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Texas Boys Hold On In Classic Day One PDF Print E-mail
Written by David J. Sams   
Saturday, 23 February 2008
The crowd enjoys the Day One Weigh-In at the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville, SC on Day One of the 2008 Bassmaster Classic.
The crowd enjoys the Day One Weigh-In at the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville, SC on Day One of the 2008 Bassmaster Classic.
A cold dreary day greeted five Texas top anglers Friday as they competed in the first day of the 2008 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell, SC. Four of them remained in the top twenty after the field of fifty weighed in at the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville. Todd Faircloth weighed in the largest fish of the day with a 6-2 pound bass. He finished ninth in the field. Alton Jones, fighting a cold, held his own at tenth. Kelly Jordon and Gary Klein came in 16 and 17th respectively.

Charlie Hartley claimed the lead Friday in the 2008 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell with 21 pounds, 1 ounce.

“I feel like a million bucks,” the 43-year-old Bassmaster Elite Series pro from Grove City, Ohio, said as he tried on the idea of leading a field of the world’s top 50 anglers.

He has reason to feel like a million: He’s contending for the Classic’s top prize of $500,000. A win is reputed to bring as much in future earnings. Hartley, who qualified for his first Classic by winning the points race on the 2007 Bassmaster Southern Open circuit, held off two pros with several years of Classic experience: Elite pro Scott Rook of Little Rock, Ark., who had 20-13, and two-time Classic champion and Elite pro Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., who had 20-3.

Elite pro Terry Scroggins of Palatka, Fla., was fourth with 19-3. In fifth with 18-10 was an Elite pro from Donalds, S.C., Casey Ashley — clearly a favorite with the crowd cheering him on at the weigh-in at Greenville’s Bi-Lo Center.

Confidence to follow his “gut feelings” put Hartley on his game Friday.

“I caught a limit early, and I want to win the Classic, so I had to leave those fish and go look for the big boys,” he said. “It worked out, but that took a lot of nerve. I usually stay on my little fish if I’m getting the bite. I need to trust my gut more often.”

Hartley said he worked two different arms of Lake Hartwell for his five-fish limit.

“I’m fishing 8 to 20 feet of water with a jig, real slow,” he added. “I thought sun would really be important to me, but I stayed with my pattern anyway. Maybe sun isn’t as important as I thought it would be.”

Sunshine and warming temperatures — predictions are for high the 60s, almost 30 degrees warmer than Friday’s weather — are expected to change the game Saturday for the field, which will cut to the top 25 for the finale Sunday.

Rook, VanDam and Scroggins agreed that the change in weather could force everyone to switch patterns.

“I thought my fishing was better when it was a little bit sunny,” Rook said. “Bass tend to roam around a lot when it’s cloudy, so that could account for a lot of the big fish today, but it’s all relative, we’re all dealing with the same situation.”

Said VanDam, “I know I’m going to have to change with conditions tomorrow. I saw that last week in practice.”
 
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