Anglers say once they qualify for a Classic, their desire to get back intensifies. After a win, champs say returning is almost imperative.
Through seven tournaments, only two of the seven Classic champs in the 2024 Elite field are assured of making next year’s Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors.
Hank Cherry and Jeff Gustafson are just outside the bubble, with their chances hinging on the New York swing. The top 40 finishers in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings receive automatic berths to the Classic, which returns to Texas’ Lake Lay Roberts on March 21-23.
“I want to get there really bad,” said Cherry, who became only the fourth repeat Classic winner there in 2021. “I just need to go and do my job.
“Basically, if I make two checks, I’m in the Classic again (his ninth) … and I have a shot to win at Ray Roberts again.”
Gustafson, who became the first Canadian champ when he won on the Tennessee River in 2023, has been to the past five Classics since joining the Elites in 2019.
“I’ve experienced the highs of a Classic, and it’d make me heartbroken to miss it,” Gussy said. “I haven’t missed one yet, and I certainly don’t want to start this year. God, this is stressful.”
Yes, it’s do-or-die time. Pressure mounts. Undoubtedly, several will be overjoyed to break that bubble and climb inside the cut. Conversely, some will fall out and end the year on a big downer.
“The guys who are just inside, they have the same pressure,” Gustafson said. “It’s going to be competitive and exciting.”
There will be at least two double qualifiers — Justin Hamner as defending champion and Jay Przekurat as St. Clair Opens champ. That moves Classic qualifying down to 42nd in points, which could increase with three Opens to contest and the win-and-in berth at St. Lawrence.
The estimated point total to finish 42nd is 489. Cherry is 44th with 376 points, and Gustafson is one back in 45th. It’s the first time Gustafson has had to sweat it.
“I’ve been lucky,” Gussy said. “Several times going to these New York tournaments, I’ve pretty much already made the Classic. I could treat it like a vacation a little bit more, but I’ve got to be all business and really do my job.”
Work begins Thursday with Day 1 of the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain. The season finale starts the following Thursday at the Humminbird Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River.
Cherry has competed in 13 Elites on the fisheries, with mostly positive results. He’s made two cuts in four Champlain Elites, taking 33rd in 2017 and last year. At St. Lawrence, he’s made the cut in four of his nine entries, with several just outside. The past two years he’s finished in the 70s.
“My two favorite places to fish on the planet,” Cherry said. “I’m comfortable with them — it may not always work out. I think I just got to go up there and fish my way, not try to do what everybody else does.
“Hopefully, going out of Waddington, if 77 of the guys make the run to the lake and give me where I like to fish in the river, I can get some redemption.”
Last year at Champlain, deep smallmouth were the main targets of LiveScopers who did well. While Cherry has worked on that game and said he could do that, he’d prefer staying with his comfort zone of traditional power fishing.
“Like last year, it paid off for me,” he said. “I didn’t win the tournament, but so many people ignored the shallows, the grass, that I had a lot of that to myself.”
With plenty of rain and recent events won with largemouth, it might just play this time, he said.
“I’ve got to that point where I don’t really care what everyone else is doing. I don’t get caught up in the hubbub, any of the complaining,” he said. “I’ve liked these last two lakes so much and spent so much time there, but I never had a great, great finish. I feel like one of these two places is where I can do it.”
Despite an ailing shoulder and elbow that’s forced him to switch casting arms at times, Cherry has made five cuts on the season, which in the past has been Classic worthy.
“That shows how much stronger and how much tighter the field is now,” he said. “I’m not worried. In my mind, it’s already made. I just got to go do it. I want to close out the year strong.”
One would bet the farm Gustafson will do well in New York. He said the tournaments are in his wheelhouse.
“I couldn’t ask for a better situation,” he said. “We’re going to have two smallmouth tournaments, right up my alley, so I have no excuses not to get the job done. I’m in a position where I don’t have to win to get in, but I have to have a couple good tournaments.”
Gustafson has posted stellar finishes in New York, including two top 15s at Champlain and four top 25s at St. Lawrence. While making the Classic as defending champion, he finished 52nd in points last year, hurt by his 68th at Champlain and 51st at St. Lawrence.
“Up until last year, they were usually going to be good events,” he said. “But I’m excited. It’s some of the best fishing in the world.
“But it’s a little bit scary, too, the way everybody is able to fish now. The advantage I had probably a few years ago, with my smallmouth knowledge, is pretty much gone now.”
There’s a number of heavy hitters just ahead of Cherry and Gustafson, including the likes of Drew Cook (41st) and Greg Hackney (43). Last year’s Champlain winner Kyoya Fujita is 40th, and 2021 St. Lawrence winner Taku Ito is 39th.
Anyone would be hard-pressed to guess who might fall out, but all it takes is an equipment failure or one bad day.
“It’s a tough crowd that I’m competing against for these few spots,” Gustafson said. “The last two guys in are Kyoya and Taku. The odds of anybody passing them are pretty slim, with their track record.”
Jordan Lee is the only previous Classic winner other than Hamner inside the cut. Lee stands 11th in AOY and is assured his sixth Classic appearance, the first since 2019.
There could be some big moves, and falls, but there certainly will be drama as the Elite season races go down to the wire.
