Yamaha Pros Excited About Upcoming Bassmaster Classic®
from The Fishing Wire

Pace, Vinson, Jones and Crochet Discuss Pre-Tournament Scouting and Strategy

Cliff Pace

For most people, the Christmas and New Year’s holiday is a time of relaxation with family and friends, but that’s only part of the story for the 18 Yamaha Pros who will be fishing in the Bassmaster Classic® in February. For many of them, at least part of the Christmas season was spent bass fishing and scouting Alabama’s Lake Guntersville, site of the 2014 world championship. The lake went off-limits to all competitors Dec. 31.

“I went to the lake right after Christmas,” noted Yamaha’s Cliff Pace, winner of the 2013 Classic® on Grand Lake. “I’ve had both good and bad tournaments on Guntersville over the years, but this event has the potential to be one of the greatest Classics® we’ve had in many years. Guntersville ranks as one of America’s top bass lakes, and February can be one of the best times to fish there.”

Pace can be excused for not visiting Guntersville sooner, because he’s been celebrating the holidays since December 5 when his first child, daughter Jordan Baylee, was born. Other Yamaha Pros, like Greg Vinson, have been making periodic trips to the lake since October. Vinson finished second in the 2012 Bassmaster Classic® on the Red River and hopes Guntersville may set up well for his style of fishing.

Greg Vinson

“Guntersville is famous for its milfoil vegetation, which has helped create the great fishing,” he noted, “so I spent my scouting time there looking for places I think the milfoil will be growing in February, because that’s where the bass are going to be. I’d really like to find just one or two key areas, but so far, I haven’t found any places that might be dominant. It’s good from one end of the lake to the other.”

Fellow Yamaha Pro Alton Jones agrees. He won the 2008 Classic® and likewise spent his scouting time looking for potentially strong areas that bass may be using in February. Guntersville contains more than 69,000 acres, but Jones concentrated on only about 20,000 acres during his trip there in early December because he knew he couldn’t learn the entire lake.

“It’s exciting because it may take as much as 70 pounds of bass to win, and those fish can come from dozens of different places,” Jones said. “I believe shallow crankbaiting around the milfoil will play an important part in the tournament, and that’s one of my favorite ways to fish.”

Alton Jones

Like Pace, Jones waited until December to look at Guntersville, but for a different reason. He’s helping with a fisheries management program on the La Perla Ranch in south Texas where the owners are hoping to grow a new world record largemouth. Right after his scouting trip on Guntersville, he and the ranch owners shocked up a five year old bass weighing
14 pounds.

Yamaha Pro Cliff Crochet made two trips to Guntersville in early November between games with the junior high school football team he coaches during the off-season, and one day there he caught five bass weighing 18 pounds. Overall, however, he spent most of his time idling and looking.

“For the 2010 Classic® at Lay Lake near Birmingham, I pre-fished the lake hard prior to the cut-off, but it really didn’t do me much good,” Crochet remembered, “because the water and the fish changed between November and February. “This time, I looked more at how the milfoil was growing, and where I think it may be growing, and I was encouraged.

“Everybody knows the lake is full of bass and that some big catches will be made, and that’s fun to think about.”

“Guntersville is one of the lakes on the Tennessee River system, and it can change overnight,” concluded Pace. “When I go, I won’t fish very much at all, either. What I’m really hoping to do is narrow my fishing options and just establish a starting point when the official practice begins, but I’m like Alton in that I believe this Classic® will be won in water 10 feet or less, and around the vegetation.

“Of course, I want to win again, but no matter how it turns out, I know it’s going to be exciting.”

Other Yamaha Pros who have won previous Bassmaster Classics® and will be competing at Guntersville include Mark Davis (1995), Michael Iaconelli (2003), and Takahiro Omori (2004).

I Amost Got To Fish the Bassmasters Classic

Fishing the Bassmasters Classic is the dream of every bass tournament fisherman. It is the “Super Bowl” of bass fishing and only 51 of the top professional and amateur fishermen get to fish it.

