Classic Marshal Update: Day One

Extremely lucky to draw Chris Jones the first day. Most amazing 2 hours on the water i have ever had in my 30 years of fishing. First off let me say Chris is just the nicest guy in the world. I talked to him for 10 minutes and felt like I had known him for 10 years. He wasnt sure if he would even catch a fish. He was worried. Took off from the ramp and drove up the left arm toward the Marina, evidently quite a few were fishing that arm. We had several competitors around us. He started out throwing a buzzbait, nothing. Then spinnerbait, nothing. Then the magic happened! He made the switch to the white swim jig and it was like someone flipped a switch! Fish, fish, fish, fish all keepers in less than 10 minutes including a 4 pounder! I couldnt log them into the Basstrak App fast enough and boom theres another one! I was having trouble keeping up!LOL We have to put in whatever the angler tells us the weight is we are not allowed to adjust it at all. So thats what I did. He was pumped! High fives all around, lots of laughing and positive energy in the boat! We are not allowed to look at the standings or use our phones for anything but entering in Basstrak or Skype. All of a sudden we are skyping with the studio and Chris is talking about his day. After ward he looked at me and said I guess we are doing OK if they want to talk to me. Everything was we with him so he made me feel like I was part of the team! Awesome! Then he hooked into the big one and lost it! He was crushed! I told him not to get down that just means hes around big ones and keep going! 5 minutes later he caught a 6 pounder! It wound up being a 4lb 15oz but at that moment it looked like a 6! He had 19 pounds in Basstrak, so he was stoked! Then Robbie Floyd showed up with a camera guy and I had to get into the camera boat while the camera man got into Chris's boat. Thats where i stayed the rest of the day. Robbie Floyd is a nice guy he lives in Corinth, so hes from here. Did you know the camera boats get paid $300 a day?

To sum up the day it was well worth it for me. I talked to Brandon Palanuik, cool guy. We were next to Patrick Walters and Buddy Gross before take off. Man they razz each other, I was laughing so hard. At the end of the day Chris gave me a swag bag that his sponsors had put together for his Marshal that included a Bushnell hat and new set of binoculars! I was blown away! Chris gave me his number and told me to call him and we would go fishing sometime!!!! Awesome experience! BASS fed us a nice breakfast everyday, and a gave us a huge lunch to eat in the boat. First class all the way!

interesting read....thanks for sharing....

Sounds like a blast.

Great report and sounds like an awesome time. Glad it worked out for you.

Sounds like a nice experience.

Glad you had such an awesome experience!

Awesome report & it sounds like it was worth the early wake-up

Appreciate you taking the time to share that; good read 👍🎣

Brings back memories of the Delta when I marshalled. Makes me want to do it again.

Great write up.

Well done. Great read!

Just think if you could have camera boated one of the days, you'd only have been out $200.

Awesome!!! I was also a Marshall on Saturday and Sunday. It was definitely an experience I will never forget. AND at the Classic!!!!

Glad you got to have a great experience.

Musclelife care to share your experience? Think its pretty interesting to hear about

We watched Chris Jones some on Saturday. Saw him catch a few good ones in the morning. Saw him again at the end of the day. He idled out to the couple of spectator boats and said he was leaving for weigh in and thanked everyone for watching him. We stayed well off any of the anglers so we wouldn't disturb them. His water was probably the highest pressured in the tournament.

Absolutely Brad!!!!

I was a backup Marshal. I had to show up at 4am every day and didn't know if I was going to be chosen or not. Friday there were no backups needed. Saturday I arrived and was paired up with Tommy Williams. He qualified via the win at the Lewisville Open. When he showed up I climbed in the truck with him and we sat there until the storm passed. We chatted about all kinds of things. Super nice guy. I dumped him in the water and parked, went got in the boat, and we beached for the morning events. His first spot was only about 7-8 mins from the ramp. He was sharing water with Matsushito and Todd Auten. Tommy was pretty laid back as he had felt he had no shot to win any longer due to only catching 1 keeper on Friday. He proceeded to land his first keeper a few mins in and was steadily catching fish all morning. He had his limit by about 11am and was culling by 12. He mainly flipped brush and threw a swim jig. His best 2 fish came on the swim jig. He chatted with me all day long. Best part of the day was his first keeper. He said..."now I get to walk onto that stage and hold a fish up for everyone." This was his first classic and he was so pumped to just be there and not have the walk of shame.

Saturday night I got a phone call from the Marshal coordinator and she asked if I wanted to go Sunday. Of course I said yes. I was paired up with Jeff Gussy Gustafson. I was super pumped because he's strong at off shore fishing and I knew the weather was going to put that as an option as opposed to flipping bushes. Same morning process took place but this time the Johnston brothers, Chris Jones, Chad Pipkens, Bill Wilcox and several of the BASS TV personalities were surrounding Gussy's boat and chatting. They pulled Jones off to do his interview and we were all just sitting there enjoying it. All those guys are just every day joes like us but they fish on the highest stage. I watched all these pros pull out baits and such to sign for kiddos that were walking around. They ALL stopped every time and posed for pictures and high fives. This made my weekend. The fans were truly what it's all about for them and they all are motivated by that.

We launched and ran to our first spot which was up shallow. Gussy stuck 2 short fish pretty quickly. As we rounded this point, He spotted Chris Jones on the adjacent point about 400yds away or so. He said, "This is Jones' area, we're leaving." We proceeded to head over to the marina area. As we ran around that point, Cherry was fishing by the state park ramp right there. We had to maneuver around about 30 spectator boats to get into the marina. We were in there for about 20 mins when we spotted Chris Johnston. Gussy pulled up the TM and we left again. He said, "Chris has a shot, I'm not messing that up." This same scenario happened 3-4 more times during the say. I can't say more to the courteous nature of Gussy and how he handled it.

While I don't feel like I learned anything from either pro that I was fortunate enough to ride along with, I have to say one thing: The precision with which they conduct their day is what sets them apart. The way they operated their boats, perfect. The way their boats were organized, perfect. Both of these guys were almost perfect with their pitching and flipping. Their baits entered the water so quietly and effortless. I firmly believe that's one main reason why they got so many bites compared to what I would normally get in a day there at RR. THAT was my take-a-way. Precision and Accuracy is a must.

The front row seat to the Classic was something I will cherish for the rest of my life. I would highly encourage everyone to take the opportunity to do this if possible. I know I will do it again if I ever get the opportunity.

Man. These experiences make me feel a little jealous. Sounds like it was a fun time. I have only fished in tourneys, and it usually ain’t fun…contrary to what some would think. It’s work. Just riding around with a pro in the biggest tourney in bass fishing, without a care in the world would be cool.

Did you ask him. Beans or no beans in chilli ?

Very cool experience.

great write up....appreciate you sharing your experience with us.....did you have to pay to be a back up marshal?.....

Chris Jones is a super good guy and this lake set up perfect for him. When he gets the swim jig out he’s getting ready to do damage.

Thanks for sharing the experience!

No sir. Backups do not pay. However, you have to show up regardless if you get a spot or not. This is the same process they follow for all elite events. The folks who paid to be marshals are guaranteed a practice day and the first two days of the competition. From there different process takes place where backups and Nation members get priority. Any given event BASS needs 8-10 backups and most often all will get at least 1 day to go....pretty cool deal. Im thankful.

Wow, great read guys.

Great experience for you. Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing.