Bassmaster.com has asked our team of writers and staff to reflect on their favorite moment of 2016. Ronnie Moore is a freelance writer and photographer who covers many B.A.S.S. events.
Here are some of my favorite moments of the 2016 season!
Since I started working Bassmaster events there haven’t been too many big jumps on the final day that sent the coverage crew into a frenzy for content, but Brandon Card somewhat did that at Lake Texoma this year at BASSFest. He started the final day in 6th place and after the leaders had a slow start to the final morning, he was crushing them on topwater. After getting a call from Steve Bowman, I headed Card’s way to take some photos so we had some kind of documentation of his possible win. What I didn’t know when I woke up that morning was I would jump into his boat and shoot video for Bassmaster Live as well as the TV show. It was one of the coolest moments of my young career and it was made even sweeter when a 4-pound largemouth hit his topwater three casts in a row until Card eventually hooked and landed the fish late in the day. He ended up in 2nd, but those few hours I got to ride around with him were pretty cool, ones I will never forget.
I was a sophomore in High School when I first watched Charlie Hartley battle it out in the 2008 Bassmaster Classic at Lake Hartwell and I will never forget watching the interviews and the action that transpired at that event. I got to finally meet Hartley in 2014 when I started work and he was the real deal I had seen and heard on TV 6 years prior. Hartley always has a smile on his face and seems giddy with every blastoff. Watching him win the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open on the James River was about as cool as it gets. He punched his ticket to his second GEICO Bassmaster Classic, which he will compete in at Lake Conroe in March. I can still picture him backstage after the win, eager for a free moment to call his wife and tell her the great news. I was pretty honored to be lucky enough to take photos at his winning weigh-in this year.
If an angler captivated the fishing world (excluding Mille Lacs) based on his tactics and pattern this season I’d have to say Chris Lane did that in defeat at Toledo Bend. Topwater is a popular technique for a big-bite to anchor a limit, but most would say it can be hard to put a 20 fish in a span of 4 days on the tournament scales solely from topwater. Lane did that to the tune of 88+ pounds. Catching those fish on the ever-popular River2Sea Whopper Plopper probably topped off one of the coolest ways to catch them. Lane stuck with topwater solely and rode it to a second place finish and probably put a scare into Kevin VanDam who ended up winning that event.
Every year one college angler, fresh out of class for the summer, ends up making their dreams come true because they outlasted thousands of anglers from hundreds of schools to make the GEICO Bassmaster Classic. Along with gaining access to the sports most prestigious event, they get to represent their peers at the Opens level for an entire year. This year John Garrett of Bethel University punched his ticket and paved his path to the next level. After qualifying for the Championship in Alabama, he and partner Brian Pahl went to Kentucky to advance once again to the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Classic Bracket, which happened to be on his home waters of Kentucky Lake. Garrett was in a prime spot that anglers would kill to be in, but with that comes a tremendous amount of pressure from friends, family and his university, which was just down the road 30 minutes away. Garrett showed poise with everyone watching and took care of business at the ripe age of 20. You never know if you will stand tall or crumble when you have the pressure of local knowledge on your side until the moment comes.
What Jordan Lee has accomplished in his two years on the Bassmaster Elite Series is one of the most impressive things that has been accomplished in my opinion. After a stellar rookie season people probably paused, waiting for a sophomore slump, but Joe Lee didn’t let up. In his 2nd year he had a legitimate shot at a victory twice this season (Cayuga and the Mississippi River). Watching him on both instances on the final day and days prior showed me how good he actually is. I was fortunate to compete in the Carhartt College Series while he fished at Auburn and everyone knew he was a natural, but to what extent can’t be predicted. I don’t see this as a two-year fluke or anything like that. If any, he is finding his groove and rolling with the punches being dealt his way. No one likes to lose, but with J. Lee finishing 2nd and 4th in those respective events he showed an immense amount of class and respect for being a 20-something year old angler. He provided numerous moments for me this year where I asked myself “Why did he just do that?” or “How did he know to adjust like that?” He seems wise beyond his years and had every young gun rooting for him this season.
Dave Lefebre slowly gained momentum throughout the entire Elite Series event on Wheeler Lake. I was able to watch Lefebre poke and prod his ultra shallow area for quality limits day after day. Every day he would put another piece to the puzzle and find another sweet spot that he could depend on the next day of competition. Unfortunately for him, Takahiro Omori was doing the same thing and ended up taking the title from Lefebre and relegating him to second place. Shallow areas after the spawn don’t seem to replenish as fast as deeper areas during that time of the year so to see him continuously catch multiple good fish was another learning point that I ascertained while capturing the moments on the water. He didn’t know it, but I was soaking up his every move. which any fan or angler would love to witness.