Hank Cherry Wins 2020 Bassmaster Classic with 65-05lbs

Wire to wire win for Cherry 
By Bryan Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Jerkbait and riprap pattern works from start to end of Cherry.
(Photo: BASS)

Across the country, there are thousands of ultra-talented bass anglers who would have loved to compete in this week’s 50th Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk.

Only 53 got the opportunity — and from start to finish, there was no doubt which one of them owned the event.

Hank Cherry, a 46-year-old pro from Lincolnton, N.C., and an eight-year veteran of the Bassmaster Elite Series, caught five bass on Championship Sunday that weighed 19 pounds, 8 ounces. It gave him a three-day total of 65-5 and put the exclamation point on a dominant wire-to-wire victory that netted him a $307,500 first-place prize. 

The competition was held at historic Lake Guntersville, but Cherry’s raw emotion shined through most back at the final weigh-in, which was held at Legacy Arena inside the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.

“I talked to (fellow competitor) Paul Mueller in the boatyard, and he told me the devil was gonna try to get in my head today,” Cherry said. “He said just tell the devil to get out of your boat. He said tell him you don’t have time for him.

“That’s what I did. I caught my first fish and then I lost a big one. I could hear those voices in my head, but I didn’t listen to them. I just went and caught four more.”

This was the fifth Classic appearance for Cherry, and he had come close to hoisting the trophy once before — back in 2013 on Oklahoma’s Grand Lake, when he came in third after losing a key fish on jerkbait.

That same lure was one of his weapons of choice this week during three days of fishing that saw him catch 29-3, 16-10 and 19-8.

He did most of his damage during Friday’s first round with a Z-Man Jack Hammer ChatterBait. The bait allowed him to cut through a strong wind on his way to a tournament-best bag that featured a pair of 7-2 largemouth.

On Days 2 and 3, he relied mostly on his own Hank Cherry Signature Series Jig from Picasso in green pumpkin with a matching Berkley MaxScent Chunk trailer and the jerkbait — a Megabass 110+1 in the French pearl OB color. He replaced the factory hooks on the jerkbait with Berkley Fusion EWG No. 5s.

2020 Bassmaster Classic Lake Guntersville Day 2: Hank Cherry Continues to Lead with 45-13lbs!

Canadians Gustafson 31st, Chris Johnston 34th & Cory Johnston 47th
By Bryan Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Jerkbait and crankbait key to Cherry's lead.
(Photo:BASS)

If Hank Cherry’s arm is bothering him, it certainly doesn’t show.

The North Carolina veteran pro, who fell and injured his arm in his boat Friday, played through the pain Saturday to catch five bass that weighed 16 pounds, 10 ounces. Added to the 29-3 he caught Friday, it gives him a two-day total of 45-13 that leads the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk.

Competition is taking place at Lake Guntersville, and weigh-ins are being held at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. Cherry’s solid Saturday catch gave him a lead of 4-13 going into Championship Sunday with a $300,000 first-place prize on the line.

“I’m gonna do what I’ve got to do to get this done,” Cherry said. “New fish are still moving into my area. I’ve just got to relax — and if it’s my time, it’s my time.”

Cherry fished the same three baits Saturday that he used to catch his massive bag Friday — a bladed jig, a jerkbait and his own Hank Cherry Signature Series Jig from Picasso. He’s fishing one small area with a causeway and a flat, and he’s done so little running that he hasn’t even had to buy gas for his boat this week.

Now, it’s just a matter of settling down and finishing the job.

“My last thoughts before I go to bed tonight will just be to thank the good Lord for putting me in this position,” said Cherry, who finished third in the 2013 Classic at Grand Lake in Oklahoma. “Then I’ll just get up in the morning ready to go.

“I have to stay relaxed. I have to get that first one in the boat. The first one’s always the roughest one. After that, they start coming.”

The angler closest to Cherry going into the final day is Fayetteville, Tenn., pro Brandon Lester, who caught 20-1 Saturday and jumped from fourth place into second with a two-day mark of 41-0.

Lester started his day with a lipless crankbait and caught a limit early. But since he didn’t have the quality of fish he knew he’d need to win, he made a drastic change.

2020 Bassmaster Classic Lake Guntersville Day 1: Hank Cherry Grabs Lead with 29lbs!

Canadians Gustafson 12th, Chris Johnston 38th & Cory Johnston 45th
By Bryan Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Hank Cherry scored 29-03lbs and 8 pound lead.
Rock and wind helped steer himself into glory.
(Photo: BASS)

Halfway through Day 1 of the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk, North Carolina pro Hank Cherry fell and injured his right arm.

For a moment, he thought it might even be broken.

But Cherry powered through the pain — and with only one good arm, he caught five bass that weighed 29 pounds, 3 ounces to take the lead at the 50th edition of the Super Bowl of Professional Bass Fishing. Competition is taking place on Lake Guntersville with weigh-ins at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.

Cherry said his injury, which occurred as he was reaching down to grab a fish, would likely require a visit to a local doctor — but it wouldn’t keep him from fishing Saturday morning.

“I didn’t expect to catch them like this at all,” Cherry said. “What I caught my fish on was actually plan B. But it’s plan A now, for sure.”

Paul Mueller Wins 2020 BASS Elite St. Johns River!

