We headed out of Burlington on Friday night, via the Ferry at Grand Isle, and crashed in Plattsburgh. When we arrived at the America’s Best Value Inn (hey, there was no availability at the Ritz!) we parked next to the BP Tahoe trailing a wrapped Ranger boat, followed by many more pickups – all pulling nice rigs. That set the tone for what the final day of the tournament would bring.

We started out on Saturday meeting up with Capt. Mickey Maynard of LakeChamplainAngler.com, and his son Marshall. He had got us the opportunity to head out to Point Au Roche to spend the morning meeting and interviewing David Dudley and Bobby Curtis of the Castrol Team. David Dudley is the 2008 FLW Angler of the Year, with over $2million in career earnings, and Bobby Curtis is a very accomplished pro angler that hails from Siloam Springs, AR. These two were spending their morning taking out a few of the teen anglers from the local bass club. This was exciting for the young guys to say the least, as they geared up and took off for a nice morning in Castrol wrapped Rangers sporting the Evinrude and Vmax motors.

Next we made our way back into town to meet up with Mickey, and there we found both the FLW main stage set up, as well as the Battle of Plattsburgh Celebration events taking place all around. Mickey brought us over to the National Guard exhibit, where we met Scott Martin, a legend-in-the-making small mouth bass angler. He won the FLW here on Champlain back in June of 2004, and has his own television show The Scott Martin Challenge, which airs on FSN and VS and will start up again in January. It was great getting a chance to speak with him and hear about his time on Champlain, as well as his thoughts about the FLW and what it’s like to be competing in these tournaments.

We hung out with the anglers from the National Guard team for a little while longer, and then made our way over towards the main stage area where we ran into Dan Konkoski, President of the Plattsburgh Bass Club. He was eager to discuss all the new up and coming events, tournaments and membership of the club. He mentioned that things are going very well there, and we are going to take him up on his offer of stopping by for a day out fishing.

About an hour away from the final weigh in, Mickey introduced us to Charlie Evans, President & CEO of FLW Outdoors. I asked him if we could do an interview spot and without hesitation he was in front of the main stage with me, giving a recap of the series so far, and a summary of what to expect with the upcoming weigh in. Needless to say I was honored to have had this opportunity and appreciate Charlie’s time.

Finally, the top ten anglers were pulling up the street with their five best fish. We got up close to the stage to watch the drama that was about to unfold as ounces turned into the difference between $25,000 and $125,000. It came down to the wire, and Charlie Evans stalled with some funny banter to add even more pressure to the final two anglers awaiting the results on the scale. As the crowd watched and cameras rolled, finally it was announced that Iams pro Chip Harrison from Bremen, Indiana was the 2008 Walmart FLW Series champion, winning by 12oz with three smallies and two large mouth, and taking home $125,000.

Covering the FLW this year was exciting and, as an angler, an experience I have always wanted to be a part of. The pros were extremely gracious in taking their time to speak with us about the tournament and what Lake Champlain means to them, as well as seeing all the staff and volunteers work vigorously to make sure everything went off without a hitch.

We’d like to thank Capt. Mickey Maynard especially, who went out of his way to contact the Castrol team and invited us to meet David Dudley and Bobby Curtis, and kept us informed of all that was going on so we wouldn’t miss a thing. Thanks Mick!

We got a few hours of footage which we are editing now, so stay tuned and look for more on BBY’s time at the 2008 FLW Series!

-Guy

Feel free to comment below…let us know if you were there, know a co-angler in the area, or just send along your feedback!

Next week it’s the big dogs turn with one of the largest professional tournaments of the year taking place in Plattsburgh September 10 – 13. In fact, the pros are already out buzzing around the lake in their fancy wrapped boats pre-fishing for bass. They are also mingling with the locals at a number of community events leading up to the tournament.

True these tournaments put additional pressure on the fishery, but my feeling is that if they’re done right the benefits easily outweigh the disadvantages. I could get into a whole lot of point-counterpoint debate about the many bass tournaments that take place on the lake, but I’ll save that for another blog entry. Lets just say that the catch and release aspect is to me the most important focus and for the most part the tournament managers do it right. So with out further discussion I’ll give you some details about the upcoming FLW Series event…

As I mentioned, The Wal-Mart FLW Series will visit Lake Champlain in Plattsburgh., Sept. 10-13 for its third BP Eastern Division tournament of the season. Hosted by the City of Plattsburgh , the tournament will feature as many as 400 top bass anglers from 34 states, Japan and Canada casting for top awards of $125,000 in the Pro Division and $25,000 in the Co-angler Division.

