Chris Lane wins Bassmaster Classic
BY KELLY BOSTIAN World Outdoors Writer
Monday, February 27, 2012
2/27/12 at 3:42 AM
SHREVEPORT, La. - Chris Lane's dream came true in a shower of glitter with love and family bonds sparkling in the spotlight of bass fishing's largest stage.
He owns the title of 2012 Bassmaster Classic champion.
Lane, of Guntersville, Ala., claimed the $500,000 first prize and iconic trophy with a three-day catch of 15 fish for a total of 51 pounds, 6 ounces pulled from the Red River at host cities Shreveport and Bossier City.
Next year's Bassmaster Classic is set for Tulsa and Grand Lake, Feb. 22-24.
Lane and his brother Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla., were the first brothers to enter the last day of the Classic in the top echelon, known as The Super Six.
Bobby Lane had a tough day on the river and fell to 20th place in the standings, but he hung backstage to watch his brother's weigh-in. As the results became known, he was first on stage and the brothers embraced in a bear hug.
Chris Lane spoke of a dream come true and commitment to family.
"The good Lord upstairs, you listen to him and good things happen," he said. Recalling older times on stage, he said, "Me and my brother used to watch 'Good Times,' after we had our homework done, and sit there and watch 'Classic' if it was on, watching our heroes."
He said the win was for his family. Before taking his wife and children in his trailered boat for the "victory lap" around Shreveport's CenturyLink Center, he said, "There is nothing more important in my life." The best part of the win was "to put them in that boat with the dreams that I wanted to make come true for them."
The Lane brothers had qualified for the Classic together before, in 2008. This year was only Chris' second Classic appearance.
Greg Vinson, of Wetumpka, Ala., landed in second place with 47 pounds, 15 ounces. In third place was crowd favorite Keith Poche, a Louisiana native who recently moved to Pike Road, Ala. He held on to finish with 45 pounds, 15 ounces.
Oklahoma's Edwin Evers of Talala fell to eighth place on the final day but, as he said, "in the Classic, anything other than winning is a disappointment."
The veteran angler said he had no regrets looking back on his 11th shot at the Classic.
He said going into the last two days that the world's grandest bass tournament is never won without taking some chances. Evers' plan was to hit an area where he knew he could land a few bass and then run to a spot he knew no one had fished. He took a chance to move and find some bigger bass.
"It was an area where I thought I could win where the fish just hadn't showed up yet because it was either cold or too muddy," he said. "But it ended up I only caught two and they weren't very big."
Water in the river had climbed into the 60-degree range during the tournament and bass were moving up into the shallows to spawn. Typically the male bass, which are generally smaller, move into an area first to establish spawning beds and fat egg-bearing females come in later. "That's exactly the situation," Evers said. "It was just a day or two away."
2012 Bassmaster Classic final results
| | Day 1 | | Day 2 | | Day 3 | | Total |
| | Fish | Weight | Fish | Weight | Fish | Weight | Fish | Weight |
| 1. | Chris Lane | 5 | 16-4 | 5 | 19-4 | 5 | 15-14 | 15 | 51-6 |
| 2. | Greg Vinson | 5 | 17-12 | 5 | 16-12 | 5 | 13-7 | 15 | 47-15 |
| 3. | Keith Poche | 5 | 17-13 | 5 | 11-8 | 5 | 16-10 | 15 | 45-15 |
