Pace tops field, bags $500,000

— Despite a strong charge by Brandon Palaniuk, Cliff Pace of Petal, Miss., caught just enough fish to win the 43rd Bassmaster Classic Sunday at Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees.

Pace caught four fish weighing 11 pounds, 8 ounces in the final round, but his combined three-day weight of 54-12 was worth $500,000.

Palaniuk finished with 51-08 to win $45,000, followed by Hank Cherry of Maiden, N.C., (49 pounds, $40,000), Michael Iaconelli of Pittsgrove, N.J., (48-05, $30,000) and Mike McClelland of Bella Vista (45-05, $25,000).

Like 18 of the 25 anglers in the final round, Pace struggled to catch fish Sunday. He caught two early, then went six hours without a bite.

“It was panic-button time,” Pace said. “At 1:30 I was on my knees, praying for the Lord to show me something. I went to a place that I knew had fish. I just settled down and threw the football head jig around until I got two to bite it.”

Pace said he didn’t know how the others were doing, nor did he know if he had enough weight to win. He said he was disappointed that he didn’t maintain the consistency he produced in the first two rounds.

“I knew it was going to be a lot closer than I wanted it to be, and I knew somebody else had a chance because I left the door open,” Pace said. “When I left this morning, I wanted to slam the door shut and be done. You don’t get many opportunities like this,and when you do you have to seal the deal. It’s a miracle to have a bad third day and win the Classic.”

Covering a lot of water, Pace said he fished mainly between Drowning Creek and Horse Creek, as well as in smaller creeks and coves between Drowning Creek and Pensacola Dam. He also fished between Horse Creek and Shangri-La.

His pattern, Pace said, was to fish potential staging areas inside pockets and inner major creek channels where fish would go to escape cold current in the main lake. It worked phenomenally the first two days, but it waned as the weather warmed.

“Gary Klein told me two weeks ago, ‘There’s just something about the way you fish this time of year on lakes like Grand that gives you a good chance to win this tournament,’ ” Pace said. “He texted me last night and said, ‘Keep doing what you’re doing.’”

Pace said that Klein, a 29-time Classic qualifier, is his mentor. Klein did not make the Classic this year.

Pace used a variety of baits. In the mornings, when fish were deep, he used a 1/2 -ounce B&M football jig with a V&M twin-tailed trailer in green pumpkin color. He dipped the ends in orange dye.

“If the water had been clear, I probably would have left it alone,” Pace said. “In that stained water, the orange probably did give me some extra bites.”

In the afternoon, when the fish moved shallower, Pace used two jerkbaits, a Squad Minnow 95 and a Jackall Soul Shad to catch his biggest fish. When those didn’t work, he used a Jackall DD Cherry crankbait in crawdad color that dove up to 8 feet.

Palaniuk, who won the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament at Bull Shoals Lake in April, caught five bass Sunday that weighed 15-4, but his average didn’t put him in position to capitalize on Pace’s troubles.

“They seem to fish a lot like home,” said Palaniuk of Rathbun, Idaho. “At home our lakes have got a lot of rock, but also a lot of grass. They are so diverse. It allows me to look back on past situations at home and apply them across the country.”

Palaniuk said he caught fish Sunday on a Storm Wiggle Wart crankbait.

McClelland was in first place almost until the end, when Cherry finally displaced him. He caught five bass Sunday that weighed 17-4.

“I definitely made a charge, but I thought those I caught today were bigger than they were,” McClelland said. “I had too big a deficit to overcome. I look back at Saturday (9-08) and say, ‘What if?’ I should have won half a million [dollars], but I didn’t make the right decisions Saturday. When you catch nine pounds on this lake, there’s no way you’re going to stay in competition.”

Sports, Pages 13 on 02/25/2013

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