By BassFan Staff
When Alton Jones is introduced, usually the phrase, “Bassmaster Classic champion” precedes his name. That’ll never get old to him. Now, he can add “Elite Series tournament champion” to his resume.
Jones, who carried a 9-01 lead into today, brought in a 12-11 limit, well off his nearly 21-pound average through 3 days.
But his 75-09 total was just enough to fend off fellow Texan Todd Faircloth by 1-02 and claim the St. Johns River Bassmaster Elite Series. It is his first Elite Series title and serves as a crowning achievement for the sight-fishing ace, who was denied a wire-to-wire win at the St. Johns on the final day of last year’s Elite Series event on the eastern Florida tidal river.
Faircloth wanted badly to win his third Elite Series title and give his daughter Helen Claire a 3rd birthday present she’d not soon forget. He caught 20-10 today – the only pro to catch two 20-pound stringers this week -- and finished with 74-07.
Keith Combs, a second-year Elite Series pro and another Texas native, got stronger as the week wore on. His 22-11 sack was the best of the day as he finished 3rd with 71-02. Brent Chapman continued his hot start to the year, boxing 20-01 to finish 4th with 67-08.
Skeet Reese put his 2011 struggles behind him in strong fashion, averaging 16 pounds to claim 5th with 64-02.
Here's a look at how the rest of the Top 12 shaped up:
6. Terry Scroggins: 60-11
7. Cliff Crochet: 58-06
8. Greg Hackney: 57-07
9. Randy Howell: 55-07
10. David Walker: 55-02
11. Dean Rojas: 54-06
12. J. Todd Tucker: 51-15
Local favorite Scroggins didn’t contend for the win, but put together another solid finish on his home waters, weighing 15-02 today to finish 6th (he was the runner-up last year). Hackney slipped from 3rd to 8th as the big fish left his area and he brought just 6-04 to the scales.
With a 9-pound advantage entering today, it was hard not to think Jones could possibly turn this into a blowout based on the quality bites he continued to get and execute on.
It was a week that put an increased emphasis on those quality bites. With the spawning season seemingly on the downside, the quality fish were at a premium. Countless anglers echoed the same sentiment throughout the tournament: Fish that they marked on beds the previous day had moved on the next.
The schedule shifts to the south this week as the Elite Series heads to Lake Okeechobee to conclude the season-opening Florida swing.
Alton Jones had his primary spot to himself so that's where he spent days 3 and 4.
Jones Was Sure He’d Lost
> Day 4: 5, 12-11 (20, 75-09)
It’s been a good month to be named Alton Jones. Last weekend, Alton Jones, Jr. split $25,000 with his partner after winning a Bass Champs regional event at Falcon Lake. Today, his father finished off what he couldn’t last year, winning the St. Johns River Elite Series in somewhat dramatic fashion and claiming the $100,000 top prize along with a berth in next year’s Classic.
After carrying a 9-pound lead into today, he came to the scales knowing he needed 11-10 to overtake Faircloth for the win. He wasn’t sure he had it in his weigh sack.
“I was actually surprised it was enough to win,” he said. “I was totally blown away on stage when they called the weight because I really thought Todd had beaten me.”
It’s been 4 years since his last win at the 2008 Lake Hartwell Bassmaster Classic so this triumph is especially sweet.
“It means a lot,” he said. “I’ve been on a bit of a dry spell as far as wins go. I’ve been close a few times, but just never could quite get things to go right. I was worried that I’d let it slip by because my sack was a little bit lighter. I poured my heart out out there and left it all out on the water.
“This is a game of emotion that we play and that’s what we love about it so much. It’s got a lot of real high highs, but the key is to try to even out the highs and the lows. That’s where my faith in Christ comes in because I realize He is in control whether I win or whether I finish 2nd or dead-last.”
He returned to his eelgrass flat in Lake George today, but the big females he was seeing through the week were sparse. He did manage to pull a 5-pounder off a bed, which was pivotal.
He caught six keepers, but had to release a 2 1/2-pounder that was hooked outside the mouth.
