GREENVILLE, S.C. – Today marked the first day of competition at the 2022 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk, the fourth time the sport’s biggest dance has been held at Lake Hartwell. I’ve been here for all of them, on the water each time, and like the anglers, the biggest trap that a writer or photographer can fall into is to assume that past performance is likely to be completely indicative of future results.
Sure, those past derbies were marked by weather that ranged from freezing rain to freezing everything, and today was comparatively balmy, but beyond that it would be folly to assume that everything will be entirely the same of completely different. As we eased into the day, I got my bearings back, and was able to key in on some factors that I believe will continue to make a difference.
It’s a big pond – Hartwell is massive and fishes big as well. It’s a pattern lake, loaded with life, and I have no doubt that this event could be won from the dam to the upper reaches of any tributary. Steve Bowman and I spent most of the day in the Seneca River. Every time I thought we’d reached the end, it was possible to go still further. You could fit an entire field in that arm alone, and yet we didn’t see more than 10 contenders in there.
It can fish big or small – One of the competitors we saw in the Seneca was John Cox, and I don’t believe anyone was ever within 5 miles of him. That’s the definition of “fishing big.” Meanwhile, Steve Kennedy who told me he had a “terrible day” despite catching a big bag, said there were quite a few others in his best areas. “I didn’t see them there in practice,” he said, an oft-heard professional angler refrain. Could they end up on the winning fish, but “splitting the baby”?
Good practice makes perfect – I’ve never been to a Classic – or any BASS event that I can recall – where the Sandbagging Brigade was so generally positive after the conclusion of practice. They expected to catch fish, they expected to catch lots of fish, and they expected to have opportunities at multiple big fish. That mostly played out today, with loads of 11- to 15-pound limits, although prong three (big fish) proved a bit more vexing. Tomorrow is moving day, and we’ll see who adjusts or keeps up the pace.
Big baits could still be in play – Before take-off today Chris Zaldain indicated that he was a hundred percent committed to his big bait fetish, betting it all on the win. He only semi-sheepishly admitted to me as he checked in this afternoon that he stuck to that plan 70 percent of the time. It could have worked – he said that he lost a 5 and a 4, and the bigger of the two “ate it, ate it” as in choked the old tennis shoe down and still escaped to tell the tale. Meanwhile, his fellow swimbait freak Steve Kennedy may not have done all of his damage that way, but if you look through the photo galleries you’ll realize that at least one of his good weigh fish slurped a swimbait.
Slow down – One of the hardest things for anglers competing for titles to do, especially on a prolific lake like Hartwell, is to catch one fish at a time. No, I’m not suggesting that they’re illegally using multiple lures, but rather that the temptation is to fish too fast, heading for the next target before you’ve completely picked the current one apart. Watching John Cox and Gerald Swindle today, even when they were fishing moving baits I noticed that they were in the moment, milking the strike zone as much as possible.
Aluminum advantages – I’ve always assumed that the primary advantage of aluminum boats is the ability to get into super-tight spaces, but I don’t think any of this week’s anglers fishing out of such boats – Gussy, Cox, Sumrall and Christie — were fishing areas that they couldn’t have accessed out of a glass boat. What I did notice while watching Cox, however, is that his boat absolutely hauls butt on the trolling motor. He can almost put that sucker up on plane. That enables him to do what I’ve often heard referred to as “fishing fast, slowly” (see above). He moves quickly from one key target to the next, then makes sure he hits every key spot, without wasting a moment.
A Fine Line from Top to Bottom – It used to be that you could rule out certain competitors in the Elite Series, or the Classic, before an event even started. There was a huge gulf between the best anglers and those who were least competitive. That’s changed, which is surprising, because technology and the information superhighway has made the best of the best exponentially more effective. Meanwhile, it’s possible for a true weekend warrior to become better than the Classic qualifiers of a decade ago ever dreamed of being. That’s why it’s not surprising to see someone like a Jared Miller leading early in the tournament. Hank Cherry is the only past winner in the field, and while there are some existing stars at the top it’s entirely possible that we’ll have a relative newcomer hoist the trophy.
Hometown heroes – While local Casey Ashley won the 2015 Classic here, the rising talent level on tour makes it harder to consistently exploit a hometown advantage. Tournament favorite Brandon Cobb has years of experience (and a Bassmaster win) on Hartwell, and said he felt like he was fishing for big ones, but recognizes that doing so “requires a slight bit of luck and I had none of that.” He lost his three best fish. The first got off when his worm doubled over on the hook. The second one he tried to boat flip and it came unhooked and fell back in the drink. With the third one, he should have boat flipped it, but became gun shy after the prior loss, and when he went to grab it the fish pulled free.