Category: BASSMASTER Elite Series/Opens

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. —

For decades, it seemed almost impossible for an angler to win the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods in his home state.

Now it’s happened four times in six years.

Tennessee pro Ott DeFoe, who makes his home in Knoxville, caught five bass Sunday from the Tennessee River that weighed 18 pounds, 14 ounces to win the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing and the $300,000 prize that goes with the iconic trophy.

His three-day total weight of 49-3 helped him slip past second-place angler Jacob Wheeler before a raucous home crowd at the University of Tennessee’s Thompson-Boling Arena.

The world-championship bass tournament drew a record-total attendance of 153,809 to tournament venues, including daily weigh-ins in Thompson-Boling Arena, the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo consumer show presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods in the Knoxville Convention Center and World’s Fair Exhibition Hall, and morning takeoffs at Volunteer Landing. Attendance counts, including as many as 6,500 at Saturday’s early-morning takeoff, were provided by officials at each of the venues.

“This is a dream come true — a dream I’ve had since I was a 9-year-old kid,” said DeFoe, who now has six career victories with B.A.S.S. “When we came over here and did the walk-through the day before the tournament, I actually imagined hearing my name after the words ‘Bassmaster Classic champion.’

“For it to happen now … I just keep thinking I’m gonna wake up.”

For the first 36 years the event was held, no home-state angler claimed the Classic crown. But that streak was broken in 2007, and then home-state anglers won three straight times from 2014-16.

Since DeFoe lives in Knoxville — and since few others in the 52-angler field had much experience on the tournament waters of Fort Loudon and Tellico lakes — he was one of the obvious favorites coming into the event.

But things didn’t go smoothly for him in his own backyard all three days.

After catching 20 pounds during Friday’s opening round, DeFoe caught five bass that weighed just 10-5 Saturday — and he said that tough day might have been the best thing that could have happened to him.

“If I would have had a good Day 2 — if I’d had even 14 or 15 pounds — I might have been totally committed to what I was doing,” DeFoe said. “It was working. Why would I not stay with it?

“But the fact that it just didn’t work for me, that caused me to just scrap it all. I just went fishing today, and that’s exactly what I needed to do.”

DeFoe spent Day 1 far away from the shoreline fishing the shallow tips of points in 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 feet of water. His primary bait was a Storm Arashi Vibe lipless crankbait in the “rusty craw” pattern — but it was almost unrecognizable after he doctored it with orange, red and black Sharpies.

“I was making it a lot prettier than it is to start with,” DeFoe said, laughing. “That’s definitely a confidence thing, but I altered the color of the bait pretty substantially to give it a lot more orange and red.

“It may be a confidence thing, but who’s gonna argue with it?”

After staying offshore for most of the first round, DeFoe switched to fishing shallow boat docks the second day, when a strong north wind interfered with his pattern. His bait of choice around the docks — a 3/8-ounce bladed jig — helped him land three of his five keepers on Day 2.

He used the bladed jig again Sunday. But he moved from the shallow docks to the outside wall of a marina after a quick conversation with Keith Poche, a fellow Classic competitor from Alabama who failed to make the cut for Championship Sunday.

“In this tournament, we can all talk and share,” DeFoe said. “That kind of thing happens all the time, and sometimes it works to go try some of that stuff.

“These guys all know what they’re doing, or they wouldn’t be here.”

DeFoe’s closest competition came from Wheeler, an Indiana native who moved to Tennessee two years ago after enjoying great success on fisheries in the Volunteer State. Wheeler has two career B.A.S.S. wins — one on Lake Chickamauga and one on nearby Cherokee Lake.

“I knew it was going to be hard to beat Ott on this fishery,” said Wheeler, who caught 12-15 Sunday and finished with a three-day weight of 45-5. “All I can say is I caught fish every day, so it was a great week for me.

“If I just had to come up a little short, I’m glad to see Ott win it.”

Tuskegee, Ala., angler Mark Daniels Jr. and Talala, Okla., pro Edwin Evers split the Berkley Big Bass prize with identical 6-pound, 3-ounce bass. Winners of the Toyota Bonus Bucks contingency prizes were DeFoe, who collected $7,500 and Daniels who collected $2,500.

The 49th world championship of bass fishing paid a total of $1 million to the 52 professional anglers competing.

March 16, 2019 Wheeler Takes Over Lead At Bassmaster Classic On Tennessee River KNOXVILLE, Tenn. —

During the early portions of practice for the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, Jacob Wheeler discovered a pattern that he knew would put bass in his livewell.

But since it seemed a little too obvious, he spent the latter portions of practice looking for something he thought no one else would find.

He ultimately went back to the obvious — and it has him in position to win the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing.

After landing 14 pounds, 11 ounces during Friday’s opening round, Wheeler caught five bass Saturday that weighed 17-11 and sprang into first place with a two-day total of 32-6. His five-bass limit Saturday was one of the few weighed in this week that featured all smallmouth.

“I know this crew,” Wheeler said. “I knew they would figure out the same thing I had figured out. Even though there are miles and miles and miles of water, they were going to figure it out.

“I tried to move around the lake, be smart about it and just fish what looked good to me — looking for that needle in the haystack. But I never found it, so I just had to fall back to what I knew I had.”

No angler on earth is more guarded with his techniques than the one who leads the Bassmaster Classic heading into the final round. So Wheeler only said that he was fishing a “reaction bite” with moving baits.

He said catching five smallmouth Saturday was a surprise.

“If you would have told me at the start of the tournament that eight of my 10 fish so far would be smallmouth, I would have said there’s no way,” Wheeler said. “It’s been so hard to catch a smallmouth — even a nonkeeper.”

“That is not something I thought I had dialed in at all.”

Wheeler, who has two career Bassmaster Elite Series victories — one on Chickamauga Lake and one on Cherokee Lake — actually relocated from Indiana to Tennessee two years ago. He now lives on Chickamauga and said the knowledge he’s gained on that fishery has played into his success this week.

“We don’t have smallmouth on Chickamauga, but these fish are set up a lot like the ones I fish for at home,” he said. “So that knowledge gives me a little something in my back pocket.” Wheeler earned the GEICO Everyday Leader Award of $2,500 for finishing atop the leaderboard today.

Wheeler’s catch was just enough to help him edge Alabama angler Mark Daniels Jr., who moved into second place with a Day 2 catch of 17-6 that pushed his two-day mark to 31-14. Daniels said he caught most of his bass Saturday on an original Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap, including a 6-3 largemouth that gave him the lead in the Berkley Big Bass competition.

Daniels said he used the red crawfish-colored Rat-L-Trap and changed the factory hooks to Owner ST-56 No. 4 short-shank trebles.

“They’re just such a sharper hook, and I think that’s really key,” Daniels said. “When that big fish came to the top, I could see it had both hooks in its mouth — one in the corner of its mouth and one down under its chin.

“I knew that fish was never coming off, so I just took my time and landed it.”

The biggest mover of the day was Texas pro Chris Zaldain who brought in a tournament-best limit that weighed 21-12 and jumped from 28th place into third with a two-day total of 30-12.

Like Wheeler, Zaldain said returning to the obvious pattern helped him on Day 2.

“I fished a pattern today that I didn’t get a chance to fish on Day 1,” Zaldain said. “I made a bad decision, and I ended up having to resort to some smallmouth tactics that gave me the 9 pounds I weighed in.

“Today, I fished the patterns, the areas and the bait that I originally intended to fish.”

Zaldain’s success left him feeling supremely confident for Championship Sunday.

“At one point today, I probably went 10 for 10 on pointing at spots on my graph and telling my marshal we were about to get bit,” he said. “Within two casts, it would happen.

“I’m to the point where if it doesn’t look exactly right, I don’t even stop.”

The tournament will resume Sunday with takeoff at 7:40 a.m. from Volunteer Landing and weigh-in at 4:15 p.m. at Thompson-Boling Arena. The weigh-in will culminate with the crowning of a new world champion and the awarding of the $300,000 first-place prize. The other 51 anglers will share in the remainder of a $1 million total purse.

The Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods is being held at the Knoxville Convention Center and the adjacent World’s Fair Exhibition Hall from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

March 15, 2019Hometown Angler Ott DeFoe Takes Lead At Bassmaster Classic On Tennessee RiverKNOXVILLE, Tenn. —

Ott DeFoe came into Friday’s opening round of the GECIO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods with two patterns in mind that he thought would work on the Tennessee River.

Only one of them did — and even then, just barely.

But it worked well enough to give him the lead at the Super Bowl of Professional Bass Fishing.

