2018 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell Day 1: Christie Sacks 20-14lbs for Lead!

Oklahoma room mates land 1 & 2!
By Luigi De Rose

Considering the hype about Lake Hartwell prior to the start, the fishing was slow for most. Even the top anglers complained about long lulls between bites. Oklahoma anglers Christie and Evers, room mates on tour, sit first and second after Day 1. Both explained that Hartwell fishes very similar to Grand Lake. The site of the 2016 Classic, Grand Lake is where Christie led the first two day but later succumbed to a heroic last day limit by Ever which vaulted him in the winner's circle. This event could be a repeat of 2016.

Tomorrow will see increased cloud cover and warmer temps. This might give shallow anglers or anglers targeting spotted bass with moving baits the edge.

1	Jason Christie		5 / 20-14
2	Edwin Evers		5 / 19- 9
3	Jordan Lee		5 / 18-10
4	Brent Ehrler		5 / 17- 8
5	Ott DeFoe		5 / 16- 8
6	James Elam		5 / 16- 7
7	Jacob Wheeler		5 / 16- 1
8	Mark Daniels Jr.		5 / 15-14
9	Gerald Swindle		5 / 15-13
10	Jamie Hartman		5 / 15-12
11	Dustin Connell		5 / 15- 5
11	Jason Williamson		5 / 15- 5
13	Jacob Powroznik		5 / 15- 4
14	Casey Ashley		5 / 15- 0
15	Alton Jones		5 / 14- 9

Brandon Palaniuk is the 2017 BASS Elites Angler of the Year!

Mid-morning flurry seals win.

BASS PRESS RELEASE

(Photo: BASS)

As the 2017 Bassmaster Elite Series season progressed, Brandon Palaniuk always had a sense that he was in contention for the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year crown.
 
But he never let himself look at the standings. He never even allowed himself to think about the race.
 
Now, he may never stop thinking about it.
 
The 29-year-old pro from Hayden, Idaho, caught 62 pounds, 3 ounces of bass to finish in 20th place at this week’s Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship on Mille Lacs Lake, Minnesota. That allowed him to finish 14 points ahead of Oklahoma pro Jason Christie and secure his first career AOY title.
 
“I didn’t know if it would ever happen,” said Palaniuk, who topped Christie by a final margin of 902 to 888 in the AOY standings. “This has been a dream of mine since I was 8 years old. I decided 21 years ago that this is what I was going to do.
 
“I just made up my mind that I wanted to fish for a living — and every decision I’ve made for 21 years has led to this point.”
 
Hoisting the AOY trophy was the culmination of a phenomenal season that saw Palaniuk record six Top 12 finishes, including a victory on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. The only time he finished outside the Top 30 in 10 Elite Series events was a disastrous 105th-place showing in the second event of the year on Florida’s Lake Okeechobee.
 

2017 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship Day 2: Palaniuk Keeps AOY Lead; Combs Leads with lbs!

AOY going down to the wire

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Last second giant keeps Brandon in AOY.
(Photo: BASS)

After two days of the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship, Brandon Palaniuk is still clinging to his lead in the race for the AOY season title.
 
But it’s been anything but easy.
 
The noted smallmouth specialist from Hayden, Idaho, caught just 10 smallies from Mille Lacs LakeFriday — and if hadn’t been for a 6-pounder that bit extremely late, he might have actually fallen out of the AOY lead.
 
“I just struggled to get bit,” Palaniuk said. “I was just catching one here, one there — and I wasn’t really catching any big ones. But then at 3:14 (p.m.), I made one final drop and caught a 6-pounder.”
 

John Murray Wins 2017 BASS Elite Toledo Bend with 77-10lbs!

Two monster bass seal victory

By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS RELEASE

After spending 11 seasons on the Bassmaster Elite Series without a victory, John Murray was starting to think his window of opportunity might have already closed.

Now, he knows better.

Crankbait score big with last day heroics.
(Photo: BASS)

The West Coast native was in 34th place after Friday's second round and in danger of missing the final cut. But he made an enormous recovery with 23 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday and then slammed the door with 24-15 Sunday to win the Bassmaster Elite at Toledo Bend presented by Econo Lodge.

His final four-day total was 77-10.

"I've been on the Elite Series since its inception (in 2006)," said Murray, who earned $100,000 for the victory. "All that time I've been trying to win one, and I always thought I would. But as the years went by and the competition kept getting better and better, I was starting to think maybe it wasn't going to happen.

2017 BASS Elite Toledo Bend Day 1: Jacob Wheeler Grabs Lead with 25-01lbs!

Toledo Bend fishing strong

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Wheeler lead big day on Toledo Bend.
(Photo: BASS)

For the second time in three tournaments this season, Jacob Wheeler is sitting atop the leaderboard.

The Indiana pro caught five bass that weighed 25 pounds, 1 ounce during Thursday's first round of the Bassmaster Elite at Toledo Bend presented by Econo Lodge.

Wheeler, who won the season's first Elite Series event on Tennessee's Cherokee Lake in February, leads Arizona pro Brett Hite (24-11) by 6 ounces. But the field has three days left to fish on a lake that has topped the list of Bassmaster Magazine's 100 Best Bass Lakes the last two years.

"I don't have much experience here, which might have helped me a little bit or might have hurt me," said Wheeler, who made the move to the Elite Series this year after a successful career on the FLW Tour. "I spent two days here in the fall one time, five or six days in pre-practice and then practice this week — and that's it.

"But I know there are a lot of big fish here, and everything worked out for me today."

With so much fishing left to do, Wheeler was tightlipped about how he caught his fish Thursday. He only said that he managed to catch a few good fish early to calm his nerves.

2016 Bassmaster Classic on Grand Lake Day 1: Local Jason Christie Leads with 20lb!

Canadian Sim sits in 44th.
By Bryan Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASE

The bass on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees are in transition, and all of the 55 anglers in the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro are doing a decent job staying ahead of them.

Jason says his best fishing is during bright, calm days. This is
the opposite of what most of the field has experience.
(Photo: BASS)

But on Friday, one angler — a local favorite who lives right down the road — did it better than anyone else.

Jason Christie, a Park Hill, Okla., pro who lives just an hour away from the lake, brought five bass to the scales that weighed 20 pounds, 14 ounces and took the opening-round lead in the Super Bowl of professional bass fishing. Alabamian Greg Vinson, who almost missed the event due to the lingering effects of a concussion, is second with 18-1, and Texas pro Alton Jones is third with 17-13.

Even after a big day, Christie admitted the fishing was tough.

“It was slow. It was a grind, but it was a grind in practice,” Christie said. “I honestly didn’t think I had that kind of weight, but the fish up here just fool you because they’re thick and heavy.

“I’m not getting a lot of bites. I think the most I’ve had in one day is nine — and that’s including practice.”

Getting just nine bites during an eight-hour day forces an angler to exercise patience and remain focused through the downtime so he doesn’t miss the next bite when it finally comes.