between 65 and 70 bass.
More importantly, Howell was feeling the
vibes again. At 12:15, he made another
decisive move, knowing that many, many pros
before him had made regrettable decisions to
leave fish to find fish.
“I had that same feeling again – to run to the back
of the creek where I had caught a big one that first
day before the water had gotten too muddy,” he
recalled. “It was a miracle.”
He opted for a bladed jig this time, slow-rolling
it over surviving vegetation in four to six feet
of water.
“I caught a 6-1/4 pounder,” he remembered. “I
culled with a five-plus fish, too.”
has failed to qualify for in the last 14 years was
2008’s event on Hartwell!
“It’s a huge lake, but I’ve done my homework,” he
said. “A lot of lakes have plenty of ‘wasted water,’
but not Hartwell. The whole lake is fishable – from
one end to the other!”
He’s a happy man these days, grateful for what
his success has brought to his family but even
more to the leverage it has brought to his
charitable efforts and ability to influence lives
positively. Can he sustain the fishing success?
He’s got what it takes, he believes.
He has the confidence now -- “the most
important ingredient to success in our sport” –
and one more thing.
Despite his wild day on the water, the
thought that he might really have overcome
a 10-pound deficit to win that day still had
not taken hold in his mind. He arrived at the
docks with only two minutes to spare before
the cutoff.
“If I had known I was leading, that I was in
position to win the Classic, I wouldn’t have cut it
that close!” he would later say.
He sat at the leader’s bench a long time at
the official weigh-in, watching the weights
flash for all those names that had stood atop
his on the leader board 24 hours earlier. He
was there, still, when Edwin Evers – perhaps
the biggest star on the Bassmaster Elite tour
still without a major title – weighed in last.
But, like the challengers before him, Evers’
numbers fell short. With all weights tallied, he
had earned his victory by exactly one pound
over runner-up Paul Mueller.
Reigning champ
Howell will defend his title on South Carolina’s
Lake Hartwell. Ironically, the only Classic he
“I still have a teachable spirit,” he added. “I’m
always learning. I learn from older guys and even
younger guys. I even learn when I am fishing with
my boys. That’s why right alongside my goals of
winning the Classic and winning AOY each year is
another goal: to remain teachable!”
BBM