DeFoe caught only eight keeper bass on the day, but his best five weighed 20 pounds and gave him an early cushion over Arizona pros Roy Hawk, who was second with 17-11, and Clifford Pirch, who was third with 16-11.

“I got five good bites all day, and I landed them,” said DeFoe, a Knoxville resident who was considered by many to be the odds-on favorite coming into the event. “Honestly, it felt like a very tough day.”

DeFoe’s two-pattern strategy included one tactic he believed would produce heavier bass and another he thought would be a good “limit filler.” The limit-filling pattern didn’t work at all.

Fortunately for the Tennessee pro, the big-fish strategy produced a 6-pound largemouth that anchored his catch.

“A 6-pounder here is a really big one,” said DeFoe, who also took the Day 1 lead in the Berkley Big Bass competition. “So to get that one and four other pretty good ones, I felt really blessed.”

This marks the first time that Fort Loudon and Tellico Lakes have hosted a major Bassmaster event — and since DeFoe lives in the area, he probably knows as much about the fisheries as anyone. But even he couldn’t say exactly what changed the fishing so dramatically from what he had come to expect in practice.

“Coming in, I felt like both of my patterns would hold up all week,” DeFoe said. “I don’t know if the fishing pressure got to the one that didn’t work for me today or if it was the fact that the water level came up some.

“If I had to guess, I would say the water level coming up probably caused the fish to scatter out in some places.” As the first-round leader, DeFoe receives the GEICO Everyday Leader Award of $2,500.

Hawk — an Arizona angler who finished second in last year’s Bassmaster Rookie of the Year standings — said he spent all day fishing shallow structure with an unspecified red crankbait. He said his solid weight of 17-11 didn’t come as a huge surprise.

“After what I saw in practice, I felt like you could have a day like today,” Hawk said. “Two things made me believe that. One, I have a lot of confidence in the bait I’m throwing right now and two, the mapping I’m using is fantastic here.”

Hawk said a new C-Map of the fishery from Lowrance allowed him to highlight the shallow areas and follow them exactly.

“I have the shallow water marked red, and I’m using a red crankbait,” he said. “So you just connect the red with the red and let her roll.”

Pirch said he had to make a quick adjustment Friday morning after rains Thursday night muddied the water he had planned to fish.

“I was going to gin-clear water, and when I showed up it was chocolate brown,” he said. “So I had to do things differently than I expected. But it still worked out.”

Pirch wouldn’t disclose the bait he was using — or even which one of the two lakes he was fishing. He only said he didn’t let the muddier water scare him away.

“I didn’t know if the color of the water would make a difference,” Pirch said. “I’ve caught them in practice this week in the chocolatey-brown water, but I went there to do something totally different.

“Fortunately, they were still there.”

The tournament will resume Saturday with takeoff at 7:40 a.m. from Volunteer Landing and weigh-in at 4:15 p.m. at Thompson-Boling Arena. Friday’s Day 1 takeoff at Volunteer Landing drew a Classic-record takeoff crowd of 5,500 spectators.

The Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo presented by DICK’S Sporting is also underway this week at the Knoxville Convention Center and the adjacent World’s Fair Exhibition Hall. The Expo will be open Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Sunday’s weigh-in will culminate with the crowning of a new world champion and the awarding of the $300,000 first-place prize. Total purse for the 52 anglers is $1 million.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Photo courtesy of BASS

The GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods brings bass fishing’s grandest event to the spot where one of the nation’s grandest rivers begins.

Literally forming at the host city of Knoxville, the Tennessee River traces its beginning to the confluence of the Holston and French Broad rivers on the town’s east side. From there, it extends 652 miles before emptying into the Ohio River.

The entire length of the Tennessee is known for its bass fishing, but the upper section will become the focal point of the bass fishing universe March 15-17, when the Classic gets under way. The three-day event is worth $300,000 to the winner, out of a total purse of $1 million.

The Classic waters have been off-limits to the 52 Classic qualifiers since December 31. They’ll have a few more days to scout the fishery just prior to the start of competition as they try to pinpoint locations where they can catch the heaviest five-bass limits each day.

Classic waters include Fort Loudoun and Tellico lakes, twin reservoirs connected by a canal and comprising about 30,000 combined acres. Competitors can fish either lake and anywhere along the Tennessee River upstream from Fort Loudoun Dam to the Interstate-40 bridge on the Holston River and the Highway 168 bridge on the French Broad River.

