Kevin VanDam Champion:
It's awesome. This is my 11th Classic, I've come close before, had a tough time getting job done. It's happened to me a lot this year--- I was so worried about coming in 2nd today--- Scott was in area I was fishing. I wasn't getting a lot of bites. If anybody I was worried about, it was Scott Rook. I've known Scott since beginning of his career. It's unbelievable that I ended up doing this well, had the worst pre-practice that I've ever had (for a Classic). - saw the weather coming. Maybe play into my hands, I like cloud cover--- my first two areas on first day had been sprayed, left there, finally caught 5 or 6 bites and caught first limit. - didn't have a lot of confidence second day. Expanded area I was fishing. Got some more bites. 3rd day, the toughest day I've ever had in my career, biggest strain, caught my third fish an hour before I had to go in. Got it in my mind that I was going to come out of this with 5 fish. Caught 5th keeper with a half hour to fish. Longest ride of my life, hour and 20 minutes, thinking of being one fishes short. Had two bites that I missed all week, fished perfectly, fishing same pattern. Fishing black/blue/purple Strike King jig that looks like the crabs out there. I was running this pattern, had to have key ingredients, dirty water moving, close to points or main channels, with overhead cover--- fished everything within area. Fished through areas I had fished before. Fishing real fast in between spots and slower in target areas. Heavy jig was key, I think--- used Strike King Wild Thang as a followup bait--- tried other baits, didn't catch anything on them. Zoom Super Chunk trailer, electric blue, on the jig----winning was most exciting moment I can think of, other than when my kids were born and I found out that they would be all right. I really wanted to win badly. We all worked hard and I was fortunate to win it--- covered a tremendous amount of water. I was in hurry-up offense--- cast had to be perfect, where jig fell vertically to bottom. Had to put jig under their noses--- I never saw another competitor in area I was in. Jig has a double rattle system, real loud---majority of what I learned about bass fishing was from media, I read BASSMASTER magazine religiously. Keep an open mind and try anything new.
Scott Rook: (2nd place) 2nd Classic:
I'm happy but disappointed, coming in second. Had a good week. Fished Bayou Black. - Fished Mizmo tube, flipping in hydrilla, 5/16 sinker and rattle in the tube I think made a difference. Fish I was catching, if he was a better one, wouldn't move, just sit on it--- little fish would move on it. Lost two good fish that just sat on it, didn't move. - stayed in one canal. Not muddy, not clear, just a good stain to it. In practice, water in grass real good, east wind blew water out and I had to back off a little bit. Storm brought water back in, but made it muddy, didn't catch fish in my best area. I fished really slow, really methodically. Fish right on the edge. 4 inch Mizmo tube, black neon color, Texas rig----didn't feel any pressure, told myself, just slow down and fish methodically--- it paid off, almost pulled it off. Didn't catch fish in dead end canals, needed movement--- caught fish in 2 to 3 feet of water.
David Walker: (3rd place):
Lost Classic by one fish, and yesterday only weighed in three fish. Really believed that I could make up difference today. I was fishing Venice, ran 25 minutes past there, out into Gulf, fishing where Mississippi River jumps in there. Storm made it tough, river up and muddy. I was flipping a 3/4 ounce Gambler Jig with a Flex Chunk trailer. Hop it up into cover to make a noise. Kept moving bait until a fish would come to it, moving it up and down, talk fish into coming over. Water had gotten a lot deeper and dirtier today. Gambler Ninja jig with a trailer that Gambler let me design for them. Yesterday, I used a 5 inch Gambler tube with 5/16 ounce sinker. 20 to 30 miles per hour wind down there, hard to cast, everything moving from wind and current, which is why I stuck with jig today. I was looking for a mixture of grass near canes, where it mixed water would be cleaner--- rode 125 miles each way every day, got to fish 3 1/2 hours each day.
Harold Allen: (4th place):
I was running to Venice too -- fishing 2 canals. First day limit caught pretty easily--- got out of area, felt I would need it for rest of tournament. Second day I really struggled. Came in with only 3 fish. Today started throwing Accent spinnerbait, had a good grassline up and down canal bank--- went length of canal without a bite. Threw a worm and caught my first keeper---went to canal where I caught them the first day. Made a run down the bank and didn't do anything. Got to back end of this thing and saw something, like somebody hit me in the face, saw water coming out behind some bulkheads, water so high, coming in the backside. Made a pitch and found the sweet spot, caught best fish, close to 3 pounds and then caught another. Caught 3 keepers in 5 minutes. Lost 2 good fish. current definitely was the deal with these fish. Water was moving in a way that it hadn't. 7 inch Reaction wacky worm, a finesse worm, today caught them on chili June Bug color.
Todd Faircloth: 5th (tie):
Bayou Black area all three days. Early could catch them on spinnerbait, right where muddy water and clear water intersected. 1/4 ounce Stanley titanium spinnerbait. When sun got up, fished a worm. Today, flipped hyacinths with Lake Fork Tackle tube craw----red shad with green flake--- fished a lot of different stuff, milfoil, hydrilla, hyacinths, didn't seem as if fish keying on any one, seemed like water clarity and flow had more to do with it. I did everything I could, just didn't get any quality bites yesterday.
Gerald Swindle: 5th place (tie):
I'm tickled to see the Classic coming to Alabama. Had no fancy game plan this year. Had an area near Houma. Had a couple of blow throughs east to west. Just ripping out of marsh. One day 18 or 20 fish behind one pile. Water stays relatively clean. Today, rolling mud, one end to the other. key not to let worm reach the bottom. Throw and reel like spinnerbait. Green pumpkin was key color. Topwater Lucky Strike G Splash for topwater bite. Worked worm pretty fast. Saw a lot of guys flipping -- I stayed in middle of canals and made longer casts. G Splash retrieve was subtle, fished seemed to like best when let it sit. Faster I fished worm, more I caught. Worm is 6 inch Dead Ringer with a big U tail, it moves a lot of water---caught most in 1 to 2 feet of water.