10 Years?!

Alton Jones at Falcon Lake in Texas, a couple of months prior to winning the 2008 Bassmaster Classic at Lake Hartwell.

Ten years. Could it have really have been that long? I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around the idea that it has been a decade since I stood close to the stage and watched Alton Jones hoist the Bassmaster Classic trophy. It's the only time I've had to wipe away tears during a tournament weigh-in. Just thinking about it almost has the same effect.

The winning moment is always special because it's such a life-changing event for a professional angler and a culmination of lifelong dreams, but '08 was different for me because Alton is a good friend. We first met at writer's event two decades ago. He and I were the only pro/writer pair to go out on an absolute duck hunters' sort of a January day at the end of the event, and we've shared many days on the water since that day. He was among the first to call and pray with me over the phone when I had a 6-month-old in ICU at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and he is someone I know I could count on in any situation.

Alton had actually predicted his '08 win. He'd said it in a jesting tone, speaking to me and Bassmaster Senior Writer Steve Price as we enjoyed an epic YUM Dinger bite on Texas' Falcon Lake a couple of months prior to the '08 Classic. I knew he really believed it, though, and I trusted his confidence. Enough so that my own confidence in him soared as the tournament unfolded.

Alton missed qualifying for the 2015 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell, and everyone who spends any time around the sport knows how difficult that was for him. He is back this year, and you know he is mighty eager to get things started tomorrow morning. While I can't believe it has been 10 years since he held up that champion's trophy, I'm guessing it feels more like 20 years to him!

Ouachita Variety

Last week's travel to the Ouachita Mountains delivered wonderful variety, not only in species caught but in the types of fishing experiences I got to enjoy in short order.

The species variety would be hard to argue. I added green sunfish, spotted bass, smallmouths, walleyes, pumpkinseeds and both black and white crappie to this year's catch list in three days of fishing. Experience-wise, I got to spend an afternoon and a morning on Lake Ouachita bass fishing, an afternoon wading the Ouachita River for stream bass, and a full day on the lake fishing Lindy's new Livebait Jig with crawlers and minnows for walleyes, crappie, bluegills and whatever else bit.

The bass fishing was made extra fun by the fact that I got to spend time in the boat with Alton Jones. That always equates to a lot of learning and great opportunities for gathering photos and story material. Far beyond that, I simply enjoy spending time with Alton and he invariably encourages me in many ways.

The jig/bait fishing was similarly fun because I got to spend a day with longtime Minnesota guide Jeff Sundin. I've spent several days fishing with Jeff, but mostly on the ice. He taught me a new approach, and based on all the fish we caught, you'd sure never know that he'd never been to Lake Ouachita before last week. I look forward to experimenting more with the Lindy Livebait Jig.

The highlight of the river outing had to be standing in a single spot and catching three species of bass (largemouth, smallmouth, spot) on the same Rebel Crawfish. None were big, but all were big fun!

Guntersville Classic Warm-Up?

You can trust that 2008 Bassmaster Classic Champion Alton
 Jones is prepared for whatever the weather delivers for this year's
Classic, which begins one week from today.

32 Degrees.

That's the current temperature at Guntersville, Ala., with the first day of Bassmaster Classic pre-practice only hours away. It's supposed to rain later today, adding snow-melt to already cold water, and then drop into the mid-20s overnight.

The immediate forecast and the conditions the pros will find today and tomorrow line up well with this winter, which has been among the coldest most folks in the South can remember and has brought a couple of major snow and ice storms. Looking at the rest of the week, though, a substantial warm-up is supposedly on the way. Forecast highs Saturday, Sunday and Monday are 41, 54 and 63 respectively, with a peak high of 70 and a low of 53 on Thursday, the day before the Bassmaster Classic begins. The current forecast calls for highs in the 60s all three competition days.

So is that good because a warm-up opens more option for patterns and should trigger a better bite, or is it bad because what the pros find today may have little in common with what is happening a week from now, when the competition begins? I suppose the answer would vary considerably from one pro to the next. And I don't suppose good or bad really matters. The pros simply have to figure out what to do with the conditions they are served.