Final day 6 pounder seals deal
By David A. Brown
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Final day adjustments after key area fizzle proved correct.
This is Mueller's second Elite win.
(Photo: BASS)

Paul Mueller’s crucial decision delivered a key fish on Championship Monday that propelled the Connecticut angler to a three-day total of 47 pounds, 6 ounces and what he described as a most unlikely victory at the AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at Florida’s St. Johns River.

After grinding most of the day in Trout Creek, about 25 miles downriver from Palatka, Mueller called an audible and relocated to nearby 6-Mile Creek where he had found a key stretch of pads with 25 feet of water.  

Punching this thick vegetation with a craw bait rigged on a 4/0 Strike King Hack Attack hook with a 1-ounce weight yielded a 6-11 bass — the day’s largest — that dramatically changed his outcome. 

“That was the horse that brought me here, no doubt about it,” said Mueller, who earned $101,000 for his second career Elite Series victory. “A big bite is the best thing you can have on the final day. I knew I was leading, but I got off to such a bad start, throughout the entire day, I didn’t think I had enough.

“All day long, I never felt like I had a shot. It wasn’t easy today, but when it’s God’s will, everything works out.”

Mueller kept himself in contention throughout the event by remaining consistent. He placed second on Day 1 with 20-8 and took over the lead a day later by adding 16-2.

During Monday’s final round, Mueller fell short of a limit by one fish, but four bass that weighed 10-12 were enough to deliver the win by a 3-2 margin.

2016 BASS Elite Wheeler Lake Day 1: John Crews Grabs Lead with 20 Pounds!

Crews rockets into lead.

By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS RELEASE

By nature, fishermen can be storytellers, and the top-shelf professional anglers that make up the Bassmaster Elite Series are no exception. Before the tournament began, the vast majority of the 108-angler field claimed the three official practice days were very unproductive — if not downright difficult.

It's standard procedure for tournament anglers to hold their cards close to their chest, especially during the days leading up to official competition. However, practice was certainly difficult for some at the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Elite at Wheeler Lake.

John Crews grabs lead as most struggle. (Photo: BASS)

Reality or a well-played bluff, all but eight anglers weighed five-fish limits of bass during the first round of competition on Wheeler. In all seriousness, effectively and consistently catching bass immediately following the spawn can be a difficult prospect as the fish are in need of recuperation. And, that is exactly what the anglers are faced with in in northwestern Alabama.

2014 Bassmaster Elite Lake Dardanelle Day 2: Greg Hackney Leaps into Lead.

by Deb Johnson

bass press release 

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Patience certainly does have its virtues. Just ask Greg Hackney, the new leader in the Bassmaster Elite Series at Lake Dardanelle.

After landing a 4-pound largemouth soon after competition began Friday, Hackney stuck it out in the same area the rest of the day, working through a series of dry spells without a bite. By day’s end, he was rewarded with five largemouth that weighed in at 18 pounds and 1 ounce.

Hackney enjoys lead after many poor tournaments. This could be his turn around tournament.
(Photos: BASS)

“There were flurries when it was better, but overall it was pretty slow fishing,” Hackney said. “I wasn’t necessarily fishing dead slow, but I was thorough. This lake is full of fish, but you can go a while between bites.”

Hackney, in second place after Thursday’s first round, changed places with John Crews, the first-day leader. Hackney’s two-day total was 39-14 to Crews’ 39-5, for a spread of 9 ounces between them. On Thursday, Crews had 12 ounces on Hackney.

Zell Rowland of Montgomery, Texas, was Friday’s biggest mover. In 87th place after Thursday, Rowland produced 25-5 Friday to rocket into third place with a total of 37-1.

2014 Bassmaster Elite Lake Dardanelle Day 1: Crew takes Flight of Lead

Crews is steady as she goes on Lake Dardanelle

By Deb Johnson

bass press release

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — “Steady” was the first word John Crews came up with when asked about his first day of competition in the May 15-18 Bassmaster Elite at Lake Dardanelle.

John Crews takes lead on day 1 in very tight field.
(Photo: BASS)

“One good one here, one good one there, and at the end of the day, it was looking really nice,” Crews said.

“Rock steady” is a more accurate description of Crews’ Thursday performance. The pro from Salem, Va., weighed a five-bass limit of 22 pounds, 9 ounces, for a lead of 12 ounces over Greg Hackney.

ICAST 2011 DAY 3: Winding Down

Hey, in the media centre and trying not to fall asleep here. Its been a world wind tour and the heat, steaks, late nights and pure fishing talk has taken its toll on everyone. I have a super funny photo of JP De Rose (no relations) from WFN. Wait till you see it, it will explain the whole event.

Shot more video today. Dave Mercer doing Shimano, John Crews with Spro, Kelly Jordan in the Lucky Craft Booth, Mike Iaconelli in the Molix booth, all good stuff.

Shoot some more photos and it looks like a new minn kota trolling motor is coming my way. I need it to cut the weeds when I go back on Rice lake and Lake Scugog.

Flight doesn't leave till very late tonight. Once we hit the air it will be lights out. I might try to start some video editing, but I might be too messed up to make any progress.

Wait, I see Ish Monroe who I have to track down. Got to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!