Johnston Battles Rough Water To Win Bassmaster Elite At St. Lawrence River

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Jul 26, 2020, 20:08 ET

CLAYTON, N.Y., July 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- His home waters were off-limits this week, but that didn't stop Canadian standout Chris Johnston from winning the SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River with a whopping four-day total of 20 smallmouth bass that weighed 97 pounds, 8 ounces.

The first Canadian to claim an Elite title, Johnston was the only competitor to break 20 pounds each day. Hailing from Peterborough, Ontario, he placed second on Day 1 with 27-0 and held that position for two more days with weights of 24-12 and 23-0.

Chris Johnston, of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, has won the 2020 SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River with a four-day total of 97 pounds, 8 ounces.

Entering Championship Sunday a little more than 2 pounds off the lead, Johnston added a final limit of 22-12 to surge ahead of Connecticut pro Paul Mueller and win by a margin of 1-10. Mueller had led the event all three days going into the final round.

"This has been a crazy year fishing-wise for me; I had two of the worst tournaments probably in my career and to bounce back and win on the St. Lawrence, of all places, is just incredible," said Johnston, who finished 71st and 59th in the first two Elite Series events this year. "I've wanted a big tournament win on the St. Lawrence River bad, and it finally came together.

"I've watched Bassmaster my whole life and even if you'd asked me three or four years ago, I didn't think I'd be here in this position. It's been surreal. I can't even describe how cool it feels."

Throughout the week, Johnston used several baits, including a tube, a Ned rig and a black hair jig. On Sunday, he caught his fish on a drop shot with a green pumpkin Berkley Flat Worm. He needed a 3/8-ounce tungsten weight for proper presentations on Lake Ontario, where steady 6- to 8-foot waves made everything more difficult than it had been the three previous days.

The first two days saw Johnston plucking early keepers from a rocky point inside the river and then moving out to fish Lake Ontario rockpiles in 20 to 40 feet. On Saturday and Sunday, he did the majority of his work in the Great Lake.

The tournament's first three days offered mostly calm conditions, but Sunday saw strong southwest winds which created conditions so rough that many anglers who qualified for the Championship round elected to stay in the safer confines of the St. Lawrence River. A lifetime of experience told Johnston Lake Ontario held his best opportunity to catch a winning bag, so he committed to one key area with several rockpiles in 20 to 50 feet of water along a 500-yard stretch.

"The biggest thing with the weather is just getting to your spot," Johnston said of his safety-conscious navigation. "Once I got there, I just went upwind and drifted into the spot and then held on the spot as long as I could. Then I'd blow off the spot and do another drift."

In 2019, Johnston experienced the inverse of this year's finish, leading the St. Lawrence event for three days before settling for the runner-up position.

"Finishing second last year makes this win all that much sweeter," Johnston said. "I can't wait to get home and celebrate with family and friends."

Johnston earned $102,000 for his victory.

Mueller finished in second place with 95-14. After leading the event for three days, he found the rough waters of Lake Ontario less generous. In the Championship round, he added 18-15 to his previous weights of 27-1, 25-1 and 24-13.

He targeted rockpiles and rock breaks in 17 to 21 feet and caught all of his fish on a drop shot with a Berkley Flat Worm in the natural shad color. Uncertain of how long it would take him to run back through the rough water to the weigh-in site, Mueller left the lake around 1:45 p.m. and ended up with time to fish the river.

"Honestly, I think I feel like I left too early because I didn't know how rough it was going to be," Mueller said. "I felt like everything else I did today was flawless. I should have pushed it to the max, but I had no idea how long it was going to take to get back and that's just inexperience on a body of water with that type of wind."

Mueller's second prize earnings came to $27,000. He will also take home $3,000 for being the highest-placing entrant in the Toyota Bonus Bucks program.

Brock Mosley of Collinsville, Miss., finished third with 84-2. His daily weights were 24-2, 19-13, 20-4 and 19-15.

Celebrating the birth of his second child on Wednesday, Mosley bucked the overwhelmingly smallmouth-heavy trend and targeted St. Lawrence's robust, but largely overlooked, largemouth population around residential docks and flat rock shoals.

"I caught all of my fish on a 3/8-ounce green pumpkin Z-Man Jack Hammer ChatterBait because I could cover a lot of water," Mosley said. "That was the key. I had to cover a lot of water to run into a good one.

