Christie's final Classic practice day

Take a ride with Jason Christie for the final day of practice for the 2022 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by HUK at Lake Hartwell.

The 55-boat field gets prepped for the mock takeoff which will be very similar to Friday’s Day 1 launch.

Christie is fishing his 8th Bassmaster Classic this year. He’s made the Top 25 cut for the Final Day in 5 of the previous 7 Classic appearances.

Scott Martin, who is fishing his first Bassmaster Classic, is in line beside Christie. Both are in the first flight of anglers for the randomized order.

I asked Christie what his goal was for practice and this was his response. “I want to try anything and everything today, but I really want to stick to my gameplan I developed (during unofficial practice). So today may be eliminating certain things.”

He fished everywhere from up river to the dam, dirty water to clean water, largemouth and spotted bass.

With Hartwell being a blueback herring lake, the fish can be stacked in an area one day and can be gone the next.

Christie only wanted to catch a few fish throughout the day doing multiple things, just to see.

The sun comes over the hill, through the trees, at Christie’s first stop.

We could see occasional fish on the graph, but with blueback herring being a pelagic baitfish, bass often move and never stay in one place or on a specific structure.

Christie couldn’t help but skip over to a dock when he passed by one.

I asked Christie numerous times if he knew how to work a spinning rod, and he laughed because he is known as a power fisherman that loves to be ultra shallow.

Every angler is sporting an Aaron Martens “AMart” sticker this week in remembrance of the legendary angler who passed away a few months ago. Martens left a big impact on the sport of fishing and many of the competitors.

Christie stayed on the move and utilized all 8 hours of Final practice to test anything and every pattern possible.

Christie noted that water color would be an important aspect to keep an eye on this week.

This area was very clear, so Christie said “lets look for some color in the water.”

But not before he landed a small bass as he trolled from the area.

Here is another example of water color at Lake Hartwell. This was a decent color with a darker tint than the previous area.

Different water color means different approach for Christie.

He connected quickly, but the size wasn’t there either. He was fine with that because you never want to catch a big bass just before tournament time.

“These won’t win the Bassmaster Classic, but they would be fine placeholders until I could cull them out.”

As the day went on, more and more rods were littered on his front deck. Christie started with three and ended the day with nine.

He makes a slight adjustment with his bread and butter.

This is a sacred box of baits for Jason Christie. His signature design of the Booyah Covert Spinnerbait.

Another water color change. Some of the dirtiest we found, but he wasn’t convinced it would be the deal in a few days, but maybe.

Can Christie win the Classic in 2022? We will find out in a few short days.