MCBA MCBA Charter Captain Bryan Schmitt owns Lake Champlain - Congratulations!!
MCBA member Captain Bryan Schmitt won the SPRO Bassmaster
Elite at Lake Champlain for the third time! Bryan runs the
Miss Ashleigh out of Happy Harbor in Deale (MD) when he’s not
hammering bass in fresh water. Please find below an excerpt from
yesterday’s BASSMASTER press release following the weigh in…
"Schmitt seals the deal again on Champlain" (August 16,
2026) BASSMASTER Written by David A. Brown, Photography by Andy
Crawford
With a four-day total of 81 pounds, 7
ounces, Bryan Schmitt takes another win on Lake Champlain! An 18-13
final-day bag was enough to seal the deal by a one-pound margin at
the SPRO Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain!
PLATTSBURGH,
N.Y. — 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.”
To view the press release in its entirety, click
here .
The event was hosted by Discover Plattsburgh and the
Adirondack Coast.
