Breakdowns Bedevil Tharp's First 3 Bassmaster Classics

When pro angler Randall Tharp made it to his third Bassmaster Classic in 2015, you know he had to be hoping he could put those frustrating breakdowns in his first two Classic appearances to rest.

As luck would have it, though, that wasn't the case. Once again, he was beset with problems beyond his control.

Said Tharp, "We could talk for three days about the stuff that happened to me."

Day 1 found Tharp in 42nd place after catching only two bass weighing 4-8...and he had had to hand-over-hand one of those fish to the boat because the drag on his reel was frozen.

His problems actually had started two days earlier when the heater in his camper broke, as described by Bassmaster writer Steve Wright, "during a night when heat was practically a requirement to stay alive." He got that fixed but then, the next morning, woke up and found the water was frozen, and he couldn't take a shower.

That's not all, either. When Tharp arrived at the boat ramp Friday morning, it took 30 minutes to get his boat off the trailer...a problem that others had to face, too. In addition, his drain plug was frozen in the open position, meaning that the boat was taking on water. And as he started to blast off, a code went off in his outboard, and he couldn't get on step until he had fixed that problem.

Having finally arrived at his first fishing hole, Tharp threw over the trolling motor, only to find the cable was frozen solid.

"I fished about 15 feet down the bank, where I thought I was going to catch 'em," he said, "and the cove I planned to fish was frozen solid. I threw my crankbait up on the ice, reeled it off, and left."

At his next stop, Tharp hooked "a pretty good one" and started to reel, but his drag was frozen.

"The reel was working fine until I hooked the fish," he explained. "I had to hand-wind it in, then headed to another creek, where I thought I was going to catch 'em, I ran about a quarter-mile through ice before admitting this wasn't going to work."

Tharp had his two bass in the boat with about five minutes left to fish when he hooked a 5-pounder. He could tell the rear treble hook was in its mouth and that three more fish--all big ones--were with it. When the fish was about 5 feet from the boat, though, it suddenly came off.

Now down to about one minute to fish, Tharp made his last cast and had a fish knock slack in his line. He reeled the lure on in and saw a 4-pounder was following it.

After a day so disappointing, it certainly would seem that Tharp surely must have paid all his dues. However, the fishing gods saw differently. Yet another costly problem loomed on the horizon.

Tharp's wife offered to drive his truck back to the weigh-in site, but he explained that drivers were furnished for the anglers at the Classic, and they should defer to the driver, since he would know where he was going. That driver, however, wrecked his tuck.

"He blew out a tire and messed up a thousand-dollar rim," said Tharp.

Although he was smiling the whole time he recounted these events, Tharp was dying inside.

"I definitely felt it slipping away today," he noted, referring to the Bassmaster Classic title. "It hurts. I've accomplished a lot in my career, but this is the tournament for which I fish."