By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

Always calm, always collected, seemingly unflappable, Ott DeFoe couldn’t hold it together this time.

It’s understandable. It’s the Bassmaster Classic. It’s Knoxville. It’s home.

On a body of water that he grew up fishing tournaments on, then drifted away from as his professional fishing career took root, DeFoe returned to the stretch of water that represents the headwaters of the Tennessee River this week and withstood all of the pressure that comes with being the hometown favorite by conquering a finicky fishery that made the daily standings sheet look like an EKG printout.

The 33-year-old DeFoe, whose given name is Arthur, led after day 1, but slipped to fourth and faced a 2-pound, 1-ounce deficit entering the final day after a lackluster day 2. With a renewed sense of urgency – and thanks to a helpful hint from another competitor – he delivered an 18-14 bag today (the heaviest among the 25 finalists) to capture the win at the 49th Classic with a three-day total of 49-03.

When the last man to weigh in Sunday, day-2 leader Jacob Wheeler, came across the stage with 12-15, DeFoe’s victory was solidified and his emotions overtook him. He hunched over and buried his face in his hands. The crowd roared. The tears began flowing.

It was understandable.

“It’s a dream come true,” he said. “It’s the only way I know how to describe it. I still feel like I’m going to wake up in a little bit. It’s all very surreal. When this event was announced (last April), we’d only had a tournament or two and I just wanted to make sure I was in it. I wanted to be here and have a chance.”

And he sure made the most of it.

As strong as DeFoe’s tournament résumé is at nearby Douglas Lake, where he’s won three Bassmaster Opens, he’s always felt a strong connection to Fort Loudoun-Tellico.

“As a young angler and fishing a lot of weekend tournaments, Douglas was a thorn in my side because I’d always go up there and get beat by people fishing deep and I hated fishing deep,” he said. “I liked fishing Fort Loudoun, where you fished in the dirt all the time. That’s what I always liked about this place. The fish live shallow down here. This was the lake that I could come to and fish a wildcat two or three nights a week and make a few hundred bucks every time I came down here. That’s what I loved about it.”

He also prefers the unpredictable nature of the lake, based on how the current, clarity and water levels fluctuate.

“Yesterday is history and tomorrow is a mystery here,” he added. “What I liked about it was every day was different. You just never know what this place is going to put out the next time you go and how you’re going to catch them. It’s a place that definitely shaped me as an angler because I fished down here so much.”



B.A.S.S./Seigo Saito
Photo: B.A.S.S./Seigo Saito

DeFoe works on landing one of his keepers on Sunday.

DeFoe, competing in his eighth straight Classic, is the fourth angler in the last six years to win the Classic in his home state and the fifth overall to do so. It’s also the sixth straight Classic in which the day-2 leader was unable to close out the win. Wheeler, the leader entering Sunday, wound up 2nd after catching 12-15 to finish with 45-05, thwarting his bid to join the select group of anglers with a Classic and Forrest Wood Cup win to their credit.

Jesse Wiggins caught 17-04 and improved six places to finish third with 43-14. Mike Iaconelli, appearing in his 19th straight Classic, had a dynamite morning and wound up catching 14-00 to finish four with 42-09. Mark Daniels Jr. had his toughest day of the event with 9-14, which pushed him down to fifth with 41-12.

Only 13 of the 25 competitors on day 3 hauled limits back to Thompson-Boling Arena, which was packed for what could be the final Classic for many of the biggest names in the sport. B.A.S.S. announced a record-setting 153,000 people attended this year’s Classic.

Twenty-one of the 25 anglers who competed on the final day will leave Knoxville and shift their focus to the next Bass Pro Tour event in Raleigh, N.C., which begins March 26. The Elite Series season resumes April 4 at Lake Hartwell.

DeFoe’s Sunday rally was partly fueled by a tip he received from fellow Classic angler Keith Poche prior to the start of the day-2 weigh-in on Saturday. Poche mentioned catching (and losing) a few fish on a vibrating jig along the outer wall of a marina at the far end of Fort Loudoun, near the dam.

Frustrated by a slow start to the final day, DeFoe gave up on what he was doing and heeded Poche’s advice. He wound up catching four of the fish he weighed in from that area and added a 4-pound largemouth later on from a spot where he’d caught other keepers.

Without Poche’s help, he’s not sure what he would’ve done once he gave up on his morning spot.

“I really don’t know,” he said. “I probably would’ve rotated back through stuff I’d fished before.”

It’s the second big win of DeFoe’s career that’s come about as a result of a tip from a fellow competitor. When he won the Mississippi River Elite Series in 2016, DeFoe was without a fish at 10 a.m. on the final day. He then encountered Gerald Swindle, who pointed out a stretch of bank DeFoe might want to check out. DeFoe capitalized on the advice and went on to victory.

B.A.S.S. rules allow for information sharing among anglers still actively involved in competition.

Adding to the emotion of DeFoe’s victory is the reality that this may also be his final Classic, an event he regularly attended during his childhood. With his move to the Bass Pro Tour this year, DeFoe knows it’s unlikely he’ll be back to defend his title in 2020. The situation is reminiscent of when 2006 Classic winner Luke Clausen declined to compete on the Elite Series that year and thus did not get the opportunity to defend his title in ’07.

“I’ve thought about that a lot and after having this happen, it makes it that much harder,” said DeFoe, who now has five top-10 finishes in eight career Classics.

BassFan
Photo: BassFan

Jacob Wheeler swings a keeper largemouth into the boat on day 3.

Wheeler left the dock this morning with an 8-ounce lead over Daniels, but came in with his lightest bag of the tournament. It wasn’t for a lack of trying, he said, and he’ll make the 100-mile drive home to Harrison, Tenn., proud of the effort he turned in.

“Going out with the lead, you always want to close it out,” he said. “I’ve been in that position several times in my career. I’ve won some and lost some. It’s part of it. In any event, when it’s your time to win, it happens. I had to put my head down and fish as hard as I could, but keep an open mind. No doubt, the emotion was there. I could hardly sleep last night. I just came up a little short.”

He said today’s flat calm conditions and increased fishing pressure in some areas contributed to his catch falling short of the previous two days’ total. His most productive baits were a Storm Arashi Vibe lipless crankbait and a Rapala DT-6.

“I fished my (butt) off and left it all out there,” he said. “I made as good of decisions as I could. I just wasn’t on them. I had no history, so I had to go and run around and fish my gut and made it work.

“I made it to where Ott had to catch ‘em because 15 pounds is not that easy here.”

For Wiggins, he’ll always look back on a couple fish he lost Saturday and wonder what could’ve been. He bounced back Sunday with a strong effort.

“It was the best day of fishing I’ve ever had in terms of not losing any,” he said. “There were fish on every place I stopped. It was just a good day. Maybe not weight-wise, but I caught 30 keepers, which is more than I’ve caught combined since I’ve been here.”

He relied mostly on a shallow-diving crankbait around laydowns and points and focused on the lower third of Fort Loudoun.

“I had them dialed in this morning,” he said. “The fish seem to be moving up and that’s why it got better for me. It got better day to day. We’ve had longer days and the water temperature is slowly coming up. The water level stabilized and they went to biting today and yesterday.”

B.A.S.S./Seigo Saito
Photo: B.A.S.S./Seigo Saito

Jesse Wiggins made a big move up the standings each day of the Classic.

Iaconelli was looking to build on the 19-07 he caught Saturday and by 9:30 this morning, it looked as though he was on his way. He revisited the area that had produced the bulk of his day-2 weight and after altering his casting angle early on, it was as if he could call his shot.

“I had that special little area, but normally they’re not loaded in there like that in the pre-spawn,” he said. “That’s normally a post-spawn, summertime type of spot. The conditions made it a double-whammy spot, too. It had flat, natural rock and it was in front of a culvert so the current could wash in and out of there. I think the fish were filtering in to spawn and coming out, too.”

Unfortunately, once the morning bite tailed off, it never picked back up.

“I’ve had Classics where I look back and say, ‘I should’ve done this,’ or I know I made mistakes,” he said. “Not this one. I just didn’t catch them Friday. That was my downfall. If I could’ve caught 13, 14, 15 pounds Friday, it’s a different tournament.”

Daniels said the lack of wind today made it difficult to generate consistent action on reaction baits. He’d relied mainly on a half-ounce original Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap and a signature series Bill Lewis MR-6 crankbait.

“There was one particular cast I’d been making and I caught a 3 1/2-pound smallmouth and went back to it and caught a 17 1/2-incher,” he said. “They would slide up on certain places, but the weather conditions weren't conducive for how I was fishing.”

Daniels said he concentrated mostly on stretches of the main river on the lower third of Fort Loudoun.

Notable

> Several anglers wore a blue ribbon on their hat today to honor the life of Darrell Lowrance, a pioneer in the marine electronics industry who passed away due to a stroke on Saturday.

> Clifford Pirch was two minutes late checking in this afternoon, meaning two pounds was deducted from his day-3 weight, giving him 5-10. He finished 18th.

