CLAYTON, N.Y. — Trey McKinney was so nervous ahead of Day 3 of the Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River, he nearly threw up on the side of the road driving to takeoff. It didn’t get much better until he landed his first quality smallmouth of the day, a 5-10 that calmed his nerves and carried him to another excellent day on Lake Ontario.
The three-year pro from Carbondale, Ill., leads the tournament with a three-day total weighing 83 pounds, 5 ounces, adding 26-2 on Day 3 after landing 26-8 on Day 1 and a record-breaking limit weighing 30-11 on the second day.
“Don’t get me wrong, I was shooting for 27 pounds, but I worked my butt off today,” McKinney said. “I felt like I was going to throw up a couple times in the morning, but once I caught my first big one I told myself to chill out. I caught a second one, and I really calmed down and just fished.”
He not only maintained his lead over Evan Kung in the tournament but strengthened his grip on the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year lead, opening up a 10-point lead over Cory Johnston, who will enter Day 4 nearly 6 1/2 pounds behind in ninth place.
As it stands, the entire Top 10 is on pace to crack the 100-pound mark on Championship Sunday while McKinney is on pace for a 109-pound four-day total. Only three anglers on Semifinal Saturday did not reach a limit.
One large area of Lake Ontario has served as home base for McKinney this week as he targets smallies on a deep sand flat with subtle rock veins, boulders and drops. On Days 1 and 3, a 2 1/2-inch bug imitator rigged on either a 1/2-ounce or 3/4-ounce drop shot was the best producing presentation. On Friday, however, a 5-inch minnow played a key role.
The mornings have generally been the better bite window for the 21-year-old, except for the 30-minute early afternoon flurry that lifted him to his historic Day 2 bag.
While he landed over 26 pounds for the third day in a row, McKinney noticed less bass in his area, and the bass he did see were unwilling to bite for the most part.
“It was tough for sure. I culled a few times, but I didn’t see a lot of fish in the area,” he said. “There’s less and they are hard to get to bite. But it comes in waves. Depending on the day, I’ve seen less and then I’ve seen more. It is a roaming area, so if the right batch of fish pull up, I’ve got to catch them.”
After landing his 5-10 and throwing back a 4-pounder he was afraid wouldn’t make it back to weigh-in alive, McKinney proceeded to fill out his limit around mid-morning before adding another 5-pounder late in the afternoon. As the wind began to blow around 1 p.m., McKinney noticed more bass funneling in, bass he felt he could have caught on a minnow, but it was too choppy to present the bait correctly.
“In the key moment when I felt I could have caught my 6-pounder, the wind started rolling,” he said. “They were sitting high and looking hungry.”
The wind did not blow as hard as forecasted on Day 3, at least not until closer to check-in time. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for WSW winds at 5-10 mph, a straight shot at McKinney’s flat, as was the case on Day 1 when he landed 26-8. Bigger waves would be more beneficial so he can keep his trolling motor in the water, he said.
“Fishing in 40 to 50 feet of water, everything is harder in the wind,” McKinney said. “If I can get three or four anchors (smallies), I’ll feel comfortable. Hopefully we can pull up and there will be some there ready to eat.
“This is (my one area). I have a few other points that had fish that don’t have them now. Where I’m fishing, it’s either gangster or nothing.”
Kung stayed steady on Day 3, lifting his three-day total to 81-13 with a limit weighing 26-11 on Semifinal Saturday. By notching his first Top 10 of the season, the Ontario pro officially claimed a spot on the 2027 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series roster, lifting a huge weight off his shoulders.
“It was a big relief,” Kung said. “It didn’t start off good this morning. Then I caught a couple big ones and knew that I made it. I tried to catch a few more big ones and it didn’t work out, but I still had a good day.”
The morning hours were the most productive for Kung, and saw plenty of bass, but many of those bass would not bite. In the morning hours, he targets deeper breaks and rocks in 20 to 40 feet of water in Lake Ontario. When the sun comes up, he moves up shallow and targets smallmouth in 10 feet of water with his eyes.
Two Great Lakes Finesse prototype baits have been his primary choices this week.
“I could see them, but it was too calm (today),” Kung said. “Then when the wind picked up it seemed like they moved and I couldn’t relocate them. I could have had a really big day if I got a few more to bite.”
With the wind forecast, he isn’t sure if he will stay in the St. Lawrence River or go out to Lake Ontario.
Tennessee pro Cole Sands jumped up to third on Day 3 with a three-day total of 78-14. The 2020 College Series champion opened the tournament with 24-14 before catching limits of 26-6 and 27-10 the next two days. He anchored his Day 3 limit with a 7-6 smallmouth that claimed Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Tournament honors.
“I came up here to prefish and learned how these bass set up in the current. It is just like how they set up on the Tennessee River and South Holston combined,” he said. “I love it.”
Sands has been staying in the St. Lawrence River close to takeoff targeting specific current seams in deeper water using a drop shot and a minnow. Most of what he saw up shallow before today are walleye and drum, but when he panned up to a grassline around mid-morning and saw a blob hanging over a patch of grass, he decided to pitch to it with a drop shot.
“It was a pretty tough morning up to that point,” Sands said. “I saw my drop shot go to the bottom and thought I saw the fish follow it down. I picked up my bait and didn’t feel anything. I looked down at my LiveScope and noticed the drop-shot weight was hanging out of its mouth.”
Sands set the hook, not knowing the bass he hooked was the second largest smallmouth in Elite Series history.
“I thought it had the bait swallowed. Thank God it was so round that it couldn’t hardly fight because it was just barely skin hooked,” Sands explained. “But my AmBASSador and I had a celebration after that. You catch a bass like that and it completely changes your day.”
Sands earned the $1,000 bonus for Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day. California’s Bryant Smith earned $1,000 for his Day 2 6-15 Big Bass while Alabama pros Kyle Welcher and Steve Kennedy each caught a 6-15 on Day 1 and split the $1,000 prize.
McKinney leads the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year race with 736 points followed by Johnston in second with 726 points. Georgia’s Drew Cook is third with 674 points, Sands is fourth with 658 points and South Carolina’s Brandon Cobb is fifth with 656 points. Both McKinney and Johnston will compete on Championship Sunday.
Georgia’s Caleb Hudson reclaimed the lead in Pro-Guide Batteries Elite Series Rookie of the Year with 621 points, only one point ahead of Alabama’s Fisher Anaya. Anaya enters Championship Sunday in eighth while Hudson will watch the final day from dry land in 19th place.
The Top 10 anglers will launch from Clayton Harbor Municipal Marina beginning at 7 a.m. ET and return at 3 p.m. for weigh-in. The winner will earn the $100,000 first-place prize, a blue trophy and an automatic bid to the 2027 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
FS1 will carry Bassmaster LIVE on Sunday from 8-11 a.m. ET before coverage moves to Bassmaster.com in the afternoon. Live coverage of the weigh-in will begin at 3 p.m. ET on Bassmaster.com. Both Pro-Guide Batteries Elite Series Rookie of the Year and Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year champions will be determined at weigh-in.
This tournament is being hosted by the 1000 Islands Clayton Chamber of Commerce.