BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Three Arkansans will compete for one of the top prizes in professional bass fishing this weekend in the Bassmaster Classic at Lake Guntersville, Ala.
Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Stephen Browning of Hot Springs and Doug Thompson of Mabelvale will represent Arkansas in the 55-angler field that will compete for a prize purse of more than $1 million in the oldest and most prestigious bass fishing championship.
The champion will win$300,000 and an automatic berth in the 2015 Classic at Greensboro, N.C. Weigh-ins will be at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.
Lake Guntersville is a 69,000-acre impoundment of the Tennessee River and has hosted 21 Bassmaster tournaments since 1976, including the 1976 Classic.
Davis, who is fishing in his 17th Classic, won the event in 1995. He also has won three Bassmaster Angler of the Year titles, making him the most decorated Arkansan in the field. He said it will take a lot of 6-pound bass to win this tournament.
“Guntersville is probably the best lake in the world,” Davis said. “With all these warm days in a row, the fishing should be outstanding.”
Browning is competing in his ninth Classic. He said he has reduced 69,000 acres down to several hundred, but that he’ll milk every ounce from those areas that he can.
“I’m a guy that likes to sit my boat down and fish,” Browning said. “I’m not a run-and-gun guy. I’m going to pick apart the areas I found in practice. If things aren’t going right, I won’t do anything crazy.
“In past Classics I tried to fish everything I found over four days of practice. This year I’m not going to do that.”
Browning said his goal is to catch 30 pounds per day. That would shatter the Classic record of 69-11 set by Van-Dam in the 2011 Classic in the Louisiana Delta.
“People think I’m crazy when I say that,” Browning said. “I’m not saying it’s going to take 90 pounds to win, but if I catch 90, I’m sure I will win.”
Browning is riding a wave, having finished second in his past two events at Ross Barnett Reservoir in Mississippi and at Lake Amistad in Texas.
“I’m tired of coming in second,” he said.
Thompson said he believes winning will require catching at least 25 pounds per day. That will be hard on a lake where Thompson has little experience, but he said he has found some areas where he believes he can be competitive.
Even though the Classic is the biggest stage in bass fishing, Thompson said it’s just like any other tournament.
“It’s different in that one night I’m having dinner sitting next to Kevin VanDam,” said Thompson, who qualified for the Classic by winning the Central Division title in the BASS Nation Championship at Lake Dardanelle on Oct. 26. “But in the end it all comes down to who brings in the best weight.”At a glance WHERE Lake Guntersville, Ala.
WHEN Friday-Sunday WEIGH-INS Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, Birmingham, Ala.
PRIZE PURSE $1,051,500, with the winner earning $300,000 FIELD 55 anglers from the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bassmaster Open Series, BASS Nation Championships and Bassmaster College Series ARKANSANS Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Stephen Browning of Hot Springs and Doug Thompson of Mabelvale
Sports, Pages 26 on 02/21/2014