Jason Williamson is in his fourth year on the Bassmaster Elite Series and he's yet to qualify for a Bassmaster Classic, but today he joined a club that previously had just seven members: He's a multiple-time winner in full-field, regular-season Elite tournaments.
The South Carolinian achieved a longtime goal of winning a tour-level event
on his home water as he triumphed at Clarks Hill Lake, just across the state line in Georgia. His final-day bag weighed just 7-10, but it gave him a 4-day total of 53-06 that was enough to hold off rookie Cliff Crochet by 2 ounces.
Crochet, the former Louisiana deputy sheriff, made a valiant run at the victory. Fishing a bluegill-laden grass bed with a frog while most pursued blueback herring-oriented bass on points, he brought 11-11 to the scale today and finished with 53-04.
Florida's Terry Scroggins was in the Top 3 throughout the event and ended up 3rd with 48-09 after catching an 8-13 sack. Texan Matt Reed, who made a 28-place move yesterday and won a three-way tiebreaker just to get into the Sunday field, climbed another eight spots to finish 4th with a day-best 15-13 stringer that gave him a 47-13 total.
Texas veteran Gary Klein completed the Top 5 with a 9-10 bag today and a 43-11 total.
Here's a look at how the Top 12 finished up:
1. Jason Williamson: 53-06
2. Cliff Crochet: 53-04
3. Terry Scroggins: 48-09
4. Matt Reed: 47-13
5. Gary Klein: 43-11
6. Derek Remitz: 43-08
7. Casey Ashley: 43-02
8. Mark Davis: 43-00
9. Tommy Biffle: 41-14
10. Terry Butcher: 37-03
11. Chris Lane: 36-10
12. Bobby Lane: 32-08
Williamson, who notched his first victory in last year's opener at Texas' Lake Amistad, joined a multiple-winners list that included only Kevin VanDam, Skeet Reese, Mike McClelland, Tommy Biffle, Aaron Martens, Todd Faircloth and Kevin Short. VanDam has four blue trophies and McClelland and Reese (who's won twice this year) own three apiece.
The anglers were subjected to variable weather conditions throughout the week and saw several different types today. The Augusta, Ga. area was engulfed by clouds and fog this morning before the sun broke through to create a dead-slick atmosphere.
Williamson had to resort to a shakey-head today to come up with the weight he needed to win.
The event was the sixth on the eight-tournament schedule, which puts 75% of the season in the books. After 2 weeks off, the circuit will resume at Kentucky Lake during the second week of June and will conclude a week later at the Arkansas River in Oklahoma. From there, the Top 12 in the points standings will advance to the two-event postseason in Alabama in July.
Thrill for Williamson
Williamson said this win carried considerably more significance for him than his triumph at Amistad 15 months ago because it occurred with many family members and friends in attendance. For awhile he feared he'd let it slither through his grasp, but the post-weigh-in gathering at the lake house owned by his family was indeed a celebration rather than a wake-type affair.
"It's lots better, but I kind of felt all day that I was losing it," he said. "But it ended up working out.
"I just kept thinking that I was letting it slip away and I was about to be sick to my stomach. It would've been real detrimental for me if I hadn't won."
The quality fish in the area where he'd clobbered 19 pounds on day 3 didn't pull up on the shelves to feed today and he had to improvise just to catch what he did. He'd been hammering them on a mop jig, but had to drop down to a shakey-head rig to entice seven keeper bites.
All of his bites came before 11:00 and none were bigger than 2 1/2 pounds.
"What I was doing was current-oriented and they normally don't pump the water on Sunday, but I had to give it a chance, anyway. The bigger ones wouldn't pull up – I caught one on a jig, but I had to pull out a spinning rod to get the rest of them.
"I fished the same places, but I had to downsize."
The details of his winning pattern, as well as those of the other top finishers, will be published soon.
2nd: Crochet Crushed
Crochet thought he was in line to join the short list of rookie Elite Series winners, but Williamson's total surpassed his by an eighth of a pound.
"It hurt really bad," he said. "I thought I'd gotten it done. When I was fishing I didn't think I had enough, but when we got to the scale, I thought I had a chance.