Of course, the week's forecast and the weather that actually occurs aren't always one in the same. Neither big snowfall was in most local forecasts more than a couple of days out and outlooks change in a hurry this time of year. We'll just have to keep watching!

The Photo Game

As much as I enjoy catching fish, I also find big fun with a camera in my hand when I'm out on the water. I'm continually looking at the light and thinking about what might make a nice shot.

The photo part has been especially fun this week because of my new GoPro Hero 3, which I've only had for about a week. I love the effect of the super-wide angle, and I continue to be amazed by the quality of photo a GoPro takes. Mine has WiFi and can be linked with a phone app, but I haven't done that, and I don't have the photo viewing accessory. Therefore I just hold the camera out and press the button, hoping that when I put them on my computer I like what I find. So far, I have.

This morning's photo work was extra fun and easy because I spent a couple of hours with Alton Jones, who I consider one of the best in the business from a photo standpoint. Enough writing about taking photos, though. The afternoon light is about to get good, so it's time to start shooting again!

Sorting Out All Star Week

B.A.S.S. Photo Seigo Saito

Twenty-two anglers are fishing two separate events on three largely unknown Michigan waterways this weekend, with the competition beginning this morning. Fourteen B.A.S.S. All Stars are competing for total purse of $100,000 ($50,000 for first place). Eight top collegiate anglers are competing for a spot in the 2013 Bassmaster Classic at Lake Guntersville. The tournaments themselves, which are concurrent, both follow unique formats.

The All Star event begins with all 14 anglers fishing two days on Muskegon Lake. The top four from Friday's and Saturday's fishing will move onto the final round, with weights zeroed, and fish a single day on Sunday at nearby White Lake for the championship. All fourteen anglers got practice time on both lakes this week.

The All Star field includes the top eight anglers in this season's Angler of the Year Standings (Aaron Martens, Edwin Evers, Kevin VanDam, Bobby Lane, Keith Combs, Alton Jones, John Crews, Chris Zaldain); rookie of the year (Hank Cherry); 2013 Bassmaster Classic Champion (Cliff Pace) and four anglers chosen through fan voting (Brandon Palaniuk, Mike Iaconelli, Gerald Swindle, Skeet Reece).

The College Series Classic Bracket, which will take place on the Grand River, just south of Muskegon, includes the four two-man teams that finished highest in the College Championship on Lake Chatuge earlier this summer. The anglers won't competing as teams, though. Instead they'll fish as eight individuals in an elimination-style event that will finish with two anglers fishing head-to-head on Sunday for the chance to be the college representative in the Bassmaster Classic.

Learn more about how to follow both events at the unfold at www.bassmaster.com.

Detroit, Southern Fried

Plano Championship Chase winner, Chris Lane, B.A.S.S. Photo by James Overstreet

Pre-tournament prognostications for virtually any national tournament held on the Great Lakes talk about the fickle nature of big-water smallmouths and the lakes themselves and an inside track northern anglers supposedly possess. Most picks are heavily loaded with names of northern "smallmouth specialists," almost to the point that it would seem no "expert" believes a southern angler could possibly figure out northern smallmouths in a big lake.

It would seem, however, that Detroit's biggest smallmouths forgot to ask the experts which lures they were supposed to favor. First place in the Elite Series season finale' on Michigan's Lake St. Clair went to Chris Lane, who grew up in central Florida, where no smallmouths live, and now calls Alabama home. Second and third went to Mark Davis of Arkansas and Alton Jones of Texas.

Actually, if you look down the list of the twelve anglers who made today's final round of fishing, only one, Nate Wellman of Michigan, is from Great Lakes country. Morizo Shimizu still lists Osaka, Japan as home. Beyond Wellman and Shimizu, addresses from Top 12 finishers include five from Alabama, three from Texas, one from Arkansas and one from West Virginia.

I'll acknowledge a few of the Top 12 anglers moved to Alabama or Texas (although not from northern states). I'll likewise acknowledge that there are far more Elite Series anglers from the South than the North, thus stacking the deck. That said, most pre-tournament stories would suggest if there were dozen northern anglers in a Great Lakes tournament, you should expect them to fill 2/3 of the top dozen or so places.

For what it's worth, northern anglers do sometimes dominate tournaments on northern waters (and southern waters). It's not my desire to argue North vs. South or East vs. West. I just found it interesting how dominant Alabama and Texas pros were among top finishers in this particular event, and it seemed like a good time to note that the best Elite Series anglers have the capacity to find bass and catch them anywhere in the country.

One Month & Counting for Classic Competitors

2008 Bassmaster Classic champion Alton Jones, who earned entry into this year's Classic by winning the Elite Series opener on the St. Johns River, expects some big bags at Grand Lake no matter what the weather brings. B.A.S.S. photo.

In one sense, a month can't pass quickly enough for the 53 angler who will compete in the 2013 Bassmaster Classic. In another, every moment between now and the event -- or at least between now and when various competitors begin leaving home -- must seem precious. The Classic is an all-or-nothing championship event, and it calls for careful planning and serious preparation of tackle.

Day 1 of this year's Classic, which will be held on Oklahoma's Grand Lake of the Cherokees and run out of Tulsa, is one month from today, so competitors and fans alike have officially entered final month countdown mode. The event is close enough that weather patterns could impact what happens during the competition, so several competitors no doubt have a local forecast bookmarked and are tracking temps and rainfall daily (23 degrees in Tulsa right now), along with looking at things like water levels and online reports from local tournaments.

Of course, that varies a lot according to an angler's personality and how he likes to approach a tournament. Some like to know as much as possible about what has been happening and to have a feel for the flow of things upon arrival. Others find that more confusing than helpful and far prefer to arrive with a clean mind.

Pre-practice mindsets are similarly different among various pros. Some fish as much as possible when they visit a venue ahead of time, wanting to get a feel for how the lake fishes and how its fish tend to behave. Others spend all their time looking with their own eyes and with electronics, believing that the fish's behavior in November has little bearing on how they act in February and simply wanting to study structure and cover and to learn as much as possible about the lake's character.

The perspective on the whole event also varies so much from one competitor to the next, as they bring such a wide range of experiences to the event. Still, when the 2013 Bassmaster Classic actually starts on month from today, collegiate qualifier Matt Lee, who is 23 years old, and Kevin VanDam who will be fishing his 23rd consecutive Classic, will have the exact same number of minutes ahead to fish the same waters in search of the winning bag.

Side Note: Bassmaster.com has put together a great slide show that looks at all of the 2013 Bassmaster Classic contenders.

B.A.S.S. All Star Campaigning

Elite Series rookie Cliff Prince had an outstanding first year on tour, qualifying for the Bassmaster Classic, and has a case to be one of the four fan picks for Toyota Trucks All Star Week.

If you follow any bass pros on Facebook or Twitter or pay attention to any bass news sites, you may have noticed that presidential candidates aren't the only folks on the campaign trail right now. Elite Series pros who were not among the top eight finishers in the season points are busily appealing to fans for votes. The first eight Toyota Trucks All Star Week places were determined strictly by the final season standings. The final four will be chosen by fan voting, which is going on right now and will continue through Sept. 10.

The dozen pros who make the final field will fish in an elimination format tournament that's spread over two weeks and is split between two different Illinois waterways. There is no entry fee, and the top finisher will take home $60,000 and the title of All Star Week Champion. Anglers who have already qualified are Brent Chapman, Ott DeFoe, Terry Scroggins, Todd Faircloth, Randy Howell, Matt Herrin, Kevin VanDam and Edwin Evers.

Many pros who aren't already in the mix are making direct appeals to fans, asking for daily votes, with some offering pretty strong incentives. Alton Jones, as an example, has committed to taking a Facebook fan on an all-expenses-paid trip to Falcon with him if he makes the post season. Edwin Evers, who is already in, is going to bat for his brother-in-law, Terry Butcher.

Like any All Star event, fans have different ideas about what the voting should be, with some picking favorites, others answering personal appeals and others studying season accomplishments and voting for the anglers who they think have earned the spots. Of course, B.A.S.S. is offering its own incentive for fans to participate, no matter who they select. Someone is going to win a Skeeter ZX190 bass boat powered by a Yamaha VZ 150 TL motor.

It'll be interesting to see who ends up making the final field. I've cast my first round of votes!

