Winning the Bassmasters Classic is equal to instant Bass Fishing Immortality.  I take my hat off to Alton for getting it down, because he had the guts to stick to his plan even when bites were slow to grind out a fairly decisive victory.  Many other anglers may have chose to move or try a different pattern when it was slow, but he stuck to his Booyah Football Jig.  So his great decision making, was actually deciding not to change!!!
 
I will likely do a more comprehensive Classic summary when I have a bit more time, but I wanted to get my congrats out to Alton in a timely manner

Here are some good links:
AltonJones.com
ALTON JONES’s Boat Design

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

Well Day 2 did not disappoint.  A bunch of movement and a few of the leaders caught them again.  To essentially give us a 5 angler race with another two that have a decent shot and about 6 more that would be real dark horses at this point.  They would need 22lb plus bags and a bunch of guys to have sub-standard days.

It is great to see Greg Hackney being relevant on the 3rd day of the Classic, I am not sure but this may be his best finish in a Bassmasters Classic regardless of his catch today.

I think Alton Jones has many things going in his favor that may make him hard to beat on the final day:
1. Obviously a 1lb 3oz lead is positive
2. His catch went up while places 2-4 catches decreased.
3. He has not fished his best areas past 10:30am either day, so he should be able to work those areas really hard today and maybe catch his biggest bag of the tourney.
4. Lastly, his & Ike’s deep Football Jig bites are probably least effected by weather changes & boat traffic.  Alton says he is locked into one bait and that is a Booyah Football Jig with a Yum Trailer.

I am sure Ike is using the new Berkley Gripper Football Jig that just came out or is just about to launch.

Hartley’s catch dropped quite a bit on day 2, not sure if it was the weather, the additional spectator traffic or if he does not have enough docks and the fish are running out.  Either way I am sure he will soak that jig around those docks all day today & find out.

Not sure what happened to Scott Rook’s shallow crank(Shad Rap) fish, because KVD ended up leaving his deep crank fish and switching to what looked like a Series 2 or 3 crankbait and caught them in a similar fashion to how Rook caught them & Bobby Lane was doing the same.

But it sounds like we will have a mix or sun & clouds today so I would expect most of the guys to catch them pretty good, so I should be a great show tonight on ESPN2.  Look for Jeff Kriet to make a move, because he is catching big fish and is also moving in the right direction.  He had the biggest bag of Day 2.

I have only posted the top 13 results, that is where I draw the line in my mind for who has a chance, but I really think its down to the Top 5.

I am also really suprised how bad Casey Ashley stumbled on Day 2, guess the hometown pressures that get most home town Classic favorites got him as well.

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

So I spent most of yesterday bouncing around the internet, reading reports, blogs, etc.  Watching for updates, watched the live weigh-in and also have watched yesterday’s coverage on the deuce twice this morning.

Here are my takes & thoughts:
Looks like fish are being caught several ways, and both deep & shallow.
Charlie Hartley got it done with a jig in mid-depth areas, hopefully he can keep it up, he would be a great Classic Champ.
KVD is the man and always a thread if you have not figured that out.  He said he is sticking with his Strike King Series 5 crankbait, in a modified Sexy Shad, more of a Sexy Herring!
Sounds like Kotaro Kiriyama caught all his fish with a Wacky Jig and a Jackall Flick Shake worm.
Scott Rook & Bobby Lane looked to be both using an old reliable Shad Rap.
Ike appeared to get his bites on what looked to be a Football jig, which is surprising because McClelland & Remitz pretty much bombed on day 1.

I think tonights TV coverage will be much better, because they will better know who to follow.  Look for about half the guys on top to repeat and be the main contenders, while the rest of the field will flip flop a bit, but we will likely be down to less then 10 guys that have a legitimate shot at the crown going into Sunday and it may be less than that.

Other things I noticed:
Bobby Lane is running dual Power Poles on his Skeeter, never seen that before.  That may be a sign of a guy that really likes his shallow water.
Lot of guys said they wanted the Sun, so lets see if those guys make a move today, as reports are that the sun is bright in SC toady.

If you are bored today, waiting for updates on the Bassmaster Blog, bounce over to My eBay sellers page & check out the goods I am selling.  Got some great Lucky Craft Baits, Shimano Reels NIB, BassTrix, & more!

Tight Lines,
Rich

Hey all,

Done a little digging, here are the best places that I found to get your Lake Hartwell Bassmasters Classic updates through out today and the weekend!!!

ESPN Has a Classic Blog with updated every few minutes here – http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/classic/news/story?page=b-tourn-bass-blog-day-one

BassZone.com has on the water chat with a scrolling leaderboard across the top & live on the water pics updated here –
http://www.basszone.com/2007livechat/mainclassic2.html
These guys also have video webcasts with anglers updated through out the weekend on their main page

At 3:30 CST, tune in head to watch the live weigh-in!
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/live/
They also have live feeds from the ramp & expo periodically right now they are showing some guys getting rained on by the docks….

Between live updates, check out the photo galleries here –
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/gallery?page=index_2008_classic#
They do have the launch photos up already

Last of all, catch the ESPN2 delayed coverage in the morning tomorrow & Sunday as well as Sunday night

If any of you got better sources, drop some links in my comment area!

BTW, rumor has it that KVD has already sacked a 6lb’r this morning & Scott Rook has 2 – 5lb’rs!!!

With the Super Bowl & the Daytona 500 in our rear view mirror, let us focus on what is really important…
The 2008 Bassmasters Classic!!!!

This really culminates the beginning of major tournament fishing for this year.  Sure we have had a few Triple A events (BASS Opens, FLW Series, PAA Qualifier), but now its time to get into serious major league bass tournament action.
So if you do not have your fantasy fishing line ups in, now is the time to do so.  Set reminders in your office calenders so you can stream live video of the weigh in on Friday afternoon.  Get your DVR’s all set to records the hours & hours of Classic coverage on the ESPN networks.  Vist the Classic Website, check out Charlie Hartley’s Blog….

5 Things to think about as you make your Classic picks:
1. Will another local take home the crown in likeness of Boyd Duckett, did he snap the jinx and now the flood gates will open?  Should you hitch your wagon to Casey Ashley, Todd Auten, or Jeff Coble?

2.  Will the guys that ruled at Clarks Hill with Football jigs reign supreme again at Hartwell? If so, maybe Mike McClelland or Derek Remitz can take the crown…

3.  Is the AllTell car of Ryan Newman winning the Daytona 500 a sign of things to come for Scott Rook?

4. Can Boyd be the first Classic champ to repeat since Rick Clunn?  He supposedly has some history on Hartwell

5.  Do any of the 6 Federation Nation contenders have what it takes to rock the boat in Brian Kerchal like fashion?

Check back soon, I will post my Fantasy & Super 6 picks sometime this week.

Also welcome my newest email subscribers, we are up to 60!!

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog