Classic

Well, the Classic has been over for some time now, and I chose not to write about it until now. The decision was based partly on laziness, partly on wanting to let the whole thing settle down, and partly on a number of miscellaneous things. I'll start with what I wanted to let settle down: my reaction, which was that I wanted to see someone other than KVD win. I have no problems with him at all, but I just wanted to see someone else do it. But with that said the question remains: just how much greater is his legacy with this win? In my opinion, this elevates it to a degree we might not yet be able to understand. In the history of B.A.S.S. there have been two great anglers who seem to have made their reputations on either the Angler of the Year title or the Classic, but not both. Roland Martin won 7 million Angler of the Year titles (actually nine, I think), and Rick Clunn won four Classic titles. To win either seems impossible to the casual angler. To win either more than once seems ridiculous. To win both multiple times IS ridiculous. And now KVD has won both enough times to be mentioned alongside the best to have done either. He might not be knocking on Martin's door just yet, and to win another Classic is a lot to expect. But he is still in his early forties, is currently fishing the best he ever has, and he has NO pressure to prove himself. Could anyone ask for a better position to be in?
Of the miscellaneous things on my mind is something Charlie Hartley wrote about in his blog on bassmaster.com. He said that from what he heard Iaconelli had something like 18 bites the entire tournament and boated 17 fish. By his measure that meant that Ike was never on a reliable pattern and was just struggling his way to the top. How do you muster the confidence to finish in the top ten when you know you don't have a pattern going? Ike himself said he was catching fish on his favorite grub with spinning tackle, something that obviously came out of his panic box. To leave so much up to chance at the most important tournament of the year is pretty admirable.
Another thing that amazed me throughout the coverage was just how many guys were fishing in the same area. This is old news by now, but it does raise a number of points. For one thing, how can a tournament like this be held on a lake where the entire outcome is decided in such a small area? Yes, there are matters of etiquette to observe, but in a field of 50 anglers how fair is it to hold a tournament on waters that are so clearly loaded in one area? It didn't seem like the advantage was a secret, since a number of people were commenting throughout the tournament about how Beeswax Creek was a popular release point for local tournaments. Nonetheless, you have to ask yourself how KVD was able to key in on such a spot as he did. He had a small area all to himself, according to a number of reports, and he was able to find a few creek channels that were key. He seems to have that sixth sense to finding the best spots, as well as an ability to fish them well. I think this is what Rick Clunn meant in the latest Bassmaster when he said that KVD's best weapon is his mind. He seems to be able to put together details in a way few ever could before.

Flipping and Pitching

I wanted to make a post about pitching and flipping, aside from all the Classic stuff although it has something to do with it. Ish Monroe posted on Bassmaster.com that he thinks John Murray has a good chance to win the Classic this year, citing Murray's natural ability. If you've read this blog (and no one has, as far as I can tell) you'll note that I was fortunate enough to ride with Murray at the Oneida event last year. Here's a short version of how the first day went down for him: he pulled up on a spot off-shore and caught a limit in less than 30 minutes; he culled about 20 minutes after that; then he fished for bigger fish all day and faced the same problems as anyone else. So, he can find fish, easily. But like anyone else, he has a tough time winning tournaments. What he doesn't have a tough time doing is fishing the techniques. Not too sure why I think it's important to mention this except to remind that Ish says Murray has as much natural ability as anyone. After Murray left his first spot, which was a smallmouth spot, he went to find largemouth by pitching weeds, which is what everyone else did. Even the guy I was paired with the next day pitched for most of the day. But John did so with a kind of precision I imagine I will never see again in my life. I'm not saying this to impress people. I honestly believe that the technique he used was better than anyone--except maybe Mark Menendez, Tommy Biffle or Denny Brauer--has to offer. He was really roll-casting more than pitching in the traditional sense, which is pretty impressive in its own right. I have been practicing the technique all winter, and it is NOT easy. But Murray does it in such a way that is hard and easy-looking. He keeps his rod tip up, rolling it, then lowering the tip and letting the lure skim along the surface. I mean it when I say that he did this perhaps over 1000 times that one day. Not one made a splash. NOT ONE. I'm not kidding. There were times he rolled it out there and I felt sure he would make a big noise. But he somehow slowed the lure down and it entered the water with NO disturbance. Seriously. Imagine a lure about two inches above the water somehow just dropping into the water with no splash, no sound, nothing. I swear, I am not kidding when I say this is what John Murray was doing all day long. ALL day long! So, when Ish says he believes that John Murray has natural ability, I have to believe him.

More Classic Practice

BassFan has a new story with some of the Classic competitors giving their summations of last week's pre-tournament practice period, and what many first deemed a deep-water bite has changed for some to a shallow water bite. The reason, according to all, is the muddiness of the water. This shows just how good these guys are, not just because they know how hard a deep water bite is under muddy conditions but because they have the experience and confidence to know that the possibility still exists to catch fish in water 10 feet deep or shallower. Most of us would automatically shift to the deeper, off-shore stuff. That would be our instinct, yet it's based more, I'm guessing, on what we've heard or read. The time the pros have put in on the water has told them something else entirely, which is to never rule out another possibility. Byron Velvick may have made the most surprising admission, which is that three of his top-12 finishes last year came after not developing a pattern during practice. His point was that it has worked many times for Skeet Reese. (He isn't comparing himself to Skeet or being arrogant--he's just pointing out that there's a precedent for that kind of approach, which lends some confidence to it.) So it would seem that the mantra of "fishing the moment" can be taken to its simplest form on the biggest stage that bass fishing has to offer.

Classic Practice

I went to the Worcester Outdoor Expo today, and Mark Zona of ESPN confirmed what a lot of us have been fearful of: the Classic is going to be tough, REALLY tough. He said he'd spoken with KVD in the morning and that water temps were just around 40 degrees. On the B.A.S.S. site there are videos of guys practicing in the snow, and the forecast doesn't get any better over the next four days or so. By the time it all starts things are supposed to get around 50, but it seems like that won't be enough to turn any of the fish around. Zona also said that according to KVD the water is pretty muddy right now, and the forecast calls for rain next Saturday, the second official day of fishing. So, does anyone want to guess what it will take to win it? I think there are going to be a number of guys who skunked. One of the guys at practice said he only caught one fish, albeit in a flu-shortened day. But everyone else's 50 pound guesses are now going to 40-something. I'll go one lower and say that not too many are going to go much above 30. KVD seems to thrive in tough situations like this, but I'm not putting my money on him. I think it might take a slow-falling jig bite similar to what Alton Jones won with on Lake Hartwell in '08. And I wouldn't be surprised to see Gary Klein the one to do it. Although there's always Aaron Martens with his scrounger . . . .

Winter Weather and the Classic

I've been watching the Lay Lake water temperatures online lately, and it seems a few things are evident. First, the site that I've been viewing has been displaying inaccurate temperatures. About a week ago it listed the temp as around 43, which seems right. Then a few days ago it began listing it as 50, with the temp at 43 just the day before. That is obviously a mistake. But given the temp in the low 40's, which Bassmaster.com has confirmed, it's pretty obvious that this is not going to be an easy Classic. Even if the temps were to warm up--and it sounds like the weather will improve a bit, into the 50's by next Wednesday or so--it won't be nearly enough to put the fish into shallow water. This really could make this anyone's game, and I'm guessing it might wash out the hopes of a few of the media favorites. Russ Lane is a self-professed spotted bass fanatic (check out his site--he specializes in guided tours for spots), and some people have pegged him as being a factor. But given that this Classic might bear some resemblance to the frigid Lake Hartwell Classic of '08, who's to say that a deep jig bite, like the one that helped Alton Jones win, won't be a winning pattern? Where I am, in New Hampshire, it's snowing,which may not seem like surprising news. But this is the first snow we've had in nearly 6 weeks. The mega-blast of snow that hit the metro-Atlantic states a week ago missed us entirely. But the south is nearly as cold as we are, and it's been that way ALL winter long! As far as winters go up here, this is pretty much par for the course. I'm counting the days to ice-out, and I expect we'll be fishing open water in about two months. But what they're going through down south is unheard of. It sounds as though the spawn will be put off by about a month and a half. My guess is that they'll be fishing a late winter pattern at the Classic, rather than pre-spawn.