AOY #4
- kristopherbmartin
- Jul 20
- 6 min read
Updated: Jul 20
No Coincidences For Lowell, Secures Victory Up North
July 19, 2025
SOUTH HERO – The kid’s on a heater and he’s turning a few heads in the process. Boater John Lowell and co-angler John Laramie put 17.66 pounds of Lake Champlain bass on the scale Saturday afternoon to claim victory in the Champlain Valley B.A.S.S. Club’s fourth tournament of the 2025 season. It’s the second time this season that Lowell has taken first-place, staking his claim as the angler to beat early in the season - provided he gets to enough tournaments to qualify. Aiding ‘Team John’, was Lowell’s 5.29 lunker largemouth that served to anchor the duos’ winning bag. Despite the win Lowell has remained appreciative, preferring to deflect praise on his co-anglers for buying in to his tournament plans.
“I had a milk-run set in my head that was going to be tough to stay on schedule for, but my co-angler John Laramie gave me the thumbs-up and strapped in,” Lowell said. “We knew it was going to be little bumpy out there for much of the day but if he was game I knew we would catch our share of fish.”
Coming off a victory in a BFL earlier this week as a co-angler on the St. Lawrence River, Lowell is all too understanding that the bond between boater and co-angler in any team tournament can make or break a day’s fortune.
“He made the proper decisions at the proper times,” Laramie said. “I’ve been impressed with him (Lowell) for a long time now and getting to see his progression as an angler and human being has been a lot of fun. He’s been fishing with the club since his early teens, originally as a co-angler and now as a boater, and when he told me what he wanted to do today I trusted he’d take care of me. I’m 70-years old young fella’! Just bring me home in one piece!”
Both Lowell and Laramie have been long-time members of the club and while Laramie prefers to fish only as a co-angler, the bond formed between them over the years is readily apparent. In fact, when ‘Deacon’ Laramie is at the altar, members value his positivity and assistance with a net.
“His call was to inform me that we were paired together and would be targeting smallmouth in deep water if the lake wasn't too rough, and if so, we would be looking for largemouth over milfoil,” Laramie stated. “I was especially happy to hear I would be fishing with John on the big waters up north, for only a handful of our club members know this area of the lake so well. Not only does John know the lake well, he is very efficient at putting them in the boat when he finds them, and find them he did!”
“The bass didn’t cooperate right off, but with a wide array of presentations John began to slowly fill up our livewell,” Laramie continued. “After the excitement of bringing a big shouldered Larry to the net, (5+lbs) it wasn't long before he began culling some smaller Bass with three-plus pounders, and that’s when we knew we would have a respectable bag at weigh-in. For me as a non-boater I didn't set the hook too often, but did have a good time running for the net while learning some new bass-catching techniques that would help in filling the livewell on another day! I had a great on the big lake with him today.”
“The Champlain Valley Club is unique,” Club President Kris Martin said. “Each boater and co-angler sign up in advance, and then are paired randomly for the tournament. I understand that not everyone likes not fishing with his or her buddy, but what that does is force people to communicate – get out of certain comfort zones, in order to learn from each other and be successful. When you sign up for any big open tournament be it B.A.S.S. or MLF, you don’t get to choose your partner, so we keep that going here at the club level. It allows for some parity and it contributes to the educational tenet that the club was originally founded on. The fact that everyone gets to meet, know and fish with everyone else hopefully contributes to the intrinsic value of being a club member.
Second-place finisher and AOY points leader (294) Jason Roberts stayed in contention for Angler-of-the-Year hoisting 17.04 pounds to the scale. His co-angler Dave Monte picked up second-place points as well, and by his own admission, “didn’t contribute much to their bag”, but got a first-hand look at how a professional tournament angler covers water and adjusts to the conditions of the day in order to be competitive.
“I was able to get a limit of smallmouth early,” Roberts said, “But I knew it wasn’t going to be enough to hold off this field today. I made the decision to head even further north and look for some largemouths in order to beef up the bag and have a chance. I fished every dock I could find on my way to Missisquoi Bay, and there was a bass on every one that had a boat next to it.”
The team of Casey Baroffio and Finn Payne finished in third-place with 16.79 pounds and Baroffio was quick to make mention of the fact that it was his co-angler Payne who did most of the heavy lifting from the back of the boat.
“I was able to fish slow, with a drop-shot with a bigger than average bait in about seven to ten feet of water,” Payne said. “We were around rock with emergent weeds. When I put the drop-shot down I picked up the jig and picked a few up as well. We knew it was going to be easy getting to Casey’s stuff up north near Swanton, but perhaps the ride back would be…bumpy. As luck would have it the lake laid down a bit and we got back with plenty of time.”
Payne is another one of the young anglers who, similar to Lowell, has spent a better part of the last decade fishing the club as a co-angler. Now entering his sophomore season at Clarkson University, he takes his talent to the bass fishing team at the college where he will continue to refine his development as a tournament angler while working towards a degree in engineering.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Payne said. “The team’s home water is the St. Lawrence River, about 45 minutes from campus. I’ve met a few of the guys on the team and I think we can be competitive – I mean, the St. Lawrence River and bass fishing? C’mon, I don’t know that things could be any better for me right now.”
The Champlain Valley B.A.S.S. Club’s next AOY tournament will be a weekday evening tilt, Thursday, July 31, 2025 from 3:00PM-7:00PM launching from the Kehoe Access (Green Dump) at Lake Bomoseen. Hope to see you there.
Totals for Champlain Valley B.A.S.S. Series AOY #4
Saturday, July 19, 2025 @Guillmette Launch, Lake Champlain 7:30AM-3:30PM
First – John Lowell/ John Laramie 17.66
Second – Jason Roberts/ Dave Monte 17.04
Third – Casey Baroffio/ Finn Payne 16.79
4 – Erik Rasmussen/ Andy Christofaris 15.66
5 – Mark Jones/ Conner Jones 16.64 (one-pound penalty)
6 – Kris Martin/ Jake Michaud 14.53
7 – Olivia Baroffio/ empty seat 12.94
8 – Jim White/ Dennis Brownfield 9.58
9 – Zach Patch/ Garrett Sicely 9.76 (two-pound penalty)
Total Fish – 45
Dead Fish – 3
Lunkers
Smallmouth Lunker – Andy Christofaris 4.05
Total Smallmouth caught – 22
Largemouth Lunker – John Lowell 5.29
Total Largemouth caught - 23
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