Fishing history delivers Schmitt's third Bassmaster Elite title at Lake Champlain

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y., Aug. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- He called it love at first sight and that instant attraction, deepened by its subsequent bond-building, delivered Bryan Schmitt's third blue trophy with his four-day winning total of 81 pounds, 7 ounces in the SPRO Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain.

The seasoned pro from Deale, Md., first fished this picturesque natural lake straddling the border of New York and Vermont about a decade ago and immediately felt the connection.

"I got blessed the first time I went here and luckily caught some big fish and that just made me fall in love with it," Schmitt said. "I stumbled into two special spots and I learned right away what to look for, the combination. The success happened quick and it made me fall in love."

Schmitt's Champlain love affair delivered a solid week that started with a Day 1 limit of 19-11 that landed him in 10th place. Schmitt added 19-7 in the second round and slipped to 13th, but he recovered with a Semifinal Saturday bag of 23-8 that pushed him up to second.

Championship Sunday saw Schmitt close the deal with a final limit of 18-13. Edging Chris Johnston by a pound, Schmitt collected the $100,000 top prize.

"I'm speechless right now," Schmitt said after taking the top spot. "I've got nothing but respect for everybody in this Top 10."

Schmitt had previously won twice at Lake Champlain, with victories in the 2016 Northern Open and the 2021 Bassmaster Elite. He also won the 2022 Bassmaster Elite at Mississippi River. This week, he fished north of Plattsburgh, on the New York and Vermont sides.

Describing what felt like a random final-round search, Schmitt said: "I just kept going and going and going and every now and then, I'd get lucky."

After weighing mixed bags of largemouth and smallmouth the first two days, Schmitt filled his Day 3 limit with largemouth. In the final round, he focused on natural and manmade structure for a bag with four largemouth and one big smallie. He caught his fish from 2 to 25 feet with most of them caught in the deeper zone.

"Today, I had to go back to where I caught the majority of my big bag of largemouth yesterday, but I knew something was wrong right away," Schmitt said. "I fished it for 30 minutes and only caught one 12-incher. The wind switched from a north wind on Day 3, to a south wind and changed the current."

From that point on, Schmitt hopped between various hard spots — isolated small rubble, a rock vein, isolated boulders, and rock/grass blends. He ended up catching his fish on a SPRO Rock Crawler Crankbait, a Neko-rigged Missile Baits Quiver Worm and a drop shot with a Missile Baits Magic Worm.

"All week, it was different spots every day. Nothing worked the same from day to day. I think these are isolated fish and the spots are not replenishing."

Schmitt said he broke off two big fish late in the day. Thoughts of what could have been haunted him during the ride to check-in, because the math in his head was light.

"I really didn't know what I had because I only weighed a couple," Schmitt said. "I thought I had over 16, maybe 17. I had no idea it would be this close.

"I'm very thankful."

Hailing from Peterborough, Ontario, Canada Johnston took second with 80-7. Staying near the top all week, he placed eighth on Day 1 with 19-14, rose to third with a second-round limit of 21-7 and took over the Day 3 lead by adding 21-8. Johnston closed out his campaign with a final-round limit of 17-10.

Following the basic game plan he'd executed most of the week, Johnston split his day between catching limit-filling smallmouth and looking for a couple kicker largemouth.

Focusing on hard spots where big fish often position, Johnston was able to boat one big largemouth late in the day, but the bite was slower than previous days.

"I caught a couple key fish on a Hideup Coike Fullcast rigged on a 4/0 Gamakatsu frog hook with a 1/8-ounce weight, and one big one on a power finesse drop shot," Johnston said. "I knew I was running low on fish. They don't reload a lot and I didn't have enough new stuff to fish."

Seth Feider of New Market, Minn., finished third with 79-12. His daily weights were 19-8, 22-5, 18-9 and 19-6.

After three days of balancing a smallmouth/largemouth program, Feider committed his final day solely to the latter.

"I left the smallies alone today, because it was a waste of time," Feider said. "I spent two hours on them every morning and, at the end of the day, I wasn't really weighing in many of them."

Feider caught his final-round largemouth by flipping deep grass with a Z-Man Big TRD on a drop shot and a Texas-rigged craw.

Caleb Sumrall of New Iberia, La., won the $2,000 Phoenix Boats Big Bass award for his 6-10.

Trey McKinney of Carbondale, Ill., won the $1,000 award for leading the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year race with 635 points. Drew Cook of Cairo, Ga., — the 2019 Rookie of the Year — is in second place with 634, followed by Cory Johnston of Otonabee, Canada with 633, Bob Downey of Detroit Lakes, Minn., with 570, and Brandon Cobb of Greenwood, S.C. with 561.

Caleb Hudson of Lincolnton, Ga., leads the Pro-Guide Batteries Bassmaster Elite Series Rookie of the Year standings with 538 points.

Sumrall won the $2,000 Rapala CrushCity Monster Bag with his Day 2 limit of 24-4.

Cook won the $4,000 Toyota Bonus Bucks contingency award for the highest-placing eligible angler. Carl Jocumsen of Toowoomba, Australia won the $3,000 second-place award.

Sumrall won the $4,000 Yamaha Power Pay contingency award for the highest-placing eligible angler. Cook won the $1,500 second-place award.

Beau Browning of Hot Springs, Ark., won the $1,000 BassTrakk Contingency prize for the angler whose BassTrakk estimates are closest to their official weight.

Discover Plattsburgh and the Adirondack Coast are hosting this event. 

Media Contact: Mandy Pascal, Communications Manager, 334-414-8677, [email protected]

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