PLATTSBURGH, New York — Before the start of the long and challenging Bassmaster Elite Series season in 2024, Caleb Sumrall of New Iberia indicated, as he has in the past, the last two tournament sites would be his favorites.

His confidence level and affinity for Lake Champlain certainly showed Aug. 8th, 10th and 11th as he fished his way to a 13th-place finish in the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite here at Lake Champlain. It was the clutch result he needed because it lifted him inside the cut line to qualify for the 2025 Bassmaster Classic.

Sumrall, who spent most of July helping clients whack and stack speckled trout as a charter boat captain in and around Vermilion Bay, had the right touch in the deep clear waters of Lake Champlain. His first-day five-bass limit weighed 19 pounds, 7 ounces, then he busted a 21-11 limit on Day 2 to get into the Top 50 and fish Day 3.

The 37-year-old all-around outdoorsman got his limit Semifinal Sunday, usually known as Semifinal Saturday but the originally scheduled second day was postponed by Tropical Storm Debby. His Day 3 bag of bass weighed 17-5 for a three-day total of 58 pounds, 7 ounces, worth $10,000, plus $333 for sharing big bass honors – a 5-7 — on Day 2 with fellow Louisiana bass pro Greg Hackney of Gonzales.

Sumrall said the big largemouth bass made his day. It bit on a ½-ounce green pumpkin Ike’s Mini Jig while he was targeting bigmouths.

“That was the kicker,” he said, noting he spent 90 percent of the time offshore using forward facing sonar for smallies and the remaining time going after largemouth bass.

While Sumrall missed out on fishing Championship Monday by less than 1 pound, the 13th-place finish moved him to 38th in the Angler of the Year race for ’24 The Top 40 automatically qualify for the next Classic. It has been two years since he last fished a Classic.

“I’ve still got work to do this week, for sure. Oh, I mean, all I want is a chance at the end of the day. I just want a chance to go after it,” Sumrall said.

He has 453 points, just below Brandon Palaniuk of Rathdrum, Idaho, with 454, and just ahead of Kyle Welcher of Opelika, Alabama, 451, and Hackney, 448. The New Iberian will try to improve or keep his spot in the standings this week at the Humminbird Bassmaster Elite on the St. Lawrence River, Waddington, New York. Day 1 gets under way Thursday, Aug. 15, with takeoff at 7 a.m. EST from Whitaker Park.

Sumrall and the rest of the 101-angler field traveled 100 miles from here for this week’s regular-season finale on Bassmaster Magazine’s No. 1 body of water in its annual 100 Best Bass Lakes rankings. They are scheduled to prefish two days (Aug. 13-14) rather than three days.

Sumrall has a critical decision to make. As pointed out by B.A.S.S., there’s a 110-mile run this year to reach Lake Ontario. The bite could be more consistent in the lake but quality bass live in the river, too.

As of late Monday, Aug. 12, he was undecided.

“That’s right, it’s pretty far. I mean, it’s a big decision … a long run to the lake or staying in the river and grinding it out,” Sumrall said a day after fishing Lake Champlain. As for what he’ll target in practice, it’s tossup.

“I really haven’t made my mind up yet. I really don’t know,” he said.

His history of tournaments on the St. Lawrence River reflects ups and downs with the highest finish in 2021, when he had 58 pounds, 12 ounces, to finish 14th, and 86th with 17-13 in 2020. Last year he was 84th on the river with 35-9 following a 33rd-place finish with 64-1 in 2022.

His only other Elite tournament showing resulted in a 58th-place finish with 37-9 in 2018, his first year on the water.

Sumrall enjoys fishing the New York swing so much that he talked about it back in February before the first Elite tournament of the year at Toledo Bend. It’s the lure of fat and sassy smallmouth that endears him to those waters, particularly Lake Champlain.

As his wife, Jacie Sumrall, noted on Day 3 of the St. Lawrence tournament 1,700-plus miles away from their home in rural Iberia Parish, “He loves New York! And I think New York loves him.”

Before the Day 3 takeoff out of Plattsburgh City Dock, veteran Bassmaster Elite emcee and well-known B.A.S.S. official Dave Mercer caught up with Sumrall. Mercer usually interviews a few select contestants live in those exciting minutes leading up to the launch.

The emcee, mic in hand, asked the New Iberian about the day ahead.

“Man, I’m just having fun, man, up here you know. It’s full of fish. You’ve just got to get yourself around the right fish,” Sumrall said. “I’ve got a little smallmouth game plan. It worked yesterday and it will work today?”

Mercer pointed out that largemouth bass, the green ones, were a “player” in each of the first two days of the tournament more than previous tournaments. He wondered aloud if Sumrall would target one or both.

Sumrall, noncommittal but obviously going after the brown ones, drew a laugh from Mercer and the crowd listening over loudspeakers at the launch site when he said, “A 4-pounder is a 4-pounder.”

Alas, he was unable to get big bass in the boat on Day 3.

“I don’t know. That’s just how it happens. It was very tight weights. I didn’t get any bigger bites Day 3. That’s all it was,” he said.

The second day, however, was one to remember as he sacked up 21 pounds, 11 ounces.

“It’s just finding areas that had the right fish, man. That’s all that was,” he said.

That’s what he hopes to do on the St. Lawrence River. Hopefully, it’s enough to make the next Classic.

He appreciates the “good luck” messages from back home.

“Thanks for all the support. I know everybody back home is rooting for me. I’ll try to make the Classic for them. Make them proud,” he said.