In pro fishing, it’s half-jokingly called “the baby pattern” because pros with new kids have proved to suddenly be more motivated. And that was true for Duckett when he came from behind Sunday to win the bass fishing Championship on Oneida Lake by 6 ounces, snapping up a win that Day 2 and Day 3 leader Randy Howell had hoped might be his.
But Duckett was driven by something else, too. The 2007 Bassmaster Classic champ was determined to qualify for the 2013 Classic, and he knew he’d likely have to do it via the win-you’re-in rule. Sitting 53rd in points going into Oneida, he knew that the only way left for that to happen was the Aug. 23-26 Oneida Lake event.
“I came up here to try to make the Classic. I don’t know if I’m happier about that or winning,” Duckett grinned after he accepted his trophy, the $100,000 prize — and his 2013 Classic entry.
“The Classic is the biggest event in bass fishing,” the pro from Demopolis, Ala., said Saturday on the eve of his final push. “You spend your whole life trying to make one. And when you make one, you never want to miss another one. I can’t emphasize enough how bad it was last time not to make it.”
After winning Classic 2007, Duckett qualified for the next five. The 2012 Classic he missed was after a dismal 2011 season — 84th place in points, he said.
“Last year I had a horrible season. This year, I worked really, really hard to prepare myself with a champion angler’s attitude,” he said.
Duckett approached Oneida as a Classic quest. He started slowly — 27th on Day 1, with a middle-of-the-pack catch of 13-11. But on Day 2, he produced a whopping 17-11 sack and shot to second place. He kept second place on the third day, even though his weight was 14-0. On the final day, he pulled another huge sack out of Oneida — 17-0 — and surged past Howell. The score was Duckett, 62 pounds, 6 ounces to Howell’s 62 pounds even.
Oneida is 20-some miles long and miles wide in spots, but Duckett never saw much of it during the Ramada Championship. He found a sweet mix of largemouth and smallmouth bass in Maple Bay, and milked it for every bass he brought to the scales over four days.
He happened on the spot while sitting on shore during practice. He and Kelly Jordon, sharing a house on Maple Bay, were sitting at a picnic table and noticed roily water offshore.
“The fish were about 400 yards out, and we couldn’t quite see what they were — we thought maybe perch — but they turned out to be smallmouth,” he said. “And that’s how I found my fish.”
They held up all week. One area was more of a largemouth spot. There he mostly flipped a 3-inch Berkley Chigger Craw in green pumpkin or cinnamon, or a ChatterBait or Lucky Craft Gunfish topwater. When he saw smallmouth schooling, he’d troll to them, usually picking up his 4-inch blue-herring Berkley Hollow Belly swimbait rigged on a 1/8-ounce Buckeye J-Will swimbait head.
On Sunday, the Hollow Belly happened to produce a 4-3 largemouth (the biggest fish brought to the scales that day). That catch, said Duckett, was the turning point.
“I felt then I had a really good chance,” he said.
Howell of Springville, Ala., thought the same. For him, though, it was the sixth soul-trying attempt since 2006 to win an Oneida Lake event. Howell’s Oneida history includes a 24th-place finish in 2006; a ninth in 2007, a 20th in 2008, a 26th in 2009 after leading the first day, and a fifth in a 2011Bassmaster Open.
He led Duckett going into the final round by 2 pounds, 6 ounces. But Sunday he managed only four bass — one shy of a limit — and fell 6 ounces behind.
“I can’t believe it, I really thought I still had enough,” Howell said on stage.
One of Howell’s primary patterns put him offshore in the wind, one factor Duckett did not have to contend with in the protected Maple Bay. Anglers complained that conditions were too calm for good fishing on Day 1. Winds were perfect on Day 2, but by the final round, the anglers had to concentrate to keep their balance in the big waves.
Howell’s primary lures were a Strike King Series 5 that produced a 3-11 largemouth on Sunday, his largest of the day. He also used a NetBait BK swimbait, rotating pearl-white or albino on a 1/2-ounce Do-It Mold swimbait head, and a 1-ounce Monster Grass jig by Lunker Lure with a Kinami Baits Psycho Dad crawfish trailer.
He also relied on a Pop-R topwater and Super Spook.
He thinks back on the bass that blew up on his Pop-R on Sunday.
“I didn’t do anything wrong, it just didn’t eat it,” he said.
“Four fish that weighed 14-4 were good, solid fish,” he added. “Any size keeper was all I needed. That’s what really gets me.”
Finishing third was Scott Rook of Little Rock, Ark., with 60-7. It wasn’t quite enough to gain him enough points for a Classic berth that, like Duckett, he came to New York to earn. Takahiro Omori, 2004 Classic champ from Emory, Texas, was fourth with 57-4. Ott DeFoe of Knoxville, Tenn., was fifth with 56-14.
The largest bass brought in Sunday was Duckett’s 4-3, not big enough to overtake Takahiro Omori’s 5-6 of Saturday for the Big Bass of Tournament award of $750.
