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Bryan has 3 Bassmaster wins on Champlain: last weekend, a 2021 Elite and a 2016 Open. Also a 2019 BFL. But it's not like he lights 'em up every time he's there.
The 4 other times the Elites were on Champlain, he only cracked the top 20 once. So what's the secret ingredient for him to do well? It all starts with a bad practice.
Practice
> "I learned my lesson the last several times fishing specific spots that are good for 1-2 fish...a boulder, a rockpile, isolated clumps of grass. Historical spots for me that give 1-2 fish.
> "I start [practice] saying I'm never gonna fish them til the tournament, then I do other stuff, get bored or lazy, and pull up on a spot I haven't fished in 10 years and catch a big one – and that fish is gone now.
> "[This practice he only fished new water and] it was horrendous man. I knew the bites were gonna be less...the number of 4-lb bites was gonna be less because they're all out swimming in the middle of the lake and we can't target 'em now [without FFS].
> "[Practice] didn't lead me to anything new unfortunately. It led me to a technique, covering water [for fish you can't see]....
> "Cranking became a big thing, that [SPRO] Rk Crawler. [He caught some with it when it was] flat calm or clouds or wind – yep that's a god thing. But I didn't catch any big ones in practice.
> "I flipped grass [a ton] because the water is low, they should be out here in 6-8' deep grass, but I just didn't find 'em.
> "I went into this tournament running stuff I hadn't fished but I knew [from history]...there was a chance."
Tournament
> "I started on [a spot] I had caught them there every single time I've been there and it gave me a 3.5-lber. But it was supposed to be a 17-18 lb bag. Not a winning bag, but a good starter bag.
> "I gave it 2 hours, and oh my gosh, plan A that's worked for 10 years didn't work. Now I was legit gonna run stuff and didn't know if I'd get a bite.
> "The first stop I made was supposed to be for a little smallmouth or a decent smallmouth and I caught 4 big largemouth. It opened my eyes.... I caught 8-9 fish that 1st day, and every single place I caught a fish off of, I never caught one the rest of the week.
> "The 2nd day I thought I'd run the same pattern. The first 3-4 places...I didn't get a bite. It showed me...nothing is reloading, so I have to run new water every day.
> "I did that but day 2 was a struggle...I caught 7 bass that day...looks good on paper but I only caught 7 fish.
> "[Day 3] I'm gonna start where I finished [day 2], and I go there and it's on. I catch 4 giants by 9:30 and lost a giant. I got 4 for very close to 20. Then I catch a 3.30....
> "We got a north wind, a pretty good amount of wind, and that got the current rolling. We hadn't seen wind all week. I think it got the big ones positioned....
> "...I got the cut made, now I want to worry about winning the tournament. ...I need to find smallmouth...let me pull in here and hit this smallmouth boulder. I threw my dropshot...a [Missile] Ned Bomb...8-lb line. It hit the bottom and got spongy and heavy – digging, digging....
> "It was a 5-lb largemouth – in 25' of water! I culled out that 3.30 and knew I had a bag that was almost impossible to cull a fish. If I caught a 4-lber I'd be hurting myself.
> "...idle and look for stuff for tomorrow. I went back to the zone where I started that 1st day...I've idled that area 100 times but maybe I'll find something. I found 1 rock. Then I went to an old waypoint I never really had confidence in...looked really good on side scan...a nice rubble pile – just a sand flat with a rubble pile.
> "I weighed 23-08 and was 3 oz out of the lead. I let Chris Johnston know, 'The only reason you're leading is because I had a dead fish' [day 1]. I poked the bear. [They are buds!]
> "I've caught 9, 7 and 6 bass in 3 days of competition. That's how touchy this is, how easy it could go the other way.
> "[Day 4] I raced to that first spot and didn't get any bites. I knew right away something had changed. When you're dealing with northern largemouth, when you can get a bait to them, they bite. So if you're not getting bit....
> "It went to a south wind. So with me understanding how serious that is, I left [that spot] after 90 minutes. Me 5 years ago...I'm not leaving.
> "I went from thinking I could win the tournament to salvaging a top 5 or top 3. I thought that [spot] was my only shot at 20 lbs....
> "...boulders didn't give me anything. ...rockpile with the Rk Crawler, my 3rd cast I caught a 3.75 largemouth. Couple casts later I catch a 3.5 largie. Then I catch a 2.5 smallmouth, all cranking.
> "...I feel like I need to let this rest. So I raced to another spot and cranked The Rk Crawler down the rocks as hard as I could and catch an almost 4-lb smallmouth. I'd never caught a smallmouth there and fished it day 1 with a dropshot and never got a bite.
> "I ran out on the lake...hit a special boulder or 2. They hadn't produced all week but let's try it. [Eventually he caught a] 4-lb largie that kind of turned the day around...maybe I'll stay in the top 5.
> "...shallow little rock clump with grass only in like 5' of water, but the wind was kinda hitting it. I backed way off of it, threw up there with the dropshot and caught a 3.75 largie.... Now I've got all 3+.
> "...gotta go back to where we started, maybe something's changed...never got a bite."
He never landed another fish and weighed 18-13. Drew Cook was the only guy to crack 20 lbs the last day:
> "I run back to weigh in and have no inclination [he won]. I'm blown away."
The spots
The only commonality of his spots is that most were in 6-10':
> "...something unique man. Location is king. A lot of it is largemouth stuff, and especially up north, you have to be near largemouth stuff – near bays, in bays.
> "Anything unique. If you could find a special little clump of coontail that's all by itself. A mooring buoy but a special one all by itself. A rock vein, rockpile, rubble piles mixed in the grass....
> "If you've got a shoreline that just goes forever and there's a little rock outcrop. A lot of times they can be on something that simple.
> "That's the main thing and most of it is off the bank – it's not visual. You can't really see it with your eyes.
> "I threw my bait at more spots that could give you a big fish – fresh spots – for 4 days than other guys. That was a big deal...."
Baits
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