Todd Faircloth recently watched incredulously as his amateur partner brought in a flattened beer can during a tournament on South Carolina's Lake Murray.
"He was fishing a Carolina rig and he caught a Bud Light can on the sinker," the Bassmaster Elite Series pro said. "The can had little crack in the middle of it, and I guess his line got caught in it. That's about the strangest thing I've ever seen."
Pros Look to Get Off to Fast Start at Bassmaster Classic
Nowhere in the sport of tournament bass fishing is it more important to get off to a fast start than in the annual Bassmaster Classic.
Nothing can match the Bassmaster Classic's high expectations, internal pressure, huge weigh-in crowds, numerous on-the-water spectators, $500,000 top prize and one of the most important titles in professional fishing. And it is just a three-day event, as compared to four days for Bassmaster Elite Series contests.
The importance of getting out of the gate quickly is certainly not lost on the field in the 36th Bassmaster Classic this week at Florida's Lake Tohopekaliga.
"It's very important," said Florida's Terry Scroggins, the consensus pre-Classic favorite. "The Classic is winner take all, pretty much. So you really need to start fast and take advantage of the three days you've got and do well every day."
Texan Gary Klein, who will be competing in an impressive 24th Classic, agrees.
"I really think the most important thing is getting off to a fast start right out of the box and then catching fish every day," Klein said. "Sometimes you develop bites that don't really get going - especially down here in Florida, under certain conditions - until 10 o'clock. Then the bite starts picking up.
"A guy can go down the right (weed) line or get in the right little bay and in 20 or 30 minutes get pretty healthy," he said. "So the key here is never give up. I think it's really important to get off to a good start here in this event. I kind of feel that the winner will probably establish himself the first day with a top-10 (finish)."
California's Skeet Reese believes the biggest limiting factor, in terms of making a comeback, is the length of the Bassmaster Classic.
"It's not different than any other tournament," Reese said. "If you want to have a shot at winning it you need to put yourself in contention the first day, probably even more so, because it's only a three-day tournament.
"I don't think you can go into this tournament being 10 pounds out of the lead the first day and have a good shot of winning it," he explained. "It can be done, but I think you need to put yourself in a top-10 position to have a shot at winning going into the last day. Because it is a short tournament, you have to have a good start to put yourself in it."
Scroggins emphasizes that two factors - Kissimmee Chain's trophy-bass population and spawning season - should offer hope to even those anglers who get off to a poor start.
"Absolutely," Scroggins said, "what you might find is that some guys will have a heavy sack one day from sightfishing and maybe not be able to find them the second day if they catch all of their fish. And somebody that's just consistent might be able to come back and win."
NO TEARS FOR GRIGSBY
The contenders in this week's Bassmaster Classic no doubt can breathe easier that Shaw Grigsby did not qualify for the world-championship event. The Florida pro not only is the Bassmaster Elite Series' premier sightfisherman and ranked 70th on the Bassmaster Elite Series Power Index; he has a sterling track record when it comes to BASS events on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes.
"I've got so much respect for Shaw, and a lot of my sightfishing I've learned because of him," said Bassmaster Classic qualifier Randy Howell of Alabama. "It is always a relief when you get one big gun that's not in the field.
"I feel bad that he's not in it, because it would be a lot of fun for him. But I know it gives me a lot better chance of winning with him not in it."
Howell, for one, is hoping for a big-bass, sightfishing bonanza during the three-day Bassmaster Classic.
"I could be a factor because that's my favorite thing," Howell said. "The only thing that ever bothers me with sightfishing is decision making and timing - finding the fish and getting to them at the right time.
"I can catch one as good as anyone when they're on the bed. When they're on the bed and I can see them, I've got more confidence doing that than anything else. If I can find them and get that going, I'll have as good a chance as of winning as anybody, I believe."
"There might be some sight bite, but as good as everybody in that Classic field is at sightfishing, the first day will be the day you'll see the big monster stringers," Howell added. "Whoever gets to them first, and I'll be one of the ones looking. That's what I'm going to be trying to do. But then after that, I think the flipping bite is going to be the backup pattern."
DID YOU KNOW?
The best performance in an angler's only Bassmaster Classic appearance belongs to Alabama's Dalton Bobo, who came within an ounce of winning the 1997 Bassmaster Classic. He is followed by Missouri's Jim Finley (fourth in 1972) and Florida's Carroll Hagood (fifth in 1991).
PRO BIRTHDAYS
Todd Auten of South Carolina turns 40 March 14, Florida's Chuck Economou will celebrate his 50th birthday March 27 and Curt Lytle of Virginia will blow out 37 candles March 28.
IF I HADN'T BECOME A BASS PRO
Bassmaster Classic contender Jimmy Mize of Arkansas would still be working at a paper mill where he was a machine tender for 28 years. He resigned just before last summer's Bassmaster Classic in Pittsburgh.
THEY SAID IT
"It's all about stories. When you go to different golf courses or different tennis courts or baseball fields - every place has its unique challenges. That's part of the stories of it." - Julie Sobieski, ESPN Senior Director of Programming and Acquisitions, on the similarity between covering a bass-starved Bassmaster Classic, like the 2005 event in Pittsburgh, and the anticipated big-bass slugfest this week in Kissimmee, Fla.