| 4. | Alton Jones | 5 | 13-13 | 5 | 17-14 | 5 | 14-3 | 15 | 45-14 |
| 5. | Ott DeFoe | 5 | 16-6 | 5 | 11-1 | 5 | 17-7 | 15 | 44-14 |
| 6. | Timmy Horton | 5 | 10-11 | 5 | 17-14 | 5 | 16-4 | 15 | 44-13 |
| 7. | Dustin Wilks | 5 | 16-9 | 5 | 13-10 | 5 | 14-9 | 15 | 44-12 |
| 8. | Edwin Evers | 5 | 16-3 | 5 | 14-4 | 5 | 13-1 | 15 | 43-8 |
| 9. | Todd Faircloth | 5 | 9-9 | 5 | 18-12 | 5 | 12-10 | 15 | 40-15 |
| 10. | Bill Lowen | 5 | 14-13 | 5 | 14-13 | 5 | 11-5 | 15 | 40-15 |
| 11. | Kevin VanDam | 5 | 11-0 | 5 | 13-15 | 5 | 15-11 | 15 | 40-10 |
| 12. | Aaron Martens | 5 | 13-14 | 5 | 15-11 | 5 | 11-1 | 15 | 40-10 |
| 13. | David Walker | 5 | 16-8 | 5 | 12-14 | 5 | 11-2 | 15 | 40-8 |
| 14. | Kevin Wirth | 4 | 8-15 | 5 | 15-5 | 5 | 16-4 | 14 | 40-8 |
| 15. | Takahiro Omori | 5 | 13-14 | 5 | 9-14 | 5 | 15-7 | 15 | 39-3 |
| 16. | Keith Combs | 5 | 13-9 | 5 | 15-1 | 5 | 10-4 | 15 | 38-14 |
| 17. | Davy Hite | 5 | 13-8 | 5 | 12-14 | 5 | 12-2 | 15 | 38-8 |
| 18. | Brent Chapman | 5 | 11-14 | 5 | 15-10 | 5 | 10-13 | 15 | 38-5 |
| 19. | Matt Reed | 5 | 14-8 | 5 | 12-12 | 5 | 10-9 | 15 | 37-13 |
| 20. | Bobby Lane | 5 | 16-4 | 5 | 14-8 | 2 | 5-14 | 12 | 36-10 |
| 21. | Jamie Horton | 5 | 14-15 | 3 | 9-0 | 5 | 11-0 | 13 | 34-15 |
| 22. | Greg Hackney | 5 | 13-15 | 5 | 9-14 | 5 | 10-11 | 15 | 34-8 |
| 23. | Chris Price | 5 | 10-7 | 5 | 13-10 | 5 | 9-15 | 15 | 34-0 |
| 24. | Stephen Browning | 5 | 11-3 | 5 | 12-12 | 4 | 10-0 | 14 | 33-15 |
| 25. | Josh Polfer | 5 | 11-3 | 5 | 13-1 | 3 | 5-1 | 13 | 29-5 |
| 26. | Michael Iaconelli | 5 | 10-7 | 5 | 13-5 | | | 10 | 23-12 |
| 27. | Jeff Kriet | 5 | 10-6 | 5 | 12-4 | | | 10 | 22-10 |
| 28. | Gerald Swindle | 5 | 8-12 | 4 | 13-6 | | | 9 | 22-2 |
| 29. | Marty Robinson | 5 | 12-8 | 5 | 9-7 | | | 10 | 21-15 |
| 30. | John Crews | 5 | 11-15 | 5 | 9-14 | | | 10 | 21-13 |
| 31. | Andrew Upshaw | 5 | 12-8 | 5 | 7-9 | | | 10 | 20-1 |
| 32. | Fletcher Shryock | 5 | 10-3 | 5 | 9-10 | | | 10 | 19-13 |
| 33. | Dean Rojas | 2 | 6-0 | 5 | 13-7 | | | 7 | 19-7 |
| 34. | Matt McCoy | 1 | 1-14 | 5 | 17-7 | | | 6 | 19-5 |
| 35. | Jared Lintner | 3 | 6-8 | 5 | 12-5 | | | 8 | 18-13 |
| 36. | Allan Glasgow | 5 | 10-15 | 5 | 7-10 | | | 10 | 18-9 |
| 37. | Stephen Kennedy | 5 | 11-15 | 4 | 6-9 | | | 9 | 18-8 |
| 38. | Randy Howell | 5 | 11-11 | 3 | 6-7 | | | 8 | 18-2 |
| 39. | Terry Scroggins | 5 | 14-8 | 3 | 3-9 | | | 8 | 18-1 |
| 40. | Ishama Monroe | 5 | 9-10 | 5 | 6-13 | | | 10 | 16-7 |
| 41. | Mark Tucker | 2 | 5-7 | 5 | 10-10 | | | 7 | 16-1 |
| 42. | Fred Roumbanis | 5 | 10-10 | 3 | 5-2 | | | 8 | 15-12 |
| 43. | Kelly Pratt | 1 | 1-13 | 5 | 11-8 | | | 6 | 13-5 |
| 44. | Denny Brauer | 3 | 8-13 | 1 | 3-0 | | | 4 | 11-13 |
| 45. | Tom Jessop | 5 | 10-7 | 1 | 0-14 | | | 6 | 11-5 |
| 46. | Casey Ashley | 1 | 1-11 | 4 | 7-11 | | | 5 | 9-6 |
| 47. | John Diaco | 4 | 6-12 | 1 | 2-1 | | | 5 | 8-13 |
| 48. | Brandon Palaniuk | 0 | 0-0 | 3 | 5-15 | | | 3 | 5-15 |
| 49. | Shaw E. Grigsby | 2 | 4-5 | 0 | 0-0 | | | 2 | 4-5 |
Original Print Headline: Alabama angler wins Classic
Kelly Bostian 918-581-8357
kelly.bostian@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Surrounded by confetti, Chris Lane hoists the 42nd annual Bassmaster Classic trophy during weigh-ins on Sunday. MIKE SIMONS / Tulsa World
Talala's Edwin Evers shows off fish during weigh-ins on the final day of the Bassmaster Classic on Sunday. MIKE SIMONS / Tulsa World
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