“The river just has so much to offer from top to bottom,” said Bassmaster Elite Series pro Brandon Card, who lives in Knoxville and loves the river. “A lot of the anglers who’ll be fishing this Classic have probably never seen this particular part of the river before.

“I’ve been fishing Fort Loudon and Tellico off and on my whole life, and I know how good they can be.”

Fort Loudoun

Named after an 18th-Century British fort built during the French and Indian War, Fort Loudoun Lake was constructed in 1943 for hydroelectric power production, and it boasts 379 miles of shoreline and 14,600 surface acres.

Card said anglers in the 52-angler Classic field who prefer to fish for largemouth will likely spend most of their time on Fort Loudon due to its stained water color and wealth of shallow structure.

“Fort Loudon looks more like a river,” Card said. “It has that Tennessee River water clarity that is just great for fishing shallow. The ‘power’ fishermen — the guys who like to throw crankbaits and swimbaits and things like that — will probably gravitate toward Fort Loudon.

“That’s what I would do — and I’d look for places that have big largemouth and smallmouth because both species are in Fort Loudon.”

Noting that March is one of the best months to fish all of the Tennessee River reservoirs, former Bassmaster Classic champion David Fritts agreed that Fort Loudon is more suited for shallow fishing.

“The key to success is being able to find the staging fish as they move in,” Fritts said. “Rock is always important this time of year on the Tennessee River. Wood on a rocky spot enhances it, but a hard bottom is the key. You’re not going to catch a whole lot of fish off of laydowns, unless they have hard bottom underneath.”

Tellico

Completed in 1979, this 15,560-acre reservoir was created as a Loudoun extension. The Tellico Dam impounds the Little Tennessee River, which flows northwestward from its source in the Appalachian Mountains and enters the Tennessee River near Lenoir City.

Unlike its neighboring Fort Loudoun structure, Tellico Dam has no power-generation capabilities. Instead, it serves to divert water through a short canal into Fort Loudoun for greater flood control and navigational purposes.

Perhaps as a result, Tellico typically features clearer water than Fort Loudon and can be more attractive to deep-water anglers.

“You’re talking 10 feet of visibility on Tellico versus maybe 3 feet of visibility on Fort Loudon,” Card said. “So, the light-line, smallmouth guys are definitely going to favor Tellico.”

As with most clear-water fisheries, Card said success on Tellico is tied heavily to the weather of the day.

“Tellico is more of a conditional lake,” he said. “On overcast days or real windy days, that’s when Tellico is going to shine. But if we get a bluebird, sunny day, Tellico will be tough.”

Tale of two Classics

Card said limits of 20-pound smallmouth are possible on either fishery. It’ll just be a matter of how an angler wants to fish and what the weather will allow. Though the area is being pounded by heavy rains now, Card said if the weather stabilizes, the venue should make for a great Classic.

“You can pretty much pick your poison,” he said. “You can fish a drop-shot rig in 40 feet of water on Tellico, or you can fish a squarebill on Fort Loudon in 2 feet of water.

“Strategically, you’re going to have to make some tough decisions all three days.”

The biggest decision, according to Elite Series pro Mark Menendez of Kentucky, may be whether you want to catch lots of smallmouth at Tellico or bank on an occasional monster smallmouth at Fort Loudon.

“Loudoun has a good population of 4- and 5-pound smallmouth, and those are going to play big in the Classic,” Menendez said. “It’s easier to catch a 5-pound smallmouth on Loudoun than a 5-pound largemouth — but there are more largemouth. It’s going to make for a really fun guessing game.”

Knoxville leaders are excited about showing off their fishery to fishing fans visiting from throughout the nation.

“The Visit Knoxville Sports Commission has enjoyed partnering with B.A.S.S. and looks forward to welcoming the Bassmaster Classic in just a few short weeks,” said Kim Bumpas, president of Visit Knoxville. “Hosting this event in Knoxville is the perfect opportunity to showcase the beautiful Tennessee River to the Classic competitors and outdoor enthusiasts.”

Classic anglers will take off each competition morning from Volunteer Landing in downtown Knoxville, and weigh-ins will be each afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena on the University of Tennessee campus. The Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods and other activities will take place at the Knoxville Convention Center and the adjacent World’s Fair Exhibition Hall. For more information about attending the 49th Bassmaster Classic, visit VisitKnoxville.com/Bassmaster, or go to Bassmaster.com.

February 18, 2019 GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Photo courtesy of Jeff DeRoche

Former B.A.S.S. Nation Champion Paul Mueller proved he belongs in the big leagues of professional fishing by winning a spotted bass shootout in Georgia today. Last-minute heroics earned Mueller $100,000 for first place in the Toyota Bassmaster Elite at Lake Lanier.

Desperate to fill out his five-bass limit with bigger spotted bass, Mueller returned to a deep ridge that had produced most of his big spotted bass on previous days. There, he managed to dredge up two big spotted bass that pushed him ahead of Texas angler Chris Zaldain by less than a pound.

“I struggled today,” Mueller said. “I had run out of options, so I went back to my primary spot and caught a 5 1/4 (pounder) and then a 4. Without those two fish, I don’t win.”

Mueller had 18 pounds, 8 ounces for the day, giving him a four-day total of 69-0. It could have been even more. “There were still fish on that spot when I left,” he added. “At the end of the day, I lost a couple of big ones. I could have had a 20-something bag today.”

He described the structure as a large, underwater ridge with two shallower areas on top and very deep water on each side. He caught most of his spotted bass the first day on a Reins Bubbling Shad on a Do It Molds Freestyle Jighead, but the big producer the rest of the time was a 3 1/4-ounce Reins Fat Rockvibe Shad Swimbait on a 1/2-ounce herring head underspin jighead with the spinner removed.

“Who would have thought you could win this tournament — a blueback herring tournament — off of one spot?” he said. In fisheries where the nomadic herring are a main staple of bass diet, spotted bass are notorious for leaving their holding areas unexpectedly and en masse.

That happened to Zaldain, who also had to contend with a wind shift today that moved his schools of bass. A sudden drop of temperatures into the low 40s didn’t help.

“I fished long, sloping points all week and had to switch to western banks today because of the east wind,” he said.

Zaldain was the leader with 51-9 going into Championship Sunday, when only the Top 10 finalists competed, but he fell short with a 16-9 limit today that included two smaller bass. He alternated between a 3-inch Megabass Spark Shad swimbait on a 3/8-ounce jighead and a 3/8-ounce drop shot with a 3-inch Megabass Hazedong Shad.

Unlike Mueller and Zaldain, the others in the Top 5, and most of those in the Top 10, fished crankbaits in shallow to medium depths, especially on shorelines and points in 38,000-acre Lake Lanier.

Keith Combs of Texas finished third with 66-1, earning a $20,000 payday that pushed him into the Millionaire’s Club of B.A.S.S. His career earnings now stand at $1,001,635. He alternated between Strike King crankbaits and a 6-inch shaky head worm and followed a “run-and-gun” pattern to try numerous spots during the day. “I didn’t stay anywhere long,” he said.

Second-round leader David Mullins of Tennessee dropped to fourth with 65-14 after his bigger fish in the backs of pockets deserted him, and Todd Auten of South Carolina moved up into fifth with 63-6.

The 75 pro anglers had high praise for the quality of fishing on Lake Lanier, which had never hosted an Elite Series event before. Several spotted bass heavier than 5 pounds were weighed in, but it was a 6-14 largemouth that earned Bill Lowen of Indiana the $1,500 Phoenix Boats Big Bass Award.

The 917 bass caught in the four-day tournament averaged more than 2 3/4 pounds, an amazing average for a spotted bass fishery. Also impressive, all 917 were released alive and returned to Lake Lanier.

Chris Johnston, a newcomer to the Elites from Canada, claimed the lead in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race after two events and earned $1,000. He finished 10th at Lanier and was second behind winner Rick Clunn in the Power-Pole Bassmaster Elite at the St. Johns River, Florida, last week.

Lee Livesay of Texas now leads the DICK’S Sporting Goods Rookie of the Year race, earning $500. The highest-scoring rookie at the end of the 10-event Elite season will collect the $10,000 ROY prize.

PALATKA, Fla — After becoming the oldest angler ever to win a Bassmaster Elite Series event in 2016 on the St. Johns River, Rick Clunn provided what has become one of the most famous quotes in professional bass fishing history when he said, “Never accept that all of your best moments are in your past.”

On Sunday, he walked it like he talks it.

Clunn, who turned 72 in July, broke his own record for agelessness, winning the Power-Pole Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River with a four-day total of 98 pounds, 14 ounces. His amazing week was punctuated on Championship Sunday with a tournament-best limit of five bass that weighed 34-14.