“My gameplan wasn’t to fish for five, it was to fish for big ones,” he added. “I found two big ones. I caught the 5-pounder and spent the last 2 hours of my day locked up on a 7-pounder, but I couldn’t catch her. I was very pleased with my execution. I lost one fish all week.”
While he’s grateful for the victory, he knows everything had to fall into place for him to finish on top.
“This is a humbling sport and actually, there’s nothing more humbling than winning,” he said. “This group of guys is so good and they are so gracious at the same time. I feel for Todd. I would have been real happy for him to win, and been real disappointed in myself if I didn’t win. You want to see your friends succeed, too. We are a family out here.”
Details of his winning pattern, as well as those for the other top finishers, will be published soon.
These brutes helped Todd Faircloth nearly erase a 9-pound deficit.
2nd: New Water Produced For Faircloth
> Day 4: 5, 20-10 (20, 74-07)
Faircloth turned to new water today that he’d found in practice on the east side of Lake George. It nearly made him a three-time Elite Series winner.
“I wasn’t sure (I had enough),” he said. “I really felt like, out on the water, I needed one more. I had a 3 or 3 1/2-pounder that I probably could have gotten rid of, but I could sit here and do the woulda, coulda, shoulda, whatever. I left it all out on the water. I fished my heart out today. I just came up a bit short.
“It stings. It’s bittersweet. I’m proud of the finish, but to be that close, you want to close it out. It just wasn’t my time.”
He wanted to take home the trophy to his daughter for her birthday. He was visibly emotional on stage when he wished her a happy birthday.
“That’s what got me choked up, being away from her on her birthday,” he added. “I just wish she was here and I was hoping to win it for her.”
3rd: Combs Thrilled
> Day 4: 5, 22-11 (20, 71-02)
Combs improved upon his 9th-place finish at the St. Johns a year ago and he did it by making 2-hour runs south to Lake Woodruff. He wasn’t surprised that he hauled more than 22 pounds to the stage today.
“That’s what’s in there to be caught,” he said. “I figured out the lake a little bit more every day. It was the same thing. I’d get down there and for an hour I wouldn’t see anything and then you’d start to see them.”
The winds picked up in the early afternoon and ruined his last hour of fishing time, but not before he bagged a 6 1/2-pounder.
“I couldn’t see any beds after that,” he said. “I’d like to think if I could have had that hour of calm conditions, something might have changed.”
After finishing 15th in the Angler of the Race (AOY) as a rookie last year, he’s thrilled to get off to another solid start.
“It’s a great way to start the year,” he said. “It actually makes me feel good that I had a bad practice and made an adjustment that was risky. To make it work, it definitely helps the confidence and I’m looking forward to going fishing next week at Okeechobee.”
4th: Woodruff Produced For Chapman
> Day 4: 5, 20-01 (20, 67-08)
Chapman continued his strong start to 2012 with his first Top-5 finish in an Elite Series event since April 2009.
“To get the momentum I’ve got going this year, hopefully I can keep it going,” he said. “Last year, I started out like that and it kind of came back to bite me. I’m hoping to not let that happen again. All I can do is focus on each tournament and Okeechobee has been good to me in the past. I feel like I should be able to do similar to what I did here this week.”
He was also running to Woodruff and was fishing within sight of Combs, but he didn’t have the same luck on bed-fish.
“I didn’t know what to expect today and I’m a little frustrated that I didn’t catch any bedding fish like Keith did,” he said. “He made it sound like the bedding deal was easy and the last 2 days I didn’t catch any that I looked at. That was frustrating, but I still had a good tournament.”
Skeet Reese had a consistent week fishing the river, earning him a 5th-place finish.
He did weigh the big fish of the day – an 8-03 pig.
“I didn’t win the tournament, but I’m really happy with how I fished,” he added. “I didn’t lose any fish the entire week that would have helped me. If you can have a clean tournament like that and put everything in the boat that bites you, then that’s all you can ask for.”
5th: Reese Worked The River
> Day 4: 5, 17-06 (20, 64-02)
When Reese gets on a good run, look out because he tends to put together top finishes in bunches. Who knows if this is the start of another hot streak for the California pro, but he is satisfied with his showing this week.
