Bassmaster Elite Series pro Kevin Short faced a pretty steep climb at last week's Toho Elite Series. A 97th-place disaster at the Potomac had dropped him from 31st to 42nd in the Elite Series points, which meant he needed to move back up at least five, preferably six, spots in the points to make what would be his first Bassmaster Classic.
He did that and more, and his 22nd-place Toho finish moved him up to end the year 34th in the points. So he'll be fishing his first Classic next February at South Carolina's Lake Hartwell.
"It's pretty satisfying – I think that pretty much sums it up right there," he said about making the Classic. "That made all the blood, sweat, and tears worth it right there."
He didn't do the points math prior to Toho, but figured he needed a Top 25 to have a shot. When he boxed a small limit the morning of day 3, he figured he was in the Classic – and after weigh-in that day, other pros told him he was in – but he wanted that slip of paper from BASS with the points standings to be sure. That came Sunday, after the scales closed.
When he got a hardcopy of the standings, the first thing that went through his mind was: "Damn, this is a long time coming."
He added that he approached the Potomac and Toho in different ways, and that's what led to the disparity in finishes. "At the Potomac I kind of lost sight of (the fact) that you have to catch them to qualify (for the Classic)," he said. "If you don't catch them, you don't make it. At the Potomac, I was so worried about qualifying that I didn't catch fish. At Toho, I knew I didn't have to catch big fish, because I knew it was going to be a tough bite. I just knew I had to go out and catch five a day."
> He noted that he plans to scout Hartwell before the off-limits, but will probably wait until late November or early December, when the water's a little cooler.
