OHIO RIVER, Ohio — Larry Nixon of Hemphill, Texas, won the 13th Classic by only 10 ounces with a three-day weight of 18 pounds, 1 ounce.
All the bass he caught came from water less than 2 feet deep. The bank had a very slight drop, and the fish were in a shallow zone beside cover.
Nixon’s basic strategy was to fish shallow, brushy banks in tributary creeks with a 5-inch Ditto Baby Gator Tail worm, black with blue tail.
He paralleled the bank and made short, quick, underhand pitches. He used a 3/16-ounce slip sinker. His fishing technique was to present the worm to the fish fast — hopping it on a slack line once or twice beside the cover, then reeling in for another cast.
Early in the morning, Nixon used a white spinnerbait and occasionally a white buzzbait around grass beds along the shoreline.
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Of note
• In the toughest Classic to date, Larry Nixon outpaced a frustrated field. The Ohio River produced only five 6-bass limits over the three competition days.
• Fourteen of the 42 anglers in the Classic weighed in three bass or fewer in the tournament.
Top 6 finishers
1. Larry Nixon, Hemphill, Texas 18-01
2. Ricky Green, Arkadelphia, Ark. 17-07
3. Randy Fite, Montgomery, Texas 16-05
4. Kenneth Walker, Cedar Park, Texas 11-09
5. Harold Allen, Batesville, Miss. 11-03
6. George Cochran, N. Little Rock, Ark. 10-15