SACRAMENTO, Calif. — At just 28 years
of age, it’s hard to imagine Justin Lucas has accomplished all he’s going to in
professional bass fishing.
But wherever he goes from here, it’ll be hard for him to top what he
experienced the past four days in the Sacramento Bassmaster Elite at Sacramento
River.
With a giant cheering section full of friends, family and fans holding signs
that read “Go Justin” and “Cal-A-Bama Kid,” the
California native turned Alabama resident brought a limit of bass that weighed
16 pounds to Sunday’s championship weigh-in. It pushed his four-day mark to
82-14 and helped him claim his first career B.A.S.S. victory, under the best
possible circumstances.
“This one’s perfect,” a teary-eyed Lucas said after claiming the $100,000
victory in just his 23rd career B.A.S.S. event. “For about 17 years, I’ve been
dreaming of doing something like this. It’s cool. It’s just super-cool.”
Lucas began the week in eighth place with a solid catch of 21-13 Thursday. Then
he bullied his way up to third with 25-14 Friday and took the lead with 19-3
during a Saturday round when difficult tidal conditions baffled much of the
field.
He made at least a 90-minute run down the Sacramento River to the California
Delta each of the first three days and targeted shallow largemouth with a
Berkley Havoc Pit Boss in the vampire orange color pattern. He stayed with the
same approach Sunday, but made an even longer run to an area he’d been holding
in reserve.
“I saved that area,” Lucas said. “I knew it was going to get tougher every day.
We had some other tournaments going down there, and there was a lot of
pressure. I saved that area, and nobody else really knew about it.”
He said it wasn’t the type of area where an angler would normally win an event
on the California Delta. But it was just what he needed on a day when many of
the remaining Top 12 anglers struggled.
Five-foot waves almost convinced him not to make the journey. But he made the
decision to tackle the rough water, and he put together a fast limit that he
culled to upgrade before making the long journey back to Discovery Park.
“I knew there were a lot of 3-pound fish in there,” Lucas said. “That’s what I
had today. I had 16 pounds, so I basically caught five 3-pound fish. I kept
that area in my back pocket, and it worked out.”
Lucas caught most of his fish sight fishing for bedding bass and flipping the
shallow vegetation that blankets the shoreline of the Delta. He said he’s never
thought of himself as an angler who is good at flipping, but his willingness to
stick with the tactic helped him to the gigantic career milestone.
His closest competition came from another California native turned Alabama
resident, two-time Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Aaron Martens. After
leading the tournament on Day 2 and entering the championship round in second,
Martens caught 16-9 Sunday and finished almost 2 1/2 pounds behind Lucas with
80-7.
“I’ve known Justin for a long time,” said Martens, who finished second for the
13th time in his B.A.S.S. career. “I’ve talked with Justin a lot, and he’s
a super-cool guy. I wanted to win, but I’ll take second.”
Behind Lucas and Martens, the rest of the Top 12 was as follows: Dean Rojas
(78-2), Ish Monroe (72-9), Chris Zaldain (71-11),
Bobby Lane (69-10), Cliff Pirch (69-8), Tim Horton (69-3), Jason Christie
(69-3), Keith Combs (69-1), Ken Iyobe (67-15) and
Chris Lane (63-8).
Lucas was overcome with emotion again when he thought about the list of anglers
he held off to get the win.
“Every day that I go fishing, I don’t think that I’m that good of a fisherman,”
Lucas said. “I don’t think I’m good hardly at all. I think that just makes me,
every single day that I go, try and keep working as hard as I can all the time.
There are a lot of other guys on this tour who are way better than me.”
The Elite Series field will now travel nine hours to Havasu City, Ariz., for
the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Havasu presented by Dick Cepek
Tires & Wheels. While he wished he had more time to stay and celebrate with
family and friends in California, Lucas said he’s excited to try and keep his
momentum churning on another lake where he’s spent a lot of time.
“It’s bad that I have to leave my family and friends, and good because I want
to try to keep it rolling,” said Lucas, who currently ranks second behind Rojas
in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race. “But even if I finish last at
the next one, I don’t care. I’ll always have this.”
Bonuses and Contingency Awards:
·
The $1,000 award
for the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year points leader will go to Dean
Rojas.
·
The Power-Pole
Captain’s Cash will award $1,000 to Dean Rojas.
·
The Evan Williams
Bourbon Heavyweight Award of $1,000 for the angler with the heaviest five-fish
limit during the tournament goes to Chris Zaldain for
his 30-7 bag on Day 1.
·
The Livingston
Lures Leader Award of $500 for the angler leading on Day 2 goes to Aaron
Martens.
·
The HUK Biggest
Jump Award of $1,000 for the angler who made the largest jump in standings from
Day 1 goes to John Murray.
·
The Bass Pro Shops
Big Bass award of $750 for the heaviest bass weighed goes to Zaldain for his 12-pounder.
·
The Toyota Bonus
Bucks award of $3,000 for the highest placing eligible angler goes to
Justin Lucas. The second highest placing angler, Bobby Lane, is awarded $2,000.
·
The A.R.E. Truck
Caps Top Angler Award of $1,000 will be awarded to Lucas for being the highest
placing angler using A.R.E. products.
·
Terry Scroggins
was awarded the Dick Cepek Tires Rolling Forward
award for most placed climbed in AOY between Sabine and Guntersville.
2015 Bassmaster
Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Toyota,
Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Evan Williams Bourbon, GoPro,
Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter
Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha
2015 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting
Sponsors: A.R.E.
Accessories, Carhartt, Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels,
Huk Performance Fishing, Livingston Lures, Lowrance,
Power-Pole, Rigid Industries, Shimano
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture
of the sport. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s
fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines
(Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com),
television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), social media programs and events.
For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and
youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail
includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including
the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series presented by
Allstate, Old Milwaukee B.A.S.S. Nation events, Carhartt Bassmaster College
Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Costa Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota
Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of
competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.