At exactly 8:15 CST this morning, Brandon Lester clinched his berth into the Bassmaster Classic.
It wasn’t in dramatic style, even though he had lost a keeper minutes before. But the moment was not lost on Lester.
He babies this fish to the boat. Went to the driver’s seat and hugged it into the boat. This was all on a fish that he had to measure and verify it would go over the 15-inch mark. When it did, there was a rebel yell and a scream followed by moments of admiring a smallmouth that had fulfilled his dream after a long year. A fist bump with his co-angler, Jared Rudd and the fish is in the well.
Now all he has to is get back to the weigh in on time and/or add four to go with it. This derby will get longer for him from this point forward. But the biggest hurdle has been jumped.
And somewhere out there another Elite angler is celebrating his berth into the bracket.