The buzz around Jason Christie was palpable as Day Two closed on the hometown hero, a local favorite—a member of the Cherokee Nation—leading the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic at Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees. This is his lake, and anglers in the field know it.
Nobody on the water in Tulsa was surprised when Christie led the field after Day One; even fewer were shocked to see him once again atop the leaderboard on Day Two. “You just don’t want to see that,” said Keith Combs, after bringing in an 11 pound, six ounce sack on Day Two—enough to keep him in contention for a money spot with a 22 or 23 pound bag on Day Three. “Out of everybody we have here, he’s the guy who knows this lake the best. You want to see anybody but him catching 20 pounds.”
Christie tipped the scales at 20 pounds, 14 ounces on Day One and 16 pounds, 11 ounces on Day Two. He leads the field into the final day by just under six pounds.
Off the water, Christie’s Garmin teammates echoed Combs’s thoughts. “I told you so, America!” laughed Fred Roumbanis, who’s watching Christie’s challenge for the crown from the Bassmaster Classic Expo this year, after missing the cut in 2015. “When you know a lake like that … the contours do not change, the geography does not change. It’s really just a matter of execution, and nobody seems to execute with more confidence than Christie.”
Normally, Christie is the picture of confidence. A former collegiate basketball player, he’s been competing all of his life. He’s already won multiple tournaments on this lake; one that he lives a little over an hour away from. But none of those were as big as the Bassmaster Classic, none were as valuable as the Grandaddy of Them All. None came with a $300,000 check and a trophy that could elevate his career into a different conversation of greatness. But at the dawn of what could be the biggest day of his career, Christie is feeling human—he may be the only person in Oklahoma who isn’t confident of a win.
"I’m little bit scared,” Christie says. “There’s guys here that, I guarantee you, caught 25 pounds in practice. If I go out tomorrow and catch 15 then the door is wide open.”
That’s a different line than you hear from the four-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier’s competitors and fans. The conversation flooding Tulsa says this year’s Classic is a race for second place. But Christie knows otherwise. He sees Todd Faircloth just five pounds and 11 ounces behind him, and on Grand Lake, that easy be the difference of just one fish.
“I know what swims in this lake,” Christie says. “I’ve brought in 27 pounds here and come in second place. If I can catch 20, I think that would give me a chance; but I still wouldn’t guarantee it.”
Heading into the home stretch of the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic, Jason Christie might be the only one unwilling to make that guarantee.
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