ORANGE, Texas -- Chris Lane left City of Orange Boat Ramp Sunday morning with a clear game plan in mind.
He was going to make a lengthy run upriver to the grassy canals and ditches where he had caught the majority of his fish during the first three days of the Bassmaster Elite at Sabine River presented by STARK Cultural Venues. But if the fish were no longer biting there due to the heavy rains that fell across the region Saturday, he was going back downriver to win or lose the event on the main body of the Sabine.
He stuck to the plan, bailing on the suddenly unproductive areas upriver around 12:30 p.m. and traveling back to the Sabine to finish a five-bass limit that weighed 10 pounds, 6 ounces. The weight gave him a four-day mark of 50-0, earning him his seventh victory on The Bassmaster Tournament Trail and a winner’s check for $100,000.
Lane is the first angler to lead all four days of an Elite Series event since Brandon Palaniuk did it on the St. Lawrence River in 2013.
“I just kept wondering if the water was clear up there where I had been catching them,” Lane said. “I ran all the way up there, and all I caught was two keepers and a bunch of short fish. I finally just decided that I couldn’t make those fish bite, and I wasn’t going to lose the tournament right there.”
 |
| Lane claims rare wire-to-wire win under extreme conditions. (Photo: James Overstreet BASS) |
The run back downriver produced three bass that helped Lane fill his five-fish limit and one more that allowed him to cull for added weight.
