Schmitt's mindset coming to Champlain for a second time in three months was to figure out multiple areas that held some of the big smallmouth the lake is known for and also have a few spots that held kicker-quality largemouth. He also wanted to focus on a specific stretch of the lake, so he had to start eliminating water in practice. "This time of year, you have to take (Ticonderoga) out of play," he said. "On the northern end, I'm not saying they're hard to come by, but they're not everywhere... it seems like the smallmouth peak at 18 to 20 pounds and that's good anywhere. The 4-plus pound smallmouth are not as common as the 4 1/2- to 5-pound largemouth." He split his four days of practice between getting tuned into what the smallmouth were doing and looking exclusively for largemouth-laden water. "I found two small areas that didn't have limits, but maybe one or two kickers each," he said. He did spend part of one day at Ti, but the wind had stained the water and he wasn't able to generate much of anything. "I was so excited to go down there once I saw how low the water was," he said. "I figured they'd be stacked up somewhere. I didn't get on them so I very securely put that out of my mind. I know they live there, but I totally forgot about it after that." That gave him license to focus on what he'd found up north. The calm, cool mornings followed by a warm-up in the afternoon allowed him to hone in on where the smallmouth were ganged up. He narrowed his focus to mixed rock and grass in 10 to 14 feet of water. Some areas that met that criteria held just smallmouth while other spots held a mix of both species. "It seemed like every day was the same," he said. "In practice, on the calm and real warm, sunny days the smallies were just incredible."
Competition:
Schmitt figured that if he could catch a decent limit of smallmouth and tack on a kicker largemouth, he'd be able to hit the 20-pound mark each day. "As good as it was fishing, I thought it'd take 60-plus to win," he said. "It was fishing very good." He started day 1 by targeting largemouth in hopes to score a kicker right off the bat. Instead, he caught three 3-pound smallmouth on a jig. "Anywhere else, that's an awesome start, but not there," he said. He was discouraged and opted to move on to his other largemouth area. His first bite there was a 5-12 largemouth that was followed by a 4-pounder to give him close to 19 pounds. "That's a giant there," he said of the 5-12. "That changed the day." He spent the rest of the day throwing a dropshot and Carolina rig for smallmouth and eventually culled up to 20-09. "I breezed through the day," he said. "I fished a little funny on day 1. I wanted to check everything to see what was best and I wound up weighing in two smaller 3-pound smallmouth. I was happy, though. I was in the mix." The seed had been planted in the back of his mind, though, for day 2. He recalled how the three smallmouth he caught on his first spot all hammered his jig. "That's what won the tournament for me," he said. "I was just casting it. There was nothing finesse. I was like, 'Woah.' They ate it hard. It was a mean hit." On day 2, he stuck with the same program, only this time his starting spot produced two kicker-quality fish - a 4 1/4-pound largemouth and a 4 1/2-pound smallie. He checked the spot that had kicked out the 5-12 and caught a 3-pound largemouth there. "I knew that spot had gone away," he said.
He moved to another area that seemed to only be holding smallmouth. "I figured I had three decent fish - I have to make this work," he said. "I started casting the jig around and the first fish was a 4 1/4. It was such a mean hit that I started to think I was onto something. I threw it the rest of the day and lit them up." He wound up weighing in four smallmouth and one largemouth, and his 20-06 stringer put him in the lead entering the final day. The weather took a turn on day 3 as rains and cooler temperatures signaled a change in seasons. Schmitt wasn't sure what to expect on the water. "I was a little nervous because the weather had done a 180," he said. "Fall had shown up and I knew from previous experience the smallmouth, especially on the shoals, can change. They needed that bright sun to help them see the bait." He went back to where he'd been starting and the wind was blowing in on it, but he was able to get a 15-pound limit in the boat fairly quickly. At that point, he'd been all in with the jig and crayfish trailer as that's what most of the fish he'd caught in practice spit up. "They seemed to be biting better," he said. "I thought there might be enough there to do it." He made a move to the area that produced the majority of his day-2 bites, but it wasn't nearly as productive this time around. "I went back to my starting spot and thoroughly fished it and got to 18-14," he said. His bag consisted of three smallies and two largemouth and it was enough to hold off Stephen Mui, who caught a final-day best 20-08 to move up to 2nd.
Winning Pattern:
Casting a jig for smallmouth was largely a foreign concept to Schmitt prior to last week. In practice, he mixed finesse techniques (dropshot) with a swimbait and Carolina rig, but once he discovered how vicious the hits were on the half-ounce jigs he was throwing, he committed to it. "It was a new experience for me and that's why I think I won," he said. "In practice, I caught a lot of smallmouth on standard stuff and a lot of them were spitting up crayfish. Their stomachs were just bloated with them. I tried to imitate the colors on a dropshot and Carolina rig. It helped, but I never thought of a jig. "To me, it felt like they hadn't seen that and it was imitating what they were eating so well. If I'd get a bite and miss, I didn't reel back in. I let it fall back and they'd get it again. It seemed like better quality fish were eating the jig." Not having to rely on finesse tactics also made his job of landing fish easier. "Not using a net with that jig, I was able to boat-flip them and that helped with the stress level," he added. "I only lost one that way all week." Noting the fish were spooky, Schmitt had to make long casts with his jig. Most fish would bite on the initial fall, but if not he'd hop it aggressively back to the boat. "If it got hung up and I popped it free... boom, they'd crush it," he said.
Winning Gear:
Jig gear: 7'6" medium-heavy or 7'3" heavy-action Ardent Edge casting rod, Ardent Apex Grand casting reel (7.3:1 ratio), 15-pound P-Line fluorocarbon line, 1/2-oz. Riot Baits Minima jig (green-pumpkin), Riot Baits Fuzzy Beaver trailer (green-pumpkin), 1/2-oz. Riot Baits Instigator jig (green-pumpkin), 4" Riot Baits R Craw trailer (green-pumpkin). Schmitt trimmed the Fuzzy Beaver down from its 4.2-inch original size to create more of a chunk trailer profile.
Main factor: "Finding a couple kicker largemouth each day."
Performance edge: "My boat and motor combo. That's some big water and having the confidence to run in that stuff with my Ranger/Mercury for sure was a key."
Lake Champlain Winning Pattern BassFan 9/27/16 (Todd Ceisner)