"I knew I'd take the lead from (Scroggins) and I thought I might hold onto it. It hurts."
It was small consolation for him, but he did take over the lead in the Rookie of the Year race and moved up to No. 36 in the points, which is just inside the cutoff for the Bassmaster Classic.
Throughout the tournament he fished the same grassy area he'd first seen from his truck while crossing a bridge. He threw a Spro Bronzeye frog the first 3 days, but was forced to resort to a flipping stick today when the bite got tougher.
"I caught two in the first 25 minutes and that got me to five. After that I picked the frog back up and culled one time.
"I missed one – it would've been my fourth fish of the day – that would've done it for me, but you can't weigh them if you don't bring them to the scales."
3rd: Mixed Feelings for Scroggins
Scroggins laments the two quality fish he lost on day 3 that might have pushed him past Williamson, but was happy with a finish that put him inside the Classic cutoff in what's been a wildly up-and-down campaign.
Cliff Crochet's bag was the second-biggest of the day, but not quite big enough.
"I'm kind of disappointed that I broke off that 5-pounder and lost that 2 1/2-pounder yesterday, but at the same time, I'm tickled to finish 3rd," he said.
He caught eight keepers today, but none over 3 pounds. He had only two in his livewell at 11:00 when he switched from a dropshot to a Carolina rig.
"I caught some earlier on the dropshot and on a Heddon Super Spook, but none of them were keepers and I knew I had to try to catch up. Fortunately, the Carolina rig with a Yum lizard allowed me to generate a few bites this afternoon."
4th: Reed Kept Improving
Reed accomplished something that was very difficult at this event – each of his daily bags was bigger than the previous one.
"It was a really good tournament," he said. "Catching more and more every day here, that was tough."
He shared water with Davis throughout the tournament and neither knew where the fish would be on a particular day. He caught more than a dozen keepers today – which was his high for the week – and the biggest was a 3 1/2-pounder.
He had a limit prior to 7:00 and kept boosting it as the day wore on.
"I just basically got a little more finesse into what I'd been doing – I went from a Carolina rig down to a dropshot, and that small (Yum) Houdini Worm was the key."
5th: Klein Solid Again
Klein's finish was his best thus far in what's been another extremely solid season, and he's now up to 4th in the points.
"I'm a competitor, and I can always look back and say there was room for improvement – missed opportunities and poor decisions and things like that," he said. "But I made good decisions here and fished well.
"This event was very challenging because of the nature of this lake. Yeah, fish live here, but it also gets a tremendous amount of fishing pressure and the water is relatively clean. Because of that, these fish become conditioned and they're hard to catch."
His bag was one fish short of a limit today.
Terry Scroggins had only two fish in his livewell at 11:00 and had to play catch-up this afternoon.
"I had that fifth one on all the way to the boat and it pulled off just before it got there. It was nothing great, but I would've taken anything over 12 inches."
Additional Weigh-In Notes
Here are notes from the weigh-in from other anglers who competed today.
Derek Remitz (6th)
"I didn't expect this good of a finish – I was just hoping to survive and move on to Kentucky Lake and Oklahoma. I caught most of my fish on finesse worms on the sides or the ends of the little points. I was very happy to catch what I caught."
Casey Ashley (7th)
"Thursday night I was pretty much disgusted with myself after catching only 8 pounds the first day, but I kept running my stuff and the fish finally turned on for me. On the second day I got it together and got it going. I caught most of them on a topwater, but some on a pencil-popper, some on a Lucky Craft Gunfish and some on a Fluke."
Mark Davis (8th)
"These fish are hard to stay on top of. I was just fishing structure and (Reed) and I were looking at each other all week. His starting spot (today) was where I caught the 15-pound stringer the first day, and he pulls up there today and whacks them."
Tommy Biffle (9th)
"I found a little area and ground it out all week, and it paid off for me. I was looking for dirty water and I ran way up to the end of the river where there was some willow bushes in the water – it was my kind of place and I let everybody else stay down here and chase the bluebacks. I caught them on a (Lunker Lure) Rattleback Jig and my Biffle Bug by Gene Larew."
