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!

Why I'm Pulling for Gary Klein

Gary Klein in 4th place, less than 5 pounds off the lead, going into the final day of the Falcon Slam. BASS photo by James Overstreet.

If Rick Clunn hadn't brought ridiculously big bags to the scales for the past two days and wasn't in serious contention in the Falcon Slam, major attention would be on another legend of the sport. Clunn did do those things, though, and that has allowed Gary Klein to fly somewhat under the radar.

I've been pulling for Klein since I was 13 years old, though, so that's not going to change this weekend. I'm pulling for Klein to notch win No. 9 and push his career earnings past the $2 million mark and to do so in Texas. With a Day 1 catch of 21-11 followed by back-to-back days of catching 28 and change, Klein obviously has something solid going and is only a couple of extra-big bites away from making a win happen. At Falcon, though, the same could be said about the entire Top 12.

I first learned about Gary Klein by reading Bassmaster Magazine. Specifically, I read about him winning the Bassmaster Invitational on Lake Powell in 1979 in only the second B.A..SS. event he ever entered. I took note because he was a young angler -- only seven years older than me -- and best I recall, he pretty much put down everything he owned to fish that tournament, took the top prize and never looked back. He was a 20-year-old living the then-new bass fishing dream.

Beyond that, though, Gary Klein was (and still is) always smiling in photos, and he always seemed to be the first one mentioned when stories were written about pros encouraging young anglers, taking extra time to sign autographs or helping fellow anglers. I've never met Klein and have only talked with him on the phone once for a story interview; however, other pros and fishing writer friends I know well always say that he's the same behind the scenes as he is in front of the camera.

I have a couple of friends in the Top 12, and I'd be thrilled to see them win, and like most folks I'd enjoy seeing Rick Clunn pull off the win. Forced to pick a single favorite, though, I have to go with my boyhood bass fishing hero.

Falcon Not Exactly Floundering

Day 1 Falcon Leader Keith Combs, BASS Photo

Falcon Lake isn't as dazzling as in '08, when Paul Elias set the Elite Series record for four days of fishing and when everyone was catching limits of jumbo fish. In fact, most pros have reported not getting a tremendous number of bites and having to grind it out their limits. That said, this big impoundment along the Texas/Mexico border obviously is still a pretty impressive fishery. Leader Keith Combs, who brought plentiful local knowledge into the tournament, weighed in five fish that averaged very close to 7 pounds (34-13). To put that into perspective, Combs' Day 1 weight would have landed him in eighth place for all four days last week at the Sabine River.

Combs wasn't alone with an impressive catch. Sixteen anglers brought in more than 25 pounds on Day 1, and 45 anglers broke the 20-pound mark. Three quarters of the field brought a limit to the scales. Big fish for the day was a tie between Edwin Evers and Rick Morris, both of whom toted a 9-11 to the scales. Contrasted with last week, when limits were very tough to come by, and decent fish were even tougher to find, Falcon still probably seems quite impressive to most of the Elite Series field.

No one ever says a tremendous amount about patterns after only one day of a four-day tournament, but reports I've heard suggest that fish are being caught both shallow and deep. Some bass are still up on the beds or staging just after the spawn, while others have already moved offshore. Combs focused on key deep-water areas that he expected to produce big fish -- if they produced at all --and said he had to work for his catch. Cliff Prince of Palatka, Florida, who is in second place after the first day, split his efforts between deep structure and shallow trees, which he fished by flipping.

They'll be back at it in another hour or so. Watch the Bassmaster blog for regular updates and even a few peeks at big fish anglers catch during the day.

Sabine Survived -- On to Falcon

Todd Faircloth of Jasper Texas won the Elite Series opener on the Sabine River with a four-day weight of 49 pounds, 6 ounces. BASS photo by James Overstreet

I feel safe saying that most Elite Series pros are happy to have put the very challenging Sabine River Challenge in the rear-view mirror and to be beginning practice on the legendary big-bass waters of Falcon Lake. Falcon, from my understanding, is not quite what it was in 2008 when Paul Elias broke the four-day record with his 132-pound, 8-ounce winning weight and everyone was hauling in monster bags. It's still Falcon, though, and when contrasted with the stingy Sabine and its muddy equipment-wrecking waters, Falcon is likely to look mighty grand.

Todd Faircloth won the Sabine event comfortably, topping second place finisher Dean Rojas by 6 1/2 pounds. Despite the big winning margin, Faircloth's four-day weight of 49 pounds, 6-ounces was the second lowest winning weight in the history of the Elite Series. The same weight at Falcon would have landed him in 51st place and outside the money at Falcon in 2008.

To give a better picture of the Sabine River event's toughness, 12th-place finisher Dennis Tietje weighed in 31 pounds, 5 ounces over four days. The last time the pros were at Falcon, the biggest single-day bag would have outweighed Tietje's four-day catch by more than 10 pounds. The weight for making the cut after two days and cashing a check at the Sabine was 10-pounds, 11 ounces. That meant catching a limit each day of fish that averaged a little more than a pound. If an angler was catching 2 pounders, three fish per day was sufficient to take away a check.

I don't know exactly what Falcon's fertile waters will produce this week, but I'm pretty sure that 1- and 2-pounders won't do the job.