The results of the 2024 Thousand Island Open are in. It was a great event for Evan Kung and Ryan Clark, who took the check with a 64.28 pound bag after three days of fishing—with some help from Great Lakes Finesse baits.
PRACTICE
Anglers found the fish to be far more scattered than they were in years past, though they were able to grind it out and find a few quality bass. After searching, Kung and Clark located huge schools of 4- to 4.5-pound fish in the 15 to 25 foot depths. The duo notes that it was difficult to find big ones, and even tougher to get them to bite. They were glad they had two boats working together to get on them.
DAY 1
The start of the tourney played out like it did the year prior. Kung and Clark hit some deeper spots and put together a 21 pound bag in the first couple hours of competition. The pair made a stop at their “kicker” spot, and baited a 6-pounder. They headed to the scales at 1 pm with 22.45 pounds of bass.
DAY 2
On the second day of the contest, Kung and Clark had some unfamiliar company in their starting spot. They caught a healthy 4.5-pounder, but then decided to take a risk on a long run. Unfortunately, their gamble didn’t pay off and they only had a 1.5-pound fish to show for the effort. They guessed that most of the fish they found during practice departed the shallows with the day’s wind, so they hit some old waypoints on their back. Those points salvaged their day, with a big one that went almost six pounds. They weighed in 20.91 pounds.
DAY 3
Kung and Clark returned to the water they fished on the opening day, and caught three, 4.5-pound fish in short order. They went back to their kicker spot, but the lack of wind made it unproductive. The slick conditions made it easy to spot fish, but they were tough to catch because of the calm water. They bounced from deep to shallow and back, catching a couple of 5-pounders. An estimated 5-plus pounder was lost, and the pair thought that might cost them the tourney. But the wind kicked up in the afternoon, and they boated a 5.75-pounder. As they headed to the scales with 20.92 pounds in the livewell, they thought they might just have a chance at the win.
THE WINNING FORMULA
To take the win, Kung and Clark fished from 6 to 40 feet deep, targeting primarily rock piles and boulders, though they also caught some fish on sand flats. The pair leaned heavily on the Great Lakes Finesse Drop Minnow, which they say counted for half of the 64.28 pound bag. They credit the small profile and subtle action with tricking the bigger fish. The anglers also used various other smallmouth staples including marabou jigs, spy baits, small swim baits, and Ned rigs.
