Walters Wins With Record Total Of 105 Pounds

By B.A.S.S. Communications Staff

CLAYTON, N.Y. – Safe to say, Patrick Walters now loves northern smallmouth bass.

Overcoming what he had previously considered one of his few limitations, the fifth-year pro from Summerville, S.C., caught the heaviest 20-fish total of smallmouth in Bassmaster history – 105 pounds – and won the Bassmaster Elite Series event at the St. Lawrence River.

“I used to not be able to catch 17 pounds on this river when 25 pounds a day was still good,” Walters said. “That’s what means the world to me — how bad I truly was at it and to come back and catch (over) 100 pounds of smallmouth and win.

“This one means more than my first Elite win (Lake Fork, 2020). I could not do it without my family – my mom and dad here and my wife back home. My wife’s grandfather passed away during last week’s tournament at Lake Champlain. I felt like he was with me throughout this week.”

Along with the $100,000 top prize, Walters received an automatic berth into the 2024 Bassmaster Classic scheduled for Tulsa, Okla., in March. He also received his third Bassmaster century belt, which recognizes a 20-bass total of 100 pounds or more.

Turning in daily weights of 24-14, 27-03, 28-05 – Day 3’s heaviest bag – and 24-10, Walters edged Canadian standout Chris Johnston by 1-04.

Walters earned his first Century Club belt in his 2020 victory at Lake Fork and added another one the following year with a second-place finish at Fork. With this week’s performance, Walters became the first angler in Bassmaster history to break the 100-pound mark with largemouth and smallmouth bass.

Walters had identified key areas in Canadian waters, about an hour from the river mouth. But when Day 1 brought strong southerly winds and extremely rough water, he decided to fish the St. Lawrence River. Doing so allowed his main area to rest, and the fish proved very dependable when he returned.

Walters spent most of the next three days on his initial target area near Prince Edward Point. There, he fished a dropshot with a Megabass Hazedong and a Berkley MaxScent Flatnose Minnow.

After a good start to Championship Sunday, Walters made a key move that sealed his victory.

“I had 21 pounds at 1:30 and I came all the way back to the U.S. side and caught two 4-pounders in the last 30 minutes. I think that was the nail in the coffin,” Walters said. “It was a tough week, but I had an amazing time.”

Hailing from Otonabee, Ontario, Johnston started strong with a Day-1 limit of 28-03 and then kept himself near the top with limits of 24-11, 25-02 and 25-12. Johnston, who won the 2020 Elite at the St. Lawrence, earned his first century belt for his four-day, second-place total of 103-12.

“It’s getting harder and harder to win this event,” Johnston said of his home waters. “I had a huge advantage seven or eight years ago. I used to catch them all shallow. They were my pets; I basically named them.

“Now, they’ve changed and gone offshore. Then Garmin LiveScope (forward-facing sonar) came out and it really leveled the playing field.”

Fishing points and shoals in Lake Ontario, Johnston caught his fish on a dropshot with a SPRO CJ Smasher. He varied his weight and leader sizes to coax difficult fish.

Notably, Johnston’s brother Cory was the first Bassmaster angler to break 100 pounds with all smallmouth in his second-place finish at last year’s St. Lawrence event.

Kyoya Fujita, who makes his home in Minamitsuru, Yamanashi, Japan, finished third and also claimed his first century belt with his tournament total of 102-05. His daily weights were 24-10, 26-15, 25-00 and 25-12.

Devoting the majority of his time to the Canadian waters of Lake Ontario, Fujita caught his fish on a dropshot. He alternated between a 3-inch Jackall RV-Bug, a Jackall Crosstail Shad and a 4.5-inch Jackall Yammy. He trimmed the latter to about 3 inches.

“The key was finesse shaking the dropshot,” Fujita said. “I caught fish all day.”

Fujita won the $1,000 Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day award for his 6-02. Kenta Kimura of Osaka, Japan, won the $2,000 award for the Phoenix Boas Big Bass of the Week for the 7-pounder he caught on Saturday. Jason Christie claimed a $10,000 bonus for catching the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Year — a 9-04 Lay Lake largemouth.

Day 4 (Final) Standings

1. Patrick Walters -- Summerville, SC -- , 105-00 -- 104 -- $130,000
Day 1: 5, 24-14 -- Day 2: 5, 27-03 -- Day 3: 5, 28-05 -- Day 4: 5, 24-10

2. Chris Johnston -- Otonabee, ON -- 20, 103-12 -- 103 -- $45,000
Day 1: 5, 28-03 -- Day 2: 5, 24-11 -- Day 3: 5, 25-02 -- Day 4: 5, 25-12

3. Kyoya Fujita -- Minamitsuru, JAPAN -- 20, 102-05 -- 102 -- $50,000
Day 1: 5, 24-10 -- Day 2: 5, 26-15 -- Day 3: 5, 25-00 -- Day 4: 5, 25-12

4. Taku Ito -- Chiba, JAPAN -- 20, 101-07 -- 101 -- $30,000
Day 1: 5, 24-14 -- Day 2: 5, 27-07 -- Day 3: 5, 22-13 -- Day 4: 5, 26-05

5. Kyle Welcher -- Opelika, AL -- 20, 99-12 -- 100 -- $121,000
Day 1: 5, 25-10 -- Day 2: 5, 27-12 -- Day 3: 5, 25-15 -- Day 4: 5, 20-07

6. Cory Johnston -- Cavan, ON -- 20, 96-00 -- 99 -- $29,000
Day 1: 5, 19-14 -- Day 2: 5, 27-04 -- Day 3: 5, 25-00 -- Day 4: 5, 23-14

7. Kenta Kimura -- Osaka, JAPAN -- 20, 95-10 -- 98 -- $31,000
Day 1: 5, 25-12 -- Day 2: 5, 21-04 -- Day 3: 5, 27-09 -- Day 4: 5, 21-01

8. Justin Hamner -- Northport, AL -- 20, 95-06 -- 97 -- $27,000
Day 1: 5, 21-12 -- Day 2: 5, 23-03 -- Day 3: 5, 25-05 -- Day 4: 5, 25-02

9. Matty Wong -- Honolulu, HI -- 20, 94-04 -- 96 -- $16,000
Day 1: 5, 25-10 -- Day 2: 5, 20-09 -- Day 3: 5, 22-15 -- Day 4: 5, 25-02

10. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, FL -- 20, 90-05 -- 95 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 24-07 -- Day 2: 5, 22-06 -- Day 3: 5, 22-03 -- Day 4: 5, 21-05

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