"I used a couple of different trailers so I could fish an area with one trailer and then go back through it with a different trailer. I ended up catching a few smallmouth, too, but I caught them fishing for largemouth."

Mueller won the race for Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the week with his 7-13 smallmouth. The bass, which he described as the "fish of a lifetime," was just 7 ounces shy of the New York state record and is believed to be the largest smallmouth ever caught in a B.A.S.S. event.

The tournament was hosted by Jefferson County in cooperation with the Village of Clayton and the 1000 Islands Clayton Chamber of Commerce.

Finish	Name	Hometown	Total lbs-oz	Earnings
1	Chris Johnston	Peterborough Ontario CA	97-08	$102,000
2	Paul Mueller	Naugatuck, CT	95-14	$27,000
3	Brock Mosley	Collinsville, MS	84-02	$21,000
4	Chad Morgenthaler	Reeds Spring, MO	81-03	$15,000
5	Micah Frazier	Newnan, GA	81-01	$15,000
6	Taku Ito	Chiba JAPAN	80-10	$15,000
7	Cory Johnston	Cavan CANADA	80-09	$15,000
8	Clark Wendlandt	Leander, TX	76-11	$15,000
9	Brad Whatley	Bivins, TX	74-10	$15,000
10	Brandon Palaniuk	Rathdrum, ID	66-01	$15,000
11	Chris Zaldain	Fort Worth, TX	59-09	$12,000
12	Jeff Gustafson	Keewatin Ontario CA	58-03	$12,000
13	Steve Kennedy	Auburn, AL	57-00	$12,000
14	Garrett Paquette	Canton, MI	57-00	$12,000
15	Bernie Schultz	Gainesville, FL	56-12	$12,000
16	Matt Herren	Ashville, AL	56-11	$10,000
17	Greg DiPalma	Millville, NJ	56-00	$10,000
18	Seth Feider	New Market, MN	55-04	$10,000
19	Brian Snowden	Reed Springs, MO	54-14	$10,000
20	Carl Jocumsen	Queensland AUSTRALIA	54-03	$10,000
21	Hunter Shryock	Newcomerstown, OH	54-01	$10,000
22	Mike Huff	Corbin, KY	53-10	$10,000
23	Clifford Pirch	Payson, AZ	53-04	$10,000
24	Cliff Prince	Palatka, FL	52-15	$10,000
25	Austin Felix	Eden Prairie, MN	52-08	$10,000
26	Clent Davis	Montevallo, AL	52-03	$10,000
27	Jamie Hartman	Newport, NY	52-00	$10,000
28	Ed Loughran III	Richmond, VA	52-00	$10,000
29	Chad Pipkens	Dewitt, MI	51-15	$10,000
30	Brandon Card	Salisbury, NC	51-11	$10,000
31	Drew Benton	Blakely, GA	51-06	$10,000
32	Bill Lowen	Brookville, IN	51-02	$10,000
33	Skylar Hamilton	Dandridge, TN	50-01	$10,000
34	Randy Sullivan	Breckenridge, TX	49-14	$10,000
35	Buddy Gross	Chickamauga, GA	49-07	$10,000
36	Ray Hanselman Jr	Del Rio, TX	49-06	$10,000
37	David Mullins	Mt Carmel, TN	49-01	$10,000
38	Frank Talley	Temple, TX	48-14	$10,000
39	Caleb Kuphall	Mukwonago, WI	47-04	$10,000
40	Bob Downey	Hudson, WI	42-13	$10,000
41	Stetson Blaylock	Benton, AR	32-15	$7,500
42	Matt Arey	Shelby, NC	32-09	$7,500
43	Scott Canterbury	Odenville, AL	32-06	$7,500
44	Keith Combs	Huntington, TX	31-15	$7,500
45	Hank Cherry	Lincolnton, NC	31-14	$7,500
46	Jason Williamson	Wagener, SC	31-09	$5,000
47	Patrick Walters	Summerville, SC	31-09	$5,000
48	Brandon Lester	Fayetteville, TN	31-01	$5,000
49	John Cox	Debary, FL	31-00	$2,500
50	Koby Kreiger	Alva, FL	30-15	$2,500