It’s been well-documented how Jason Christie has been leading the Bassmaster Classic twice going into the last day but failed to win. It’s been a running joke this week with him that he didn’t want to be leading after two days at Lake Hartwell. But he was leading while sitting amidst a group of reporters in the media room Saturday evening. Christie went silent as the TV monitors showed Kyle Welcher’s Day 2 bag register on stage in the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. The result, of course, Christie and Welcher are tied going into Classic Championship Sunday.
Christie smiled and said, “That’s the best you can have it if you don’t want to lead.”
It would be poetic justice if Christie won the Classic at Lake Hartwell. It’s one thing if you’ve got a 6-pound lead like he did at Grand Lake in the 2016 Classic and someone who shall remain nameless catches 29-3 the final day and beats you by 10 pounds. Hey, it wasn’t your day. But it leaves a mark when you’re leading going into the last day, finish one bass short of a limit and lose by 1 pound, 2 ounces, like Christie did at Lake Hartwell in 2018. Is this Christie’s time?
“If it ain’t, I don’t know when it is,” said the 48-year-old Park Hill, Okla., pro. “I’m getting older and the fish are getting harder and these young anglers are getting better.”
And that’s who is tied with Christie, one of those young anglers getting better – 29-year-old Kyle Welcher from Opelika, Ala.
Christie predicted before the Classic that 55 pounds would win the tournament. He reiterated that after Day 1. When told that he needed 18-9 today to hit the 55-pound mark, Christie said, “If you gave me 18-9 right now, I’d stay at the dock in the morning.”
Really?
“Heck yeah,” Christie said. “You don’t know how many bites I got today. I didn’t get that many bites.”
Yet he weighed the fourth-biggest bag of the tournament so far – 19 pounds, 6 ounces.
“Two bites less and I’ve got 13, 14, maybe 15 pounds,” Christie said.
That will be the difference today for whoever wins, one or two bites.