PLATTSBURGH, N.Y., July 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Â Bryan Schmitt talked all week about "special little things" that were happening to help him maintain the lead at the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain.
But the most special one happened just 15 minutes before Sunday's final weigh-in, as Schmitt landed a 3 1/2-pound smallmouth that gave him a 12-ounce upgrade and allowed him to secure his first Elite Series win with a four-day total of 78 pounds, 5 ounces.
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Call it luck. Call it fate. But the win seemed meant to be for the second-year Elite Series pro from Deale, Md.
"I pulled up to a buoy cable this afternoon right before time to come in and saw two fish on my (Garmin) LiveScope," Schmitt said. "I threw that drop shot in there, felt the bite and didn't really think it was a bass. But it turns out it was a bass â and without that fish I don't win.