Classic honors continue for Cliff Pace

Winning the Bassmaster Classic is truly a life changing affair. Simply ask Cliff Pace. The Petal, Miss., bass pro took the top prize at the 2013 tournament on Oklahoma’s Grand Lake, and things have yet to slow down for him.

IRVINE, Calif. – Winning the Bassmaster Classic is truly a life changing affair. Simply ask Cliff Pace. The Petal, Miss., bass pro took the top prize at the 2013 tournament on Oklahoma’s Grand Lake, and things have yet to slow down for him.

The honors continued for Pace this week – during a break in his Bassmaster Elite Series fishing schedule – with a trip to California to attend the Shimano 2013 national sales meeting. Along with talking fishing and about his Classic win to the more than 100 sales reps in attendance from throughout the U.S. and Canada, Shimano American Corp. president Dave Pfeiffer presented Pace (along with his wife Brana) with a $10,000 bonus check for using Shimano rods and reels and Jackall lures to help win the Classic.

“Not only is our North American Team Shimano operations thrilled with Cliff’s success at the Bassmaster Classic, but that excitement has gone globally,” Pfeiffer said. “We’ll be welcoming Cliff later this year at our headquarter operations in Japan, plus there will be more honors for him when he visits with our partners at Jackall Lures at their development center on Lake Biwa.”

At the Classic, Pace used Chronarch 200E5 reels on Crucial crankbait and topwater rods when using Jackall Squadminnow, Soul Shad and DD Cherry lures, and Chronarch 200E7 reels with Crucial worm/jig rods for bottom fishing situations. 

“The pressure alone of fishing in the Classic is huge, and it really helped my confidence fishing with the quality and performance features found in Shimano rods and reels,” said Pace. “I was able to focus on locating bass and then rely on technique specific tackle to catch them.”

Along with accepting the Shimano honors, Pace was also privy to previewing – and making a few casts to the big bass swimming in Lake Mission Viejo – with some of the new tackle Shimano is introducing at the upcoming July ICAST Show.

Shimano American Corporation is the U.S. subsidiary of Osaka, Japan-based Shimano, Inc., and a worldwide leader in the manufacturing of fishing tackle and bicycle components. Along with its Irvine, Calif., sales, service and distribution operations, its Pearl Izumi USA headquarters in Louisville, Colo., and its distribution center in Ladson, S.C., Shimano manufactures PowerPro braided fishing line in Grand Junction, Colo., and its G.Loomis fishing rods in Woodland, Wash. As of January 2013, Shimano now handles the sales, marketing and distribution of Jackall Lures in the U.S. and Canada. For more information, please visit www.shimano.com.