Jason Christie thought he had lost the tournament. He’d had his chances. “I got caught up in emotion and tried to boat-flip a 7-pounder (earlier in the week) so today I made sure I got my hands on them.”
Christie ended up with his hands on a big blue trophy and a six-figure paycheck as he won the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on Lake Dardanelle with a week-long total weight of 72 pounds, 3 ounces (19-2 today).
He had to de-throne friend Gerald Swindle form the hot seat in order to do it. Swindle had the day’s biggest bag at 20-1 which gave him a total of 71-15, just 4 ounces shy of the winning weight.
Greg hackney’s weight declined for a 4th straight day and he lost his grasp on the tournament lead, which he had held on days 2 and 3. He ended the tournament in 3rd place with a 71-11 total, 4 ounces behind Swindle and a half-pound off Christie’s mark.
Hackney said he was grinding in one main area and he wasn’t sure how much more it could produce. It gave up 21-13 on Day 1, followed by 18-1 on Day 2. Day 3 was worth 16-10 and today Hackney squeezed another 15-3 from his water.
The idea of settling in an area and keeping a lure wet was a popular one among pros who did well this week. A couple, including Swindle, noted that the better fish seemed to be out in front of the grass in which most anglers expected to find them.
Rick Clunn found most of his fish a step deeper too – 3-to-6 feet, as deep as 10. He caught many on an RC4 squarebill crankbait. When conditions called for it, Clunn used a Lucky Strike spinnerbait. When the fish started grabbing the trailer hook he got the clue to switch the crankbait.
Clunn finished 4th with 70-15 (15-4 today).
Keith Combs was 5th with a total weight of 68-3. He may want to credit Hackney with an assist, as he caught some of his fish on Hackney’s signature ‘Hack Attack Jig’.
As the Top 12 weighed-in and talked today, 3 keys to success this week came to light:
1 – Throw a big bait. Sacrifice numbers for the right type of fish.
2 – Hunker in an area and fish hard. While some guys were able to run around and still catch quality fish at times, the bite was often slow and you can’t catch fish very well when your boat is on plane.
3 – Fish a step deeper. While there were many bass in shoreline grass, Swindle, Clunn and others said their best fish were 30-to-40 feet out in front of the greenery, generally 3-to-6 feet deep, sometimes deeper.
Your Final Top 12 standings:
| 1 | Jason Christie | 5 | 16- 7 | 5 | 16-10 | 5 | 20- 0 | 5 | 19- 2 | 20 | 72- 3 |
| 2 | Gerald Swindle | 5 | 18-12 | 5 | 14- 2 | 5 | 19- 0 | 5 | 20- 1 | 20 | 71-15 |
| 3 | Greg Hackney | 5 | 21-13 | 5 | 18- 1 | 5 | 16-10 | 5 | 15- 3 | 20 | 71-11 |
| 4 | Rick Clunn | 5 | 18- 5 | 5 | 17-14 | 5 | 19- 8 | 5 | 15- 4 | 20 | 70-15 |
| 5 | Keith Combs | 5 | 19-14 | 5 | 16-10 | 5 | 17-11 | 5 | 14- 0 | 20 | 68- 3 |
| 6 | Michael Iaconelli | 5 | 12- 9 | 5 | 18- 5 | 5 | 17-12 | 5 | 18- 8 | 20 | 67- 2 |
| 7 | Cliff Crochet | 5 | 13- 4 | 5 | 19-15 | 5 | 19- 2 | 5 | 14- 9 | 20 | 66-14 |
| 8 | Chris Zaldain | 5 | 17- 9 | 5 | 15- 3 | 5 | 16- 8 | 5 | 17- 6 | 20 | 66-10 |
| 9 | John Crews | 5 | 22- 9 | 5 | 16-12 | 5 | 11-11 | 5 | 14-14 | 20 | 65-14 |
| 10 | Paul Elias | 5 | 14- 9 | 5 | 13- 9 | 5 | 20- 7 | 5 | 16- 3 | 20 | 64-12 |
| 11 | Takahiro Omori | 5 | 16- 0 | 5 | 13- 2 | 5 | 20- 7 | 5 | 13-13 | 20 | 63- 6 |
| 12 | Skeet Reese | 5 | 16-14 | 5 | 13- 7 | 5 | 18- 7 | 5 | 11- 1 | 20 | 59-13 |
