When David Morton, of Suwannee, joined the Six Mile Bass Club a couple years ago, he did it for the competition, the camaraderie and to learn to be a better bass fisherman. Something he learned along the way from another Six Mile member has led Morton to two straight Georgia B.A.S.S Nation State Classics.
Morton never really threw a jig before his buddy Brad Durden put one in his hands two years ago. As it turns out, a jig bite was the pattern that won Morton the 2012 state championship on Lanier as well as this year’s Nov. 15-16 championship on Clarks Hill.
“Maybe I’m just the luckiest club guy in the state,” said Morton of his back-to-back state titles.
The Georgia State Classic is the first step for club anglers on a road that could lead to a berth on the big stage, The Bassmaster Classic. The top six anglers from each club compete in the State Classic both as individuals and for team bragging rights. The top 14 anglers from the State Classic qualify to fish a regional event, and the top finisher from each state in the regional go on to the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship. After the national championship, one winner from each region gets to fish the Bassmaster Classic against the guys you see on TV.
So Morton and the other 13 guys who qualified as Georgia’s state team to fish the regional have a long way to go before they take on the pros. That said, there’s an opportunity to garner plenty of bragging rights along the way.
Morton feels he proved something to himself by winning this year’s two-day championship on Clarks Hill. Last year’s State Classic was on his home lake, Lake Lanier, where he fishes 20 to 30 tournaments a year. He felt he had a big advantage going into it. The whole field was dialed in on a crankbait bite at Lanier, but on the first day of the tournament there was no wind. Morton knew the crankbait bite relied on wind, so he switched over to a big jig dipped in JJ’s Magic and fished some deep timber and docks to haul in a two-day total of more than 25 pounds of spotted bass. He adapted to conditions and on his home lake he knew what to do and where to do it.
This year’s event on Clarks Hill was different. Like most club guys, Morton works a full-time job and didn’t get to practice much. The weekend before the tournament he found fish on sparse grass in 8- to 12-foot ditches. Coming from Lanier, where there’s no grass, he didn’t have anything to fish it with. Morton turned to the locals. He got some Greenfish Tackle Big Rubber Jigs from Jon Hair at The Tackle Shop in nearby Martinez. The color was Texas Craw, and he fished it with a Rage Chunk in green pumpkin for promising results the weekend before the tournament. But would the pattern hold until the next Friday, Nov. 15?
It did. Morton blasted off second the first morning of the tourney and gave his St. Croix rods a workout. He caught a quick limit fishing a 12-foot ditch with an Alabama rig. Then he stuck with a jig for the rest of the day. He culled his early fish for a day-one weight of 17.44 pounds. He was in fourth place behind day-one leader Travis McDermott, of East Cobb Bass Club, who had 20.30 pounds; Teammate Brad Durden, with 18.24 pounds; and Waine Pittman, of West Georgia Basshunters, who had 18.09 pounds.
Weights dropped off significantly on day two, and Morton thought he was in trouble. He only managed one fish with the A-rig out of the same ditch that had produced the morning before. Then he was able to put together about a 9-pound, five-fish limit with the jig pattern. When a 7-pounder came unbuttoned after picking up his jig and swimming straight at the boat, Morton thought he had missed his chance for a repeat.
But day two was tough on the rest of the field, as well, and the 3 to 4 ounces Morton was able to cull up on his final run of ditches in the Wildwood, Keg Creek, Little River area made the difference. His 11.09-pound day two gave him a 28.53-pound total for the win. He beat out McDermott, who took second with 28.28 pounds, by just 4 ounces. Durden finished third with 28.27 pounds.
Six Mile Bass Club won the team weight with 130.72 pounds. With 91.03 pounds, Marietta Bassmasters Team 1 took second. East Cobb Bass Club took third with 84.4 pounds.
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