By DOUG GRAHAM on Jul 21, 2012, at 6:09 PM Updated on 7/21 at 6:10 PM
Oklahoma Angler Jason Christie of Park Hill is, officially, the first Oklahoma pro to land a spot in the 2013 Bassmaster Classic set for Grand Lake in February.
Christie, who lists Grand as his favorite fishing lake, pounded smallmouth bass in the Bassmaster Northern Open on Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River out of Detroit this week.
On the weigh-in stage Saturday afternoon, Christie downplayed any local advantage on Grand and said the fishery in northeast Oklahoma is a lot like the one at Lake St. Clair, where “there are just a lot of fish.”
Christie was in second place in the tournament from Day One, trailing local Brian Metry of Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich. by just a few ounces each day. Close on Christie’s heels was another local, Brian Ward.
At Saturday’s weigh-in Ward took the early lead with five fish weighing 21 pounds, 10 ounces and a total of 65 pounds 9 ounces for the three-day tournament.
Christie needed 21-3 to overtake his closest competitorn and he smashed the scale with a 22-pound bag stuffed with Lake St. Clair bronzebacks.
Metry fell short after his motor went out on the way to his fishing spot in the morning. Metry said a friend brought out a boatn but he didn’t make it to his spot until 9:30 a.m. Metry said the breakdown put him behind and the new boat handicapped him because he didn’t have his GPS waypoints and the trolling motor was a different brand and took time to get used to. He had 17 pounds on the final day and took fourth place overall.
BASS Elite pro angler Edwin Evers of Talala is the other Oklahoma pro set to fish the 2013 Classic. He will qualify on points, but those results are not official until the BASS Elite series is completed in August.
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