Jeff Gustafson has lead at the Bassmaster Classic

[woodenboater]

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/olympics/article-canadian-jeff-gustafson-takes-lead-over-first-day-of-bassmaster/

hope he can hold onto it till the final weigh ins

 

[TJQ]

Nice!!

[CrowMan]

Good to see the "Snow Leopard" on the prowl...killin' the brown fish with his signature "moping" presentation. That kicker Meanmouth Bass was a beauty..

[Terry]

Part way through the second day no he is still in the lead 

[AKRISONER]

If he can keep the bags of 3lbers biting for three straight days he will take it. I saw he had a 4 mixed in there today too, just needs to keep it going.

 

couldn’t happen to a nicer guy either. Jeff is as genuine as they come in pro angling

[Terry]

35.11 after today

[CrowMan]

I always find it interesting that Gussy is one of the few on the tour that runs an aluminum boat in a sea of glass..

[AKRISONER]

23 minutes ago, CrowMan said:

I always find it interesting that Gussy is one of the few on the tour that runs an aluminum boat in a sea of glass..

It’s on brand for him to run a lund being from kenora. I always joke, barrie is the “glass line” in North America. 

people still give odd looks when I drive around parry sound, in pointe au baril I was an abomination. 

[CrowMan]

Yeah, I guess growing up on LOTW is also why you see a spinning rod in his hands more often than not...and of course he completes the look with his "dinner jacket"...

 

Edited March 26, 2023 by CrowMan

[Terry]

He may be still winning at the moment? 
but he only has 2 fish in the boat today

and less then 2 hours of fishing left 

[Terry]

He only caught 2 fish today

he lead from day one 

and the two fish were enough to win the 2023 bass master classic 

we have our first Canadian winner 

[woodenboater]

edit-sorry, missed your earlier post terry

 

Gustafson hangs on for the win ! 12 fish for 42 lbs 7 oz. Second place was a pound and change lighter, and was 15 fish.  final day weigh ins are a blast. total show

 

https://www.facebook.com/bass/photos/pcb.10160372591615915/10160372589230915/

Edited March 27, 2023 by woodenboater

[woodenboater]

11 hours ago, CrowMan said:

I always find it interesting that Gussy is one of the few on the tour that runs an aluminum boat in a sea of glass..

have ridden shotgun on a glass tourney boat down south, how much different would the ride be when they're screaming across the lake in aluminum ? rougher I imagine ?

[CrowMan]

I don't know about rougher, but definitely slower. That Lund Pro-V hull nearly cost him the win...when Gussy got to his first spot this morning, Benton had already been there for 10 minutes...and promptly landed a 4 lb. Smallie as Gussy left in search of other water. Benton's more hydrodynamic glass hull was that much faster over the 45+ minute run from the launch..

Anyway, it didnt matter in the end, and he hung on for a historic win !!

Edited March 27, 2023 by CrowMan

[AKRISONER]

11 hours ago, woodenboater said:

have ridden shotgun on a glass tourney boat down south, how much different would the ride be when they're screaming across the lake in aluminum ? rougher I imagine ?

Aluminum and glass will always have a totally different feel. But it was pretty calm yesterday, so that’s a lot less noticeable. it moreso is that his top end isn’t close to the glass rigs. 
 

guys run whatever boat they get the best deal to get into. Gussy and lunds relationship makes total sense given his locale. 
 

Zaldain was a skeeter yamaha guy for a decade and is now with bass pro/nitro/mercury.

 

there is no actual loyalty, the guys are trying to make a living the best they can.

[Terry]

Yes he has been sponsored by Lund for a very long time and I have heard he has been offered big sponsorship from the big bass boat manufacturers but so far has turned them down to be loyal to Lund 

I admire that, but he may need to reconsider 

[dave524]

1 hour ago, Terry said:

Yes he has been sponsored by Lund for a very long time and I have heard he has been offered big sponsorship from the big bass boat manufacturers but so far has turned them down to be loyal to Lund 

I admire that, but he may need to reconsider 

With that win under his belt, I am sure the glass boat companies will up the ante 👍 

[CrowMan]

17 minutes ago, dave524 said:

With that win under his belt, I am sure the glass boat companies will up the ante 👍 

I know it's all about the sponsorship $$$, his long time ties to Lund, and his rep as a "northern angler"...but he seems to actually prefer aluminum.  Obviously, he's going to pitch that angle because of who butters his bread...but he seems pretty genuine about the choice.. 

https://www.wired2fish.com/boats-maintenance/aluminum-bass-boat-machine-gussys-full-2020-setup

[AKRISONER]

watching the wired to fish video its from 2020 and you can see how even since then his sponsorship money has increased after he won on tellico in 2021. Intriguing, in that first video you can tell Jeff rigged his own boat and was using what was considered top of the line for the various applications rather than dealing with specific brands. One critique I have always had of the Lund Pro V's is that they are a little akward at the very nose of the boat and dont make for an ideal electronics set up. You dont really get to see it in that video because its clear he was down in florida pre-fishing for the first event of the year and he was still running the factory electronics!