The pros qualify through the Elite and Opens tournament trails. The amateur fishermen qualify through the state federations. In Georgia, each affilated BASS club can send its top six fishermen to a state Top Six Tournament. At that tournament in Georgia there are about fifty clubs participating so there are up to 300 competitors. The top 14 at that tournament go to the Southern Regional, with the teams from seven southern states competing.

At the regional, the top man on each state team goes to the nationals, where the seven regions compete. There, the top fisherman from each regional qualifies for the Bassmaster Classic. It is a tough way to make the Classic and only one Federation angler has ever won the Classic.

I joined the Spalding County Sportsman Club in 1974 and fished my first state top six in 1979. In 1983 I finished fourth in the Georgia Top Six at West Point and made the state team. The regional was at Kentucky Lake that year and I was excited but felt overwhelmed fishing with some great fishermen on our team.

Back then there were no nationals and the top fisherman on the top state team at each regional went to the Classic. Our team worked together, sharing patterns and places to fish, and won the tournament. I cam in second overall in the Regional, but was also second on the state team. Roger Farmer beat me by a little over two pounds in the three day tournament and qualified for the Classic.

I came THAT close to making the Classic that year, one 2.5 pound fish in three days.

Roger went to the Classic and I came home and signed up for all six of the tournaments on the old Red Man trail – what is now the BFL. But that experience is another story.

I am attending the Classic in Birmingham this year as a press observer. That will be fun and exciting, but not nearly as mush as competing in it!

Jan. 16, 2014

Bassmaster Classic To Return In 2015 To South Carolina

GREENVILLE, S.C. — The Bassmaster Classic is going “Upcountry” in 2015.

Greenville and Lake Hartwell, located in the upstate region of South Carolina popularly known as The Upcountry, have been selected as the sites for the 2015 Bassmaster Classic.

B.A.S.S. and South Carolina officials, including Gov. Nikki R. Haley, made the announcement today in Greenville.

Feb. 20-22 will be the competition dates for the field of anglers who qualify for the world championship through various Bassmaster competitions throughout 2014.

A new, multi-million-dollar launch facility, Green Pond, has been constructed near Anderson, S.C., for the anglers’ daily takeoffs. They’ll bring their catches to Greenville for weigh-ins at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena, recognized by the entertainment industry as one of the Top 50 venues in the world. The Bassmaster Classic Expo, the consumer show held concurrently with the competition days, will be at the 280,000-square-foot TD Convention Center in Greenville.

“We are thrilled that the Bassmaster Classic has chosen to return to South Carolina and selected Greenville for their 2015 location,” said Haley. “It’s truly a great a day in South Carolina, and now millions of people will get to see why our beautiful state continues to attract topnotch sporting events.”

“B.A.S.S. is delighted to be returning to Lake Hartwell and Greenville,” said Bruce Akin, CEO of B.A.S.S. “We will be working closely with our South Carolina partners over the next year to be sure Classic 2015 will be the first-class sporting event B.A.S.S. members and fishing fans worldwide have come to expect.”

B.A.S.S last brought the Classic to Greenville and Lake Hartwell in February 2008. The lake produced what was then the third-largest winning weight for a Classic: 49 pounds, 7 ounces. Bassmaster Elite Series pro Alton Jones of Texas was the author of that mark. Jones bested the 44-5 posted by Cliff Pace, then a 25-year-old, up-and-coming Elite pro from Mississippi. Pace went on to become a Classic champ himself in 2013.

Besides Gov. Haley, South Carolina officials on hand for Thursday’s announcement were representatives from South Carolina Parks, Recreation and Tourism (SCPRT); VisitGreenvilleSC; VisitAnderson; the City of Greenville, Greenville County; and Anderson County.

“We are thrilled that the Bassmaster Classic has chosen to return in 2015. The world championship of bass fishing recognizes the great combination of Lake Hartwell and facilities in Anderson and Greenville,” said Chris Stone, president of VisitGreenvilleSC.

