After a short hiatus, the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens shift back into gear as the field readies for competition on the St. Lawrence River. This is stop No. 2 of Division 3 of the Opens, and the sixth stop for the EQ (Elite Qualifier) hopefuls that are fishing all nine of the Bassmaster Opens in pursuit of nine bids to the 2024 Bassmaster Elite Series.
With only four events remaining, John Garrett leads the Opens EQ points race, just five points ahead of Trey McKinney. Garrett has executed a simple strategy to claw his way to the top after five events— figure out how to get five bites.
“So far this year, first thing in mind is, how can I get some kind of limit?” said Garrett. “I know we’ve had some good tournaments, like Eufaula (fourth) and Toledo Bend (fourth). But I told myself I had to figure out how to get a limit first, and then try to catch bigger fish throughout practice.”
The simplicity of this strategy is no doubt dumbfounding for many of Garrett’s competitors who have fallen to the wayside in an effort to figure out something special amid the 225-boat field. But just because a plan is simple, that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
“It seems like catching a limit is easy, but we’ve got so many boats on the water, it gets really hard to catch a limit come tournament day or the second day of the tournament.”
Garrett acknowledged there has been a pivotal part to pulling off his plan, one that has helped him dodge at least some of the boat pressure applied to these fisheries throughout five days of official practice and three days of tournament competition. That factor is not looking shallow, but instead focusing offshore with his electronics.
“I have not weighed in a shallow fish all year. It’s hard to find a good stretch shallow that stays good until the tournament. The first day of practice, you can go out to most of these places and fish shallow and catch some fish. But come around tournament day, you go through what was a good stretch and you may catch one, you may not. And there might be three boats in front of you and three boats behind you.”
Instead of getting mixed up in the shallow fishing parade, Garrett has used his electronics, his forward-facing sonar in particular, to target bass away from the bank.
“You see more people fishing offshore than ever (too). So it’s not that there’s less pressure than the bank. But you’ve got more of a chance of finding a stump that hasn’t been fished fives times that day.”
Garrett has had success on the St. Lawrence River in the past, finishing in the top 10 in a college event here and 24th in the 2021 Bassmaster Open at 1000 Islands. But that success may not necessarily translate well this week.
“One was in the fall, one was the first week of June. When we were here in the fall, it seemed like the fish were more grouped up. I think that everything is going on now. I’m seeing some empty beds. I think fish are just getting done spawning. I think there’s fish spread out from 4 feet to 40 feet.”
Garret has even seen a few small fish on beds still, which has lead him to believe there will be a few last minute bigger bass plucked off the beds here.
“Possibly some fry guarders (too). I’ve looked for that. I know it’s there but I haven’t found it.”
Garrett has not found fish that are grouped up, like he’s seen here in the past.
“I’m sure there are sweet spots that I’m not familiar with, but I feel like this tournament is going to be more of someone has a decent place they catch two or three on and jump around the rest of the day and just pick off fish.”
Junk fishing in an area sounds like it would lineup perfectly for Garrett’s plan of picking off a limit and then settling in to search for a bigger bite. The only problem for Garrett has been finding an area to do that in.
“For me this week, I’ve been spun out because there’s so much water. I’ll get in an area and get a couple bites, and that’s all I can get in an area. The first day I fished up towards the off limits. I had three good bites, in that 4- to 5- pound range. It was 80 miles away.”
With only a few hours of practice remaining, Garrett has found himself in a conundrum: make a long run to try to put together a big bag, or keep looking for a way to catch a limit first. One of the big issues is that he can’t fish the strength that has gotten him to where he is if he doesn’t make one of these long runs.
“There’s more big fish up towards the lake, without a doubt. And you can use your LiveScope up there. But once you start coming upriver, the current gets stronger, and they don’t suspend off the bottom. So you can’t see them on scope. I’d like to use scope, but I also don’t know if I want to run 80 miles.”
Another option for Garrett to consider is fishing for largemouth. These rarely play a major role on the St. Lawrence, but they could offer a more consistent bite, compared to the smallmouth he’s been contending with, and keep his Elite hopes alive.
“I’ve thought about it. I’m in a position at this point where I just need to save the tournament, whether that means I catch 16 a day or get lucky and catch some big ones, whatever that is. I’m just trying to figure out how to at least catch five 3- pounders.”
Garrett knows 15 pounds per day may barely edge out half the field, but that would avoid the only thing he can’t afford, an all out bomb. These are the things bouncing around in the mind of Garrett as he tries to narrow in on a pattern that will keep him in contention for the 2024 Elite Series. But even these aren’t the only things, or even the most important thing, on his mind.
“My wife Morgan is about to go into labor this week. She’s 38 weeks right now. Hopefully she holds off til I get back home.”
Here’s to hoping Garrett can make it back home in time to welcome their little one into the world, with a decent finish in tow. It looks like there’s going to be several variables for the Open anglers to combat and decipher this week.
Find out who can put the pieces together starting Thursday morning by following along on Bassmaster.com.
