Winchester, Tenn. — Aaron Jagdfeld fell just short of qualifying for the Bassmaster Classic earlier this year, but this week he is trying to make the most of a second chance.
The Adrian College graduate caught the heaviest bag of Day 1 at the Bassmaster College Classic Bracket presented by Lew’s, a five-bass limit measuring 14 pounds, 13 ounces, putting him in prime position to advance to the bracket portion of the event.
Jagdfeld, who finished second to Bassmaster Elite Series angler Jay Przekurat at the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Lake St. Clair presented by SEVIIN, holds a 9-ounce advantage over Emmanuel University’s Dylan Akins, but more importantly has a more than 6-pound advantage over Emmanuel’s Chase Carey, who is currently the first man out of the cut.
“I really don’t have a (weight goal) I’m focusing on for tomorrow,” he said. “I’m just going to try and catch five and then run all new water to try and find some new stuff for Days 3 and 4. But I’m going to worry about catching five bass, and that should give me a good shot at getting in.”
Anglers were dealt an unusual set of circumstances on Day 1 as the strong remnants of Hurricane Helene pushed their way through southern Tennessee. The start of the tournament was delayed by an hour and a half, but anglers launched in the wind and rain around 8 a.m. CT and were able to fish until the regularly scheduled weigh-in time.
With the dramatic change in weather conditions, Jagdfeld wasn’t sure if the pattern he discovered in practice would continue to be productive, but once anglers were allowed to leave the boat ramp, he quickly discovered the bass were still there.
“I got to my first area and right away I caught a keeper smallmouth, and a few minutes later I caught a 3-pound largemouth,” he said. “I realized pretty quickly it was going to be happening. I went to a different area, put my head down and caught my limit. I fished new water the rest of the day and ended up running into a couple more good ones. I’m pretty excited.”
Tims Ford is vastly different from the lakes Jagdfeld fishes back home in Michigan, but some of the same concepts have come into play. Much like the bass use grass edges to move in northern fisheries, Jagdfeld has noticed the bass use the rock edges and points in the southern Tennessee impoundment in much the same way.
“In Michigan, the bass cruise down the grasslines, and I feel like that is exactly what they are doing on these rock points and edges,” he explained. “They are cruising down them in wolf packs of three to five.”
After catching mostly smallmouth in practice, Jagdfeld brought three largemouth and two brown fish to the scales on Friday. He caught most of his bass on two specific baits and forward-facing sonar has helped Jagdfeld catch his limit.
“Whether I’m shallow or deep, I’m using forward-facing sonar,” he explained. “I caught some in 5 to 6 feet of water and some out to 30 and 40 feet of water. I’m putting the trolling motor down and going. The only pattern to it is, the longer rocky points will have bass on them and then within the first 100 yards to the left or right, I’m getting bit. The bass are constantly swimming.”
While the rain is forecast to subside on Day 2, water levels are expected to rise and the water temperatures on the lake have already fallen several degrees since Jagdfeld began practice. The bass he is catching are also feeding heavily on shad, so he imagines the bass will follow the bait wherever they go.
“It really depends on what this weather is going to do to these bass — if it pushes them shallow or if the bite I found is going to stay,” he said.
Akins is second with 14-4 followed by Caleb Hudson from the University of South Carolina-Union in third with 12-12 and South Carolina-Union’s Tanner Hadden in fourth with 8-9. Carey is fifth with 8-4, Adrian College’s Elliot Wielgopolski is sixth with 6-6, Lander University’s Andrew Blanton is seventh with 6-3 and Garrett Smith from Lander is eighth with 5-9.
All eight competitors will return to the water starting at 6:30 a.m. CT at Tims Ford Marina. Weigh-in will begin at approximately 2:30 p.m. The Top 4 anglers at the conclusion of Day 2 will advance to Semifinal Sunday, which will be a bracket -style tournament. The No. 1 seeded angler will go head-to-head against the No. 4 seeded angler, while No. 2 will compete against No. 3.
The winners of those head-to-head matches will face off in the finals and the winner will advance to the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic and will earn entry into the 2025 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens with the use of a fully rigged Nitro Boat and Toyota Tundra.
The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development and local businesses will host the tournament.
