Jan. 24, 2025

 

EVANS, Ga. — Using lessons learned from last season, Virginia Beach’s Chase Clarke landed a five-bass limit weighing 25 pounds, 14 ounces to take the Day 1 lead at the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Clarks Hill Reservoir presented by SEVIIN.

The former Auburn University angler anchored his bag with two largemouth over 6 pounds, including a 6-8 bucketmouth that claimed Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day honors.

“I know I’m not going to catch very many. But when they are that size, I’m doing something right,” Clarke said. “It was just one of those days where every decision I made was the right one. Hopefully that happens again tomorrow.”

Oklahoma’s Blaine Bunney holds second place with 22-7 followed by Tennessee’s Christian Nash in third with 22-5.

Winter has been in full swing this week in northeast Georgia, as a winter storm brought as much as 2 inches of snow to the area Tuesday night. That caused unsafe road conditions, leading to the cancellation of the regularly scheduled Day 1 on Thursday and shortening the event to two days. Anglers were greeted to 25-degree temperatures as they launched Friday morning.

With two full days off, though, the Opens pros showed the true potential of Clarks Hill. Nineteen bags over 18 pounds, including four over 20 pounds, hit the scales Friday and 116 limits were caught by the field of 161 anglers.

The 2024 season was Clarke’s first as an Elite Qualifier angler, and one tournament in particular from last year has helped him tremendously this week at Clarks Hill.

“I’m taking what I used at Lake Ouachita (last February) and implementing it here,” he explained. “Even though there aren’t blueback herring in Ouachita, the same thing is working for me.”

Clarke had a solid practice period on Clarks Hill, but as it progressed his daily weights went down. He never imagined a 25-pound bag was possible the way things were going.

“I didn’t think there was any chance. My best day in practice was 18 pounds, but that was the first day. The second day I had 14 and then 12 the last day. I was going downhill throughout practice. But I would pull up and look at some stuff in practice and just leave. I didn’t really know what was there exactly.”

When the tournament finally started on Thursday, Clarke worked his way to a limit by 11 a.m. Shortly after, Clarke made his lone mistake of the day. He landed a 3 ½-pounder that would have helped him, but in the process of culling, he accidentally threw that bass back, costing him a half pound.

“I caught a 2-pounder right after that, which didn’t help,” Clarke said. “I looked up to the clouds wondering, ‘How did I mess this up.’ I looked back down and on my next cast I caught one of the 6-pounders.”

Clarke mixed things up throughout the day, moving back and forth between shallow and deep water. Three baits caught the bulk of his bass — two bottom-contact baits and one bait he suspended in the water column.

Water clarity is a key component to what he is doing.

“I don’t want the clearest water in the lake, but I don’t want it to be super stained either,” Chase explained. “I’m looking for that in-between with 6 or 7 feet of visibility.”

While warmer, the forecast calls for less wind on Saturday, which Clarke thinks might change what his bass are doing.

Bunney, meanwhile, is fishing his first Open. The recent high school graduate is targeting largemouth in deep water using a jighead minnow and forward-facing sonar. He also landed a 4-3 spotted bass.

“Largemouth are what I’m looking for. That is what is going to win,” he said. “I stumbled into something the first day of practice that led me to this.”

While plenty of other competitors are chasing bass feeding on blueback herring, there isn’t much in the way of bait where Bunney is fishing. As the week has progressed, he has noticed the bass sinking lower and lower in the water column.

“You would think the bass would be really (targeting) the bait balls, but they really aren’t. They are kind of just floating in the nothing, the abyss. And they are wanting to push deeper down. When you think they would be 5 feet under the surface, they are 35 feet under the surface in 50 feet of water.”

Hailing from Dale Hollow, Nash got off to a hot start, catching a 4-pounder before filling out his limit in that same pocket. He then caught a 6-pounder out of a brushpile, anchoring his bag for the day.

“I pulled in a pocket this morning and there was someone already there, so I made a slight adjustment and went to another pocket,” he said. “The wind was blowing into a pocket, and I said, ‘Man, that looks good.’”

Nash has utilized forward-facing sonar to catch his bass, which are located between 35 feet of water to 50 feet of water.

“I’m using ¾-ounce and 1-ounce heads. When one sees it, they’ve got it,” he said. “In the mornings, I think the herring get tucked down to the bottom in the creeks. To me, it seemed like the bass just kept going deeper.”

The full field of anglers will launch from Wildwood Park beginning at 7:15 a.m. ET and return for weigh-in beginning at 3:15 p.m. The winner, given they fish all of the events in Division 1, will earn a spot in the 2026 Bassmaster Classic. The Top 50 in points at the end of Division 1 will advance to the Elite Qualifier round, details of which were just announced.

Bassmaster LIVE coverage of the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Clarks Hill Reservoir presented by SEVIIN begins at 8 a.m. Saturday on Bassmaster.com.

 

Visit Columbia County is hosting the tournament.

 

2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Title Sponsor: St. Croix

2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Presenting Sponsor: SEVIIN

2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Progressive Insurance, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew’s, Lowrance, Marathon, Triton Boats, VMC

 

About B.A.S.S.

B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.

The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.