It was the 16th career victory for Clunn, whose $100,000 first-place paycheck put him over $2.5 million in career earnings with B.A.S.S.

“I think this just reinforces what I said after I won here in 2016,” Clunn said. “A long time ago, I stopped paying attention to timelines. The terrible twos, the ugly teens, the midlife crisis, retirement time — I don’t pay any attention to any of that.

“If you listen to everybody else, you’ll get premature notions about who you really are.”

This week, there was no doubt about it. He was “Rick Clunn: Legend.”

The Ava, Mo., angler started modestly with a limit of 17-5 on Day 1. But he inched his way up the standings with 23-11 on Day 2 and then caught 23-0 on Day 3 to make Sunday’s Top 10 cut in eighth place with a three-day total of 64-0.

He joked after Saturday’s semifinal weigh-in that he might need a 10-pounder and a 12-pounder on Sunday to have any chance of winning. While he didn’t quite make those marks, he came close by weighing in two fish over 9 pounds, including a 9-14 that ranked as the biggest bass of the day.

His three key baits all week were a big lipless crankbait from Luck-E-Strike called a Hail Mary, a 3/4-ounce Luck-E-Strike Trickster Spinnerbait with a shellcracker-colored skirt and a Texas-rigged gatortail worm.

“I thought the bream pattern was important for the spinnerbait this week,” Clunn said. “The bass are bedding here, and I know how much the bass really don’t like the bream around their beds.”

The spinnerbait bite improved steadily throughout the week, thanks to a cold front that brought wind and cloud cover to the region. After catching bass on the deeper ends of boat docks in practice, Clunn said the fish had moved so shallow they were under the walkways of the docks by the weekend — and that made for a perfect spinnerbait situation.

In the event that he missed a strike on the spinnerbait, he would follow up quickly with the worm. That was the key to landing his biggest bass Sunday.

“That’s what won it for me today,” he said. “Early in the day, they were eating that spinnerbait really well. I caught a 6 1/2 on it and another one about 4. But then in the middle of the day, I missed three fish on it — and I could tell the third one was a really nice fish.

“I went back with the worm, and it was the 9-14.”

Even with all that he’s accomplished, Clunn admitted the two giant bass on Sunday got his blood pumping.

“I swung every fish into the boat today except those two 9s,” he said. “When you have to sit there and think about all of the possibilities and it takes forever to get them in the boat…it gets your heart moving.”

The two anglers closest in the standings to Clunn were first-year Canadian pro Chris Johnston with 95-2 and veteran Kentucky pro Mark Menendez with 95-1. Johnston said it was an honor to share the stage with Clunn.

“To lose to somebody that you watched fishing for the past 20 years — just to be on the same stage with him — it’s a privilege,” Johnston said. “If I was gonna see anyone else win, I would want it would be Rick. He earned it. He deserves it. He put his time in.

“I can’t complain about second place at my first event.”

Clunn said the question of when he’ll finally give up fishing is “a dirty question.” He’s looking forward to next week’s Toyota Bassmaster Elite at Lake Lanier in Georgia and has no plans of slowing down anytime soon.

“A lot of stuff off the water is old to me,” Clunn said. “But when I go on the water, it’s brand new, just like it was when I started. I love it just as much as I ever have.

“It’s an incredible thing to go out every single day and know that you’ve gotta figure them out. This amazing study of natural rhythms and how all things are connected — I can’t see myself ever getting tired of that.”

During a tournament when giant fish were weighed in all four days, the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the week was caught during Thursday’s opening round. The honor went to Virginia pro John Crews for the 11-2 largemouth he caught on Day 1.

Rookie pro and former college fishing champion Patrick Walters of South Carolina was fourth with 91-14, and Crews was fifth with 89-11.

The Elite anglers hit the St. Johns River fishery at its peak. The 75 anglers caught 158 five-bass limits and weighed in 893 bass totaling 2,927 pounds, 8 ounces of bass. With an average weight of 3 1/4 pounds and the largest weigh-in crowds in the history of St. Johns Bassmaster tournaments, the event more than lived up to the theme of the 2019 Elite Series: “Big Bass. Big Stage. Big Dreams.”

February 9, 2019 Palatka, Fla. — Photos courtesy of BASS

During the weeks leading up to the Power-Pole Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River, brothers Chris and Cory Johnston insisted the Florida fishery reminded them a lot of the waters they grew up fishing back home in Canada.

