5 Who Should Win

It ought to be fun tomorrow.

With one day remaining in the 2015 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro, the top five anglers in the standings are separated by less than 2 pounds. Making things even more interesting, every angler in the top 5 is someone who you could say "should win" and make an excellent case for that assertion.

Leader Takahiro Omori is a past Classic champion, and his 2004 Classic victory came in the Carolinas (Lake Wylie, which straddles the NC/SC border). He likes to crank shallow, so the warmer temps and rain in tomorrow's forecast seem like they should play into his hand.

Dean Rojas, only 2 ounces back, hasn't won a Classic, but he has four B.A.S.S. wins and has proven repeatedly that he can get it done. He brought in a huge bag on day one and backed it with a limit today, but failed to get the same quality. Interestingly, his best previous Classic was fourth place in 2004 at Lake Wylie.

Mike Iaconelli has eight B.AS.S. wins, including victory in the 2003 Bassmaster Classic on the Louisiana Delta, and when he's on something, he is tough to stop. He's brought in two good bags, with toady's a little larger than yesterday's.

Randy Howell is the reigning Bassmaster Classic champion, so the sweet taste of victory is fresh, and of the three former Classic champs in the top five, he's the only one who won a February event. And apparently some live footage of him fishing shows that he's spending at least part of the time cranking bridges, which was how he won last year at Lake Guntersville.

Rounding out the Top 5 is Casey Ashley of Donalds, South Carolina, which is only about 1/2 hour from Lake Hartwell. Ashley was virtually everyone's pick going into the event, so it would be hard to discount him when he's less then two pounds out going into the final day.

Making things even more exciting, the super close weights don't end with the fifth spot. Bret Hite is only 7 ounces behind Ashley, and Coby Carden is only 7 ounces behind Hite. In fact, Skeet Reece, who is in 10th place, is only 4 1/2 pounds off the lead.

So what does all that say? You'd better be watching tomorrow when they bring the fish to the scales because pretty much anything could happen!

Chris Lane's Astounding Day

Chris Lane weighed-in an astounding 37 pounds, 9 ounces of St. Johns River bass
yesterday to take a 9-pound lead halfway home. B.A.S.S. photo by Seigo Saito.

I mostly avoid re-hashing reports that you can read in various other places. Some things are tough to ignore, though, and a 37-pound, 9-ounce bass limit in a major tournament clearly is one such thing. That's what Chris Lane brought to the scales yesterday on Day 2 of the Bassmaster Elite on the St. Johns River.

Looking at the numbers, Lane would be in 10th place after two days if he had zeroed on Day 1! He actually had a solid 18-11 on the first day, though, so yesterday's giant bag put him nearly 9 pounds ahead of Day 1 leader Randy Howell.

The good news for Chris Lane is that he is in a great position, and because he is not sight-fishing in a crowd, he is not watching his fish supply dwindle. The bad news is that if he could do it yesterday, someone else could do it today or tomorrow. Twenty anglers had 20-pound-plus bags yesterday, and the St. Johns River holds enough big fish that someone else could surge into the spotlight with a giant bag tomorrow. In fact, although the cut-line was 28-14, barely more than half of Lane's two-day total, I'd go as far as to say that no one who made the cut is out of contention halfway home. Lane's bag today could change that story and all but seal the deal, but he was the first to say that he might catch 10 pounds or another giant bag. Not surprisingly, he did not plan to alter his approach of flippin' shallow lily pads

A Splendid Champion

2014 Bassmaster Classic champion Randy Howell. B.A.S.S.
photo by James Overstreet.

Fishing plans pulled me from the Bassmaster Classic soon after the final press conference and carried me out of phone and Internet range for two days. I returned to a backload of work and no immediate opportunity to report Classic perceptions. In truth, I know folks don't (and shouldn't) turn to here for the most timely and complete news coverage. BASS, FLW and other sites do that well. Still, to fail to convey any impressions somehow would leave me feeling like I hadn't completed the blogging part of my mission at the Classic.

You've likely read about Randy Howell's lures, including the Livingston Lures prototype crankbait he tied on for the first time on the final day of the Classic, and about his last-minute decision to turn his boat around and switch starting spots on the final day. All great stuff.

The things that impressed the most, though, were Randy's honest and unfiltered emotions, his clear testimony about God's love and direction; his obvious desire to give God all the glory; the shared joy of everyone in the crowd about the huge group from King's Home that Randy had arranged special seating for and that all got to see the Bassmaster Classic won by the angler who works hard to raise money and awareness for them; and of course the unified delight of the entire Howell family.

As a fellow homeschool dad, I enjoy seeing the dynamics of families who travel together, sharing experiences and learning on the road. It was fun learning of his son's Sunday School prayer request for "Dad to win the Bassmaster Classic" and for his wife's encouraging idea of hanging that prayer request on the bathroom mirror, so Randy would see it every day -- and her foresight to have someone retrieve that piece of paper from their home on the final day and bring it to the weigh-in.

I haven't had the opportunity to work with Randy Howell, but I've always been impressed by the way he comes across on stage and the personal way that he interacts with fans through social media outlets. I'm seeing that this week, more than ever, from the new Bassmaster Classic champion, and I am convinced that B.A.S.S. has gained a splendid champion.