Paul Mueller, the runner-up to Randy Howell at this year's Bassmaster Classic, is headed to the 2015 event after winning the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship on the Ouachita River Saturday. The Connecticut resident caught a 14-09 bag with finish with a 3-day total of 32-15.
“This is incredible,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about the Bassmaster Classic all year. Anytime you get a chance to fish against the best in the sport, it’s amazing.”
Second-place finisher Coby Carden of Alabama and 3rd-place Jeff Lugar of Virginia also qualified for their second straight Classic. Carden had a 25-09 total and Lugar concluded with 25-02.
Mueller threw only two baits – a 4-inch Reins Craw Tube in black blue fleck and a Zoom WEC E1 square-bill crankbait in chartreuse shad.
“I fished in Horseshoe Creek all 3 days,” he said. “It took an hour to get back in there. You have to go through Moon Lake and then a little canal that goes back. It’s really shallow.
"Every day, I threw the crankbait in the morning before the sun came up. The fish were off the trees in the roots. Then, when the sun came up, I’d go to areas that create shade, fishing deeper cypress trees, around 3 to 6 feet.”
Full details of his winning pattern will be posted soon.
Mueller will represent the Eastern Division at the Classic. Carden is from the Southern and Lugar the Mid-Atlantic.
Others who earned the chance to compete at Lake Hartwell in February were Teb Jones of Mississippi (Central), Steve Lund of Arizona (Western) and Troy Diede of South Dakota (Northern).
