Since joining the Bassmaster Elite Series in 2017, Stetson Blaylock has consistently been one of the best on tour when fishing springtime tournaments in the southeast. The Arkansas pro has translated that success into springtime Classics with two third-place finishes – once in 2020 on Lake Guntersville and again in 2022 on Lake Hartwell.
For Blaylock, making adjustments and not getting too settled in on one pattern is a big part of his success and something he’ll be looking to continue at the 2023 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Toyota.
“I think that I really like the springtime because you don’t truly have to be on them before the event starts,” said Blaylock about his track record in the spring. “It just comes down to knowing how to catch bass in the spring, and I hope that’s the case here this week.
“Typically, I have a really good practice or a terrible practice this time of the year, and I never get too caught up in what happened in practice either way.”
Just a year ago at the Bassmater Classic at Lake Hartwell, Blaylock was able to establish a variety of different patterns which turned out to be a huge advantage as he made his final-day climb up the leaderboard to a third-place finish.
“Last year at Hartwell was a completely different story,” he said. “The weather stayed consistent, so most of the patterns you found during practice held up throughout the tournament.”
The Classic anglers practiced from Friday to Sunday, took a day off on Monday, had registration Tuesday, and have one last day Wednesday for official practice. With consistently cold conditions during practice, and warmer weather forecasted for the three tournament days, the final day of practice could be crucial to figure out the final piece to the puzzle.
“The whole key about this final practice day is that it’s still going to be cool temperatures with more rain, so I think it’s going to be super important to see what you find but not get too caught up in it,” he said.
Blaylock believes that the warm weather coming is going to have things changing rapidly come tournament time.
“I think that water temperature is a little irrelevant when you get this late in the spring,” he said. “Those fish know they’re coming, and they know they have to spawn and the sun being out for even 30 minutes can change things.
“Honestly, I think that it’s going to change by the minute during the tournament, and the guy that can keep an open mind and land in the right area will be in good shape.”
