MASSENA, N.Y. – The MLF Toyota Series will visit Massena, New York this week for a Toyota Series event at the St. Lawrence River. The three-day tournament (Thursday through Saturday) is the third and final event of the year for Northern Division anglers.
Local angler Ethan Carr of Massena won a BFL event on the St. Lawrence River last month and said he is looking forward to a great tournament.
“The St. Lawrence River is unlike any other fishery in the world,” said Carr. “I had the opportunity to grow up around that body of water and I really enjoy targeting the biggest fish that live in a fishery. Obviously sometimes that burns you, but there’s no better place than the St. Lawrence to do that.
“The amount of 5- and 6-pound fish on the St. Lawrence River is absolutely outstanding,” Carr continued. “It’s been a really good training ground to be able to really learn what those giant fish like to do and where they like to be.”
Carr said that even though the fishery has had a lot of recent pressure, he feels like the river can definitely hold up to it.
“It’s been fishing really good and has been kicking out a lot of really big weights,” Carr said. “Despite the recent pressure, I expect it’ll take 22 to 24 pounds per day to be able to win the tournament.”
Carr said he thinks there will be a lot more shallow fish in play this year than has been normal in the past.
“Even at the Bass Pro Tour event (two weeks ago), a lot of guys caught a boatload of fish up shallow,” Carr said. “I’ve seen more big fish up shallow this year than ever, but you can’t count out the deep fish. There’s probably going to be a mix of both in the Top 10. There are a lot of big fish, it’s just a little harder to find them this time of year.”
Carr said he expects to see classic St. Lawrence River baits in play throughout the event – dropshot rigs, Ned rigs, tubes and Carolina rigs.
Anglers will launch at 6:30 a.m. ET each day from the Massena Intake Boat Launch, located at 1415 State Highway 131 in Massena. Weigh-ins will also be held at that location and will begin at 2:30 p.m.
