If you ask the 2014 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by Diet Mountain Dew and GoPro qualifiers which lure type will win the tournament (and I did), most will tell you that it'll be won on a combination of baits by an angler who effectively picks apart his best areas with a variety of presentations.
But if you press them (and I did that, too), you can get them to say a little more, be a little more definitive and narrow things to just one bait type.
And the consensus? Well, you'll have to keep reading … just a little more. For now, you'll be interested to know that only a handful of lure types were even mentioned — diving crankbaits (anything with a bill), lipless crankbaits, jerkbaits, jigs, spinnerbaits and swimbaits. Not only was nothing else selected, but no other type was even mentioned in passing — except for the castable umbrella rig. Several of the anglers agreed that a CUR would be tough to beat on Guntersville right now. Of course, the rules don't allow it in the Classic or in an Elite Series event.
Here's the bait type that each Classic qualifier selected as the winning lure:
|
Casey Ashley |
lipless crankbait |
|
Josh Bertrand |
jerkbait |
|
Tommy Biffle |
lipless crankbait |
|
Patrick Bone |
diving crankbait |
|
Stephen Browning |
lipless crankbait |
|
Coby Carden |
diving crankbait |
|
Brent Chapman |
lipless crankbait |
|
Hank Cherry |
lipless |
|
Jason Christie |
jig |
|
Keith Combs |
lipless crankbait |
|
John Crews |
diving crankbait |
|
Cliff Crochet |
lipless crankbait |
|
Mark Davis |
swimbait |
|
Ott DeFoe |
jerkbait |
|
Mark Dove |
lipless crankbait |
|
Edwin Evers |
lipless crankbait |
|
Todd Faircloth |
lipless crankbait |
|
Randy Howell |
lipless crankbait |
|
Rich Howes |
jig |
|
Michael Iaconelli |
lipless crankbait |
|
Tim Johnston |
lipless crankbait |
|
Alton Jones |
lipless crankbait |
|
Chris Jones |
spinnerbait |
|
Steve Kennedy |
lipless crankbait |
|
David Kilgore |
lipless crankbait |
|
Gary Klein |
would not specify |
|
Bobby Lane |
lipless crankbait |
|
Chris Lane |
lipless crankbait |
|
Jordan Lee |
jig |
|
Bill Lowen |
jig |
|
Jeff Lugar |
diving crankbait |
|
Aaron Martens |
lipless crankbait |
|
Yusuke Miyazaki |
lipless crankbait |
|
Ish Monroe |
jig |
|
Chad Morgenthalerlipless crankbait |
|
|
Rick Morris |
bladed swim jig |
|
Paul Mueller |
lipless crankbait |
|
John Murray |
swimbait |
|
Takahiro Omori |
diving crankbait |
|
Brandon Palaniuk |
lipless crankbait |
|
Clifford Pirch |
swimbait |
|
Skeet Reese |
would not specify |
|
Dean Rojas |
diving crankbait |
|
Fred Roumbanis |
swimbait |
|
Terry Scroggins |
swimbait |
|
Morizo Shimizu |
diving crankbait |
|
Gerald Swindle |
lipless crankbait |
|
Randall Tharp |
diving crankbait |
|
Doug Thompson |
lipless crankbait |
|
Jonathon VanDam |
lipless crankbait |
|
Kevin VanDam |
diving crankbait |
|
Greg Vinson |
lipless crankbait |
|
Adam Wagner |
lipless crankbait |
|
David Walker |
lipless crankbait |
|
Chris Zaldain |
lipless crankbait |
If you're keeping track (and you are keeping track, right?), it breaks down like this:
58.5% – lipless crankbait
15.1% – diving crankbait
9.4% – swimbait
7.5% – jig
3.8% – jerkbait
1.9% – bladed swim jig
1.9% – spinnerbait
Will it hold true for the tournament? Maybe. But knowing what the majority thinks is far from knowing what the eventual winner is doing. After all, the lone angler who picked a spinnerbait (Chris Jones) might be on a monstrous spinnerbait bite that puts everyone else in his wake, slapping their foreheads and asking "Why didn't I think of that?"
When I was interviewing the qualifiers, there were often three or four of them standing around talking as I jumped in to ask this question. They were able to hear each other's answers. A couple of times an angler would pick a lure type and the guy standing next to him would say something like, "A crankbait?! I don't even have a crankbait in my boat!"
I thought that was pretty funny stuff.