After winning the Bassmaster Classic at Lake Hartwell on March 6, Jason Christie had an understandable hiccup at Santee Cooper Lakes, where practice began a week after the Classic. Christie caught one bass over two days at Santee Cooper and finished next-to-last, 93rd. That may have served to unleash the beast, and Christie is already enough of a beast without extra motivation. The 49-year-old Park Hill, Okla., pro has won three Elite Series tournaments in his previous seven years on the tour, and he’s got 29 top 10 BASS finishes.
After Santee Cooper, Christie noted that by winning the Classic, his berth in the 2023 Classic is assured, and falling down to 68th place in the 2022 AOY standings made “fishing for points” meaningless. The goal for the remainder of the Elite Series season is another victory, or two. Simple as that.
“I get to treat every one of these as a single tournament, and I love it,” Christie said. “It gives me freedom.”
Christie is fishing free today. After finishing Day 1 in 26th place with 16-0, Christie has moved into the top 5 on BassTrakk with 17-3 today.
