McClelland, Murray, Many Others Seek First Title

(Editor's note: This is part 3 of a 3-part story. To read part 1, click here. For part 2, click here.)

Pam Martin-Wells -- Bainbridge, Ga.
> Qualified through: Women's Bassmaster Tour
> Fished: No Classics
> Best Classic finish: N/A
> Current world rank: N/A
> Insight: Martin-Wells is the 2009 WBT Angler of the Year (AOY), and will be the second woman ever to fish the Classic. All the media attention took its toll on Kim Bain-Moore

last year, but Martin-Wells should be a little more under the radar – a positive for her Classic week, which can be overwhelming for newcomers. She won a WBT Championship at Lake Mitchell on the Coosa chain and is downright pumped to fish this week. Bain-Moore will forever be the first woman to fish a Classic, but Martin-Wells could be the first woman ever to have a strong Classic finish or win.

Billy McCaghren -- Mayflower, Ark.
> Qualified through: Elite Series points (27th)
> Fished: No Classics
> Best Classic finish: N/A
> Current world rank: 192nd
> Insight: McCaghren put together a robust rookie campaign to end at 27th in the points. He's a flipper and a river rat (won the Red River Open 2 years ago and finished 3rd at the Mississippi Elite), so the Classic cold weather might hurt him, but he soared with eagles last year and it'll be interesting to see what the sophomore can do in his Classic debut.

Mike McClelland -- Bella Vista, Ark.
> Qualified through: Elite Series points (22nd)
> Fished: 6 Classics
> Best Classic finish: 4th (2009)
> Current world rank: 10th
> Insight: McClelland has emerged as one of the premier anglers on either tour and is now ranked 10th in the world. He can do it all anywhere – deep, shallow, warm, cold. He finished 4th last year at the Red River, and 12th at the 2007 Lay Classic, so look for a Top 10 effort from him this time around, and perhaps another Top 5 or even victory.

Mark Menendez -- Paducah, Ky.
> Qualified through: Elite Series points (11th)
> Fished: 4 Classics
> Best Classic finish: 12th (2007)
> Current world rank: 17th
> Insight: A career year for Menendez landed him at 11th in the AOY race and he broke into the Top 20 in the world. His Kentucky Lake roots provide him with the deep tools he may need this week, but he's also an excellent shallow-water stick. What's especially intriguing is that he's a cold-water specialist who could easily fly in under the radar.

John Murray -- Phoenix, Ariz.
> Qualified through: Elite Series points (33rd)
> Fished: 5 Classics
> Best Classic finish: 10th (2004)
> Current world rank: 80th
> Insight: Murray, one of the most successful western pros in history, has yet to be a factor at a Bassmaster Classic. He bombed with a 39th at Lay in 2007, but this year could be different, because he's one of the best deep-water anglers fishing at the tour level. Expect him to target spotted bass – either in the river, or more likely nearer the dam.

James Niggemeyer -- Van, Texas
> Qualified through: Central Opens
> Fished: 1 Classic
> Best Classic finish: 17th (2007)
> Current world rank: 103rd
> Insight: Expect Niggemeyer to work largemouths for all they're worth – his biggest weakness is deep water. That probably puts him at a disadvantage, since a limit of quality spotted bass will likely be crucial – whether kicker largemouths are available or not. A longshot.

Takahiro Omori -- Emory, Texas
> Qualified through: Elite Series points (17th)
> Fished: 6 Classics
> Best Classic finish: 1st (2004)
> Current world rank: 44th
> Insight: Omori chugged along these past few years with some isolated Top 10s here and there, but the former Classic champion surely has more greatness within him. He finished 36th at the previous Lay Classic and loves to crank, but the billed-baits might not be working this week. Can Omori adjust and take what the lake will give him?

Cliff Pace -- Petal, Miss.
> Qualified through: Elite Series points (8th)
> Fished: 2 Classics
> Best Classic finish: 2nd (2008)
> Current world rank: 41st
> Insight: It took a little while but Cliff Pace cemented his place in the sport with a runner-up finish at the 2008 Hartwell Classic, then a career-best Elite Series campaign that put him at 8th in the AOY race. Don't let the Mississippi pedigree fool you – he can fish deep. In fact, it's one of his strengths. That's the type of one-two punch it could take this week – the ability to judge the shallow bite, then move deep if need be (or vice versa).

Randy Phillips -- Oxford, Mass.
> Qualified through: Federation Nation (Northern)
> Fished: No Classics
> Best Classic finish: N/A
> Current world rank: N/A
> Insight: He traversed the ultra-tough Federation Nation route to reach the Classic, which says a lot right there. No scouting report on him, but never underestimate the Federation Nation.

Jason Quinn -- Lake Wylie, S.C.
> Qualified through: Elite Series points (35th)
> Fished: 4 Classics
> Best Classic finish: 6th (2004)
> Current world rank: 98th
> Insight: Quinn executed an unbelievable comeback at the Oneida Elite Series finale to move up and qualify for the Classic. It was memorable, and he hopes to ride that wave of emotion into the Classic. Quinn's Classic numbers are impressive, too. He's fished four of them and made the Top 10 twice. Once was on his home lake, when local traffic buried him the final day and killed his chances to win. The other was at Lay in 2007. One to keep an eye on.

Skeet Reese -- Auburn, Calif.
> Qualified through: Elite Series points (2nd)
> Fished: 10 Classics
> Best Classic finish: 1st (2009)
> Current world rank: 3rd
> Insight: The past few years have been nothing short of stellar for Reese. He won the 2008 BASS AOY, then the Classic in early 2009, then was runner-up in the 2009 AOY race. And he was runner-up at the 2007 Lay Classic, when he mined the quality spotted bass up the river and lost to Duckett by only a few ounces. In fact, some fans felt that if Reese used a bump board, he'd have won that Classic. Easily a favorite this week, although it's doubtful he can rely solely on the river again – it'll be mobbed up there.

Dean Rojas -- Lake Havasu, Ariz.
> Qualified through: Elite Series points (25th)
> Fished: 7 Classics
> Best Classic finish: 4th (2004)
> Current world rank: 13th
> Insight: Rojas has notched a Top 12 in four of the seven Classics he's fished (better than 50%), so he's in the hunt a lot of the time. Closing the door is another thing altogether, and so far he hasn't been able to do it. He did finish 10th at Lay in 2007, and should be able to replicate that this week, simply because he's so versatile.

Frank Scalish -- Cleveland Heights, Ohio
> Qualified through: Northern Opens
> Fished: 1 Classic
> Best Classic finish: 46th (2002)
> Current world rank: 391st
> Insight: The last and only time Scalish fished a Classic was in 2002, when he won the BassFan Rookie of the Year award on the Bassmaster Tour. He smoked the Northern Open points this year and won by a mile, but economic factors will keep him out of the Elites another year. His intensity in preparing for this Classic has been unmatched, though. He fished the lake for a long period prior to the cutoff, and is itching for the day-1 blastoff. Like most northern anglers, he's deadly out deep and should be able to figure out how to catch better-quality spots.

Bryan Schmidt -- Olney, Texas
> Qualified through: Federation Nation (Central)
> Fished: 1 Classic
> Best Classic finish: 6th (2009)
> Current world rank: N/A
> Insight: Schmidt is fishing his second consecutive Classic through the Federation – a pretty incredible feat. He finished a stout 6th last year at the Red River, but faces a different type of fishery this time around.

Terry Scroggins -- San Mateo, Fla.
> Qualified through: Southern Opens
> Fished: 6 Classics
> Best Classic finish: 4th (2006)
> Current world rank: 38th
> Insight: Big Show usually makes his presence felt in the sport's biggest event – he's logged two Top 10s and three other finishes in the teens. He's a wizard with a flipping stick, but does other things almost equally well. He's coming off a tough year though and needed the Opens to make the Classic. The weather will likely have the largest impact on his success.

