(This is part 2 of a 2-part story with Florida tour pro Bobby Lane. Part 1 covered his thoughts on the upcoming Bassmaster Classic. In part 2, he talks about next year – his first in the Bassmaster Elite Series.)

Florida pro Bobby Lane has fished the FLW Tour for the last three seasons, and BassFans probably remember his rookie year when he started with three Top 10s in a row.

But after one FLW Tour Championship (now called the Forrest Wood Cup), 3 years on the FLW Tour, two FLW Series seasons, four Stren Series Championships, and two BFL All-Americans, he still felt something was missing and began to wonder if he'd ever have a shot at the Bassmaster Classic.

His brother Chris, meanwhile, was fishing with BASS, and qualified

this year for his first Classic. Earlier this season, Bobby decided he'd see what he could do to get there as well.

"I fished the (Bassmaster) Southern Opens to try to qualify for the Classic," Bobby said. "I managed to do that on my first try, and qualified for the Elite Series as well."

He earned the last Classic-qualifying spot when he beat out Mark Davis to finish 3rd in the Southern Open points. "I was the last one they announced after the weigh-in at Wheeler (the last stop for the 3-event Southern Opens). I haven't been that nervous in a long time," he said.

What He Expects

Being from Florida and growing up fishing famed Okeechobee, the Harris Chain of Lakes, Toho, Kissimmee and other such places, Lane naturally got good with the big stick. "I love to flip, and fish topwater frogs," he said. "I do 80% of my fishing with braided line. But fishing FLW, we went to a lot of so-so lakes at bad times and I had to get comfortable with spinning rods and finesse stuff.

"I'm looking forward to the Elite Series partly because I get to fish my style again. Bassmaster goes to the best lakes at the best times. At lakes like Falcon and Amistad in the spring, I might catch in 1 day what I did in whole tournaments before. Those will be slugfests. I'm used to catching big bass in Florida, but that'll be unreal. I'll break out the big jig, flippin' gear, and swimbaits."

He's not very concerned about fitting in on the BASS side of pro fishing either. "My experience with BASS (while) fishing the Opens was great," he noted. "Everything so far at BASS was fun – the takeoffs, angler alley, weigh-ins – it was a lot of fun. And with less boats it wasn't so crowded either." (He's used to 200-boat fields on the FLW Tour. – Ed.)

"BASS and the anglers made me feel real welcome there. And as far as fishing against some of the Elite Series anglers, I've gotten past the nerves," he added. "I fished against Larry Nixon in the FLW Tour Championship final round (in 2005). I've been in the limelight with cameras on me a number of times. I think I can present myself pretty well now and do a good job promoting myself and my sponsors."

But what about the fishing? And the restricted, 2 1/2-day practice time?

"My normal practice was 3 or 4 days, so that won't bother me," he noted. "I think less is better, and I don't like to be (at one lake) for 2 weeks. (In the Elite Series) we're going to one for a week and then off to another, so I think that's doing it right.

"And my family will be traveling with me, and Chris' family too," he added. "So it'll be fun. We used to spend a lot of time together, and this will get it back the way it used to be. I may do hotels. He's getting a camper, but everybody will travel together.

"As to the schedule, I've been to probably seven of the 11 lakes," he said. "I've been to the Harris Chain and Kissimmee – they're both within an hour of where I live – and I've done good on Wheeler, and been on Murray several times. I've never been to Amistad or Falcon or Oneida or Buffalo (New York, where the Elite Series will launch on Lake Erie), but I think I'll like it."

While some relatives who fish the same tour work together – notably the father-son duo of Guido and Dion Hibdon – Lane doubts he and his brother will do much of that. "We probably won't, since we've each done our own thing for years," he said. "We do a lot of the same things, though, like fishing topwaters and flipping. So if it's a tournament where he does well, then I'll probably be doing well too.

"It's not like we'll avoid (sharing information), but we probably won't make a point of it."

Will History Repeat?

As noted above, Bobby took the FLW Tour by storm when he first turned pro. Might the change to the Bassmaster Elite Series ignite a similar performance?

"I went through an adjustment period after I had some success to start with," he said. "At first I didn't have any pressure – no team deals or anything. Then I got sponsors and felt some pressure, and struggled a little bit. And some of the lakes were horrible in there too.

"But after a year I got used to it and had the confidence that if you just keep fishing eventually you're going to get bit," he added. "It helped just figuring out that I can compete, and I had to settle down and calm down and regroup a little bit.

"I think I'm coming back now. I hope the Opens gave me some momentum. I finished strong at Wheeler (he led the first day) and made the Classic. I'd love to start with a big bang next year to kick off the Elites. My birthday is March 6, and that's the first day on Harris – the first tournament of the regular season."

Notable

> Lane noted that his current sponsors will remain about the same, but they've all stepped up their support for his Elite Series campaign. Making the Classic no doubt had an influence. The only one that may change is his boat. "I like the Ranger but I didn't have a contract with them," he said. "It's up in the air right now about which boat I'll be in next year." Whatever his boat brand, he said he'll still run his current Spiderwire wrap.

> He started this year at 204th in the BassFan World Rankings, and ended the season in 214th. He ended the 2007 FLW Tour season at 99th in the Angler of the Year standings. His best finish this year was 39th at Lake Murray.

> In lower-level competition, he finished 101st in the Southern Stren Series, but 5th in the Northern Strens, which qualified him to fish the Championship at Alabama's Mobile Delta. He finished 8th at the Stren Championship, but fellow Northern Stren pro Nick Gainey finished 6th – exactly 1 pound ahead of him – so Gainey qualified for the 2008 Forrest Wood Cup as the Northern representative. Lane had actually made the Top 10 cut ahead of Gainey, but couldn't maintain the momentum after weights were zeroed for the final 2 days.

– End of part 2 (of 2) –