hair jig |
Bucket E: Joey Cifuentes or Matt Robertson
Photos courtesy of Bassmaster
| Angler | Joey Cifuentes | Matt Robertson |
| AOY Position | 102nd | 98th |
| Previous 3 Elite Finishes | 53rd, 78th, 99th | 20th, 64th, 89th |
| History on Champlain | 11th in 2023 | 10th and 18th |
| Strengths | Drop Shot | Offshore |
*Cifuentes finished in 6th place at a MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit event on Champlain in 2022.