When Alton Jones won the 2008 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell, spotted or Alabama bass were mostly brought to the weigh-ins as limit fillers. Anglers tried to catch a couple of quality largemouths and then pad their limit with decent fish, so a lot of 2- to 3-pound spots and largemouths were weighed in.

That scenario is expected to change drastically in the 2015 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell Feb. 20-22. In the seven years since the last Classic on the upstate South Carolina/Georgia reservoir, the spotted bass – now called Alabama bass by biologists – have grown up.

“Three- and 4-pound-plus fish are not uncommon in Lake Hartwell now,” said Dan Rankin, S.C. Department of Natural Resources regional fisheries biologist who noted that netting surveys indicate so far that the Alabama bass have not begun to displace largemouth bass like they appear to have in Lakes Russell and Keowee.

Jones averaged just under 3 1/2 pounds per bass in his three-day catch in 2008, so landing spotted bass that size will be well worth going after, said veteran Bassmaster Elite pro Stephen Browning, who will be competing in his 10th Classic.

“I think you are going to see a mixture of bass. The spots on Lake Hartwell are big enough to definitely be the type of fish you need to fill a limit, even possibly catch a limit,” Browning said. “I don’t think anybody will come in with a limit of spots over 20 pounds, but a limit at 17 or 18 pounds would not surprise me. I would certainly take a couple of those days.”

The Hot Springs, Ark., pro added that tournament reports from Lake Hartwell indicate spotted bass have played a prominent role recently.

“Guys in some FLW Outdoors tournaments over there have caught some really nice spotted bass, including some 4-pounders. You know, a 4-pound spot weighs the same as a 4-pound largemouth, so I will take either one of them.”

FLW Tour pro Brandon Cobb of Greenwood, S.C., who has won tournaments on Lake Hartwell, said there are plenty of both species in the offshore schools. There are plenty of largemouths out deep with the spotted bass and both species will be chasing bait, primarily blueback herring, he said.

“If you can find the herring that is the key,” Cobb said. “The bass are kind of mixed together. It is predominately spots, but there are a bunch of solid 3 1/2- to 4-pound largemouths mixed in with the spots.”

Browning is hoping to cash in on a combination of both species and have a better showing in the 2015 Classic than he has had in the others he fished in. He finished 37th in the 2008 Classic on Hartwell and last year he finished 54th in the Classic on Lake Guntersville. His best finish was 7th in the 1997 Classic on Alabama’s Logan Martin Lake.

“For some reason my best Classic was my first Classic,” Browning said. “Now it’s time to right the ship and get things going in a better direction.”

That will mean he has to fish smarter on Lake Hartwell than he has in other Classics, he said.

“”I’ll have to fish like I like to fish, just get in certain areas and grind them out. I am not worried about getting a ton of bites each day. I think if I can muster seven or eight good bites a day that is the type to fish for,” he said.

“The Classic is winner-take-all. It’s all about the guy who maximizes the weight and those 3-pound-plus fish are the type of fish you need to win.”

And it does not matter one bit whether they are largemouths or spotted bass, he added.

2015 Bassmaster Classic

Feb. 20-22, 2015

Lake Hartwell

Launch: Green Pond Landing, near Anderson, S.C.

Weigh-In: Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, S.C.

Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo: TD Convention Center in Greenville

http://www.bassmaster.com/