A “dude” will win the 2018 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year title – at least an angler who calls most every male he encounters “dude.”
“I guess that’s the West Coast in us,” said Justin Lucas, who leads good friend Josh Bertrand by nine points in the season-long point race.
They stand 1-2, and one is assured the title as both are way ahead of the field of 50 competing this week on Lake Chatuge in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship.
When told the Daily Limit deemed it a “Dudeoff” during the St. Lawrence Bassmaster LIVE, both laughed.
“That’s pretty good,” Lucas said.
“Sweet. That is classic,” Bertrand said. “I used to get a hard time from my parents, and people (for saying dude), but they’ve given up. Everyone’s given up. They know I can’t stop.”
Lucas grew up in northern California, where he cut his teeth fishing the Delta before moving to Alabama, and Bertrand hails from San Tan Valley, Ariz., after spending the early years of his life in New Hampshire. With much more than saying dude in common, they struck a friendship when Lucas came to the Bassmaster Elite Series from the FLW Tour in 2014.
Lucas is 32 and Bertrand turns 30 this November, and that friendship grew from fishing to family.
“I’ve got a few buds on tour that I’m really close with,” Lucas said. “He’s one of my best friends in all walks of life.”
It showed in Lucas’ joy for Bertrand’s victory in the season-ending St. Lawrence event last month. Another 14 ounces and Lucas would have won, but their 1-2 finish there set up this week’s dramatics. Lucas has 716 points to Bertrand’s 707.
“I just look at it like I got to make a top eight,” Lucas said. “If I do, I did my job and I’m unbeatable. That’s the goal for me.
“Of course, I will be happy for Josh if he wins, but I probably won’t be as happy as I was at the St. Lawrence. That was a different scenario.”
Bertrand would like to parlay his first Elite win into the coveted AOY title, but he’d certainly be happy for Lucas if he can’t climb past him.
“I’m the underdog here, for sure,” Bertrand said. “It would be more painful for him if it unfolded that I won. For me, it would hurt to get second, but I realize he’s nine points ahead of me and I’ve got more work to do. It might not be quite as crushing, but it’s something I want more than anything.”
What Lucas said at the St. Lawrence stands – “if it can’t be me, I’m glad it’s him.”
“At the end of the day, it’s not a bad thing to be head to head with your buddy; it’s a good thing,” Bertrand said. “Ultimately, there’s no one you’d rather see it be. It’s not a win-win scenario, but it’s almost a win-win scenario.”
One will become 23rd with AOY
There have been 48 AOY titles awarded, starting with Bill Dance in 1970. Roland Martin (nine) and Kevin VanDam (seven) hold one-third of them, while Dance, Mark Davis and Aaron Martens have three each. There are six anglers who have won two each and another 11 with one title.
It stunned both Lucas and Bertrand that one of them will become only the 23rd person to win a B.A.S.S. AOY title.
“Really? I didn’t realize there’s that few of guys who have won it,” Lucas said. “Wow! That’s crazy.”
“That’s unbelievable,” Bertrand said. “It’s only 22 guys? That’s shocking.”
Bertrand put into perspective the thought of winning an AOY.
“It would just be completely surreal,” he said. “It would be a dream come true; it’s almost so crazy it’s even hard to dream about.”
And down the stretch they come
It became evident during the St. Lawrence event that the title would come down to Lucas and Bertrand. Brent Chapman, who won the 2012 AOY, led the points chase midway through this season before Bradley Roy grabbed the top spot after Lake Oahe.
While Chapman and Roy missed the cut in New York, Lucas and Bertrand advanced to Championship Sunday to pull away. On Day 3, Lucas and Bertrand said a number of veterans realized one of them would be holding the trophy at the end of this week and wished them well.
“It was nice and very much appreciated that those guys would go out of their way to say good luck and that they were rooting for me,” Lucas said.
“It was actually pretty cool,” Bertrand said. “Up until that last event, there were several guys in the mix. It was pretty awesome on the third day at St. Lawrence, many of the veteran guys I look up to took me aside, shook my hand and said good luck.”
