FORT WORTH, Texas — Recent injuries were obvious as the anglers assembled for registration Tuesday. Buddy Gross rolled through the Omni Hotel lobby with his right leg kneeled on a two-wheeled scooter while he pushed it with his left leg. Bryan New sported a soft cast/brace on his left hand and forearm.
However, it’s going to take more than a severely sprained ankle for Gross and a fractured hand for New to keep them from competing in their first Bassmaster Classic. When the Academy + Sports Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk begins Friday, both anglers vowed to be ready.
Gross initially feared his Classic was over before it started. The day before he planned to leave for Fort Worth, Gross decided to startle his daughter at her barrel racing lesson. “I was gonna sneak out there on her horse and surprise her real quick,” he said. “It turned ugly at the last minute. My foot slipped out of the stirrup. I knew I was going to fall, so I tried to catch myself.
“All my weight was on my right ankle. It sounded like a gun going off. When I hit the ground, I thought I was going to be sick, thought I was going to pass out. It was hurting bad.”
A hospital visit indicated no broken bones, just a severe sprain. Gross hadn’t loaded his gear for the Classic yet. He had to call friends to do it for him. And his wife, LeAnn, to do the driving from Chickamauga, Ga., because he couldn’t put any pressure on the ankle. By the second day of practice on Lake Ray Roberts, Gross was able to stand on his boat deck with the aid of a butt seat.
“I was able to fish, and I fished pretty hard,” he said. “The third day, it wore on me. My whole left side was hurting – my left hip, left knee, left foot, everything – from trying to keep all my weight off my right ankle.”
The extended schedule of a Bassmaster Classic is giving Gross much-needed time. Wednesday is the official practice day, followed by media day Thursday before the three-day tournament begins Friday.
“It’s giving me time to heal,” he said. “I’m going to be okay. I really do think I’ll be able to stand on it all day by then. I’ve just got to be careful. It’s really weak.”
New slipped on some loose gravel last week and caught himself with his left hand. He didn’t think he was injured until he woke up in the middle of the night in pain. An x-ray the next day revealed he had a fracture between his thumb and index finger.
The 31-year-old Elite Series rookie from Belmont, N.C., is learning to use left-hand-reel baitcasters this week. “It was very awkward at first, but I’ve got to where I’m pretty good with them,” New said. “It’s just another bump in the road. If you don’t get worried about it and adapt the way you have to, you can just move on. It’s broke. I can’t make it not broke, and we’ve got to fish the Bassmaster Classic.”
If Gross and New need inspiration on playing with pain, they only have to recall Hank Cherry’s trials in his Bassmaster Classic championship in March 2020 at Alabama’s Lake Guntersville. Cherry slipped in his boat after catching his third fish on Day 1 and strained the ligaments near the elbow of his right arm. While Cherry is right-handed, he had taught himself many years ago to fish with either hand, simply with the goal of making himself a better fisherman. And he posted a wire-to-wire win despite the obvious pain he was experiencing.
“Once you have that mindset of what you’re here for, you can overcome the pain,” Cherry said Tuesday. “I’ve seen it done. I’ve seen other guys fish with a cast on and running around the lake with an arm in a sling.”
You might see some of that this week. There’s another Classic qualifier straining through the pain. Matt Herren struggled through last season with an injured shoulder but still managed to qualify for the Classic with a 27th-place finish in the 2020 Angler of the Year standings. Offseason surgery was supposed to be a remedy. It hasn’t worked out that way.
“I’m still having a helluva time with it,” Herren said. “The surgery was successful as far as getting rid of the bone spur and all that. But something hasn’t healed properly. When I rotate that shoulder, it pops like a bucket of gravel in there.”
With the high-water conditions at Lake Ray Roberts putting abundant shallow cover in the water, flipping and pitching are probably going to be key techniques in this Classic. What techniques cause Herren the most pain?
“Flipping and pitching,” he said. “I’m really worried about setting the hook. It hurts.” For emphasis, Herren said it again, “It hurts.”
And, yes, even in a non-contact sport like bass tournament fishing, sometimes you gotta play hurt.