Photo: B.A.S.S.
Knoxville is one of America’s great mid-sized cities, a sports-crazed university town with culture, a mild climate, great restaurants, and lots of water nearby. Thus, whether the 2019 Bassmaster Classic had been held on Douglas, Cherokee, Watts Bar, or its actual playing field – Fort Loudoun and Tellico lakes – it was going to be a success.
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Of course, this was going to be an historic one no matter what. Kevin VanDam had a chance to separate himself with a fifth win. Jordan Lee likewise had a chance to make history by winning his third in a row. Even if neither of those happened, though, it was likely to be the last one of its kind, as numerous anglers have left for the Bass Pro Tour and B.A.S.S. prepares to make new stars.
Of course the “elephant in the room” – the anglers leaving B.A.S.S. for BPT was probably the biggest story of them all. Many pundits and fans worried that one side or the other would take potshots. As far as I could tell, that didn’t happen. There might’ve been some griping behind the scenes, or maybe I missed something, but while folks might’ve been walking on eggshells at the beginning of the week, by Friday or Saturday it seemed like any other Classic, only bigger.
As a writer for B.A.S.S., of course I am biased, but I thought the organization handled things extremely well. I was not discouraged from writing about any angler or topic. In fact, I wrote profiles of Ott DeFoe, Justin Lucas and Aaron Martens before the event, and I was assigned to follow multiple BPT anglers on the water.
Photo: I stuck to my guns and made a run at it! I love catching 5 big ones and weighing them on the big stage! We’ll be back next year... Congratulations to Ott Defoe!!! @bass_nation #HugeBass #HugeStage#HugeDreams #BigBaits #BassmasterClassic#KnoxvilleTN | Chris Zaldain FB
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Likewise, multiple departing anglers thanked B.A.S.S. for giving them their start. At his victory toast, DeFoe went out of his way to mention that B.A.S.S. had done a fantastic job all week.
Speaking of DeFoe, he now becomes another home-state Classic winner, following in the footsteps of Boyd Duckett, Randy Howell, Casey Ashley and Edwin Evers.
Spectators were extremely respectful of the anglers during the event, and DeFoe didn’t get fazed in the slightest. He was able to run a pattern and combined his prior knowledge with a slight tip from Keith Poche to come out on top. Apparently his preferred waters – the French Broad River – were off limits, or he might’ve won by even more (or not).
A POWER FISHING CLASSIC
This was a fun tournament to watch because not only was it a “pattern” tournament rather than a “spot” tournament, but also because just about everyone was power fishing.
Since 2012, most of the Classic winners have had to use soft plastics or some other semi-finesse technique to get the job done: but in this one, cranks and vibrating jigs ruled the day. I was a little disappointed that Chris Zaldain didn’t win, not because I had anything specifically invested in him, but rather because he was fishing a swimbait, which would’ve been a first.
Next year they’ll be back at it. Some of them will, anyway. With or without the departing anglers the sport’s tentpole event will go on. It’ll be number 50, and someone will etch their name in the record books. With DeFoe’s victory in the rearview mirror, I’m hoping that someone with a sense of history will bring it back to Mead, but I have no inside scoop. That would make waves, and I’m sure it would make some western pros reassess their decision to leave, if only for a short while.
#ElephantInTheRoom
#HometownHero – EverybodyLovesOtt
#Class
#PowerFishing
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