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York, S.C. – Home field advantage can be a cruel mistress. When an angler wins in his home region, the response from fans and pundits can be somewhat diminished because he should have finished high. However, the flip side is that when an angler does poorly on his home lake, he can often be questioned harshly about why he didn’t do better.
36-year-old Bassmaster Elite Series pro Jason Quinn was undoubtedly one of the favorites as the Elite Series made its last two stops at Clarks Hill and Lake Murray, only an hour and a half from his York, S.C. home. Quinn entered the last two tournaments in 30th place in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year points race, but following a pair of finishes in the 70’s, Quinn has dropped into a tie for 45th place in the standings with Evan Williams Bourbon teammate Russ Lane of Prattville, Ala.
Quinn’s experience in the region helped make him one of the favorites of fantasy team managers across the country heading into the swing through Georgia and South Carolina, and who could fault them. However, many of those same players are now looking at their rosters wondering what happened. Ever the professional, Quinn spent some time with The BASS ZONE and talked about what happened.
“I looked at these tournaments with a level of confidence that made it comfortable for me to really swing for the fences,” Quinn revealed. “It just didn’t work out like I had planned, but it was close.”
Quinn Fell Down Clarks Hill
He said that his practice at Clarks Hill left him committed to throwing swimbaits as his primary approach in Georgia. “I wasn’t getting a ton of fish each day, but the swimbait was getting five to six quality fish a day,” he said. “I had to cover a lot of areas to get those fish to bite, but I felt the big bait gave me the best chance to win the event.”
After a decent first day at The Pride of Georgia in which he weighed 12 pounds, 1-ounce, Quinn found himself in a respectable 34th place. Despite being almost 10 pounds behind the leader he was still within striking distance, particularly because he was throwing the swimbait.
However, the swimbait giveth, and can also taketh away, as it did for Quinn on the second day at Clarks Hill, as he lost a four and a five pounder and had to scramble to catch 7 pounds, 4 ounces to finish in 71st place.
Back in the Saddle at Murray
Despite a humbling finish in Georgia, Quinn once again picked up the swimbait and had what he called, “a phenomenal practice.”
“My fist day of practice in Columbia produced 28 pounds and after finding 23 schools of fish that would produce 20 pounds anywhere I went on the lake, I felt pretty good about the tournament,” said Quinn. “I was throwing a swimbait again, and the fish I found were kind of isolated because the water was so high.”
His first stop showed just how frustrating the tournament would wind up after such a productive practice. “I lost a two and a half pounder, then on my next cast hooked not one, but two six pounders, but lost them both next to the boat,” he said that wasn’t the end of the dropsy’s either. “I got another double hookup on my next cast, and lost a three and four pounder, then broke of another double hookup on my next cast; I lost fish all day.”
The South Carolina pro experienced a let down at 10:30 that first morning. “I knew I had lost the opportunity to win the tournament, and it really got me down,” Quinn said. “After all of those missed opportunities I only weighed in two fish.” He ended the first day in Columbia in 104th position.
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He started the second day knowing that he had one chance to climb back into the top 50 cut, and that was to stick with the swimbait and go after the type of fish he lost the day before. “I went to my first spot and managed to hook up with 19 bass in 15 casts,” Quinn reported. “I was only able to land five of those first 19 strikes, but caught 35 to 40 fish that day and weighed 15 pounds, 2 ounces.” His second day performance was enough to finish 74th, but oh! What might have been?
“My comfort level with these lakes made it easier for me to try and win one of them by swinging for the fences,” said Quinn. “Now, I will have to go back and fish a little more conservatively in light of how I did here.”
“It was frustrating because I was really on them at Lake Murray, but now I will just put these behind me and get ready to head to the next tournament; I’m ready for the rest of the year.” |
For more about Quinn, visit his website at:
www.jasonquinnbasspro.com
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