SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Turning just 29 years old on Friday, 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.
“This one’s perfect,” a teary-eyed Lucas said after claiming the $100,000 victory in just his 23rd 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.”
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| Lucas and Team enjoy his first win on the Elites. (Photo: Garrick Dixon BASS) |
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 Berkely 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.