Alton Jones' Wins Being Sold Short

Alton Jones with his wife, Jimmye Sue, just after his fish were weighed and he was named champion of the 2012 B.A.S.S. Elite Series opener. B.A.S.S. photo

Virtually every story I've read about Alton Jones winning this weekend's B.A.S.S. Elite Series opener has included mention of Jones' "first Elite Series win," and most have had it in the opening sentence. Technically, that description is accurate, but to state it without qualifiers sells short Jones' B.A.S.S. accomplishments.

To me that description suggests that he's broken a new barrier, finally winning at the Elite Series level -- as if his previous wins had all be opens. However, if you take a closer look at Jones' resume', all of Jones six B.A.S.S. wins have been at the highest level of B.A.S.S. competition. They just weren't called the same thing.

Other than this weekend's Elite Series win and of course the 2008 Bassmaster Classic, Jones victories have included an Elite 50 (exclusive field of only 50 angler and part of a string of structural changes that led to the establishment of the Elites), a Bassmaster Tour and Bassmaster Top 100 (each the top B.A.S.S. tour level of the time) and a Megabucks, another specialized top-tier type of event that no longer exists.

However someone wants to dub the win, Jones got this year's Elite Series off to a great start by targeting big bedding bass on Lake George with a 6-inch YUM Dinger. Congratulations Alton!

Sights Set on St Johns Win for Alton Jones

Alton Jones leads the Elite Series Opener on the St. Johns River after three days. Photo courtesy of B..A.S.S; by Seigo Saito.

The good news for Alton Jones is that he's leading the St. Johns Showdown by more than 9 pounds going into this morning's final day of competition. The bad news is that a single fish could erase that lead on the St. Johns River, and any one of the 12 anglers who qualified for the final day could catch a monster bag today and win the tournament.

Jones is in his element, though. He's one of the best sight-fishermen on tour, especially when the bedding fish are getting hit hard and have gotten fussy -- and that's exactly what is going on at the St. Johns River right now. He's adept at finding fish, moving away from them and then "sight fishing by feel." He's also understands when NOT to catch a fish. In fact, leaving males so that more females would move into the area has been an important part of his strategy this week.

"I've been fishing professionally for 21 years now," Jones said this morning on Facebook, "but I still have a few butterflies this morning. I'm going to go out and give God my very best effort today and leave the results in his hands."

Pair of Eights Helps Jones to 28

Alton Jones brought a 28-pound, 7-ounce bag to the scales on Day 2 of the 2012 Elite Series opener on the St. Johns River to take a substantial lead.

Two 8-pound-plus fish and a third that weight more than 6 pounds helped Alton Jones bring 28-plus pounds to the scales on Day 2 of the Bass Elite Series opener on the St. Johns River. The big bag allowed Jones to jump from 17th place to leading tournament by 7 pounds halfway through it. Jones isn't counting his chickens before they hatch, though. Last year around this time on the St. Johns, he led by about the same margin after two days, and he ended up finishing third in the tournament.

YUM F2 Slam

Photos by James Overstreet; courtesy of B.A.S.S.

One of my favorite things about the time I spent working for YUM Bait Company was the opportunity to work closely with top fishing pros. Time spent together at writer events and photo shoots and behind the scenes at tournaments resulted in great friendships and an ongoing personal interest in these pros' professional success. Therefore, I couldn't help but notice that three of YUM's tournament superstars -- Edwin Evers, Terry "Big Show" Scroggins and Alton Jones -- finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in the B.A.S.S. Citrus Slam on the St. Johns river.

Jones, the 2008 Bassmaster Classic Chamption, also took over the top spot in the B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year standings, with Evers and Scroggins close behind in the second and fourth positions.

Evers, who fished exclusivley for spawning fish thoughout the event, stated that YUM's new F2 attractant formula was absolutely critical to his success, helping fish find his bait in somewhat stained waters. His comments about the importance of the F2 attractant echoed those of Alton Jones, who sight-fished most of the tournament using a 6-inch F2 Yum Dinger and led the event for the first three days. Scroggins combined sight-fishing (undoubtedly with YUM F2 baits, although I've not heard specifics yet) with a strategy of running and gunning ledges with Bomber crankbaits.

Congratulations Edwin, Terry and Alton.