Terry Butcher (10th)
"I just ran around doing the same thing I'd been doing and I was hoping my fish would make it back home, but they didn't. I fished a Carolina rig with a Yum Houdini Worm and I always had a pencil-popper handy in case one schooled, and I caught some that way."
Chris Lane (11th)
"Finding the bait here is the big key. The bait was a lot smaller this year and I had to make an adustment and I started throwing the Azuma Z-Dog. Today a school would come up a mile and a half away and I'd try to reach them, but I couldn't get it there."
Bobby Lane (12th)
"I had a good pattern all week that got me to the Top 12, but I had to run new water today because what I weighed yesterday wasn't going to work. I threw the 5-inch Berkley Hollow Belly with a 3/8-ounce weight on the front and I reeled it real fast. If you burned it by them it'd trigger about one of out 100 to eat."
Notable
> Day 4 stats – 12 anglers, 8 limits, 2 fours, 1 three, 1 zero.
> To see the updated Toyota Tundra Angler of the Year standings, click here.
Day 4 (Final) Standings
1. Jason Williamson -- Aiken, SC -- 20, 53-06 -- 310 -- $101,500
Day 1: 5, 12-03 -- Day 2: 5, 14-07 -- Day 3: 5, 19-02 -- Day 4: 5, 07-10
2. Cliff Crochet -- Pierre Part, LA -- 20, 53-04 -- 295 -- $25,000
Day 1: 5, 12-07 -- Day 2: 5, 14-14 -- Day 3: 5, 14-04 -- Day 4: 5, 11-11
3. Terry Scroggins -- San Mateo, FL -- 20, 48-09 -- 295 -- $20,000
Day 1: 5, 17-01 -- Day 2: 5, 12-06 -- Day 3: 5, 10-05 -- Day 4: 5, 08-13
4. Matt Reed -- Madisonville, TX -- 20, 47-13 -- 285 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 09-09 -- Day 2: 5, 10-00 -- Day 3: 5, 12-07 -- Day 4: 5, 15-13
5. Gary Klein -- Weatherford, TX -- 19, 43-11 -- 280 -- $14,000
Day 1: 5, 13-14 -- Day 2: 5, 10-13 -- Day 3: 5, 09-06 -- Day 4: 4, 09-10
6. Derek Remitz -- Grant, AL -- 20, 43-08 -- 276 -- $13,500
Day 1: 5, 14-04 -- Day 2: 5, 11-04 -- Day 3: 5, 10-07 -- Day 4: 5, 07-09
7. Casey Ashley -- Donalds, SC -- 20, 43-02 -- 272 -- $13,000
Day 1: 5, 08-03 -- Day 2: 5, 15-05 -- Day 3: 5, 13-03 -- Day 4: 5, 06-07
8. Mark Davis -- Mount Ida, AR -- 19, 43-00 -- 268 -- $12,500
Day 1: 5, 14-12 -- Day 2: 5, 12-05 -- Day 3: 4, 06-08 -- Day 4: 5, 09-07
9. Tommy Biffle -- Wagoner, OK -- 18, 41-14 -- 264 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 15-13 -- Day 2: 5, 13-09 -- Day 3: 3, 04-04 -- Day 4: 5, 08-04
10. Terry Butcher -- Talala, OK -- 18, 37-03 -- 260 -- $11,500
Day 1: 5, 12-10 -- Day 2: 5, 11-10 -- Day 3: 4, 08-02 -- Day 4: 4, 04-13
11. Chris Lane -- Guntersville, AL -- 18, 36-10 -- 257 -- $11,000
Day 1: 5, 13-11 -- Day 2: 5, 10-00 -- Day 3: 5, 10-05 -- Day 4: 3, 02-10
12. Bobby Lane -- Lakeland, FL -- 15, 32-08 -- 254 -- $10,500
Day 1: 5, 13-09 -- Day 2: 5, 10-13 -- Day 3: 5, 08-02 -- Day 4: 0, 00-00
Big Bass
Jason Williamson -- Aiken, SC -- 7-12 (Day 3) -- $1,000