Other bonuses awarded at the Ramada Championship:
* Berkley Heavyweight Award of $500 for the best five-fish limit: Michael Iaconelli’s Day 1 bag of 20-3.
* Power-Pole Captain’s Cash of $1,000 if the winner has Power-Poles installed on his boat: Duckett.
* Luck “E” Strike Comeback Award of $500 to the most-improved pro in the Bassmaster Angler of the Year points race: Duckett, from 53rd place to 35th place.
Next up for the Bassmaster Elite Series is the postseason event, Sept. 20-23 out of Decatur, Ill. The Top 8 in Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings qualified Sunday. Four anglers voted in by fans will join the eight qualifiers to compete for a piece of the $100,000 prize package.
2012 Ramada Championship 8/23-8/26
Oneida Lake, Syracuse NY.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 4
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total tournament $$$, including bonuses awarded this season
1. Boyd Duckett Demopolis, AL 20 62-06 97 $108,700.00
Day 1: 5 13-11 Day 2: 5 17-11 Day 3: 5 14-00 Day 4: 5 17-00
2. Randy Howell Springville, AL 19 62-00 96 $50,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-12 Day 2: 5 16-06 Day 3: 5 15-10 Day 4: 4 14-04
3. Scott Rook Little Rock, AR 20 60-07 95 $27,300.00
Day 1: 5 15-07 Day 2: 5 15-09 Day 3: 5 14-03 Day 4: 5 15-04
4. Takahiro Omori Emory, TX 20 57-04 94 $25,775.00
Day 1: 5 12-08 Day 2: 5 11-15 Day 3: 5 18-13 Day 4: 5 14-00
5. Ott DeFoe Knoxville, TN 20 56-14 93 $64,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-05 Day 2: 5 15-05 Day 3: 5 15-13 Day 4: 5 13-07
6. Brent Chapman Lake Quivira, KS 20 56-10 92 $113,500.00
Day 1: 5 16-12 Day 2: 5 13-12 Day 3: 5 13-07 Day 4: 5 12-11
7. Nate Wellman Newaygo, MI 20 56-07 91 $23,800.00
Day 1: 5 12-08 Day 2: 5 17-01 Day 3: 5 13-13 Day 4: 5 13-01
8. Jason Quinn Lake Wylie, SC 20 55-10 90 $20,200.00
Day 1: 5 13-02 Day 2: 5 16-11 Day 3: 5 14-07 Day 4: 5 11-06
9. Terry Scroggins San Mateo, FL 19 52-12 89 $48,250.00
Day 1: 5 15-00 Day 2: 5 15-01 Day 3: 5 14-07 Day 4: 4 08-04
10. John Crews Salem, VA 18 49-08 88 $22,100.00
Day 1: 5 12-11 Day 2: 5 15-06 Day 3: 5 15-00 Day 4: 3 06-07
11. Fletcher Shryock Newcomerstown, OH 17 48-11 87 $11,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-06 Day 2: 5 13-09 Day 3: 5 15-08 Day 4: 2 05-04
12. Bernie Schultz Gainesville, FL 16 44-03 86 $10,500.00
Day 1: 5 14-13 Day 2: 5 12-02 Day 3: 5 15-07 Day 4: 1 01-13
CARHARTT BIG BASS
Takahiro Omori Emory, TX 05-06 $750.00
BERKLEY HEAVYWEIGHT
Michael Iaconelli Pittsgrove, NJ 20-03 $500.00
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 73 423 1117-12
2 65 400 1037-03
3 30 210 527-09
4 7 49 132-13
----------------------------------
175 1082 2815-05
2012 Points Report
PROFESSIONAL
ELITE SERIES as of 26-Aug-2012
Angler Points Lbs-Oz
1 Brent Chapman Lake Quivira, KS 658 249- 8
2 Ott DeFoe Knoxville, TN 646 245- 6
3 Terry Scroggins San Mateo, FL 616 224-15
4 Todd Faircloth Jasper, TX 615 246- 8
5 Randy Howell Springville, AL 608 223-15
6 Matt Herren Trussville, AL 600 245- 5
7 Kevin VanDam Kalamazoo, MI 598 217- 1
8 Edwin Evers Talala, OK 578 214- 1
9 Bill Lowen Brookville, IN 562 219- 6
10 Aaron Martens Leeds, AL 532 236-14
11 Skeet Reese Auburn, CA 526 221- 2
12 Bobby Lane Lakeland, FL 525 215-14
13 Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 523 223-13
14 Chris Lane Guntersville, AL 518 230- 4
15 David Walker Sevierville, TN 518 221-14