And that includes several more phone calls from Chapman, who Bertrand considers a mentor. But Bertrand found it strange that he has been asked if he was disappointed to win an event but only gain one AOY point.
“That was funny,” he said. “I wasn’t disappointed about anything. I was happy. It couldn’t have gone any better. It was totally cool, and I had no qualms about how that ended up.”
Too soon, too late, too much
An AOY would top the anglers’ stellar resumes, which include three Classic appearances each.
Bertrand’s first B.A.S.S. win came in his 70th event, and he’s cashed 43 times to earn $540,638. Lucas has cashed in 50 of 65 events with Elite wins on the Potomac (2016) and California Delta (2015). He’s earned $759,592 in B.A.S.S. to go along with more than a half million in FLW events, where he won five times as a co-angler.
Lucas, who has a large family attending, has put his wife, BreeAnna, in charge of that wrangling as he wants to be able to concentrate on fishing. She did commit a slight faux pas, however.
“She asked where I was going to put that trophy,” Lucas said. “I told her ‘Gosh, too early. Don’t start yet.’”
“She does have a handle on the family who want to be there. I just want it to be like any other tournament. I don’t need any added pressure or stress – keep all that to a minimum. She’s handling all that. I just don’t want my routine to change.”
Lucas said he even cut short a vacation to Maine and Massachusetts after the St. Lawrence because he wanted to get home and start rigging tackle for Chatuge.
On the other side, the question remains if Bertrand will even finish the competition. His wife, Chantel, is due to deliver their second child on Sept. 28, and he’s said he will not miss it.
“I’m hoping she does hold on – I was hoping it would come early,” he said. “I definitely don’t want to miss it. I realize things can happen quick. Even if I did put the boat on a trailer and try to get on a flight and get home, I could potentially miss it, but I’m going to give myself every chance to be there.”
Florence has/will play role
Forecasts calls for rain and some storms from Hurricane Florence to linger around Lake Chatuge into Tuesday, but that system should be long gone for competition days Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Plans have been altered.
“It’s already affected my travel,” said Bertrand, who’s had to change flights to get to his boat in Knoxville, Tenn.
As most all the connecting flights from his home through Charlotte were canceled, his plans have changed to flying to Nashville and renting a car to his get to his boat. Others coming from the East, like Mike Iaconelli, might have to drive the long way around as the Carolinas are experiencing record flooding.
Lake Chatuge is among the farthest west areas to receive precipitation from Florence, and initial forecasts before landfall called for 30 mph winds during Monday’s first day of practice.
“That’s not something I want to see. It’s a small lake,” Bertrand said. “If you didn’t pre-fish, you need good weather in practice to maximize your two and a half days. I’m hoping that wind forecast eases up.”
He got his wish as they should be under 10 mph, but a lot of rain remains possible. It rained Sunday and most all of Monday, and some storms could also hit Tuesday.
“It doesn’t matter where you’re fishing, you have weather like that, it’s a factor,” Bertrand said. “It’s a clear water lake, but it’s got a lot of mud banks. If it rains hard for a long time it will change water conditions in part so the lake, without a doubt.”
Classic spots on the line
In the past, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens were a win-and-in for Classic berths, providing the winner fished all three of that division’s events.
In 2018, the format changed to four events in two divisions, Eastern and Central. The eight winners and the top 10 from each division in points advance to the Opens Championship on Table Rock Lake in October, where the overall winner and top three from each division will earn Classic berths.
There are several Elites with a chance to double qualify, adding several spots to the 35 automatic Classic berths awarded those atop the point standings.
After the AOY Championship, the Classic Bracket will award three more Classic berths to Elite anglers. Because the Chesapeake Bay event was cancelled, B.A.S.S. expanded the bracket field to 16, where a few anglers who didn’t make the AOY will compete. Brandon Lester, Marty Robinson and Mike McClelland could be among the field that fishes Carters Lake in Ellijay, Ga., on Oct. 23 for seeding. Four will be eliminated while the top 12 advance in seeded brackets for match play over the next three days.