Stone noted that in 2008, more than 75,000 people attended the Classic in Greenville over three days.

“We look forward to an even larger event in 2015, which will have tremendous impact on the local economy, with a projected impact of more than $17 million in revenue to the Upstate,” Stone said.

Said Duane Parrish, SCPRT director: “SCPRT is very proud that Greenville has been chosen as the host site for the Bassmaster Classic in 2015. This accomplishment is a testament to the hard work and efforts of VisitGreenvilleSC and VisitAnderson working together with the City of Greenville, Greenville County and Anderson County to once again host this premiere event, and is further proof of South Carolina’s growing reputation as a top destination for sports tourism.”

As one of the largest lakes in the Southeast, Hartwell attracts millions of visitors every year, according to the US Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the lake. Bordering Georgia and South Carolina on the Savannah, Tugaloo and Seneca rivers, the impoundment stretches 49 miles up the Tugaloo and 45 miles up the Seneca at normal pool elevation. Hartwell comprises nearly 56,000 acres of water with a shoreline of 962 miles, making it an ideal challenge for Classic anglers. Largemouth bass are abundant; the lake also holds spotted bass.

“There couldn’t be a better location than Lake Hartwell for the 2015 Bassmaster Classic,” said Jennifer Norman, executive director of VisitAnderson. “With Green Pond, our new $2.6 million mega-ramp facility, our convenient location and our amazing bass fishing, the Bassmaster Classic will showcase all that our lake has to offer.”

For more information about the Classic 2015 location, go to http://www.visitgreenvillesc.com; http://www.scprt.com; http://www.visitgreenvillesc.com; and http://visitanderson.com.

About B.A.S.S.
For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has served as the authority on bass fishing. The organization advances the sport through advocacy, outreach and an expansive tournament structure while connecting directly with the passionate community of bass anglers through its Bassmaster media vehicles.

The Bassmaster brand and its multimedia platforms are guided by a mission to serve all fishing fans. Through its industry-leading publications — Bassmaster Magazine and B.A.S.S. Times — comprehensive website Bassmaster.com and ESPN2 and Outdoor Channel television programming, Bassmaster provides rich, leading-edge content true to the lifestyle.

The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series, B.A.S.S. Nation events and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bassmaster Classic.

B.A.S.S. offers an array of services to its more than 500,000 members and remains focused on issues related to conservation and water access. The organization is headquartered in Birmingham, Ala.

Great Bassmasters Classic Expectations For (And By) Chris Lane

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Chris Lane’s dream of winning the 2014 GEICO Bassmaster Classic is different than the dreams of the other 55 anglers in the game.

Sure, every qualifier hopes to win the world championship of professional bass fishing. A win molds a pro career and changes your life, and not just because of the $300,000 first prize.

As the 2012 Classic champ, Lane knows that to be true. Yet this time around would be different. In 2014 — his fourth Classic — he’s not only a competitor, he’s the hometown entry.

Florida-born, Lane now lives on Lake Guntersville, the famed Alabama fishery where the Classic field will compete Feb. 21-23, with weigh-ins in Birmingham at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.

Friends, neighbors and fans in his adopted hometown of Guntersville are looking to Lane to take a second Classic title — this time for them. Fans everywhere assume he has a home-water advantage and expect more of him.

“There’s added pressure when it comes to fulfilling the expectations people have of you because you’re fishing at home,” Lane said. “I think my biggest challenge will be time management, using my time each evening preparing for the next day’s competition. It’s hard to put everything else aside when you’re at home.”

Recognizing what’s ahead of him, Lane set to work as soon as he nailed a Classic qualification by winning the final Bassmaster Elite Series event of the 2013 season. His mission: Sew up a gaping hole in his lake knowledge.

“In the five years I’ve lived here, I haven’t fished the lake much from December to March because I’ve had other things scheduled,” he said. “I knew I needed to learn a lot to give myself a chance to do well.”

A Lake Guntersville crash course was made easier because he could go to school at home.