“To get out of the gate with a Top-5 finish is strong,” he said. “If I can’t win the tournament, at least I can get the points and move one step closer to, hopefully, the points title at the end of the year.”
He was one of the only leaders who fished the river all week. He stayed consistent and brought in 17-06 today to score his best finish since his runner-up at Fort Gibson in 2010.
“I really didn’t know what to expect today,” he said. “I knew I had a couple areas that I’d seen a few fish in, but I knew I was going to go pre-fishing and look for new water and I saw a few more big ones that I’d seen that last few days. They were the toughest things ever to catch.
“I felt like I needed an 18- to 20-pound bag to try to move up into the Top 3 and force some of the other guys to have big bags as well. Overall, it was a good event.”
He caught more than a dozen keepers and was able to work his area over by himself.
Notable
> Day 4 stats – 12 anglers, 12 limits.
> Hackney (8th) told the weigh-in crowd the big fish in his area were gone today. “I zigged when I probably should have zagged,” he said.
> Dean Rojas (11th) said he caught all of his fish this week on the Big Bite Baits Warmouth, the same bait he used to win the Toledo Bend Elite Series last April.
Final Standings
1. Alton Jones -- Woodway, TX -- 20, 75-09 -- 99 -- $101,000
Day 1: 5, 16-07 -- Day 2: 5, 28-07 -- Day 3: 5, 18-00 -- Day 4: 5, 12-11
2. Todd Faircloth -- Jasper, TX -- 20, 74-07 -- 98 -- $25,000
Day 1: 5, 15-14 -- Day 2: 5, 20-08 -- Day 3: 5, 17-07 -- Day 4: 5, 20-10
3. Keith Combs -- Huntington, TX -- 20, 71-02 -- 97 -- $20,000
Day 1: 5, 12-06 -- Day 2: 5, 16-07 -- Day 3: 5, 19-10 -- Day 4: 5, 22-11
4. Brent Chapman -- Lake Quivira, KS -- 20, 67-08 -- 96 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 17-05 -- Day 2: 5, 18-13 -- Day 3: 5, 11-05 -- Day 4: 5, 20-01
5. Skeet Reese -- Auburn, CA -- 20, 64-05 -- 95 -- $14,000
Day 1: 5, 16-02 -- Day 2: 5, 15-15 -- Day 3: 5, 14-14 -- Day 4: 5, 17-06
6. Terry Scroggins -- San Mateo, FL -- 20, 60-11 -- 94 -- $13,500
Day 1: 5, 14-00 -- Day 2: 5, 18-04 -- Day 3: 5, 13-05 -- Day 4: 5, 15-02
7. Cliff Crochet -- Pierre Part, LA -- 20, 58-06 -- 93 -- $13,000
Day 1: 5, 21-05 -- Day 2: 5, 10-12 -- Day 3: 5, 16-05 -- Day 4: 5, 10-00
8. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, LA -- 20, 57-07 -- 92 -- $14,000
Day 1: 5, 23-14 -- Day 2: 5, 08-01 -- Day 3: 5, 19-04 -- Day 4: 5, 06-04
9. Randy Howell -- Springville, AL -- 20, 55-07 -- 91 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 14-10 -- Day 2: 5, 18-01 -- Day 3: 5, 11-01 -- Day 4: 5, 11-11
10. David Walker -- Sevierville, TN -- 20, 55-02 -- 90 -- $11,500
Day 1: 5, 20-09 -- Day 2: 5, 17-01 -- Day 3: 5, 06-07 -- Day 4: 5, 11-01
11. Dean Rojas -- Lake Havasu City, AZ -- 20, 54-06 -- 89 -- $11,000
Day 1: 5, 17-02 -- Day 2: 5, 15-05 -- Day 3: 5, 12-05 -- Day 4: 5, 09-10
12. J Todd Tucker -- Moultrie, GA -- 20, 51-15 -- 88 -- $10,500
Day 1: 5, 24-00 -- Day 2: 5, 09-09 -- Day 3: 5, 10-06 -- Day 4: 5, 08-00
