With Clarks Hill churning out a tough-as-nails bite this week; it's no surprise that a local angler would be in the catbird's seat as the Pride of Georgia bass fishing tournament winds down. Enter Jason Williamson: a Wagener, S.C., rising pro who cut his teeth on the sprawling reservoir. Williamson, a one-time Bassmaster Elite Series winner, dug deep into his bank of intimate, local knowledge, improving his haul each day of competition to finally overtake the lead with a 45-pound, 12-ounce, three-day total.
Williamson started the event in 23rd Thursday, moved up to fifth Friday, and seized a relative sizable margin - more than 4 pounds - after toting 19 pounds, 2 ounces, to the scales Saturday. The early bite has been key for Williamson - ditto for the entire field - and Saturday's early flurry produced a 7-12 brute, the biggest bass of the tournament, within Williamson's first 10 casts.
The 29-year-old said that he has a 30- to 40-minute window to compile his weight once he arrives at his spot first thing in the morning. With a long run upriver, it takes Williamson that long to get to his spot.
"It means everything in the world to be able to do this in front of the hometown crowd," said Williamson. "It's just incredible to be able to catch such a big fish right off the bat. But it's going to be hard to duplicate, especially if it gets sunny Sunday."
Sunday will be the final day of competition and only the top 12 anglers qualified. Williamson's closest threat, Elite rookie Cliff Crochet of Pierre Part, La., has exhibited consistency in building his three-day total to 41 pounds, 9 ounces, but still has significant ground to make up.
While most in the field have given up on the productive blueback herring spawn, Williamson noted that it hasn't tinkered out quite yet. That has been evident in his spot, which is an area that he found in his formative fishing years.
Although Williamson is hoping for clouds Sunday, he feels that he can catch fish in any conditions. Good thing, too, as the weather forecast is calling for constant sunshine throughout Sunday.
Heading into his sixth tournament, Williamson has had a feast or famine type year in his 2010 Elite campaign. He tiptoed around scoring victory at Smith Mountain Lake, the fourth event of the season, eventually relenting to Skeet Reese, who was in the midst of his unprecedented run. But he has also missed the cut in the three other events.
Add it all up and Williamson was outside the Bassmaster Classic qualifying cutline, in 46th in the Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings, heading into this week. All that will change, however, Sunday no matter how Williamson closes.
Crochet, too, has had an up-and-down rookie campaign thus far. Crochet kicked off the year with a disappointing 78th place. But he has showed his true chops since, making three of four cuts and contending this week. He headed into this week in 56th in the AOY standings, 10 spots behind Bradley Roy of Lancaster, Ky. Based on a top finish Sunday, he has the potential to overtake Roy in the Rookie of the Year race.
Paired with the typical early bite, Crochet is also relying on a later bite each day. His lull, from 9 a.m. from 12:30, is testing his patience, but Crochet is dealing with it like a veteran.
"You can't let things affect you out there," said Crochet, 26. "I'm staying positive and that's about all you can do."
Crochet, a sheriff's deputy with the Assumption Parish (La.) Sheriff's Office, indicated he is using a frog in shallow areas.
Friday leader Terry Scroggins of Palatka, Fla., slipped to third after failing to execute the two biggest bites he enticed Saturday. His 39-12 total put him more than 3 pounds ahead of Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C., who posted 36-11.
Ashley is in the same area with Williamson but both are working cordially. Rounding out the top five was Derek Remitz of Grant, Ala., with 35-15. Remitz has moved up one spot in the standings after each day of competition.
Other notables in the cutline were brothers Chris (seventh) and Bobby (10th) Lane. By way of a three-way tiebreaker, Matt Reed of Weatherford, Texas, took the last qualifying position. Considering Reed's luck with past tiebreakers - he has been the last man out of the Classic on two occasions - the news was welcome.
Along with the top prize of $100,000, the Pride of Georgia awards valuable points in the 2010 Bassmaster Angler of the Year race. The top 12 pros in the AOY standings at the end of the regular season will advance to the 2010 Bassmaster Elite Series postseason, in which the Bassmaster Angler of the Year will be determined. The top 36 will qualify for the 2011 Bassmaster Classic.
Defending champion Kenyon Hill, who won in 2008, finished 14th.
Clarks Hill is a 71,535-acre fishery, an impoundment 39 miles in length located 22 miles north of Augusta. It forms part of the border between Georgia and South Carolina and is renowned for its topwater fishing.
The public is invited to attend the Pride of Georgia's final-day launch at 6:10 a.m. ET at Wildwood Park, 6212 Holloway Rd., Appling, Ga., 30802. Also free and open to the public, the final-day weigh-ins are set for 3:30 p.m. at Wildwood Park.
2010 Evans, GA 5/20-5/23 Clarks Hill Lake, Evans GA. (PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 4 Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$ 1. Jason Williamson Aiken, SC 20 53-06 310 $101,500.00 Day 1: 5 12-03 Day 2: 5 14-07 Day 3: 5 19-02 Day 4: 5 07-10 2. Cliff Crochet Pierre Part, LA 20 53-04 295 $25,000.00 Day 1: 5 12-07 Day 2: 5 14-14 Day 3: 5 14-04 Day 4: 5 11-11 3. Terry Scroggins San Mateo, FL 20 48-09 295 $20,000.00 Day 1: 5 17-01 Day 2: 5 12-06 Day 3: 5 10-05 Day 4: 5 08-13 4. Matt Reed Madisonville, TX 20 47-13 285 $15,000.00 Day 1: 5 09-09 Day 2: 5 10-00 Day 3: 5 12-07 Day 4: 5 15-13 5. Gary Klein Weatherford, TX 19 43-11 280 $14,000.00 Day 1: 5 13-14 Day 2: 5 10-13 Day 3: 5 09-06 Day 4: 4 09-10 6. Derek Remitz Grant, AL 20 43-08 276 $13,500.00 Day 1: 5 14-04 Day 2: 5 11-04 Day 3: 5 10-07 Day 4: 5 07-09 7. Casey Ashley Donalds, SC 20 43-02 272 $13,000.00 Day 1: 5 08-03 Day 2: 5 15-05 Day 3: 5 13-03 Day 4: 5 06-07 8. Mark Davis Mount Ida, AR 19 43-00 268 $12,500.00 Day 1: 5 14-12 Day 2: 5 12-05 Day 3: 4 06-08 Day 4: 5 09-07 9. Tommy Biffle Wagoner, OK 18 41-14 264 $12,000.00 Day 1: 5 15-13 Day 2: 5 13-09 Day 3: 3 04-04 Day 4: 5 08-04 10. Terry Butcher Talala, OK 18 37-03 260 $11,500.00 Day 1: 5 12-10 Day 2: 5 11-10 Day 3: 4 08-02 Day 4: 4 04-13 11. Chris Lane Guntersville, AL 18 36-10 257 $11,000.00 Day 1: 5 13-11 Day 2: 5 10-00 Day 3: 5 10-05 Day 4: 3 02-10 12. Bobby Lane Lakeland, FL 15 32-08 254 $10,500.00 Day 1: 5 13-09 Day 2: 5 10-13 Day 3: 5 08-02 Day 4: 0 00-00 BIG BASS OF TOURNAMENT Jason Williamson Aiken, SC 07-12 $1,000.00 BERKLEY HEAVYWEIGHT OF TOURN Jason Williamson Aiken, SC 19-02 $500.00 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals Day #Limits #Fish Weight 1 75 430 865-09 2 73 418 791-06 3 32 207 370-08 4 8 51 92-11 ---------------------------------- 188 1106 2120-02 2010 BASSMASTER ANGLER OF THE YEAR STANDINGS GA Pro Points After Clarks Hill Lake ------------------------------------------- Place Name St Pts ------------------------------------------- 1 Skeet Reese Calif. 1642 2 Edwin Evers Okla. 1464 3 Derek Remitz Ala. 1393 4 Gary Klein Texas 1382 5 Cliff Pace Miss. 1381 6 Dave Wolak N.C. 1361 7 Brian Snowden Mo. 1353 8 Mark Davis Ark. 1338 9 Jeff Kriet Okla. 1336 10 Dean Rojas Ariz. 1334 11 John Crews Va. 1333 12 Greg Hackney La. 1327 13 Michael Iaconelli N.J. 1322 14 Terry Butcher Okla. 1316 15 Aaron Martens Ala. 1308 16 Tommy Biffle Okla. 1296 17 Bill Lowen Ohio 1289 18 Steve Kennedy Ala. 1265 19 Bobby Lane Fla. 1264 20 Morizo Shimizu Japan 1262 21 Stephen Browning Ark. 1259 22 Mike McClelland Ark. 1256 23 Russ Lane Ala. 1253 24 Jason Williamson S.C. 1241 25 Todd Faircloth Texas 1230 26 Kevin VanDam Mich. 1229 27 Kevin Wirth Ky. 1212 28 Shaw Grigsby Fla. 1210 29 Jared Lintner Calif. 1209 30 Scott Rook Ark. 1200 31 Greg Vinson Ala. 1198 32 Gerald Swindle Ala. 1191 33 Clark Reehm Ark. 1188 34 Terry Scroggins Fla. 1182 35 Denny Brauer Mo. 1169 36 Cliff Crochet La. 1158 37 Brent Chapman Kan. 1139 38 Matt Herren Ala. 1133 39 James Niggemeyer Texas 1131 40 Boyd Duckett Ala. 1127 41 Billy McCaghren Ark. 1120 42 Paul Elias Miss. 1113 43 Mark Tucker Mo. 1112 43 Ish Monroe Calif. 1112 45 Guy Eaker N.C. 1103 45 Alton Jones Texas 1103 47 Casey Ashley S.C. 1099 48 Davy Hite S.C. 1095 49 Bradley Roy Ky. 1085 50 Kelly Jordon Texas 1082 51 Matt Reed Texas 1079 52 Zell Rowland Texas 1073 53 Dustin Wilks N.C. 1067 54 Pat Golden N.C. 1060 55 Marty Robinson S.C. 1049 56 Takahiro Omori Texas 1048 57 Randy Howell Ala. 1042 58 Kotaro Kiriyama Ala. 1036 59 Mark Menendez Ky. 1032 60 Jason Quinn S.C. 1010 61 Timmy Horton Ala. 1008 62 Charlie Hartley Ohio 1004 63 Kevin Short Ark. 1000 64 J Todd Tucker Ga. 998 65 Kenyon Hill Okla. 996 66 Fred Roumbanis Okla. 991 67 Rick Clunn Mo. 981 68 Bernie Schultz Fla. 980 69 Byron Velvick Texas 973 70 Peter Thliveros Fla. 960 70 Pete Ponds Miss. 960 72 Bradley Hallman Okla. 958 72 Marty Stone N.C. 958 74 Rick Morris Va. 956 75 Jeff Connella La. 954 76 Grant Goldbeck Md. 952 77 Mark Tyler Okla. 950 77 Chris Lane Ala. 950 79 John Murray Ariz. 916 80 Dennis Tietje La. 910 81 Wade Grooms S.C. 902 82 Matt Greenblatt Fla. 872 83 Chad Griffin Texas 854 84 Vince Fulks Okla. 846 85 Jami Fralick S.D. 842 86 Britt Myers S.C. 822 87 Yusuke Miyazaki Texas 814 88 Keith Poche Ala. 781 89 Mark Burgess Mass. 746 90 Byron Haseotes Mass. 736 91 David Smith Okla. 722 92 Jeremy Starks W.Va. 660 93 Scott Ashmore Okla. 636