Photo courtesy of B.A.S.S.
MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. Ryan Butler said on Friday that he was sore from casting so many times during that round of the Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship Classic Fish-Off.
And after all that work, he only had two bass to show for it.
On Saturday during the final day of the fish-off portion of the competition, Butler said he couldnt guess how many hundreds of casts he made while feverishly working the shorelines of Norfork Lake here in the heart of the Ozark Mountains.
He still only had five keeper bites today, but he made every one of them count.
Butler, a 36-year-old resident of Blue Eye, Mo., caught a limit of five bass on Saturday that weighed 15 pounds, 1 ounce. Coupled with the two bass he caught on Friday (which weighed a total of 3-10), Butler finished with a two-day total of 18-11. That was enough to lead the six-angler field and earn the last remaining spot in the 2018 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICKS Sporting Goods which will be held March 16-18 on Lake Hartwell at Greenville and Anderson, S.C.
Despite having only two bass on Friday, Butler eventually realized he still had a great chance to win the fish-off. Robert Dodson Sr., a 71-year-old angler from nearby Harrison, Ark., led Fridays round, but he only had three bass for a 6-6 total today. Beau Govreau of St. Louis, Mo., was the only other angler who caught a bass on Friday; the three other competitors zeroed.
Butler, who fishes with the Joe Bass team trail, was hot on Saturday morning despite temperatures that were in the mid-20s at launch. He boated a smallmouth that weighed nearly 3 pounds in the opening minutes of competition, and he had four bass in the livewell by 9 a.m. (including a 4-plus pound bass that anchored his bag). Butler went more than four hours without a fifth bite, however, but he finally got his limit about an hour before weigh-in.
Butler caught all his bass on a loon-colored Whopper Plopper topwater bait that he outfitted with Mustad triple grip hooks. He threw the bait on a 7-foot, 4-inch Denali worm and jig rod. He caught his bass in anywhere from 1 to 4 feet of water and said wind and shade were keys to his bites.
Butler said its every bass anglers dream to compete in the Bassmaster Classic, and hes excited for the chance. But first, he needs rest.
Butler was part of 162 two-person teams that competed in the team championship portion of the event on Wednesday and Thursday. He and Lippe, who lives in Lampe, Mo., finished second in the Team Championship and both got the chance to fish two more days for a spot in the Classic.
His win marked the second consecutive year an angler from the Joe Bass team trail won the Classic fish-off. It also marked back-to-back victories in the event by Missouri anglers. Scott Clift of Dadeville, Mo., won the 2016 fish-off and qualified for the 2017 Bassmaster Classic on Texas Lake Conroe in March.
Govreau finished second in the 2017 fish-off with a two-day total of 14-6. He caught a limit weighing 11-2 on Saturday, but couldnt quite recapture the magic that helped him and his older brother Brett Govreau win the Team Championship on Thursday.
Dodson Sr. placed third with a two-day total of 13-4. His son and fishing partner, Robbie Dodson Jr., finished fourth with 12-1 overall. Brett Govreau was fifth with 9-2 and Lippe was sixth with 7-10.
The Mountain Home Area Chamber of Commerce hosted the tournament.
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