Conditions

Air Temp:  75 deg F

Water Temp:  70 deg F

Wind:  S 5-10 mph

Sun:  Bright Sun

Winning Pattern

Carolina-Rigging smallies on deep humps

Jim D'Ambra knows how to catch fish!  And this past weekend at Lake Champlain he caught them all including a giant drum, a pike bigger than his boat, and just enough smallies and largies to take home the first-place trophy at the 2026 SSBM 2-Day!

D'Ambra went to work each day with his signature Carolina-Rig and loaded his boat with smallmouth early in the morning.  Then, making a milk run from hump to hump, Jim worked his spots patiently to cull up throughout the day.  It was only when the pressure from other tournament boats made some spots unfishable that he briefly moved shallow.  But, that turned out to be the right move, as a Senko produced his kicker (and lunker for the tourney), a 5.14 lb stud largemouth.  Everyone knows that Jim can catch them, and he certainly proved that again this year, as his 35.59 lbs for 2-Days put him in the winner's circle once again and landed him in 7th place on the All-Time 2-Day Weight list!  Congrats to Jim D'Ambra for another great victory!

For Bob Wheeler, this year's Champlain trip started out tough.  Engine trouble put his boat out of commission for the derby, but he didn't let that end his chances for glory.  Showcasing the never-give-up attitude that has made him a solid competitor his entire career, Wheeler fished as a non-boater both days but still managed to bring in a whopping 33.60 lbs!  Fishing slowly with bottom baits, Bob almost won the entire derby from the back of the boat!  Still, his 2nd Place finish was more than impressive, given the level of tourney pressure on the lake and the fact that he was fishing from the rear seat.  Congrats to Bob Wheeler, Jim D'Ambra, and to all of the SSBM club members who battled the big lake this year at the 2026 SSBM 2-Day!