“I could just takeoff from my own dock, get back for lunch with my kids and be home every night,” he said. “I was able to put in a lot of time on the water right up until cutoff on Dec. 31.”

Lake Guntersville has been off limits to Classic anglers since that date. Lane drives over the lake bridge to take his kids to school, but those teasing glimpses are as close as he can get to the water until the official practice period begins in February.

Then, he said, get ready for a slugfest.

“The lake has a lot of big fish,” Lane said. “The 30-plus-pound bags are here.”

By February, the lake’s bass will have been feeding to get in shape for the spawn, and they’ll be as fat as they’ll get all year, Lane said. That means a limit of five big bass a day will be needed to top the leaderboard, he said, and the game could easily change from one day to the next.

“Anyone could come from behind with a huge sack and take over,” Lane said. “This will be a Classic that’s a nail-biter to the very end.”

He predicts the winning weight will be about 83 pounds. That would easily break the Classic record of 69 pounds, 11 ounces set in 2011 on the Louisiana Delta.

Lane made his predictions with a disclaimer: “Weather permitting. Water clarity will be a big factor in the weights.”

Only one angler has won a Classic in his home state. Interestingly, the state was Alabama, and Boyd Duckett triumphed in the 2007 Classic on Lay Lake, 120 miles from his Demopolis home. But no angler has won a Classic in his home town.

Lane wants to be that angler: “It was so sweet to win a first Classic. Winning this one would be just as sweet, being at home.”

2014 Bassmaster Classic Title Sponsor: GEICO

2014 Bassmaster Classic Official Sponsors: Toyota, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Evan Williams Bourbon, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha

2014 Bassmaster Classic EXPO Presenting Sponsor: Dick’s Sporting Goods

2014 Bassmaster Classic Official Apparel Sponsor: Carhartt

About B.A.S.S.
For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has served as the authority on bass fishing. The organization advances the sport through advocacy, outreach and an expansive tournament structure while connecting directly with the passionate community of bass anglers through its Bassmaster media vehicles.

The Bassmaster brand and its multimedia platforms are guided by a mission to serve all fishing fans. Through its industry-leading publications — Bassmaster Magazine and B.A.S.S. Times — comprehensive website Bassmaster.com and ESPN2 and Outdoor Channel television programming, Bassmaster provides rich, leading-edge content true to the lifestyle.

The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series, B.A.S.S. Nation events and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bassmaster Classic.

B.A.S.S. offers an array of services to its more than 500,000 members and remains focused on issues related to conservation and water access. The organization is headquartered in Birmingham, Ala.

Angling Pros Prep for Alabama Classic at Guntersville

By Frank Sargeant, Editor
from The Fishing Wire

GUNTERSVILLE, ALA. Let the speculation begin.

Among serious bass anglers, prognosticating who will win the Bassmaster Classic to be fished on Alabama’s Lake Guntersville in February is right up there with studying the odds on FSU/Auburn.

Pro basser Alton Jones, veteran of 14 Bassmaster Classics, says the Xcalibur Rattlebait may very well play big in this year’s late February championship on Alabama’s Lake Guntersville.

Lipless crankbaits like the Rattlebait are particularly effective in a red-rust or crawfish color in late winter and early spring at the big lake, locals say.

Suspending jerkbaits like the Smithwick Suspending Pro Rogue might be a good backup choice, especially if tournament days are cold.

Alton Jones uses years of recorded data on prime spots, plus Google Earth, to create a personal map of choice fishing spots for all his tournaments.

Current dock talk seems to be favoring former Classic champ Chris Lane, who has been living on Guntersville the past several years and preparing for just this challenge, and Randall Tharp, a former G’ville area resident who appears on a roll this year with his skills sharpened to the max in both B.A.S.S. and FLW competitions. KVD, of course, is always to be reckoned with, as is new young gun Brandon Palaniuk and Angler of the Year Aaron Martens.

One who can’t be ignored is Texas pro Alton Jones, who has been in 14 Classics, won one, and earned some $2 million on the pro circuits over a long career.

Jones joined a crew from PRADCO, the parent company of Arbogast, Bomber, BOOYAH, Heddon, Xcalibur, Smithwick, Yum and several other brands well-known to bassers at the lake this past week for a practice session and some fine tuning with the new-for-2014 lures.

“Any lure can win any tournament, but if I were betting on one for this event here in late February, I’d bet on the Xcalibur Rattlebait in royal red or royal shad,” said Jones. “If the winter warms up early, the fish will be hanging over the grass shoots where the new beds will grow up in 4 to 6 feet of water or so, and vibrating-type baits let you fish fast and find the concentrations so it’s a good strategy when the fish are in that situation.”

He said he also likes the Smithwick Suspending Pro Rogue jerkbait, both over new grass and around bluff banks where shad schools are visible in late winter.

“If it stays cold, the fish may be deeper and I might go to the new Perfect 10 Rogue, which runs down to 10 or 12 feet,” says Jones. “It’s a bigger lure, and it attracts big fish if they’re around.”

Last but not least, Jones said, if weather is warm he’d probably have a swimjig with a YUM trailer on it to fish shallow pads and primrose beds.

Jones has fished Guntersville many times over the years, and has kept a computerized record of all his spots. He records the locations on the water on his Humminbird GPS systems, then transfers it to computer for storage so that the memory in the GPS does not get overloaded. When he returns to a given lake, he can reload all the results from all his trips back into the machine and have a record readily at hand of the best spots-one that he can also call up on iPad or iPhone.

One of the areas that keep showing up, he notes, is Mud Creek-a spot forecast by several top local anglers to figure in the winning Classic catch.

“I like to use Google to see how the weed patterns change at various times of the year,” says Jones. “You can call up history on satellite views and get a look at the weed growth from every season of the year, and that tells you where there might be some spots that local anglers might overlook. Fishing on a lake like Guntersville where there are so many tournaments all the time, finding a spot that other anglers have not hit recently can give a huge advantage.”

The Classic will be fished Feb. 21-23 at Guntersville, with daily take-offs from the city basin across the street from the Chamber of Commerce. Weigh-ins will be trailered and take place at Birmingham Civic Center, which is also the site of the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo. For details, visit www.bassmaster.com.

Jordan Lee Fishes BOOYAH To Championship, Classic
from The Fishing Wire

Q: What’s in the water at Auburn University?
A: Bass

Auburn student Jordan Lee is on his way to the Bassmaster Classic thanks to a win in the College Championship.

For two years in a row, final round of the Carhartt College Series Bassmaster Classic tournament came down to two Auburn University anglers battling for the opportunity to fish the Bassmaster Classic. One of them, Jordan Lee, was in that same position last year, then fishing against his brother, Matt. Matt edged him out and qualified to fish the 2013 Classic on Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ The Cherokees.

This year the anglers were fishing for entry to a Classic held on a body of water Jordan considers his home lake, and his final-day opponent was an angler he considers “like a brother,” his best friend and tournament partner Shane Powell.

“We’ve been best friends since we started college,” Shane said. “We’ve been tournament partners since the first semester.”

The three-day event on the Grand River in Michigan pitted one team from Auburn, one from Eastern Washington University, one from Young Harris College and one from Auburn University at Montgomery in a head-to-head bracket style tournament. With Jordan in the top half of the bracket and his partner Shane in the bottom half, a best-friend-versus-best-friend finals was a distinct possibility.

If Shane and Jordan beat the competitors they were matched against on Friday and Saturday, Sunday would again be an all-Auburn final. And that’s how it went down.

Launch for the event was in the Spring Lake area of Grand River, and Jordan fished the lake the entire tournament, while Shane normally picked up a fish or two from areas around the ramp before fishing a portion of the river for the rest of the tournament. Jordan found an area in the lake that featured water depths he liked, docks and vegetation, and this 600- to 700-yard stretch is where he fished all three days.

