Consensus On ‘08 Classic - Tough!
After the first couple days of practice for the 2008 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell, many of the anglers are speaking on what kind of challenges they feel that the conditions will present.
Last week I wrote an article on my prediciton as to who will win the 2008 Classic if the conditions are as expected for a February Classic. In short I am predicting a victory by a West Coast angler with a strong skill at drop-shotting such as Aarron Martens or Fred Roumbanis. My reason for this is because the success the drop-shot has under extremely adverse and high pressure conditions. That, and the fact that the best drop-shotters in the country tend to hail from the west coast were the technique was first introduced in the United States after coming over from Japan.
Some of what the anglers are saying seem to be and echo from one another. BassFan calculates that the 20lb bag may prevail with two of them in the tournament posing a run at victory. With air temperatures projected to stay low enough to keep the water temperatures under 55 degrees, fish are expected to still be traveling in their school of winter packs. BASS Elite Series Pro, Timmy Horton also told BassFan radio, “The conditions right now are fairly tough. The big question the anglers are facing right now is shallow or deep. Whoever can put together the pattern with 3 or 4 spots to duplicate will have a great shot at winning”.
The reigning Bassmaster Classic Champion, Boyd Duckett told BASS, ” With the cold front, there is no indication of fish moving up. I had a shallow pattern developed as well as deep fish to play. I am just pleased that the fish I found in December are still there”. The current BASS AOY Skeet Reese remained his usual self claiming to not really be on anything. “I am still hunting”, he told BASS. The expected second cold front will not help the shallow fish at all. It will just push them further back.” Reese is another one who I expect to do well if the conditions call for finesse tactics such as the drop-shot.
Many are also expecting for local knowledge to play a huge part in victory. One of the locals who will be competing is BASS Rookie of the Year runner-up, Casey Ashley. Ashley said, “I expect to catch them both deep and shallow”. While he says some of his deep fish from December are still there, he expects the conditions may change and cause the fish to be on the move.
With just one day of practice left next Wednesday, the anglers who had found a winning school of fish back in December and are able to track them back down and get them to unlock their jaws may end up posing a serious threat at winning the 2008 Classic.
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