By Ted Cohen
A professional angler broke the record competitive Lake Champlain haul over the weekend, capturing first place in a three-day fishing derby.
Cal Lane “put together one of the best tournaments ever witnessed on Lake Champlain,” reports Jody White of MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Lane caught more than 20 pounds each day of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit event for a three-day total of 65 pounds, 7 ounces.
The catch, which netted Lane the top $100,000 prize, broke the record for largest three-day Lake Champlain catch in Major League Fishing history.
The previous record was 64 pounds, 1 ounce, set two summers ago by Kyle Cortiana.
Lane caught 15 fish – five per day – to net his win Sunday.
“I still can’t believe it’s real,” he said, sitting next to his trophy. “Especially not on a smallmouth fishery – I never would have thought.
“I’m not big on smallmouth,” he added. “I don’t understand them, but I caught some 4-pounders in practice and saw a bunch. I thought I could catch 18 pounds of smallmouth. When I got those largemouth bites, I was like, ‘Man, there’s a chance.’”
Overall there were 200 bass weighing 685 pounds, 5 ounces caught by the 40 contestants in the league’s final event of the season.
Major League Fishing (“MLF”) is the world’s largest tournament fishing organization.
The professional bass fishing league and sports television show airs on Outdoor Channel, World Fishing Network and Discovery Channel.
Major League Fishing is different from other professional fishing tournaments in that every bass boat has a referee on board to weigh each catch immediately and ensure quick catch and release, and all fishermen have a constant update on how fellow competitors are performing through iPads on their boats.