Story by Hunter Baughman | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
Is it hot where you live? We’ve been fighting the heat since before I got home from Oklahoma. Summer has hit full force here in the South and it is evident in the fishing. Local water temps have risen to the upper 80s and are pushing 90. The bite is slow except in low light conditions. And it can be downright miserable spending a 10- to 12-hour day in the boat, yet we love it enough to fish through the heat.
Last week I was in southeast Missouri filming with The Fishing University. The fishing was pretty rough, but I had an absolute blast. This was the first time meeting most of those guys. What a great group of people! I laughed more than I have in a long time. Truly had fun regardless of the temperatures and lack of bites. What an honor to be invited to film with them. The show will air on The Outdoor Channel at some point in the future.
If that wasn’t enough of the heat, a friend and I slid off to a local lake that gets pretty good in the summer. We were able to lean into some big ones and put a few more hours on the Ark spinning tackle. Everything worked flawlessly and is ready for those big brown fish up North.
That’s where I’ll be next time I make a cast. I leave on July 3, headed to Massena, New York and the St Lawrence River for the Stop 5 of the NPFL season. Obviously, I take every event seriously, but this one seems more important than most. The fish will be big, and the weights will be tight. Unlike Oklahoma, a subpar day on the St. Lawrence will land you at the bottom of the leaderboard.
After finishing our season opener at Santee Cooper in 94th place, I assumed my chances of finishing the year in the top 40 and qualifying for the Championship were over. However, after two mid-pack finishes followed by the top 10 in Oklahoma—where there was some serious turnover in the points—I find myself in 52nd place and just 18 points out of 40th. It’s imperative that I not lose ground in New York. Ideally, I gain a few more points and set myself up for the last event on Logan Martin in Alabama. The Logan Martin event most likely will be tough and there will be another shake up in the points. I seem to fare pretty well in the fall and in the tough events.
Until I leave, I’ll be tweaking tackle and going over the boat and trailer to make sure the 19-hour drive goes as smoothly as possible. Next week I’ll check back in to give you a practice report from my bucket list fishery—the St. Lawrence River.
Hunter Baughman – Angler Profile