It will be very interesting to see what happens with Gussy next season, I could see some major sponsorship changes coming up for him, Everyone is going to be wanting a piece of the hot commodity. Your going to see his face on the bags of z man plastics going forward I am sure of that. Considering Jeff is the only guy running a Lund on the entire Elite Series, they bloody hit the jackpot with this win, Im thinking his deal is going to be a whole heck of a lot sweeter next season because you know Nitro is going to be knocking at his door.

Im thinking Jeff might struggle a little over the next few elite events, his mind is going to be all over the place trying to manage his new found infamy. Couldnt happen to a better guy though!

[woodenboater]

I didn't watch it online but do we know for sure he was running aluminum and not the GL Pro V ? Seems like a golden opportunity for Lund to capitalize on this win.

Also wonder if this will make people rethink aluminum vs glass for these tourneys., but guess it depends on the waters and weather.

[Rattletrap2]

I am by no means anywhere near this class of Fisherman, but I owned one glass boat and now aluminum again. For what I do, I have no desire to go back to glass. It will be interesting to see what Jeff’s future brings! He absolutely will have his choice to fish out of whatever he wants.

Such an awesome representative of Canada and Ontario on the Professional circuit!

[AKRISONER]

14 minutes ago, woodenboater said:

I didn't watch it online but do we know for sure he was running aluminum and not the GL Pro V ? Seems like a golden opportunity for Lund to capitalize on this win.

Also wonder if this will make people rethink aluminum vs glass for these tourneys., but guess it depends on the waters and weather.

I’ve chatted with gussy about his set up, he’s in the aluminum.

rattle trap, it’s funny you say youll never switch back, I’m literally the complete opposite, now every time I’m in my old man’s alumacraft I’m certain I’ll never go back to aluminum. The only time I feel like aluminum is better is for 2 weeks each year in the fall when it’s snowing and blowing and downright miserable. Any other time id rather be in my glasser. 
 

funny everyone always talks about the big water capabilities of aluminum deep v’s over glass but the right glass hull to me feels better hitting waves Vs the aluminum. I think the only time it gets really bad is when waves are 6+ feet, but even then who truthfully isn’t quartering and running the troughs anyways when stuff gets that huge. 
 

Let’s also get serious here…once you drive a boat 65+mph, you don’t ever want to let that go 😂

[Terry]

Yeah it’s hard o go back to an aluminum boat when you’ve ran  bass boats for  over a decade 

but now a days I launch my boat in places a glass boat can’t , can’t park it on rocky shores and push ice out of the way with it so aluminum works for me these days 

but for a smooth ride glass is better in every way

including big wave 

[CrowMan]

39 minutes ago, woodenboater said:

I didn't watch it online but do we know for sure he was running aluminum and not the GL Pro V ? Seems like a golden opportunity for Lund to capitalize on this win.

Also wonder if this will make people rethink aluminum vs glass for these tourneys., but guess it depends on the waters and weather.

He was definitely in an aluminum Pro-V. 

At the end of the day, these tournaments are about marketing...it's the sponsors (ie. manufacturers) that pay the bills and keep everyone "employed".

And marketing is all about branding. Gussy's brand is the "northern angler"....hence, the tin boat, finnesse presentations on spinning gear more often than not...right down to the plaid Kenora Dinner Jacket.

There are plenty of good ol' boys from Texas, Alabama and the Carolinas on the tour...power fishing with baitcasters in metal-flake glass rockets. That leaves Jeff (and a few others) with a certain subset of sponsors that tend to specialize in " north country " gear to himself...Lund, Northland Tackle etc.. so he doesn't have to directly compete for those sponsorship $$$ from the majority of guys that are mostly south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

So far that branding strategy has served him well. However, now that he has reached an altitude where he's at the pinnacle of the sport...that very well may change. We'll see what the future brings.

 

 

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by CrowMan

[captpierre]

What the heck is “moping”?