WADDINGTON, New York (WWNY) – The saying goes ‘the early bird, gets the worm.’ and that was the case at Whittaker Park in Waddington Friday morning where hundreds of anglers were up as early as 4 a.m. to go fishing. It’s all part of the St. Croix Bassmaster Open Tournament.
Professional angler Blake Smith said his goal Friday was to catch twenty pounds of bass, but is also looking forward to converse with other professional and amateur anglers.
“When we have that amateur / pro type Pro-Am situation, it gives us an opportunity to meet a lot more people, but also just have a lot more camaraderie, a lot more competition and all the way around its just a great format,” said Smith.
When it comes down to the fishing, more than 400 different anglers from across both Canada and the United States will run up and down the St. Lawrence River trying to find the largest smallmouth bass.
While professional anglers are making it their goal to reach the major league elite series by the end of the season, some amateurs are taking their own shot at trying to become professionals.
“Even though I’m from Texas, we don’t really have small mouth back home. Smallmouth are one of my strong suits, so this is one of the best smallmouth fisheries in the country and I kind of thought this would be in my wheelhouse, I would be really good here,” said angler Hugh Cosculluela.
Weigh in is set for two in the afternoon and the competition runs through Saturday.
Anglers will travel from Massena down to Cape Vincent to fish.
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