David Gaston was disappointed he dropped out of contention for the 2024 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic, but he held out hope that was finally answered.
The rookie Elite from Sylacauga, Ala., stood 12th in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings after five tournaments before a closing stretch dropped him to 43rd, the first man out.
Gaston, 27, sweated through the past three St. Croix Opens, hoping a winner hadn’t fished all that division’s events or that someone would double qualify to punch his ticket. Although there were some close calls, it didn’t happen.
Gaston had one last chance with Will Davis Jr. attempting to repeat as champion of the TNT B.A.S.S. Nation Championship, held last week on South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell.
“When I saw he was in second after the first day, I didn’t worry about it,” Gaston said. “I knew he was going to win. He’s a good angler.”
Davis averaged 15 pounds a day to repeat with 45-6 and take one of the event’s three Classic qualifications. Also earning Classic berths from the Nation were Tim Dube of New Hampshire and Josh Wiesner of Wisconsin.
Davis, who was 31st in Elite points, double qualified, moving that berth down a spot to Gaston.
“It looks like we’ll be going to the Classic,” Gaston said. “I’m pretty happy I’m in.”
The connection between the two is deeper. Although a few years older at 31, Davis also hails from Sylacauga, and they’ve shared a boat and hunted together.
“We used to be real close,” Gaston said. “We were buddies growing up, just family friends. We spent a lot of time together.
“Probably about 10 years ago, we fished tournaments together here and there. Been deer hunting, squirrel hunting me, him and my brother.”
Gaston made the cut in the first five Elite events in 2023, including a best of 12th at Santee Cooper Lakes. He stood 12th in the AOY race, just 14 points behind Davis, who was fifth and led the Dakota Lithium Rookie of the Year race.
A 96th at the Sabine River dropped Gaston to 31st in points, then he lost two more spots by just missing the cut with a 51st at Lake St. Clair. Gaston was 84th at Lake Champlain to fall to 43rd and stayed there after a 50th at the St. Lawrence River.
Joey Cifuentes, who won two events on the year, held off Kyoya Fujita, a winner at Lake Champlain, for the ROY. It proved to be a stout rookie class as an impressive seven of the 11 qualified for the Classic, including Canada’s Cooper Gallant, California’s Bryan Smith and Tennessee’s Cole Sands, who received a spot when Patrick Walters double qualified with the St. Lawrence victory.
“That was a tough group of guys,” Gaston said. “That’s a good group of guys to fish around.”
The Classic field to fish Oklahoma’s Grand Lake out of Tulsa, March, 22-24, is now at 55 qualifiers, with the final berth to be determined at the 2023 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship on Harris Chain of Lakes, Dec. 6-9.