The Booyah Poppin’ Pad Crasher frog scored well for Lee in the backs of coves during the tournament.

Jordan rode three main lures to the trophy, a BOOYAH Poppin’ Pad Crasher for skipping under docks and to vegetation, a 3/8-ounce BOOYAH Blade spinnerbait retrieved at high speeds, and a YUM Wooly Bug for flipping.

When the water was flat he could catch them on the Poppin’ Pad Crasher, a hollow body frog with a cupped mouth that chugs water, especially when the sun was bright. Early mornings and when there was chop or a lot of boat wakes he caught his fish on the double willowleaf spinnerbait in Snow White color pattern. His spinnerbait fish hit while he “burned” the bait around docks.

When the wind really kicked up and boat traffic was at its highest on Saturday, he flipped the Wooly Bug around the docks and caught six or seven more, culling a few times.

He said the pieces to his pattern really didn’t come together until the first day of the tournament, when he caught four of his five-fish limit on the Poppin’ Pad Crasher, including big bass of the tournament, a 4-pound, 1-ounce largemouth that netted him an extra $500 on top of the boat, truck and $5,000.

Lee also scored by “burning” a Booyah Blade in 3/8 ounce size, which he said matched the baitfish at Grand River.

He caught his fifth Day 1 weigh-in fish burning the spinnerbait, and brought the biggest sack of the tournament to the scales, 15-pounds, 2-ounces.

What keyed him into the spinnerbait bite was the size of the baitfish in the area he was fishing. The smaller spinnerbait blades on the BOOYAH Blade matched the size of baitfish. He also trimmed the skirt up to the point right beyond the hook bend to give it a smaller overall profile.

The frog he skipped as shallow as possible under and around docks as well as in any vegetation that was protected from the wind. Color pattern on the Poppin’ Pad Crasher was Aqua-Frog, and he trimmed the spinnerbait-style legs to give it a more subtle surface disturbance.

“I also trimmed one leg about a half-inch shorter than the other so it walked easier,” he said.

On day two, extra boat traffic and wind created more chop than the other two days. He’d put a small limit in the livewell, but the conditions were so different than what he’d experienced that with an hour-and-a-half left he pulled out a flippin’ stick and started hitting the docks with a Wooly Bug in Green Pumpkin color.

Lee also added a few fish to his bag by flippin’ a YUM Wooly Bug soft plastic.

“I caught five or six fish and culled once or twice,” he said “I knew there were still fish there but they wouldn’t hit the frog or the spinnerbait. The Wooly Bug is a smaller flippin’ bait that also matched the size of the baitfish.”

At Day 2 weigh-in, Shane brought in a limit weighing 11-pounds, 7-ounces, to win his bracket, and Jordan easily won his match-up, so the final day was set for an emotional, all-Auburn shoot-out.

Jordan started the day by burning the spinnerbait around docks and had a good limit within an hour or so. He culled several times before the action slowed, then switched to the frog and started hitting the calm areas at the backs of docks and in any vegetation, and culled again before heading to the final weigh-in.

Shane brought his bag to the stage first, and even though it held big-bass for the day, was one short of a limit. Jordan brought in a 5-bass limit weighing an even 12 pounds, and celebrated with the monkey off his back and his ticket to the Classic punched.

“I told (Shane) I know how he feels,” Jordan said. “I felt that way last year, getting beaten by my brother, and honestly it made me work harder. I told Shane’s parents the day before that I would be pulling for him, and that he’s my best friend. We all want to fish the Classic.”

For Jordan, getting to fish a Bassmaster Classic on his home lake is like a dream come true. It’s a body of water he fishes more than 30 times a year, and loves fishing it in winter and early spring. He even recalled skipping high school basketball practice one February day to prefish a tournament on Guntersville.

“I grew up fishing there,” he said. “I fished my first tournament on Guntersville when I was 15 years old. Last year I won a BFL there, and a B.A.S.S. Weekend Series event there in early March of 2009. It’s probably my favorite place to fish.”