What Happened to Jason Christie?

[NorthStar]

I really like Jason Christie as a Bass Fisherman, but only 4 on the last day.  Come on man!!! 

Watching him spin out was tough, I was pulling for him until the end.  He seemed to be fishing to fast.  Its not easy, and I'm sure I will never know the pressure he felt after leading day two.  What do you think he could have done differently to get that 5th bite?  

I was wondering why if the fish were on the docks, especially on day 3, why we didn't see more wacky rigs or weightless senko type presentations skipped under them?  

 

[Tim Kelly]

Poor guy. I felt for him too. He and Evers seemed to be fishing too fast to me too, but what do I know. I remember watching Ike spinning out on the last day a couple of years ago when he stayed on the spot all day that had given him his weight for the past couple of days and the fish had just gone. Looked like Christie and Evers were just stuck on making what had worked the last few day work again. Swindle did well picking up a jig, then going off shore. He didn't get any big bites, but was a good example of how to fish the moment.

 

Great tournament. Hope Christie's alright because that's going to sting for a while. Really hoped Matt Lee would squeak it in the end, but it was a great outcome for his brother. The weigh in was painful, not due to the results, but just the way they hung it out. I nearly gave up on it, but stuck it out to the end despite myself!

[38 Super Fan]

Choke? Look at all the weights from day 3, he wasn't the only angler to have a slow day. Yeah, I'm surprised he couldn't get 5 too, but Hartwell is a very tricky lake and that's been proved time and time again.

 

I've heard some people knocking his choices, but I want to know why does everyone seem to think you just pick up a spinning rod with a wacky rig and immediately start loading the boat with keepers?

 

Christie is one of the best in world, it just wasn't his day.

 

[A-Jay]

As fans of any spectator sport we have the right & luxury of rooting for our favorites as well as making assessments of the participants actions before, during & after the fact.   

Other than remaining at and fishing from the dock on the final day, I would not characterize any of these angler's performances as choking; far too many variables involved.  

At that level, seems like anyone of these guys could win and the difference between being at the top of the leader board (and especially staying there) and finishing somewhere else, is often very slim.  

 It's one of the aspects of these derbies that I really enjoy & can appreciate and what may make winning back to back so improbable and impressive.

On a separate note - the BASS LIVE streaming of these tournaments is SO GOOD, (especially this one) that it makes me wonder how I ever enjoyed the 'edited'  TV version 2 weeks later . . . . . 

A-Jay

 

[punch]

I didn't get to watch the Sunday Bassmaster Live (I will later).. did Christie keep tossing the spinnerbait/chatterbait combo all day? Worked for him on day 2 pretty well. 

[NorthStar]

Yes he pretty much did from what I saw.  The live feed was the best ever, I was so pumped for Jason when he got his 4th, just needed one more.    Ehler bombing spots had me cheering.  Great tournament, and hats of to the closer Matt Lee.  

[volzfan59]

I really thought it was Christie's Classic when he went into day three with a five pound plus lead. Just wasn't his day. Hope it doesn't get stuck in his mind.

[1simplemann]

I wouldn't call it a choke. Nor do I think he spun out. He just ran out of time. The guy was one fish from the Championship. I saw a guy that really believed in that what he was doing was the right thing to do. He committed to his pattern and LMB from day one. That commitment got him to the final day w/ a 5 lb lead. I think he truly felt that it was a matter of time before he ran into the right fish. Should he have had a different strategy on the last day? Obviously yes but it's so easy for anyone of us amateur anglers to say that we would have done something different. I'm not gonna Monday Morning quarterback the guy for coming up 1 fish short.

[OCdockskipper]

1 hour ago, 1simplemann said:

I wouldn't call it a choke...

IMO, choking is acting & making decisions in a manner differently & negatively due to the pressure of a situation.  Based on what I have seen, I would agree with you. 

 

I didn't watch Live, so I can't comment on Christies actions or decisions.  However, when the top 4 guys all weigh in under 10 lbs, it leads me to believe they were all fooled into believing that which worked the 2 days before was going to work on Sunday.  If only one of the top 10 had such low weights, then it would be appropriate to say someone choked.  Since more anglers came in with low weights than high weights, I prefer to give Jordan Lee, Brent Erhler & Matt Lee credit for seeing something different and making the proper decisions to be able to catch the 16-18 lb bags.

 

I think that is what made Roland Martin & KVD a step above the competition during their peaks, their ability to anticipate and recognize exactly what was happening as situations changed and the killer instinct to then capitalize on it.

[burrows]

The last two hours Christie wasn’t Christie he seemed hopeless confidence levels was way down. He didn’t know what to do! He drove around way to much looking dumbfounded and defeated I personally would say yes he choked... Brent Ehrler never gave up but he could have done more he himself said he was hoping to at least  make the top five and stayed and did what he does best, dropshot Out deep. I really believe he had no idea how close he was to winning I think if he knew he would have done things different. I didn’t want Jordan lee to win again just because im a hater but after he won I felt he deserved the  win and definitely proved himself to be a great.

  And finally Matt lee has proved himself to be a major player.

[Pro Logcatcher]

I had money on Jordan Lee so I'm happy...

[scaleface]

He zigged when he should have zagged .  

[NorthStar]

84 percent of the final day field weighed 5 bass,  4 anglers did not.  Call it whatever you want.  Still like the guy and will be cheering for him in the future.  

[1simplemann]

17 hours ago, Burros said:

The last two hours Christie wasn’t Christie he seemed hopeless confidence levels was way down. He didn’t know what to do! He drove around way to much looking dumbfounded and defeated I personally would say yes he choked... Brent Ehrler never gave up but he could have done more he himself said he was hoping to at least  make the top five and stayed and did what he does best, dropshot Out deep. I really believe he had no idea how close he was to winning I think if he knew he would have done things different. I didn’t want Jordan lee to win again just because im a hater but after he won I felt he deserved the  win and definitely proved himself to be a great.

  And finally Matt lee has proved himself to be a major player.

Don't Monday Morning Quarterback the guy. I am willing to bet there are days when you don't catch them either. I'm willing to give the guy a break since he's pro in the Classic and I'm the amateur who's never won a tournement.  It's so easy to say  "He should have done this or done that". You have no idea what was going through his mind at the time. He gave an interview. It's on ***. He basically thought his lead wasn't safe and someone else was going to catch a big bag. He figured he needed at least a decent bag of LMB so he went with what had been working. Based on what happened to him at Grand I can't blame the guy for thinking that way. Edwin was 6lbs behind him and smoked Jason on the last day. The other top six anglers did the same because they were trying to win it not back door into it. They held nothing back but they didn't realize the fish changed. 1st The fish adjusted, they got used to seeing chatterbaits all day, everyday for the last week. 2nd The fish moved, they went shallow as the water warmed up. Christie and the other top 6 didn't adjust. Lee did! He knew docks would be a factor and stuck with his game plan. Congrats J Lee! Christie was 1 bite away from being a Classic Champ. If he had gotten it then we wouldn't be having this discussion.

[WRB]

Just got around to watching the 2018 BM Classic and thought it was a good event.

So Christie blew a lead and now is closing in on Aaron's 2nd place record! Christie rolled the dice fishing an area he saved and blanked there. He dumped his 1st good bass and never recovered from missing that bass....pressure affected him he couldn't make the adjustment early to fish for a limit.

Jordan Lee kept his focus and didn't make any errors winning back to back Classics. What was amazing is Jordan didn't let other boats bother him even when they were so close the hooked bass ran under a spectator boat and the trolling motor nearly cut it off.

Tom