Classic Practice on Lake Hartwell

The 2015 Bassmaster Classic contenders head out onto Lake Hartwell for one last day of practice.

Justin Lucas is ready for the cold.

Brandon Lester pays his respects.

Randy Howell won the 2014 Bassmaster Classic on Guntersville and would love nothing more than to repeat here this week.

Angler of the Year Greg Hackney heads out.

James Overstreet captures all the action at take-off. Be sure to check out his gallery.

Steve Bowman and Jim Sexton shoots several BassCams during launch which can also be found on Bassmaster.com.

Takahiro Omori idles over a ledge.

Omori graphs for a bit…

…

Omori brings a rod from the rod locker.

Tak gazes at shallow cover where he and others had hoped they would be able to fish this week. Temps in the 60’s here two weeks ago got their hopes up, but lows in the teens with highs stuck at or below 40 have put a damper on the shallow bite.

Omori, as well as the rest of the field, will certainly earn his money this week battling some of the coldest conditions we’ve ever faced.

Omori makes a cast.

Takahiro flexes showing he’s not scared of the cold.

Tak drops the bait caster when he sees a fish on the graph and switches to a spinning rod which does the trick.

Tweaking the graph a bit.

Here comes Kevin Short.

There goes John Crews.

A little ice leftover from the spot that briefly visited with Takahiro earlier.

Tak fires another cast.

Time to make a move.

The school has scattered Tak says.

On the move.

A slight chop on the water. Forecast calls for a lot more before the day’s done.

Andy Montgomery works down the bank.

Not quite the crowd that Randy Howell had while fishing the Spring Creek bridge last year to win the 2014 Bassmaster Classic.

Another spectator joins. The crowd’s growing.

Too crowded for Montgomery.

Camera boat driver Jason calls out to Andy and asks if he lost his helmet…

Andy had lost his helmet and luckily our camera boat had stumbled upon it earlier. Not much use as of right now but it’ll dry… eventually.

Montgomery skips a dock or two.

Time to make a move.

Shinichi Fukae works a line of docks.

Shallow brush may have played a factor here two weeks ago, but now the majority seems as vacant as if it were on dry land.

More shallow cover, perfect for spinnerbaits and swim jigs. Just a little too chilly it seems.

Shin makes a cast.

Shinichi Fukae says hello.

Another cast.

Ice starts to build on Shinichi’s guides making casting a bit of a chore.

Lots of eyes pointed down at graphs as anglers try to key in on the perfect depth range.

Brian Snowden lets his line unravel.

Snowden has found the bottom.

Snowden drops a plug knocker in hopes of retrieving his bait.

Down you go.

Ott DeFoe graphs a while.

Mike Iaconelli keeps his eyes on the graph.

Ike works quickly slowly. He’s methodical and thorough but wastes no time once his bait leaves the strike zone.

Chunk away…

…

Ike adjusts the graph.

Time to make a move.

Ike’s out.

Aaron Martens graphs over an area.

Unimpressed with what he sees, Aaron moves on.

Aaron moves along and tells us he has over 700 waypoints.

Chunk and wind.

Martens knocks a leaf off his crankbait… viciously.

Not too risquÃ© for Aaron this morning. Showing very little skin.

A couple residents look on.

Aaron says hello.

Protecting the extremities is key in this weather. Good boots…

… and good gloves can make all the difference.

Aaron’s seen enough.

On the move.

Brett Hite works a ledge.

Snow and ice still on the ground around most of the lake.