1982 BASS Masters Classic

The final culmination of every Bassmaster Trail schedule is the BASS Masters Classic.  And today in 1982 BASS Masters Classic we provide a look into that season-ending event and how it played out.

For the second year in a row, the Classic was held on the home waters of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society, the Alabama River, also known as Lake Montgomery.  The year prior, a 21-year-old rookie by the name of Stanley Mitchell won the event by the margin of only 15 ounces.

Mitchell’s tactics involved casting a Bomber Model A crankbait and a Luhr Jensen spoon on sand bars outside of creek mouths on the main river.  If not for the help of a 6-03 Hail Mary lunker, things would have been different.  But so is the competition at the BASS Masters Classic – it’s never over until the last fish is weighed.

This year seemed like it would be more of the same.  Anglers would concentrate on main-river structure and it’d be a fight to the finish.  One caveat, though, was 20 extra miles of the river were opened for competition.  This would spread the anglers out more and provide more fishable water.

Of the 41 contestants who qualified, 28 anglers had already experienced The Classic.  There were two 11-time Classic qualifiers (Roland Martin and Ricky Green), one 9-time Classic qualifier (Rick Clunn who had won back-to-back in 76 and 77), and 10 others who’d fished the event at least 5 times.  The field was stacked.

Let’s move onto the event.

Practice    1982 BASS Masters Classic

Prior to the actual competition days, the anglers were afforded a day and a half to get familiar with the waters and try to find some willing fish.  The weather was cool for the time of the year, windy, and wet.  Also in the mix was the water flow as it changed every day, causing major fluctuations in the level from one day to the next.  Because of this, most anglers had a hard time finding fish.

Another problem was the 14-inch size limit.  The river was filled with spotted bass, of which most would not meet the required size.  This was looking to be another tight event where one big fish could make one lucky angler the hero.

Day 1      1982 BASS Masters Classic

As happens more times than not, the first day of competition anglers woke to clear skies as a cold front had pushed through the area overnight.  By the end of competition on the first day, Billy Noah was in the lead with six bass (7-fish daily limit) that pulled the scales down to 12-02.  In the second spot was Guy Eaker who’d reported catching 27 fish the day prior on crankbaits.  Eaker’s four bass weighed 11-04.  Bill Ward, of Bass Buster Lures and the son of fishing great Virgil Ward, took up the third position with four bass that weighed 10-12.

Ron Shearer (4th place) and Paul Elias (5th) rounded out the top-5 with 10-09 and 8-12 respectively.

Eaker surmised that his fish had moved due to the lack of current and the water level dropping 18 inches overnight.  There is probably some truth to that as he had been catching his fish tight to the bank to get out of the current.

To show how tough the first day was, nine anglers blanked on the first day.

Elias’ technique for cranking the bait would become a national trend after this event.  Using a long Lew’s cranking rod, Elias would kneel on the deck of his boat, place the rod into the water and reel.  It became known as Kneeling and Reeling, and although the technique can be found in books from as far back as 1960, it had never been broadcast to the public before on this scale.

Dowden, on the other hand, fished the area from upstream, making slightly downstream casts and working the same area.  Dowden was throwing a Bagley’s DB-2 and DB-3 crankbait on the sand bar but would also venture into shallow water to flip a jig, which is how he caught the 6-01 on the second day.  The two worked together, sharing the water as best possible.

Chancellor, who finished in second place, was up to his old tricks with his Do-Nothing worm and rig.  It accounted for his fish on the first day of competition but through a bit of luck on the second day, he switched to a spoon to boat his 7-fish limit.  He also relied on a crankbait for some of his fish.

That about ends a look at the 1981/82 Bassmaster Tournament Trail.  For a complete list of the final standings and box score, please see the table below.

If you’re interested in reading the first four parts of this series you can see them at these links:

• 1982 Bassmaster Trail Part 1
• 1982 Bassmaster Trail Part 2
• Meet the Hemphill Gang
• 1982 Bassmaster Classic Contenders