Canadians Place 1-2 in Florida Event
Arguable two of the farthest anglers from Florida finished first and second during the FLW Tour’s second stop of the 2018 season, on the Harris Chain. Chris Johnston and Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson, both of Ontario gave the Florida crowed quite the show with their Canadian accents and the big bass they brought across the stage over the course of the four day event.
Johnston ended up beating Gussy by 2 lb 6 oz, of which Gussy commented to Classic Bass, “I did weigh a few small bass on days one and two and that likely cost me the win. But I couldn’t be happier for Chris; he is a great friend of mine and one heck of a competitor!”
Having fished the Harris Chain last year with a dismal finish, Gussy wanted to try and get away from fishing up shallow again. “My roommate Brandon McMillian will fish shallow and that his strength, but apparently, not mine,” Gussy laughed. Gussy spent some time a month ago on Harris and found a few key offshore sections to fish, which he confirmed on day one of practice had some groups of fish. “So I put all my eggs in that basket.”
Gussy Started in Little Harris each day and then went back to Harris. “The whole lake has hydrilla in it and anywhere the hydrilla was broken up, the bass seemed to be there,” commented Gussy.
The key lure for Gussy was a ½ oz Z-Man Jackhammer vibrating jig, which he fished on an 894 G-Looms NRX rod. This is a stiffer rod then one normally fishes a vibrating jig on. “This allowed me to get a hook set when I would make a long cast and get them out of the hydrilla.”
“I really got to put the new 15’ Minn Kota Talon’s to use, as the spot I dissected on days three and four was in 13’ of water and I could get right up to the juice, deploy the Talon’s and hold tight to the spot all day long,” exclaimed Gussy.
Following the first two days, Gussy had 35 lb 8 oz and made the cut in 16th place. “I was happy to be getting paid again and then as the day went on, I felt I had enough to make it to Saturday.” On day three, Gussy weighed in 20 lb 5 oz and made the final day cut. “The last hour on day three was the best fishing I had all week and that if I made it to day four, it was going to be a fun day on the water! Sunday things started off well, with me having a big one in the box, along with a good limit. I also could see from Chris’s entourage that he was struggling and running around a lot, but I knew I needed one more big one to seal the deal.” Gussy ended up with a four day tournament limit of 77 lb’s and is now headed north to Lake Lanier where he looks to ride this momentum for the third stop of the FLW Tour.
“I’m glad to leave Florida with a good check and have gotten the wheels back on track. I’m looking forward to getting back out on the water and fishing again, this was huge boost of confidence!