Here’s a glimpse at the some of the action from the water this morning:


Day 3 (Final) Standings

1. Ott DeFoe -- Blaine, TN -- 15, 49-03 -- 0 $302,500
Day 1: 5, 20-00 -- Day 2: 5, 10-05 -- Day 3: 5, 18-14

2. Jacob Wheeler -- Harrison, TN -- 15, 45-05 -- 0 -- $52,500
Day 1: 5, 14-11 -- Day 2: 5, 17-11 -- Day 3: 5, 12-15

3. Jesse Wiggins -- Cullman, AL -- 15, 43-14 -- 0 -- $40,000
Day 1: 5, 10-11 -- Day 2: 5, 15-15 -- Day 3: 5, 17-04

4. Michael Iaconelli -- Pitts Grove, NJ -- 15, 42-09 -- 0 -- $30,000
Day 1: 5, 09-02 -- Day 2: 5, 19-07 -- Day 3: 5, 14-00

5. Mark Daniels Jr. -- Tuskegee, AL -- 15, 41-12 -- 0 -- $26,250
Day 1: 5, 14-08 -- Day 2: 5, 17-06 -- Day 3: 5, 09-14

6. Brandon Lester -- Fayetteville, TN -- 15, 40-05 -- 0 -- $22,000
Day 1: 5, 09-11 -- Day 2: 5, 12-00 -- Day 3: 5, 18-10

7. Wesley Strader -- Spring City, TN -- 15, 39-08 -- 0 -- $21,500
Day 1: 5, 10-14 -- Day 2: 5, 17-02 -- Day 3: 5, 11-08

8. Edwin Evers -- Talala, OK -- 15, 39-07 -- 0 -- $22,250
Day 1: 5, 08-12 -- Day 2: 5, 16-00 -- Day 3: 5, 14-11

9. Dean Rojas -- Lake Havasu City, AZ -- 15, 35-06 -- 0 -- $20,500
Day 1: 5, 09-04 -- Day 2: 5, 14-01 -- Day 3: 5, 12-01

10. Brandon Palaniuk -- Rathdrum, ID -- 12, 34-15 -- 0 -- $20,000
Day 1: 3, 08-03 -- Day 2: 5, 12-06 -- Day 3: 4, 14-06

11. Roy Hawk -- Lake Havasu City, AZ -- 13, 34-04 -- 0 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 17-11 -- Day 2: 5, 09-15 -- Day 3: 3, 06-10

12. Chris Zaldain -- Laughlin, NV -- 11, 34-00 -- 0 -- $15,000
Day 1: 4, 09-00 -- Day 2: 5, 21-12 -- Day 3: 2, 03-04

13. Adrian Avena -- Vineland, NJ -- 15, 32-10 -- 0 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 12-15 -- Day 2: 5, 11-05 -- Day 3: 5, 08-06

14. Bobby Lane Jr. -- Lakeland, FL -- 15, 32-09 -- 0 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 13-04 -- Day 2: 5, 10-05 -- Day 3: 5, 09-00

15. Seth Feider -- New Market, MN -- 14, 31-13 -- 0 -- $15,000
Day 1: 4, 08-10 -- Day 2: 5, 13-07 -- Day 3: 5, 09-12

16. Kyle Dorsett -- Odenville, AL -- 11, 31-10 -- 0 -- $13,000
Day 1: 4, 12-03 -- Day 2: 5, 11-15 -- Day 3: 2, 07-08

17. Justin Lucas -- Guntersville, AL -- 12, 31-09 -- 0 -- $13,000
Day 1: 5, 16-07 -- Day 2: 5, 10-09 -- Day 3: 2, 04-09

18. Clifford Pirch -- Payson, AZ -- 12, 31-08 -- 0 -- $13,000
Day 1: 5, 16-11 -- Day 2: 3, 09-03 -- Day 3: 4, 05-10

19. Brent Chapman -- Lake Quivira, KS -- 13, 30-13 -- 0 -- $13,000
Day 1: 5, 14-08 -- Day 2: 5, 09-10 -- Day 3: 3, 06-11

20. Kevin VanDam -- Kalamazoo, MI -- 15, 30-01 -- 0 -- $13,000
Day 1: 5, 10-02 -- Day 2: 5, 11-04 -- Day 3: 5, 08-11

21. Skeet Reese -- Auburn, CA -- 12, 27-01 -- 0 -- $13,000
Day 1: 5, 12-01 -- Day 2: 5, 10-14 -- Day 3: 2, 04-02

22. Jacob Powroznik -- North Prince George, VA 10 -- 26-07 -- 0 -- $13,000
Day 1: 5, 13-04 -- Day 2: 5, 13-03 -- Day 3: 0, 00-00

23. James Elam -- Tulsa, OK -- 11, 25-06 -- 0 -- $13,000
Day 1: 5, 12-09 -- Day 2: 5, 10-15 -- Day 3: 1, 01-14

24. Todd Faircloth -- Jasper, TX -- 10, 25-03 -- 0 -- $13,000
Day 1: 5, 13-09 -- Day 2: 3, 06-08 -- Day 3: 2, 05-02

25. Cliff Pace -- Petal, MS -- 11, 23-11 -- 0 -- $13,000
Day 1: 5, 10-14 -- Day 2: 5, 10-06 -- Day 3: 1, 02-07