After two dominating days, it seemed that Christie and Faircloth might separate from the pack and battle it out between the two of them. Although, looking back at their weights, Faircloth improved on his Day 1 weight by 2 pounds, while Christie lost 4 pounds. What happened to these two anglers on the final day of competition?
With Grand Lake changing daily, the entire field struggled to find good fish, and Christie sustaining a 4-pound drop after Day 1, it was easy to assume that the lake conditions were to blame and he’d bounce back on the final day — it’s his home lake after all.
It’s also Evers’ home water … and we know how that turned out. He jumped 4 pounds from Day 1 to Day 2, and jumped a massive 12 pounds from Day 2 to Day 3 — and that includes only four fish on Day 1. Evers clearly put something special together to build on each day’s weight. To win the Bassmaster Classic, it’s difficult to drop weight each day and remain in contention.
Sunday was different. The temperatures remained warm and stable overnight and during the day, but big wind and mostly cloudy skies changed the game for many of the Top 25. Wind gusts exceeded 40 mph and kept the lake rolling, which certainly made it more difficult to effectively fish each spot.
“It was extremely satisfying just being in the hunt for this title. I’ve had a great week and have no complaints,” Faircloth said following his sixth-place finish. “It was a classic prespawn pattern, and I caught fish on a Strike King 1/4-ounce Bitsy Bug Jig and a Strike King Lucky Shad. But, during the final day the wind really played a role in how productive my fishing was.”
Faircloth said that if the wind didn’t blow on the final day of competition, his weights would have been as good, if not better than the first two days.
“I was catching a lot of fish behind the docks,” he explained. “The wind had the docks and cables bouncing making it almost impossible to skip a jig beneath the dock, or even cast a swimbait behind the dock against the shore. The wind made it hard on the fish and especially difficult to access them.”
Jason Christie led the 2016 Bassmaster Classic for the first two days, and the wind made it very hard to maintain a connection to his biting fish on Day 3.
“The water was already murky with low visibility, and the big wind that blew today made it even worse,” Christie explained after finishing second. “The wind churned up the water and made it hard for the fish to see a presentation. I was fishing with a 1-ounce Booyah spinnerbait, and the fish need to be able to see — to some extent — to capture a moving bait like that.
“I knew I was on a dying pattern, but I did what I could to stay on the fish. I just didn’t get the right bites today. I started the day thinking I needed 17 to 18 to win, and I did my best to catch a bag like that, but even if I had caught 18, it wouldn’t have made a difference, Edwin still would have won.”
When it comes to preparing for a big tournament like the Classic, practice can make or break you. Unfortunately for Faircloth and Christie, the patterns they isolated during practice deteriorated due to the same reason—the wind. When you get locked in on a pattern that has become consistent and productive, it’s hard—if not unwise—to leave biting fish for other options. You take a gamble, stick to it and keep casting.