WADDINGTON, N.Y. — Canadian Cory Johnston just missed going wire-to-wire and securing a second Bassmaster Open title at the St. Lawrence River on Saturday.
Johnston, of Cavan, Ont., went into final-round action atop the leaderboard with 49 pounds, nine ounces, and a lead of one pound, three ounces over American Jody White. But White weighed a five-fish limit of 23 pounds, 10 ounces for an overall total of 71 pounds, 15 ounces to finish one pound, 14 ounces ahead of Johnston.
Johnston won this event in 2021, the last time an Open tournament was held on the St. Lawrence.
"Anytime you can make the top-10 and fish the final day, it's a great week in this place," Johnston said. "(It means) you're catching big ones but it has been a frustrating week at the same time.
"This was the worst practice I've ever had out here and this place is changing. It's getting a ton of pressure and the fish are doing a lot of different things than they normally do and they get really hard to catch so you've got to do some different stuff and find some different areas."
Johnston doesn't have much time to think about what might've been. He'll resume the '23 Elite Series schedule next week on Lake St. Clair in New Baltimore, Mich.
Johnston brought five fish to the scale Saturday weighing 20 pounds, eight ounces, for a three-day total of 70 pounds, one ounce. Jamie Bruce of Kenora, Ont., finished third at 69 pounds, 12 ounces after his final five fish weighed 21 pounds, 15 ounces.
Bruce entered the final round standing third at 47 pounds, 13 ounces after weighing a five-fish bag of 24 pounds, eight ounces Friday. He's fishing all of the Open events this year with the goal of qualifying for the Elite Series in 2024.
Bruce said his initial thought was to fish near Waddington but ended up making the long trek to the lake. And after hooking deeper fish the first two days of the tournament, Bruce said he looked shallower Saturday.
"I didn't have much pre-fish down there so that was my best chance," he said. "I've got the big Lund (boat) and I ran that sucker all the way down and just kept expanding every day."
And while this marked Bruce's first trip to the St. Lawrence, he said it won't be his last.
"I'll probably get a year New York license next time instead of eight days," he said.
Gary Miller, of Stouffville, Ont., also qualified for the final day, finishing 10th overall with 13 fish weighing 53 pounds, one ounce. Miller caught three fish Saturday that weighed 10 pounds, nine ounces.
Erik Luzak of Fenelon Falls, Ont., just missed qualifying for the final day with an 11th-place finish (top 10 advanced) at 41 pounds, 11 ounces. American Rich Ortiz took the final qualification spot with 42 pounds, five ounces heading into Saturday's round.
Evan Kung of Pickering, Ont., was 14th (41 pounds, one ounce) while Paul Bouvier of Kingston, Ont., finished 48th (36 pounds, 12 ounces). Cal Climpson of Cavan was 51st (36 pounds, eight ounces) while Danny McGarry of Newcastle, Ont., was 84th (32 pounds, nine ounces.
Other Canadians included Ryan Clark of Whitby, Ont, (102nd with 31 pounds, four ounces), Bryan Bickell of Newcastle (118th, 29 pounds, 10 ounces) and Les Zacny of Orangeville, Ont. (170th, 22 pounds, five ounces).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 22, 2023.
The Canadian Press
