GREENVILLE, S.C. – On Day 1 of the 2008 GEICO Bassmaster Classic Presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods on Lake Hartwell, Charlie Hartley vaulted into the lead with a limit that weighed 21-01, and he was closely trailed by two other 20 pound sacks from Scott Rook and Kevin VanDam.
In the 2015 Hartwell Classic, Dean Rojas got the ball rolling with an even-better 21-02, to lead 2nd place angler Skeet Reese (20-02) by a pound.
Despite those fast starts, no one who has weighed in over 20 pounds on the first day at Hartwell has ever claimed the title here. That may change this week, and if it does it’ll be because Jason Christie’s 20-14 gives him the lead he needs to outlast a tightly-packed field that includes his close friend Edwin Evers. It was Evers who edged out Christie for the win two years ago at Grand Lake and today he missed hitting 20 by a mere 7 ounces.
While only one angler topped 20, that certainly doesn’t mean the lake is fishing poorly. Quite the contrary, today was an exceptional day of fishing for most of the field. Not only did all but one angler catch a limit, but when the scales closed all but four were in double digits. In 2008 it took 23-08 to make the cut to Sunday, and in 2015 it took 22-03. If today’s cut mark of 13-09 doubles, it’ll hit 27-02, which likely means that no one is going to run away with this one. The 39th place angler is only about 2 pounds outside right now, and 48th place is only 3 pounds off the mark – and 4 pounds out of 17th.
Steve Bowman and I spent the day on the water watching some presumed contenders including Brandon Palaniuk, Bobby Lane, Matt Lee and Kevin VanDam, and while BASS Trakk told us a story of near constant fish catches, we saw relatively few of them. It wasn’t slow by typical tournament metrics, but it was slow by Hartwell-in-2018 standards. Watching BASSTrakk, and subsequently watching the weigh-in, the importance of timing was driven home. If you don’t make it to an angler until after his early morning flurry, or you leave before his late afternoon redemption, you don’t get the full picture. Our colleague Thomas Allen had a hunch about James Elam, and it paid off, while we never got fully on track. Nevertheless, from what we saw on the water and learned from the stage, there are clearly some key factors to watch.
Timing is certainly one of them. James Elam jumped out to a quick lead this morning, catching the bulk of his weight before some of us had settled into our first stops. Other anglers who showed up below the Mendoza Line on BASSTrakk for most of the day ended the day right in the hunt. Typically, it doesn’t matter whether you catch them early or catch them late – as long as you catch them before it’s time to check in — but as tournaments go on, windows of opportunity typically compress. An angler who mistimes his blueback schools or doesn’t move when some other chance opens up is likely going to fall a little short. Hartwell is setting up to be generous this week, but if tournament history is any guide, all lakes seem to become unreasonably stingy for certain anglers at the most inopportune times.
A lot of those windows are influenced by knuckleballs from the weather gods, and this event will be no different. Today was gorgeous, starting off in the 50s and peaking in the 70s, with abundant sunshine. Tomorrow won’t be much cooler, but the skies will darken, first with morning thunderstorms and then with persistent clouds. Will the dock bite fall apart? Will the bluebacks stay bunched up? The role those factors will play remains to be seen. Just as importantly, the influx of new water in certain drains, pockets and tributaries could affect water colors and temperatures. The fish want to be shallow right now, and the right set of puzzle pieces could pull them that way, while the wrong set could push them back. Anglers betting on fish coming to them have to weigh when and where their quarry will stop.
I expected that spectators would play a role today and I’m man enough to admit that I now think I was wrong. They were not out in unreasonable numbers, and from what I saw the ones that were there were cordial and respectful. Although today marked the end of the work week, I don’t expect the ‘tators’ numbers to grow substantially as a result of the change in the weather. The rise of BASS Live has given would-be spectators every incentive to stay home or go to the Expo, and those viewers who insist on coming out to the lake have largely learned to stay out of the anglers’ way. They deserve a lot of credit.
In 2008, the Day 1 leaders fell off the pace, and Alton Jones jumped from 10th after Day One to 1st after Day Two, before eventually winning. In 2015, the early leaders likewise struggled going forward, and Casey Ashley moved from 6th to 5th to 1st. Despite those comebacks, anglers remained in the hunt without catching a limit both days. That won’t happen this time around, and the winner won’t fall short of a full 15-bass catch like Jordan Lee did last year at Conroe or like Edwin Evers did in 2015 at Grand. He’ll have to catch a limit every day, and he can’t let the deficit get too big. Even though Ashley was in 5th heading into Championship Sunday in 2015, he was less than 2 pounds off the lead. That’s a gap that can be surmounted by a big bag, and even though there are surely 30 pound bags to be had in Lake Hartwell, the likelihood of even one of them showing up is slim. Similarly, while there are certainly fish over 8 pounds in this picture-perfect pond, the chance of several of them being weighed in is remote. It’s hard to make up a big gap, but it’s also hard to put daylight between yourself and the rest of the field. That means that one big bite will go a very long way, but it’s the other four in an angler’s bag that’ll put him over the top.
We’ll be back at it in the morning, sporting our Carhartt rainsuits and waterproof boots and hoping to get our timing back on track