By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

If somebody had told Chris Jones before the start of the recent Bassmaster Classic that he'd end up as the No. 3 finisher, he'd have been exceedingly happy. But after coming that close to victory, the placement carries just a tinge of bitterness.

"Coming that close, it was the chance of a lifetime," said the Oklahoman who gained his berth in the event by winning last year's Central Open on the Arkansas River. "You've got to walk away with a little disappointment."

The 41-year-old Jones, who makes his living as a computer numerical control (CNC) programmer for a machine shop in Fort Smith, Ark., was making his second Classic appearance at Lake Ray Roberts near Fort Worth, Texas. It was far more notable than his first – a 39th-place showing at Alabama's Lake Guntersville in 2014. He also got into that one via an Open win on the Arkansas River.

"I made it to the Super 6, and that was cool," he said. "Going in, the odds of that happening wouldn't have been in my favor."

Flooding Helped

Jones said the water level at Ray Roberts being four feet above normal was a factor that worked in his favor. With so many fish spread out in the newly flooded vegetation, it negated much of the advantage enjoyed by competitors who were familiar with the offshore hot spots.

He found a place that was still playing host to a shad spawn and was harboring a lot of quality bass that he caught on a swimjig. When that ended at about 9 o'clock, he stayed in the area and flipped the buckbrush and willow trees.

He certainly didn't have it to himself – winner Hank Cherry spent considerable time in there, along with other anglers who posted good finishes and some who ended up down in the pack.

"Several boats would start there, but me and Hank were the ones who usually stayed on into the day," Jones said. "I found it on the second day of practice (the previous weekend) on the shad spawn and I checked it again Wednesday late in the afternoon. I was kind of stressed out because I thought the shad spawn was over; whoever heard of a shad spawn in Texas in June?

"When I ran over and checked it on that last practice day, I got eight or 10 flipping bites pretty quick and I set the hook on one and it was a 3-pounder. I basically decided that what I was going to do at that point."

He caught his biggest bag of the tournament (17-02) on day 1. He followed up with 15-07 and 13-00 for a 45-09 total, a little less than 5 1/2 pounds shy of Cherry's winning mark.

Jones' goal is to qualify for the Elite Series via the Opens points, but that likely won't happen this year – he finished 177th out of 225 competitors in the first Central derby at Pickwick Lake. His main objective now is to win the tournament at Grand Lake in October to qualify for the '22 Classic.

"My plan is to fish all nine (a full schedule in the Central, Southern and Northern divisions) next year and hope to make it through," he said. "I've already started negotiating some sponsorship contracts for next year. This is a life-changing deal for me."

Gear Notes

> Swimjig gear: 7'3" medium-heavy SixGill Lykan rod, SixGill Hammer casting reel (8:1 ratio), 50-pound Vicious No-Fade braided line, 1/2-ounce Booyah Mobster swimjig (the cleaner), YUM Spine Craw trailer (pearl or white).

> Flipping gear: 7'6" heavy-action SixGill Lykan rod, same reel, 25-pound Vicious fluorocarbon line, 1/2-ounce Eco Pro Tungsten weight, 4/0 Owner Jungle flipping hook, YUM Christie Critter (watermelon candy).

Notable

> Jones and wife Angel celebrated their 20th anniversary just after the Classic. They have two sons, 14-year-old Hunter and 8-year-old Fisher. "I guess we named them well because Hunter loves to hunt and doesn't care much about fishing and Fisher loves to fish and doesn't care much about hunting," he said.