Pace Persevered to Prevail in Classic

Today was the toughest day Cliff Pace has ever endured on the water. He began the morning with a commanding lead in the Bassmaster Classic. Not insurmountable, but very impressive, and everyone knew that he would have to stumble somewhat to not get the chance to hoist the trophy at day's end, even if someone else caught them quite well. Fortunately for Pace, none of his nearest competitors put together a true Grand Lake monster bag, because the day was a grind for him, with two very early fish and then absolutely nothing -- NOTHING -- for hours. Of course, he had no way of knowing what anyone else was doing, so as far as he know, the sport's biggest title could have been slipping out of his hands.

Pace ended up catching two more fish very late in the day and brought in four fish that weighed 11 pounds, 8 ounces. As it turned out that was enough to allow him to beat Brandon Palaniuk by 3 pounds. Palaniuk's 15-pound bag got him closer to Pace, but it wasn't enough to overcome Pace's 7-pound lead, which was the result of 21-pound-plus days on Friday and Saturday.

Pace earned a check for $500,000. More importantly in the minds of most pros, he earned designation as a Bassmaster Classic Champion. Congratulations Cliff Pace.

Palaniuk's Plan

Brandon Palaniuk, BASS photo by Gary Tramontina.

Brandon Palaniuk is currently leading the Bassmaster Classic. Well, he's leading based on BASStrakk, which is a live tracking of anglers' estimated catches. That said, he started this morning 7 pounds behind leader Cliff Pace. Palaniuk has a limit already today, while Pace is only showing to have caught two fish. That means Palaniuk, who leads by only a few ounces, can only increase his weight by culling, while Pace gets the full weight of his next three legal fish.

No matter where Palaniuk finishes, his success is largely the product of an cool and ambitious game plan. Palaniuk visited Grand Lake last February, long before he knew if he would even get the opportunity to compete in this classic, to explore February spots and patterns. He said on stage that he has caught fish from all the places where he caught fish last year and that he has spent both days running a pattern that he discovered during his special practice period a year ago. Although he hasn't revealed specifics, he apparently is fishing seven or eight very specific spots, rotating from one to the the next, and throwing two primary lures. The BASS blog revealed this morning that at least two of the fish Palaniuk caught today bit a green Wiggle Wart.

Making Palaniuk's special scouting trip to Grand Lake extra noteworthy, he's no local. He lives in Idaho. His plan definitely worked. We'll find out this afternoon whether it worked well enough to make him the 2013 Bassmaster Classic Champion.

Winter Chilled Again

A week ago today, the afternoon got so nice that Nathaniel and I just had to slip out to the ponds for a short outing. We fished the beaver pond and caught five fish, including the big one pictured above, in about an hour of fishing. (Be sure to check out the video report if you've not done so already!)

Nathaniel and I have both been itching to get back out ever since that day, but neither has had a good opportunity. That is until yesterday, when Nathaniel had the afternoon free. However, his return trip was in the middle of a cold spell that reminds us winter isn't over, and the wind was blowing fairly hard. Nathaniel spend three or four hours and tried a variety of approaches, fishing all three ponds, and the grand sum of his catch was exactly zero fish.

Seeing how severely the pond fish change their attitudes with weather changes makes me think about the 53 anglers who are about to compete for half a million dollars in the Bassmaster Classic. They've spent three days practicing, so far, but conditions are changing daily on Grand Lake O' the Cherokees, and they only get one more partial day to practice before the big event begins on Friday. As of now it looks like the Classic will start out very cold (low of 27 on Friday) but a slight warming trend will occur (high of 68 on Sunday). Of course, that might change a lot between now and then!

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.

Tournament Time Approaching

Once we take down the old calendar and replace it with a new one, it's never long before the year's first major bass tournaments begin happening in the Sunshine State and other warm locations. The first Everstart Southern, which will be held on Lake Okeechobee, is only a little more than a week away, and I'm beginning to see Tweets and Facebook post by pros who are heading south to fish the Everstart or the FLW Tour event that will be held on the same waters less than a month later.

On the B.A.S.S. side, the first Southern Open begins Jan. 31 on Florida's Lake Toho, but the bigger early-season buzz is always about the Bassmaster Classic. This year's Classic is scheduled for Feb. 22-24 on Oklahoma's Grand Lake, and pros who will compete are already in full anticipation mode. Classic waters have been off limits to competitors for a couple of weeks, but you can bet that most are busy gathering tackle finalizing travel plans and thinking about things they saw in pre-practice, all the while keeping an eye on weather patterns and lake conditions as they evolve through late winter. I know I'm already working on my Bassmaster Classic plans and am beginning to think about how I think the lake will fish and the types of patterns that will be used too win the event.

Oklahoma pro Jason Christie, winner of the Central Open at Fort Gibson Lake. B.A.S.S. photo by James Overstreet.

If any anglers in the 2013 Bassmaster Classic field did not take note of Jason Christie winning the Detroit River Open and securing himself a place in the Classic, I'll bet they took note yesterday when Christie notched his second open win of the summer at Oklahoma's Fort Gibson. The Classic will be held on Oklahoma's Grand Lake, which Christie considers his home lake, and Fort Gibson is just down the road from Grand and similarly familiar to the Oklahoma pro who primarily fishes the FLW Tour.

Christie opted to fish shallow throughout the Fort Gibson tournament while many anglers focused their efforts offshore. He used a combination of a Rebel Wee-R, a Zara Spook and a YUM Wooly Bug to tally a three-day catch that totaled 40 pounds, 15 ounces.

Interesting Twist in Bassmaster Classic Plot

Jason Christie of Park Hill, Oklahoma, who won the B.A.S.S. Open out of Detroit this weekend, earned a spot in the 2013 Bassmaster Classic, which will be held on Oklahoma's Grand Lake. B.A.S.S. photo by David Hunter Jones.

Of the seven BFL tournaments that Oklahoma's Jason Christie won before he began touring nationally as an FLW pro, five of them were on Oklahoma's Grand Lake, which will be the venue for the 2013 Bassmaster Classic. By winning this weekend's B.A.S.S. Northern Open in Detroit, Christie qualified for the "home waters" Classic.

Christie, who worked grass patches at the mouth of the Detroit River with YUM 2ubes and Salleemanders throughout the Detroit event and brought 20-plus pounds to the scales all three days, has only fished half a dozen B.A.S.S. events, so his name is not super well known on the B.A.S.S. side. In only five years as an FLW pro, though, he has become known as one of the top competitors on the tour.

Oklahoma tournament anglers at all levels know Christie's name very well, and B.A.S.S. pros from all areas who anticipate making the Classic almost certainly have taken note of Christie's Classic qualification. Every qualifier brings unique strengths to a Classic field, and various anglers will be worthy of watching closely for one reason or another. Christie, though, clearly will be a popular pick as favorite to win the 2013 Bassmaster Classic.

Of course, Christie can't dwell too much on what he'll do in the Bassmaster Classic a half a year from now. In less then three weeks he will be competing in his fourth consecutive Forrest Wood Cup, and the venue is Lake Lanier, which is only about 50 miles from Lake Hartwell, where he notched his first FLW Tour win last year.