John Crews was about to lock through to Rodman Reservoir at 10 a.m. Sunday. But he realized he had five, maybe 10 minutes before the lock would close.
“We had some weather, a little overcast, and I’m thinking they ought to be eating on that (lily) pad line,” Crews recalled. “I zipped out there with that ChatterBait I’d been catching them on in the morning, and sure enough.”
Crews caught what would be his biggest bass of the day with that cast – 4 pounds, 10 ounces. He knew immediately that it was important, on “Bassmaster LIVE” he remarked, “We’ve got to go get in that lock. That was a key bite, key with a capital K.”
The remainder of the day Crews would add only one other fish in his winning limit of 17 pounds, 1 ounce. But that was enough to give him 75-4 over four days and a 1-pound, 4-ounce margin of victory over Bob Downey.
The 43-year-old Salem, Va., pro has been on the Elite Series since it began in 2006. He has one other victory, at the California Delta in 2010, and now over $1.5 million in B.A.S.S. winnings. Along the way, he’s learned something about the total concentration it takes to win an Elite Series tournament.
“I just had to stay focused on what I was going to do to catch the next one,” Crews said. “I made a lot of adjustments throughout the week. I think the big key for the win was just staying focused on what matters, and that’s catching the next fish.”
When his winning weight was announced, Crews went jumping across the Bassmaster stage. He could finally pop the cork on his emotions that had been held in check all week. Crews became the first man to lead an Elite Series tournament at the St. Johns River from wire-to-wire.
“It’s unbelievable the emotions that come out,” he said.