Kevin Short -- Mayflower, Ark.
> Qualified through: Elite Series points (18th)
> Fished: 1 Classic
> Best Classic finish: 22nd (2008)
> Current world rank: 26th
> Insight: Short waded through several forgettable years to become a much more consistent angler of late. This will be his second Classic in 3 years, he won the Mississippi River Elite Series last year, finished 18th in the AOY race and is ranked an impressive 26th in the world. The Classic isn't about consistency though – it's about a cutthroat quest for 1st and nothing else. Not a favorite at this point, but certainly an angler to keep an eye on.

Gerald Swindle -- Warrior, Ala.
> Qualified through: Elite Series points (9th)
> Fished: 9 Classics
> Best Classic finish: 3rd (2005)
> Current world rank: 35th
> Insight: Swindle will certainly be out for some redemption this week. At the previous Lay Classic, his day-2 weight (a big bag) was DQd after he ran on plane between two other boats in the river. He was in tears onstage before his home-state crowd, and would like nothing better than to bring the trophy back home to Alabama. There's more backstory: He lost his brother Tony last year and fished the season with a ton of emotion. He'll be fishing this Classic for Tony as well.

Mark Tucker -- St. Louis, Mo.
> Qualified through: Elite Series points (37th)
> Fished: 6 Classics
> Best Classic finish: 8th (1998)
> Current world rank: 108th
> Insight: You have to search back more than a decade for the last time Tucker landed in the Top 10 at a Classic. And he really missed the boat in 2007 at Lay when he finished 41st. But the cold weather this week might help him because slow jig-fishing is one of his specialties. Could surprise a lot of folks this time.

Kevin VanDam -- Kalamazoo, Mich.
> Qualified through: Elite Series points (1st)
> Fished: 19 Classics
> Best Classic finish: 1st (2001, 2005)
> Current world rank: 1st
> Insight: The heaviest of favorites, as always. VanDam's got to be stinging a little bit from a disappointing Red River Classic (30th), but he's the reigning AOY and cold weather and snow shouldn't faze this Michigan-bred legend at all. Remember too that he nearly won at Lay in 2007 by throwing a rattlebait around grass. That pattern probably won't play this week – the fish aren't active enough – so VanDam will be forced to do what he admits is very difficult for him: He'll likely have to fish slow.

Byron Velvick -- Del Rio, Texas
> Qualified through: Elite Series points (21st)
> Fished: 1 Classic
> Best Classic finish: 28th (2009)
> Current world rank: 48th
> Insight: A guy who's never done anything but fish will compete in his second Classic at age 45, and nobody was more disappointed at the Red River than he was (he finished near-last). But he's put together two solid seasons in a row, is ranked within the Top 50 in the world, and will stop at nothing in his quest for a Classic win. Not a favorite at this point, but a fan favorite to watch.

Darrell West -- Drasco, Ark.
> Qualified through: Weekend Series
> Fished: No Classics
> Best Classic finish: N/A
> Current world rank: N/A
> Insight: An Ozarks angler who made the Classic by winning the Weekend Series Championship (he also fishes the Central Opens and BFLs). His best finishes seem to come at Ozark lakes like Ouachita, as well as the Arkansas River. That would seem to indicate he can do it out deep, which could help him in this week's frigid temperatures.

Kevin Wirth -- Crestwood, Ky.
> Qualified through: Elite Series points (23rd)
> Fished: 10 Classics
> Best Classic finish: 6th (2007)
> Current world rank: 27th
> Insight: Wirth's primarily a deep-water guy, which could certainly help him here. He makes a Top 10 in about every other Classic he fishes and finished 6th at Lay in 2007, so a strong showing wouldn't be a surprise.

Notable

> To read part 1 of this story, click here. For part 2, click here.

– End of part 3 (of 3) –