March 1, 2012

Chris Lane Wins The 2012 Bassmaster Classic

Florida pro Chris Lane held on to his lead, weighed 15.4 pounds of bass, and secured the 2012 champion’s trophy and a check for $500,000 dollars. Lane stuck to his game plan and ran downstream through a lock and began the day in a backwater area that produced fish on the first day of the tournament. He found spawning bass in very shallow water and caught his five-fish limit by 9:30 a.m. “I could have tried for 10 or 12 pounds to make sure I kept it close,” he said, “but I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to go for big fish, the big bag, and I really wanted to win it all.”

After leaving his primary area on the Red River, Lane locked back through to the upper pool (lake) and found another backwater. “I really need to cull at least two of my fish,” Lane said. In an interview with my media partner, Bob Johnson, Lane commented that he really believed there was a 25-pound limit waiting out there to be caught. Though he might have been overoptimistic about what Sunday would produce, he caught enough bass to win the tournament by close to four pounds over his closest competition, Greg Vinson.

The weights for the third and final day of the tournament dipped significantly from day two. The largest weight of the day was turned in by Ott Defoe at 17.7 pounds. But, the average weights on the last day were down around 12 pounds. Though a lot of bass were moving onto their spawning beds, many of the larger fish were caught on day two which left many of the anglers struggling to catch the “right” sized fish. Alton Jones weighed 14.3 pounds but couldn’t get that one big bite. Others like Greg Vinson lost fish at the boat that would have helped him significantly. “On the second day and today, I lost a couple of monster fish,” Vinson lamented.

The Lane family is no stranger to professional bass angling. In fact, Chris’ brother Bobby also made the

Super Six and by doing so set a new Bassmaster Classic record. “Bobby and I have always been supported in our bass fishing by our parents. This is a family victory.” Bobby struggled on the final day and finished the tournament in 20^th place after weighing just over 5 pounds for the day.

It is amazing how things work out. If you have been following my reports this week, you’ll note that in the “pregame” report the photo for the story including Chris Lane and me. But, as usual, there was a story connected to the photo. We were standing in line at lunch on at Media Day and I mistakenly called Chris “Bobby”. He kindly reminded me he was actually “Chris” which began our conversation. Bob Johnson took the photo and he then decided to sit and have lunch with us.

I asked him how he thought he would do this week and here is his response. “I really feel good about my practice. I found some good fish but with this cold weather we’re expecting, I’m not sure they will still be there during the tournament. When the temperature drops so much in a short while, it can really mess up the fish. But, it’s the same for all the guys … and somebody is going to catch them.”

Well, that somebody was Chris Lane, and the bass fishing world has a very able and exciting new champion.

The Top Six Anglers And Their Weights: