Until a few hours ago, 28-year-old Jason Williamson was a blip on the Bassmaster Elite Series radar. A third-year pro from Aiken, S.C., the closest he'd come to greatness was two Top 10s in the desert – last year at Falcon and Amistad.
That all changed today when he slammed 35 pounds of see-ya' on the scales at the Amistad Bassmaster Elite Series. It was a tournament-best limit on day 4 (exact weight was 34-12), and it followed the 33-13 limit he put up yesterday. That boosted his 4-day total to 96-06, and nobody else was even close.
Day-3 leader Alton Jones came in with 19-04 today and finished with 87-15 – more than 8 pounds back.
What propelled Williamson to the win was clearing water
and fresh fish. An area he'd fished in practice got muddied and roiled by a cold front the day before competition, and he made the day-2 cut in 38th with a 14-pound average.
He checked the area again yesterday at about 10:00 and said it was like the fish had never seen a bait. That meant he was free to work a concentration of unmolested fish while everyone else worked back over their already depleted stuff. He climbed from 38th to 3rd yesterday and faced a 7-pound deficit. But he easily overcame that today.
The win marked Williamson's first with BASS, and his first at the tour level. Prize money totaled $100,000.
Jared Lintner, who like Williamson struggled the first 2 days, continued to improve. After a nine-spot climb yesterday to 11th, Lintner caught 21-12 today and moved up another six spots to finish 3rd.
Stephen Browning averaged 15 pounds the first 2 days, smacked 27 pounds yesterday, then followed with 17-07 today to finish 4th.
And Gary Klein, who seemed almost unbeatable after day 2, completely lost his deep-jig bite today. He weighed four bank-fish for 7-11 and finished 5th.
Williamson Stoked
In a tournament where many ran several spots, or chunked a swimbait somewhat randomly, Williamson rode a single area for the final 2 days. That's how good that single area was.
"There were so many fish in that area that I think they were in competition for my bait," he said. "That's not a bad thing when you can get that going. It was like clockwork.
"I'm just a country boy who grew up loving to fish, so you bet this is a huge deal," he added. "The victory solidifies everything I've ever done in this sport. It's also a shot in the arm for the rest of the season. I can fish with confidence now. The timing of this win was just perfect."
Williamson weighed 68 1/2 pounds over the final 2 days, which included today's 35-pound limit.
The hotspot within Williamson's area was a group of submerged trees around a drain, and he felt fish used the drain to move back and forth from spawning. He threw an 8-inch Osprey swimbait to the trees, which were in about 20 feet of water.
It was a spot he'd actually found at the event here in 2007 when he finished 67th. He fished it last year too, when he finished 5th.
The full details of his winning pattern, plus pattern information for the other top finishers, will be posted soon.
2nd: Jones Disappointed, Will Take Points
Alton Jones has won a lot – five times, to be exact, and one of those was a Bassmaster Classic – but he's never won in his home state.
"I just wasn't on the grade of fish to win with what (Williamson) found the last 2 days," he said. "My best-case scenario today would have maybe been 25 pounds. But when he catches a sack like that on championship day, obviously he deserves to win. I'm happy for him.
"With having said that, I'm disappointed. You always want to win, and I especially did here in my home state. I've never won in Texas, and it would have been very special to do that."
Consistency was what got Jones to the lead spot yesterday, and he wanted to stick with that bite today. He couldn't fish his best area this morning due to wind (20-plus mph out of the south), so he ran the same pattern in another portion of the lake.
What he is happy about, though, are the points he gets for 2nd, plus 5 bonus points for leading yesterday. And because the Elite Series this year is shortened to eight events (from 11), points are that much more critical.
"Points at every event are really important in helping you attain a goal like Angler of the Year (AOY)," he said. "It's a little too early to be thinking about that, but that's a goal of mine this year. Yes, everybody's goal is AOY, but I've really been thinking about it a lot. It's one feather I'd like to have in my cap.
Alton Jones is happy to pocket the 2nd-place points, but is disappointed his couldn't clinch his first home-state win.
"And I really like the way this season sets up for me with a lot of springtime events. I think the first five of the eight are going to be fishing right to my strengths, so I feel this is a good year to really go for it. So I'm really pleased with the start from that standpoint, but you're always disappointed in 2nd place."
3rd: Lintner Excited
Lintner was like Williamson in that he didn't have a spectacular day 1 or 2, but he turned things on yesterday. Ultimately, though, he finished 20 pounds off the winning pace.
"It was fun," Lintner said. "I was just lacking the overall big bite this week. I was getting a good average, but I just couldn't get the big ones."
He spent the first 2 days junking, then got clued into a plastics bite on a distinct weedline. He focused on that weedline the past 2 days with plastics and added a swimbait.
"I didn't have a fish at noon yesterday, but I went back to that weedline and every cast I was catching a 4-pounder. Today I pretty much pounded on that.
"I think it's huge to get off to a good start – that's very important," he added. "In this shortened season, it's that much more magnified. So I'm excited about it. I didn't like losing by 20 pounds, but I'm excited about the overall outcome of it."
4th: Browning Happy
This was Browning's best finish since a 3rd at the California Delta in 2007. And as noted, he climbed significantly the past 2 days to attain it.
Jared Lintner quit junk-fishing yesterday afternoon and dialed into a hot weedline bite.
"It feels good," he said. "I really feel good about the decision-making I did this week. I never did get caught up on fishing one area, or one particular thing. I just changed up every day a little bit, and I think that was a big key for me this week."
His best sack came yesterday when he weighed 27-00.
"That was just one of those magical days," he said. "I caught 20 pounds in maybe 30 minutes that morning on one point. When you get that kind of momentum going, you can't do any wrong. It was meant to be a good day, and that made it a great day."
Like the others, he's happy to start the season strong – especially because the next event (Dardanelle in 2 weeks) is in his backyard.
"I think you really have to take advantage and I want to keep it rolling at Dardanelle," he said.
5th: Klein Proud But Disappointed
Gary Klein's happy that he posted his best-ever finish at Amistad – a lake he loves – but he also knows how far he slipped after he led day 2 by 8 pounds.
His prior Amistad finishes were 8th (2006), 27th (2007) and 6th (2008).
"I'd be fibbing if I said I wasn't disappointed, but I am proud of it – yeah," he said. "This is my best finish at Amistad. I've always been close (here), so I have mixed emotions. Yeah I'm disappointed that I let this one slip, but I wasn't on (the winning) class of fish – what it takes to win down here.
"I felt if I could stay consistent with 20 a day I'd be in contention to win. Probably the biggest disappointment is the weather change. I thought it would really make my fish go, but it didn't. It brought them up off the bottom and they suspended. That made it hard on me."
He went shallow with a dropshot for the four fish he caught today. He didn't stick around to try for a fifth and instead went back out deep, which he feels was a mistake. A limit might have easily moved him up to 3rd and gained him 10 extra points.
6th: Rojas Happy With It
"Considering everything that happened this week with the weather and being in 33rd place after 2 days, then coming all the way back up – it was a good tournament and I'm happy with it," Dean Rojas said.
His best sack came yesterday (29-05) and he followed it up with 15-09 today. He might have improved a little more today but when he reached his morning spot, another boat was there (a local).
He said he spent the first couple days flipping his new Fightin' Frog from Big Bite Baits. He used a 1-ounce weight and punched flooded trees and bushes where fish were spawning. He later moved to a swimbait.
9th: Duckett Will Take It
Like others in the Top 12, Boyd Duckett's disappointed he slipped so far (he ended day 2 in 2nd), but is ultimately happy to walk away with a Top 12.
"Basically, most of my fish were played out," he said. "Today I just went fishing and threw the swimbait all day trying to catch the big ones.
"It's disappointing to have it going on real good then to have it end like that," he added. "But after the tournament's over and you get your head together, I'll take all the Top 10s you can throw at me. You win AOY that way. But you're always disappointed when you think you had a chance to do well and it all changes and you can't recover."
His swimbait was a 6-inch Berkley Hollow Belly in gizzard shad, and he also threw a Berkley Hand Pour Finesse worm in green-Christmas.
12th: Faircloth Feels Good
Todd Faircloth was the defending Amistad champion, but Williamson now possesses that distinction.
"I feel pretty good about it," Faircloth said of his finish. "Anytime you make the Top 12 you have to feel pretty good about it. But the last couple of days I really struggled. I don't know what happened. I was fishing main-lake stuff and I really felt like it would replenish. I now feel like I should have run some new water and tried some different things."
He threw three baits this week – a swimbait, Senko and All-Terrain jig. He targeted trees in 20 to 30 feet of water.
Notable
> Day 4 stats – 12 anglers, 7 limits, 4 fours, 1 two.
Day 4 (Final) Standings
1. Jason Williamson -- Aiken, SC -- 20, 96-06 -- 305 $100,000
Day 1: 5, 16-12 -- Day 2: 5, 11-01 -- Day 3: 5, 33-13 -- Day 4: 5, 34-12
2. Alton Jones -- Waco, TX -- 20, 87-15 -- 300 -- $25,000
Day 1: 5, 24-00 -- Day 2: 5, 22-04 -- Day 3: 5, 22-07 -- Day 4: 5, 19-04
3. Jared Lintner -- Arroyo Grande, CA -- 20, 76-10 -- 290 -- $20,000
Day 1: 5, 15-04 -- Day 2: 5, 17-04 -- Day 3: 5, 22-06 -- Day 4: 5, 21-12
4. Stephen Browning -- Hot Springs National Pa 20 -- 75-08 -- 285 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 15-15 -- Day 2: 5, 15-00 -- Day 3: 5, 27-00 -- Day 4: 5, 17-09
5. Gary Klein -- Weatherford, TX -- 19, 74-08 -- 285 -- $14,000
Day 1: 5, 25-04 -- Day 2: 5, 29-03 -- Day 3: 5, 12-06 -- Day 4: 4, 07-11
6. Dean Rojas -- Lake Havasu City, AZ -- 20, 73-12 -- 276 -- $13,500
Day 1: 5, 12-15 -- Day 2: 5, 15-15 -- Day 3: 5, 29-05 -- Day 4: 5, 15-09
7. Michael Iaconelli -- Runnemede, NJ -- 20, 73-09 -- 277 -- $13,000
Day 1: 5, 27-09 -- Day 2: 5, 15-15 -- Day 3: 5, 16-10 -- Day 4: 5, 13-07
8. Kevin VanDam -- Kalamazoo, MI -- 20, 68-12 -- 268 -- $12,500
Day 1: 5, 19-09 -- Day 2: 5, 17-14 -- Day 3: 5, 18-02 -- Day 4: 5, 13-03
9. Boyd Duckett -- Demopolis, AL -- 19, 68-02 -- 264 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 21-10 -- Day 2: 5, 25-05 -- Day 3: 5, 12-09 -- Day 4: 4, 08-10
10. Kevin Short -- Mayflower, AR -- 19, 66-15 -- 260 -- $11,500
Day 1: 5, 20-04 -- Day 2: 5, 15-12 -- Day 3: 5, 22-06 -- Day 4: 4, 08-09
11. Kenyon Hill -- Norman, OK -- 17, 66-13 -- 257 -- $11,000
Day 1: 5, 15-00 -- Day 2: 5, 19-07 -- Day 3: 5, 26-14 -- Day 4: 2, 05-08
12. Todd Faircloth -- Jasper, TX -- 19, 66-05 -- 254 -- $10,500
Day 1: 5, 17-00 -- Day 2: 5, 24-03 -- Day 3: 5, 13-10 -- Day 4: 4, 11-08