Those who may have doubted them know better now.

Chris Johnston, who had fished a grand total of four B.A.S.S. events prior to this week, caught five bass during Friday’s round that weighed 25 pounds, 11 ounces and took the lead in the season-opening Elite event with a two-day total of 47-0.

Lee Livesay of Texas is second with 46-2, followed by Mark Menendez of Kentucky (45-14), Brandon Cobb of South Carolina (42-14) and Rick Clunn of Missouri (41-0).

Cory Johnston, who has teamed with his brother to dissect the fishery for months, caught 21-1 himself Friday and moved into sixth place at 41-0.

“I just hope I’m a couple of ounces ahead of him after tomorrow and then hopefully again on Sunday,” Chris said of his brother. “We always have a rivalry between us. We’re always trying to beat each other for bragging rights.

“I’ve got a little lead on him now, and hopefully I can carry it through the rest of the week.”

Chris said he’s been fishing for mixture of bedding bass that he can’t see and prespawn fish that are still working their way onto the beds. Like most of the field, he expects the weather to be a factor on Saturday, when the forecast calls for a shift from the sunny, clear conditions of the past two days to somewhat cooler temperatures and 10- to 20-mph winds.

“It’ll probably affect me, but I think everyone’s in the same boat,” Johnston said. “I went around looking today for three or four hours, marked a few fish and saw a couple of areas I like. If Plan A fails, I’ll go to Plan B.”

Livesay, who caught 19-12 on Day 1, got off to a fast start Friday, putting 12 pounds in his livewell in less than 15 minutes. Once that area started receiving pressure, he began checking out new fishing areas and put together a five-bass limit that weighed 26-6.

“I got on a little pattern and caught a big one in a spot,” he said. “Then I thought the same thing should work in another spot — and sure enough, I caught another big one.”

Then, as strange as it sounds, he basically started fishing where he didn’t expect to catch a bass.

“It’s gonna be so weird tomorrow with this weather coming in, and I didn’t want to burn any 2- or 3-pounders that might help me a lot,” he said. “So I just went to some water I’d never even looked at and caught a 5-pounder.”

Menendez, who caught 24-8 Thursday, added 21-6 Friday and held on to third place with 45-14. He scored early in the day with a 6-pounder that he wasn’t really expecting to catch.

“That’s a spot where I’ve always caught 2- to 4-pounders,” Menendez said. “So when you pull up there and catch a 6-pounder, you’re thinking, ‘Well, giddy-up, it’s gonna be a good day.’”

A slight shift in technique helped Menendez to his quick start, but then he went back to the same tactics he used on Day 1 — tactics he’s not quite ready to discuss.

“I had to change baits today, and the change gave me the bites early so I could slow down and fish really thorough,” Menendez said. “Then during the afternoon, I went back to what I caught them on Thursday and got into another one of those big ones, a 5-plus, and another one that was about 4 pounds.

“Those really help you.”

Fourth and fifth place represent the age diversity on this year’s Elite Series, with the 29-year-old Cobb leading the 72-year-old legend, Clunn, by less than 2 pounds. Cobb caught 23-1 Friday to push his mark to 42-14, while the seemingly ageless Clunn caught 23-11 to lift his two-day total to 41-0. Clunn won his 15th Bassmaster title on these same waters when the Elite Series last stopped here in 2016.

Cory Johnston is tied statistically with Clunn for fifth place, but is credited for sixth place because Clunn has had the bigger single-day bag of the two and won the tie-breaker.

Cory said he’s not conceding anything to his brother — or anyone else.

“No one wants to be behind his brother,” he said. “The competition that we have amongst ourselves and our friends, that’s bigger than anything. So I just want to beat him.

“I’ll be out there trying to win.”

The tournament will resume Saturday with the Top 35 remaining anglers taking off from Riverfront Park at 7:30 a.m. ET. The weigh-in will be back at the park at 4:10 p.m., with only the Top 10 anglers advancing to Championship Sunday with a chance to win the $100,000 first-place prize.

Arizona pro Clifford Pirch wowed the weigh-in crowd with a 10-4 trophy largemouth, but Virginia angler John Crews still leads the race for Phoenix Boats Big Bass with the 11-2 largemouth he caught Thursday.

February 7, 2019Giant Bass Make A Showing at Power-Pole Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns RiverPalatka, Fla. —

After a tough practice, Robbie Latuso said he only had one area that he felt confident about heading into Thursday’s opening round of the Power-Pole Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River.

But it turned out to be a good area — and it just kept getting better as the day went along.

The third-year Elite Series pro from Gonzales, La., caught a solid limit early and then steadily culled up until he had a five-bass limit that weighed 25 pounds, 2 ounces. The big bag, which was anchored by an 8-6 largemouth, was good enough for the Day 1 lead.

“I got to that spot and caught a bunch of fish that were all about 3 pounds,” Latuso said. “Then I finally caught a 3-10. Then I caught a 5-pounder. Then I caught the biggest one and another big fish — about a 5-pounder — toward the end of the day.

“So I really caught most of my big fish later.”

With three days left to fish, anglers are always stingy with details. But Latuso said he’s using a technique he’s very comfortable with — and he believes his one magic spot could actually be better for Friday’s second round.

“I think more fish are coming to that area,” he said. “So I’m just gonna go out there tomorrow and have fun again and try to get five more bites.”

Latuso’s 8-plus was impressive, but it wasn’t nearly the biggest bass caught on a day when the Florida fishery really showed its muscle. The Top 10 anglers in the standings all had more than 20 pounds, and the biggest bass of the day was an 11-2 behemoth caught by Virginia angler John Crews.

The giant fish — which Crews said broke his personal-best mark of 11-1 by an ounce — anchored a five-bass limit that weighed 24-13 and moved Crews into second place.

In a scene that would make even the most experienced anglers queasy, Crews landed the bass on a spinning rod with only 12-pound-test line.

“I had caught four, and I knew I had a pretty decent bag,” Crews said. “I knew if I could just catch one more keeper, I would be in good shape. So I actually just started fishing around and picked up that spinning rod.”

He knew the bass was big when he set the hook, but it was while before he knew exactly how big.

“It went all over the place, got hung up in a tree and came out,” Crews said. “But I didn’t get in a big hurry.

“When it jumped, I thought it was a 6- or 7-pounder. When it got close to the boat and jumped again, I thought it was an 8 or 9. Then when I lipped it, it just kept coming out of the water and I knew it was at least a 10.”

Crews referred to his day as a “typical Florida day” because along with the big fish, he also had one that weighed only about 14 ounces. He said he has no idea what Friday will hold, but he’s seen proof positive once again that a big bass can bite at any moment in this state.

Having just turned 40 last year, Crews has been with the Elite Series since its inception in 2006. Another Elite Series veteran, 54-year-old Mark Menendez from Paducah, Ky., fished his way into third place Thursday — and like the two anglers ahead of him, his bag was anchored by a giant.

Menendez weighed in five bass that tipped the scales at 24-8 with a 9-13 anchoring the bag.

“My day was real slow,” said Menendez, who has three career B.A.S.S. victories. “I lost my first two bites, and they were little peanuts.”

He was about to leave and make a long run, but instincts told him to explore the stretch he was on just a little further.

“I fished and fished and fished and kept thinking I needed to make that long run,” he said. “But then I stopped in a spot, made a pitch and caught the 9-13. I fished around a little longer and caught a solid 3 3/4.

“That’s when I decided I was going to be there a while — and before noon, I caught another 3-pounder and a 6-pounder, all on the same bait.”

When bass are moving onto the spawning beds, as they seem to be on the St. Johns this week, it’s hard to know exactly what will happen next. Warm weather could bring another big wave of bass to the shorelines overnight, making Friday’s round better. Or, the pressure from Thursday’s round could cause a downturn in the fishing.

But one thing is certain: Most of the 75-angler field left Riverfront Park Thursday with a solid understanding of the fishery’s potential.

“I really didn’t know what I could catch going into today,” said Brad Whatley, an Elite Series rookie from Bivins, Texas, who landed in fourth place Thursday with a catch of 23-4 that included two 8-pounders. “I think I’m in an area that has some fish coming in to spawn and some leaving the beds.

“To catch 23 pounds my first day on the job, I’ll take it all day long.”

The tournament will resume Friday with a full field of 75 anglers fishing once again. Takeoff will be from Riverfront Park at 7:30 a.m. ET, and weigh-in will be back at the park at 4:15 p.m.

After Friday’s competition, only the Top 35 will advance to Saturday’s semifinal round.