1982 Bassmaster Trail Part 2

Earlier this week we posted the first part of a look back on the 1982 Bassmaster Trail.  Today in 1982 Bassmaster Trail Part 2, we continue the story.  This year’s Trail was again divided up into two divisions, Leagues as B.A.S.S. called them, and anglers had three different opportunities to qualify for the BASS Masters Classic.  First, they could qualify through a respective League, East or West, or through the overall Angler of the Year race, which took the top-15 anglers that fished both Leagues and the BASS Champs event.

Qualifications for the Classic were as such.

Top-15 from the overall Angler of the Year Race

Top-10 from each the Eastern and Western Leagues

Five more anglers were also given berths through the Chapter Federation Divisional Championships.

Defending Champion Stanley Mitchell had an automatic berth, which brought the total number of contestants to 41.

In the event of double qualifiers between the AOY and Leagues, the Top-15 from the AOY race was fixed and the rest of the contestants would be picked from the Leagues based on their overall standing after BASS Champs.

This format was designed to get more participation from local anglers throughout the season, with the carrot being a Classic Berth.  The format wasn’t liked by the fulltime pros who committed to the entire season.

Before we get on to discussing each event, let’s look at the remaining schedule after the halfway mark.

Missouri Invitational, Lake of the Ozarks, April 21-23, 1982

South Carolina – Hungry Fisherman Invitational, Lake Wylie, May 26-28, 1982

Alabama Invitational, Lake Eufaula, June 16-18, 1982

BASS Champs Cincinnati Invitational, Ohio River, July 21-23, 1982

Unfortunately, the coverage for the second half of the year was abysmal in Bassmaster Magazine.  The only event they gave any coverage to was the Missouri Invitational held on Lake of the Ozarks.  The South Carolina, Alabama, and BASS Champs events were all covered on one page in the September/October 1982 issue of Bassmaster Magazine, where they only posted the Final Standings and Box Score.

Because of the lack of coverage, all we have to offer here are the standings for the last three events and a little synopsis by yours truly

Let’s move on to the events.

Missouri Invitational Western League, Lake of the Ozarks

The Missouri Invitational was held on famed Lake of the Ozarks.  It would be the third time in as many years that B.A.S.S. would venture to the lake, where the event had become known as the Guido Hibdon Benefit Tournament.

But Guido, a guide on the lake and three-year Bassmaster veteran, wouldn’t find his luck this year.  Instead, Randy Behringer of Texas, was the eventual winner.  Behringer was able to pattern just enough fish to outdistance Rick Clunn by a total of 1-03.

Behringer found his fish on chunk rock and appears to be the only angler to do so.  Others targeted wood and Behringer noted that after two days of practice, every fish has been hooked or caught on the wood.  Hence his feeling to move off the wood and target rock.  He made the right choice.

Lake of the Ozark’s daily bag limit was five fish and they had to be 15 inches or longer.  This automatically eliminates a lot of fish with restrictions like that.  Over the course of three days, only 884 bass were weighed in by the 271 anglers who entered the event.  That’s slightly over one fish per angler per day.

But, if you look at the average weight of each fish weighed, 2.96 pounds, it tells the story of how good lake management can elevate a fishery.

After the last fish was weighed, Behringer has 11 bass for a total of 41-09.  Rick Clunn took second with 13 fish weighing 40-06.  Jimmy Crisp, who would go on a couple years later and popularize what would become known as the “jerkbait,” place third with 39-13 (12 fish).  Rounding out the top-5 were Basil Bacon and Kelous “Bub” Kizer who weighed in 37-14 and 37-11 respectively.

For the Top-40 final standings and Box Score for this event please see the table below.

Also, this marked the final regular-season event for the Western League.  Only the BASS Champs event remained and that would decide the 10 anglers who would qualify for the BASS Masters Classic from the West.  To see the Top-20 in the West, please see the table below.

Noah committed to the Eastern League for 1981/82 and started out with a fourth-place finish at Okeechobee, weighing 46-10.  After a solid start in Florida, he’d head back north, to waters he was more familiar with.

Wylie turned out to be his event, one that would solidify his spot in the 12th BASS Masters Classic.  After three days of competition, Noah weighed the heaviest bag, 54-02 (18 fish), and walked away with 1st place and $12,000 in cash and prizes.  Through two events, he’d amassed 100-12 and was atop the leader board in the Eastern League.

Larry Nixon placed second in the event with 43-04 (20 fish) and Rick Clunn placed third with 39-08 (14 fish).  Blake Honeycutt and George Bost rounded out the Top-5 with 39-02 and 38-02 respectively.

The season was turning out to be a burner for Toledo Bend guide, Larry Nixon.  Out of five events spread over two Leagues, Nixon had a win (Bistineau), a 2nd (Wylie), a 3rd (Okeechobee), and two other top-30 finishes at Toledo Bend and Lake of the Ozarks.  In league play, he was in second place behind Billy Noah with 92-05 in the Eastern League, 5th place in the Western League with 93-10, and was leading the overall Angler of the Year standing by a little over 2 pounds with 185-15.

Complete standings for the Wylie event are shown below in the table along with the Eastern League Standings after two events and Overall Angler of the Year Standings after five events.

After three days of competition, Craft won the event with 68-08 more than lapping Larry Nixon, who weighed a total of 31-07.  This gave Craft a total of 116-09 heading into the final event of the season, the BASS Champs, to be held on the Ohio River.

As for the angler who Craft beat on Eufaula, Larry Nixon, his second-place finish would place him further in the lead for the Eastern League with 123-12 and give him an almost insurmountable lead in the AOY race with 217-05.  Tommy Martin (192-03) was the only angler who could possibly catch him but that would require a Hail Mary catch on the stingy Ohio River and total failure for Nixon.

For the Top-40 standings from the Eufaula event, the Eastern Standing, and the overall AOY standins, please see the tables below.

To see the final standings of the BASS Champs event please see the table below.  Also, there are tables for the final East/West Standings and overall Angler of the Year Standings.

Looking at the standings it’s easy to understand why some of the full-time pros were upset with the Classic Qualification rules.  Randy Fite was first out of the race in the overall AOY even after catching a total weight of 107-08 and financing seven total events.  The same can be said for all the anglers who finished in 35th place or above in the overall AOY race.

Another thing I haven’t mentioned throughout this whole analysis is the lack of Gary Klein in the standings.  Klein only fished on event this season, Toledo Bend, where he placed 38th.  That’s not a bad start to a season, especially after his making the first two Classics from 1979 to 1980.  He missed the 1981 Classic due to the new rules on qualifying.

But is that the full reason why Klein opted out of the 1981/82 Bassmaster Trail?

The partial answer to that is Western Bass Fishing Association (WBFA), where Klein cut his teeth in competitive bass fishing, had been bought and the new owners were going to take on Ray Scott and B.A.S.S.  They lured him away from the Bassmaster Trail with promises of the same pay and closer to home.  Already having a sour taste in your mouth and the promise to make as much money on a new upstart national trail played a huge part in Klein’s leaving B.A.S.S.  But, as you’ll see, it wouldn’t be for long.

That about does it for the analysis of the second half of the 1981/82 Bassmaster Trail.  Next on the docket for the 1982 season is a special on a group of anglers out of Hemphill, Texas who were turning the trail on its ear.  It’s the first uttering of the group, and a name that would become legendary in the sport of competitive bass fishing.

To read Part 1 of this series, please click here.