With another Bassmaster Classic in the books, it’s time to dissect the strategy and technique used to win the big show. This year’s victor was 22-year-old Easton Fothergill, who set a new record for the largest overall catch in Classic history. Fothergill relied on isolated targets housing magnum-sized bass; most of his catches coming from flooded cedar trees where he spotted the fish on forward-facing sonar. Precise casts with finesse worms did the damage.
Fothergill’s performance overtook Rick Clunn’s heroics in the 1984 Classic. There, Clunn dominated from start to finish, catching the heaviest bag each of the three days of the event (still a record), and routing the competition by over 25 pounds.
Clunn’s winning total – slightly below Fothergill’s – was based on a seven-fish limit, making our latest champ’s win (with five-a-day) even more impressive.
Regardless, critics began to cry foul immediately, stating that technology did all the work and Fothergill’s win should be placed in the record books with an asterisk.
This, of course, is nonsense. The sport has always been progressing and changing due to technology. Many records can be attributed to this in one form or another. Some changes have been subtle, others more noticeable.
It’s easy to look at a recent change and see it as monumental, while viewing things in the past as less drastic. At the time, however, the advancements of yesterday were big deals as well.
Think of the first time LCD displays were available on depthfinders. This was during the competitive era. Anglers went from flashers to LCD, instantly being able to view the bottom and water column like never before. Someone got an LCD before the rest and was likely accused of having an insurmountable competitive advantage.
Side Imaging was the same way but, for some reason, never debated. I vividly remember the first time I used Side Imaging on the Great Lakes – I was one of the first anglers to have the technology. Instantly, I saw dollar signs. The ability to read and mark structure completely changed the game. Today, of course, all competitive anglers have side-scanning technology.
Braided line was a gigantic advantage to anglers who first had it while others didn’t. A few Texans briefly cleaned house with braid until others caught on. No one thought of outlawing the new product.
The inception of shallow-water anchors in bass fishing changed the game completely. I remember a tournament in Florida where anglers were succumbing to the wind while a few saltwater crossovers with Power-Poles fished twice as much water and dominated. This was well known, but no one accused them of unworthy catches. Imagine fishing isolated targets in 30-mph winds while holding perfectly still for the first time. Pretty incredible.
The Alabama Rig was a breakthrough; a major advantage for those who used it. It was so good, it was outlawed. The tackle companies didn’t want the industry to overwhelmingly support only a single technique. For goodness sake, that could bankrupt people! Oh wait, ignore that last part.
Spot-Lock changed the world, especially on big water. Back in my day, re-tying, culling fish, eating a sandwich – all led to cranking the big engine and idling back up wind, burning valuable fishing time and often losing a spot to a greedy competitor. GPS-assisted trolling motors put that to bed. Again, I was one of the first guys to have one on Lake Erie, borrowing a walleye-fishing model to the dismay of other competitors. I had anglers threaten to fight me over it. Really.
The fact is, when Rick Clunn set the original Classic record, he used a poorly designed crankbait that tumbled in the wind on an old, fiberglass rod while glancing at a flasher and searching for fish by casting. There was no GPS. A cable-steer trolling motor did the work. Fishing line was nylon monofilament. Hooks were cheap.
Every single aspect of that scenario is different than Fothergill’s approach. Yet, with the exception of the latest development – that of FFS – fans and critics let it all slide.
The fact is, no one can take anything away from Fothergill’s ability to perform better than the rest of the field last week. Proof is in the pounds. Fothergill put the numbers on the board through masterful skill of today’s offshore fishing tactics. Like Clunn in 1984, he was the best on the water utilizing the current allowable methods.
What we can say, however, is that appeal of the sport is not following along with the increase in catches. Anyone who denies this is living in an alternate reality.
It’s a very simple concept and one that I’ve reiterated here for over four years. Watching an angler troll around with his worm dangling over the side of the boat is B-O-R-I-N-G.
Click, click go the remote controls. I was only able to take it for about an hour. The commentators did their best to fill the dead air, the production crew silently thanking God that John Cox had made the Super-6 and could offer frequent casts and hooksets. B.A.S.S. Live should have a full-time split screen with Cox always on one side.
Televised tournament fishing has gotten itself in a bind, one that the NPFL can’t capitalize on fast enough. On this trajectory, the Bassmaster Classic will soon become an incredible outdoor show where few people pay attention to the tournament.
It appears to be headed that way already. Shots of the arena showed vast numbers of empty seats. By contrast, I attended Classics in the 1990s where there was no place to sit if you don’t get in early. None.
Regardless, this shouldn’t take away from the record-breaking performance of Fothergill. A well-deserved champion; legendary at only 22 years of age.
Too bad his time to shine is during such a cloudy period for bass fishing.
(Joe Balog is the often-outspoken owner of Millennium Promotions, Inc., an agency operating in the fishing and hunting industries. A former Bassmaster Open and EverStart Championship winner, he's best known for his big-water innovations and hardcore fishing style. He's a popular seminar speaker, product designer and author, and is considered one of the most influential smallmouth fishermen of modern times.)
