PLATTSBURGH — They’ve been fishing Lake Champlain since they were little kids, and this weekend was their best trip ever.
Brett Carnright, who grew up on Cumberland Head, and his cousin, Ryan Latinville, took first and second place respectively in the MLF Northern Division Toyota Series Bass Fishing tournament, which featured more than 200 anglers from 41 states across the nation.
Carnright is believed to be the first local to win a major tournament on the lake.
“I don’t know if anybody from Plattsburgh has ever won so to be the first one possibly is quite an honor,” Carnright said as several family members and friends gathered for a mini-celebration after Saturday’s weigh-in at the Plattsburgh City Marina.
Carnright was in the hunt from the beginning of the three-day tournament along with Latinville. He trailed leader Bryan Labelle of Vermont by just eight ounces going into the final day on Saturday, and Latinville was just two ounces behind Carnright.
The final day clinched the win for the 30-year-old Carnright who finished with a haul of 59 lbs. 11 oz. He knew just what he wanted to do despite the rainy weather.
“I had my game plan for the day. I had some fish on beds, which is where they spawn… and I was able to go catch them on day three,” he said.
Carnright had his bag full of the fish he wanted to keep by 7 a.m., he said, and just fished out the rest of the day.
“About 45 or 50 minutes after takeoff, I had the winning bag, and I just fished throughout the day to try to upgrade,” he said.
Aside from a nice trophy, Carnright nabbed an $89,000 first prize.
It is the biggest pay day for the former Beekmantown Eagle hockey standout.
He’s come close to winning several times since 2017.
“It’s nice to finally get it done today,” Carnright said.
“There’s 228 guys here and they are the best fishermen across the country so to pull it off is quite an accomplishment.”
Even if he didn’t win, Carnright said not much beats time on the lake with a fishing pole in his hand.
“I love the lake and to win is awesome,” he said.
“But it’s not even that. Just spending time fishing. That’s my passion in life, so to win is just gravy.”
Latinville feels pretty much the same way as his cousin does.
“I came in second, but I really won because we are a team,” he said.
“We work our butts off together. We are friends, cousins, brothers and we work our butts off together and have since we were kids.”
Latinville caught an even 59 pounds for the tournament, 13 ounces ahead of Labelle who finished third.
“We were mostly spawning small mouth and you can see them because they don’t really move much,” he said.
Latinville took home a second place prize of $22,000.
Nick Veselka of Indiana, won the co-angler division with a catch of 17 lbs. and 12 ounces on the final day.
Riding with Carnright, Veselka said Lake Champlain is a lot like lakes he’s fished on in Wisconsin where he grew up.
“We had a fantastic week and had a blast catching them,” he said.
“I just wanted to come in and have a good time and have fun fishing and that’s what I did and it worked out.”
Veselka took home a new fishing boat for his efforts.