Fishing will be a challenge according to Team BP pro Guido Hibdon of Sunrise Beach, Mo., who won the 2007 FLW Series BP Eastern Division tournament on Lake Champlain. “I think it’s going to be a little different this year, just because the water is going to be higher-they’ve had a lot of rain. They’re still going to catch the devil out of them, that’s for sure. I talked to a guy who lives up there, and he said the smallmouth are bigger, and there are more of them than there were last year, so it’ll definitely be a good tournament.”

Hibdon said it would be difficult to predict what weight it would take to make the top-10 cut, but expects it to be heavy–18 pounds or more per day. He expects to see anglers using a variety of baits and techniques to catch their bass, including drop-shots, tube baits and top water baits.

Anglers will take off from Dock Street Landing located at 5 Dock St. in Plattsburgh at 6:30 each morning. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at Trinity Park located at City Hall Place in Plattsburgh beginning at 4 p.m. Children will also be treated to a Family Fun Zone prior to Saturday’s weigh-in from noon to 4 p.m. at Trinity Park. Activities in the Family Fun Zone include the trout pond, a Ranger boat simulator and assorted fishing-themed games. All activities are free and open to the public.

The entire field competes for the first three days of FLW Series events. Co-angler winners are determined on day three based on the heaviest accumulated three-day weight. The top 10 professionals continue competition on day four, and the winner is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.

In FLW Series competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. The total purse for the Lake Champlain tournament is $1 million, including $10,000 through 50th place and $2,000 through 75th place in the Pro Division. Ultimately, all anglers in the tournament will also be competing for valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the BP East-National Guard West Fish-Off and a shot at advancing to the $2 million, 2009 Forrest Wood Cup, where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million – the sport’s biggest award.

Tournament anglers aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing^TM, FLW Outdoors® offered anyone the opportunity to enter for their chance to land the catch of a lifetime with the opportunity to win $7.3 million in cash and prizes. Players could become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, which provided them with exclusive insider information that could have guided them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour® stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage gave them an edge over the competition and increased their shot for the $1 million cash grand prize awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Visit FantasyFishing.com today to find out more information and to register for next season.

Coverage of the Lake Champlain FLW Series tournament will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing Nov. 9. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast in Canada on WFN (World Fishing Network) and to more than 429 million households in the United Kingdom, Europe, Russia, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East through a distribution agreement with Matchroom Sport, making it the most widely distributed fishing program in the world. The program airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time in most markets. We’ll have to check local listings for times in our area.

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com. Total awards are based on a full field of 200 boats in every tournament.

The Castrol Fishing Team will also be conducting a fishing clinics/seminar in conjunction with the upcoming FLW Series event on Lake Champlain. The clinic will take place on Friday Sept 5th from 6-7:30pm at the Wal-Mart located at 25 Consumer Square in Plattsburgh, NY. Anglers tentatively scheduled to attend are Castrol team members Bobby Curtis, FLW Angler of the Year and Castrol Pro Angler David Dudley and Castrol Pro Carl Svebek.

The free clinic is designed for people of all ages and skill levels.  The Castrol Pro Anglers will be on site signing autographs, discussing fishing tips and techniques, including tips on tying knots, casting and selecting tackle. The Pros will also conduct a casting contest providing hands on demonstration of fishing tips and techniques. Fishing fans of all ages have the chance to win a prize by participating in the contest.

“Our fishing seminars are a great way to give something back to our loyal customers,” said Castrol spokesperson Jamia Curtis. “They also give us a chance to introduce younger kids to the lifelong sport of fishing. In fact, we think these clinics can teach anglers of all skill levels new techniques. Here’s a great chance to chat directly with some of the best bass anglers in the world.”

Additional information will include details about what to check on autos and boats before heading out to the water; instructions about how to catch more fish; what life is like as a pro angler and general auto tips from the pros who put an average of 40,000 miles a year on their vehicles.

- Captain Mick