16 Dean Rojas Lake Havasu City, AZ 514 230- 7
17 Nate Wellman Newaygo, MI 512 210- 9
18 Cliff Pace Petal, MS 511 210-14
19 John Crews Salem, VA 500 213- 9
20 Mark Davis Mount Ida, AR 494 206-11
21 Yusuke Miyazaki Forney, TX 488 224- 1
22 Brandon Card Caryville, TN 480 203-14
23 Gerald Swindle Warrior, AL 479 204- 0
24 Takahiro Omori Emory, TX 476 199- 7
25 Shaw E Grigsby Jr. Gainesville, FL 474 209-11
26 Marty Robinson Lyman, SC 470 203- 6
27 Tommy Biffle Wagoner, OK 466 207- 5
28 Russ Lane Prattville, AL 462 203- 7
29 Cliff Prince Palatka, FL 460 204- 7
30 Jason Quinn Lake Wylie, SC 457 196- 4
31 Michael Iaconelli Pittsgrove, NJ 456 213- 1
32 Mike McClelland Bella Vista, AR 454 196-10
33 Jared Lintner Arroyo Grande, CA 450 195- 9
34 Scott Rook Little Rock, AR 449 207-11
35 Boyd Duckett Demopolis, AL 447 189- 9
36 Rick Clunn Ava, MO 443 200- 9
37 Ish Monroe Hughson, CA 441 224-11
38 Jeff Kriet Ardmore, OK 434 216- 6
39 Alton Jones Lorena, TX 432 206-14
40 Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 423 218- 9
41 Keith Combs Huntington, TX 422 192-11
42 Timmy Horton Spruce Pine, AL 420 187-13
43 Britt Myers Lake Wylie, SC 418 206-10
44 Rick Morris Virginia Beach, VA 416 204- 9
45 Jason Williamson Aiken, SC 416 190- 0
46 Steve Kennedy Auburn, AL 414 190- 0
47 Greg Vinson Wetumpka, AL 413 187- 8
48 Kelly Jordon Palestine, TX 409 189-12
49 Andy Montgomery Blacksburg, SC 409 187- 2
50 Matt Reed Madisonville, TX 407 188-15
51 Terry Butcher Talala, OK 399 183-14
52 Jamie Horton Centreville, AL 398 177-11
53 Jeremy Starks Scott Depot, WV 397 202-12
54 J Todd Tucker Moultrie, GA 397 184-13
55 Mark Menendez Paducah, KY 397 177-13
56 Derek Remitz Grant, AL 391 193- 6
57 Casey D Ashley Donalds, SC 386 200- 8
58 Fred Roumbanis Bixby, OK 386 197-14
59 Cliff Crochet Pierre Part, LA 380 186-11
60 Davy Hite Ninety Six, SC 375 192-10
61 Matt Greenblatt Port St Lucie, FL 362 183- 0
62 Fletcher Shryock Newcomerstown, OH 360 191-10
63 Stephen Browning Hot Springs, AR 356 184- 9
64 Gary Klein Weatherford, TX 354 174- 2
65 Brian Snowden Reeds Spring, MO 353 183-13
66 Travis Manson De Pere, WI 352 184-11
67 Kevin Short Mayflower, AR 349 182- 1
68 Bradley Roy Lancaster, KY 348 170- 9
69 Chris Zaldain San Jose, CA 344 192-11
70 James Niggemeyer Van, TX 339 177- 3
71 Jonathon VanDam Kalamazoo, MI 335 184- 7
72 Keith Poche Pike Road, AL 335 173-14
73 Dustin Wilks Rocky Mount, NC 329 173-10
74 Kyle A. Fox Lakeland, FL 321 160-13
75 Pete Ponds Madison, MS 315 180-13
76 Scott Ashmore Broken Arrow, OK 311 169- 9
77 Bernie Schultz Gainesville, FL 311 165- 3
78 Paul Elias Laurel, MS 303 164-10
79 Kevin Ledoux Choctaw, OK 301 175- 1
80 Morizo Shimizu Osaka, JPN 295 175- 7
81 Jami Fralick Martin, SD 294 160-11
82 Zell Rowland Montgomery, TX 291 165-11
83 Denny Brauer Camdenton, MO 283 172-13
84 Casey Scanlon Lenexa, KS 267 172- 0
85 John Murray Phoenix, AZ 266 164- 1
86 Clark Reehm Shreveport, LA 251 157- 6
87 Russell Parrish Riesel, TX 251 148- 1
88 Billy McCaghren Mayflower, AR 249 161-11
89 Kotaro Kiriyama Moody, AL 249 137-10
90 Charlie Hartley Grove City, OH 212 158- 6
91 Grant Goldbeck Boerne, TX 204 131- 0
92 David Smith Del City, OK 200 154- 3
93 Jared Miller Norman, OK 195 135- 3
94 Byron Velvick Boenre, TX 190 146- 0
95 Kenyon Hill Norman, OK 185 152-10
96 Michael Simonton Fremont, OH 164 133-14
97 Brent Broderick Oregonia, OH 162 123-13
98 Chad Griffin Cresson, TX 144 129- 7
99 Pat Golden Bethlehem, GA 131 103- 6