Lucas Takes Commanding Lead At Bassmaster Angler Of The Year Championship

Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Ala., holds on to first place in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race on the first day of the 2018 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship held on Lake Chatuge, Georiga, with 821 points.

Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
September 20, 2018

HIAWASSEE, Ga. — Justin Lucas openly admits he’s been a nervous wreck.

He hasn’t been sleeping well. He’s been waking up in the middle of the night with his mind racing about this week’s Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship.

But after Thursday, he should rest a little better — and with two more days just like it, he’ll probably get some of the best sleep of his life.

Lucas, who finished the regular season as the leader in the AOY standings, caught five bass that weighed 13 pounds, 6 ounces during Thursday’s opening round of the AOY Championship on Lake Chatuge. That stretched his lead in the standings from nine points to a whopping 53 over second-place angler Josh Bertrand — and put him in prime position for a major career boost and the $100,000 bonus that goes with it.

“I just want that AOY trophy,” Lucas said emphatically. “You know I want to win this tournament this week. But I’d be 100 percent satisfied with a Top 8 finish. I’d be 100 percent satisfied if I finish eight points ahead of Josh.

“That AOY trophy is all I care about.”

As with past years, the AOY Championship is basically two events in one. First and foremost, it’s designed to bring closure to a nine-event Bassmaster Elite Series schedule that began in February on Alabama’s Lake Martin. It pays $1 million to the 50 AOY qualifiers based on their points totals at the end of the event, except for $25,000 going to the winner of the tournament.

Lucas, who grew up in California and now lives in Alabama, built his regular-season lead with five Top 12 finishes, including four in a row to end the season. He rode that momentum into Thursday’s first round and managed a double-digit weight despite tough fishing conditions on Chatuge.

The fishery, which is known for its giant populations of spotted bass and blueback herring, has proved difficult for the anglers since the official practice period began Monday. It was particularly tough Thursday for Bertrand — an Arizona native and a longtime friend of Lucas.

Bertrand, whose wife Chantel is back home in Arizona more than eight months pregnant, brought only two keepers to the scales that weighed 2 pounds, 13 ounces. That weight ranked last out of 50 competitors.

“That was a big stumble on his part, and he knows that,” Lucas said. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t stumble tomorrow. With the way things are going, every day here is a completely new day.”

Bertrand said he had a “brutal day,” missing fish after fish.

“I had probably 20 bites,” said the winner of the final regular-season Elite Series event on the St. Lawrence River. “Most of them I didn’t even hook. I had maybe two or three fish more on — and I actually had one more keeper in the boat that I threw back.

“I thought I would catch plenty of keepers, but it didn’t work that way.”

Running concurrent with this week’s AOY storyline is the outcome of the tournament itself. The angler who catches the heaviest three-day weight this week will earn $25,000 and one of the coveted blue trophies that punctuates every Elite Series event.

Oklahoma pro James Elam took the lead in that pursuit Thursday with an impressive limit of spotted bass that weighed 16-10. But like the rest of the field, he lamented the tough fishing on Chatuge.

“It’s so frustrating because they’re so picky and it’s so hard to catch them,” Elam said. “You lose so many. But I was lucky to get five of the right ones in the boat.”

Elam said he actually figured the fish out a little as the day went on.

“I caught them early enough that I was able to do some different things later in the day,” he said. “That let me cull a couple of times, and it helped me learn some things that might help me tomorrow.”

The tournament will resume Friday, with takeoff at 7:10 a.m. ET from Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds and weigh-in back at the Fairgrounds at 3:30 p.m. The anglers will take Saturday away from the lake for the Elite Expo, which will include boat demo rides, the latest vehicles from Toyota, the Berkley Experience trailer with its live aquarium and more.

All 50 of the Bassmaster Elite Series AOY contenders will attend the Expo at Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds before competing Sunday to decide the AOY season championship and the tournament winner.

2018 Points Report
PROFESSIONAL ELITE SERIES
as of 20-Sep-2018
Angler Points Lbs-Oz

 1 Justin Lucas Guntersville, AL 821 247- 6
 2 Josh Bertrand San Tan Valley, AZ 768 248-12
 3 Bradley Roy Lancaster, KY 746 243- 7
 4 Brent Chapman Lake Quivira, KS 739 229-10
 5 Aaron Martens Leeds, AL 721 233- 0
 6 Ott DeFoe Blaine, TN 704 226- 0
 7 Jacob Powroznik North Prince George, VA 703 244- 9
 8 Bobby Lane Jr. Lakeland, FL 702 238- 9
 9 Jacob Wheeler Harrison, TN 691 248- 0
 10 Brandon Palaniuk Hayden, ID 680 229- 3
 11 Dean Rojas Lake Havasu City, AZ 680 223-12
 12 Kevin VanDam Kalamazoo, MI 667 235- 6
 13 Mark Daniels Jr. Tuskegee, AL 661 234- 9
 14 Michael Iaconelli Pitts Grove, NJ 660 231-15
 15 Gerald Spohrer Gonzales, LA 652 222-10
 16 Brett Hite Phoenix, AZ 651 223- 3
 17 Todd Faircloth Jasper, TX 646 214- 0
 18 Casey Ashley Donalds, SC 645 225- 0
 19 James Elam Tulsa, OK 637 230-15
 20 Alton Jones Jr. Waco, TX 632 222- 3
 21 Brent Ehrler Redlands, CA 630 230- 9
 22 Andy Montgomery Blacksburg, SC 628 224- 7
 23 Roy Hawk Lk Havasu Cty, AZ 628 218- 5
 24 Jake Whitaker Fairview, NC 627 218- 2
 25 Seth Feider Bloomington, MN 626 221- 1
 26 Jesse Wiggins Cullman, AL 625 231- 8
 27 Keith Poche Pike Road, AL 624 221-12
 28 Skeet Reese Auburn, CA 622 230- 6
 29 Wesley Strader Spring City, TN 621 218- 8
 30 Clifford Pirch Payson, AZ 621 213- 3
 31 Bill Lowen Brookville, IN 612 219- 9
 32 Randall Tharp Port St. Joe, FL 605 224-11
 33 Cliff Pace Petal, MS 605 217- 5
 34 Chad Pipkens Lansing, MI 602 223-12
 35 Chris Zaldain Laughlin, NV 602 212-12
 36 Micah Frazier Newnan, GA 602 204-15
 37 Jason Christie Park Hill, OK 595 209-11
 38 Gerald Swindle Guntersville, AL 591 216- 4
 39 Edwin Evers Talala, OK 584 228-15
 40 Jared Lintner Arroyo Grande, CA 584 216-10
 41 Scott Rook Little Rock, AR 581 214- 0
 42 Chris Lane Guntersville, AL 579 212-14
 43 Keith Combs Huntington, TX 576 208-14
 44 Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 574 217- 0
45 Greg Vinson Wetumpka, AL 574 198-15
 46 Shin Fukae Palestine, TX 571 214-14
 47 Dustin Connell Clanton, AL 565 207- 7
 48 Takahiro Omori Emory, TX 554 204-12
 49 Adrian Avena Vineland, NJ 548 209- 0
 50 Jordan Lee Grant, AL 542 231- 3