U.S.A. Bassin Classic Champs!

After a long week of pre-fishing, Luke and Josh had a great bag of fish and came in 2nd after day 1 of the USA Bassin Classic at Kentucky Lake this past weekend. Sunday proved to be even better with a 13.88 lb sac of fish that gave them the lead by a 1/2 lb. They were announced Classic National Champs and were awarded a new Zitro z-8 Bass Boat. They are beyond excited!!




Here is Luke's Story....

Last year my cousin Jason asked me if I would come and fish the USA Bassin team trail on the Kaskaskia River Division. He and his partner Craig Cowen were the tournament directors and they were wanting to get some more boats to fish. I called one of my good friends, Josh Jackson, and he agreed to fish with me. We fished enough events and were able to qualify for the regional that was held on Rend Lake. Josh could not attend that event so I fished by myself and was able to qualify for the Nitro Classic that would be held on Kentucky Lake the following year. Josh and I went down on Sunday, the 10th of April to get some good practice in before the event on April 16th. The water was low but the water temps were in the 60’s plus the full moon was coming. I knew the fish were going to spawn so I decided to look for spawners but only found a couple on the banks. We focused our entire practice on Barkley Lake due to the dingier water color. Since the fish were not visibly on the beds we turned our focus on secondary points leading into spawning pockets. We caught several nice fish on Strike King Series 5 crankbaits but were not getting any big fish. We then went and started flipping lay downs with a Strike King Denny Brauer Flipping Tube and still catching only small keepers. Then I threw out on the end of a tree top and caught a six pound fish. We started running that pattern and soon found out the fish were spawning in deeper water. Some fish were on the ends of trees and others were on rocky banks on the back side of the small points sitting in five feet of water. My cousin and I worked together and had both found good fish running the same patterns. Day one we were boat number 184 out of 200 boats. We ran 25 miles down Barkley Lake and started fishing and we started catching. I was flipping and Josh was throwing a Strike King Premier Pro Model white spinner bait. We put three in the box fairly fast. Then I got a bite and the bass spit it out. Josh threw his spinner bait back in and the bass bit again but did not take the bait. We fished another hour or so and then went back to that same spot. Josh slow rolled the spinner bait and hooked up. The five plus pound fish never fought as I scooped him in the net. I spun the boat around and fired the spinner bait back out over the point and caught a three pound smallmouth. That gave us a limit. We culled twice and decided to head back north. I stopped on a small secondary point and hooked up again with a nice three and a half pound fish and was able to cull one more time before weigh in. After day one we sat in second place with 18.89 pounds. My cousin and his partner were in 4th place with 17.98 pounds. I knew we now had put ourselves in contention but the storms had blown in and I knew it was going to be tough on day two. The next morning we blasted off down to our same starting spot. I quickly hung one on the tube and was able to get him free and in the boat. The pressure was off. We were not getting skunked on day two and now it was time to build a nice limit. Josh put keeper number two in the boat and then the bite died. Our spot was starting to get pounded pretty good and it was time to make a move. We ran another seven miles down the lake where I caught the third keeper and lost to more. We decided to move again to another spot we found. As we came around the small point Josh laid into a giant and drug him right to me and I dipped him. Number four! Now all we needed was one more. We ran back up the lake to the same secondary point we ended on Day one and I caught our fifth fish to fill out our limit. At weigh in the tournament director held the top five teams back until the end. To my surprise as Josh and I stood there my wife Heidi, my two girls, and Josh’s girlfriend Alecia walked up. I was shocked and happy all at the same time that they were able to come down to watch the weigh in. All six of us sat in the boat and waited until they told us to put our boats on the trailer. We were not allowed to talk to any of the other competitors about what we had. They lined us all up in order and weighed us in one at a time. By the time they got to us, 5th, 4th, and 3rd place had not taken over the lead. I calculated what we had to have and I knew it was going to be close. As we pulled up the tournament director asked us if we had a limit and I held up my hand with all five fingers. We bagged them all and headed up to the scales. He said that we needed 13.25 pounds to take the lead. Our fish hit the scales at 13.88! I stood there in amazement. We gave each other high fives and went and sat in the hot seat. The first place team pulled up and only had one fish for the day. We had won first place. Josh and I went crazy and so did the crowd. We had pulled it off. We won a Nitro Z-8 with a Mercury Optimax for our efforts. It is an accomplishment I will never forget. I would like to thank my wife Heidi for being so supportive over the years. If it weren’t for her I wouldn’t be able to do this. Next I would like to thank Josh(Chopper) for being not only a great friend but a great partner. We had a blast together. Next is my cousin Jason(Bird). We worked all week together and it just happened to work out for Josh and I. He is a great fisherman and true sportsman. And how about my sponsors. Strike King. Wow, we wrecked those fish all week on Strike King baits. Vicious Fishing Line, strong yet sensitive. Ardent Reels. They took some abuse this week and got the job done. Sure-Life. I never lost a fish and all of them were as healthy when they were released as they were before I caught them. PLP Battery. They got me two new trolling motor batteries down for the tournament because my old ones went out. Mustad. The strongest and sharpest hooks on the market. Other sponsors I would like to thank are Natural Gear, E & D Concrete, and Von Jacob Vinyard. The support from my friends and family has been overwhelming. I can’t thank everyone enough. All I can say is that I am looking forward to next year.