Gary Beauchamp and David Long since winning the USA Bassin’ Classic last May has posted an impressive number of fish for the 2010 season. The team caught an amazing total of weight for the season at 187 plus pounds in 60 fish to average over 3.1 pounds per fish. The team has fished USA Bassin’ now for five years and qualified for three Bassin’ Classic tournaments.  Last year the team fished three divisions under director John Newton. I ask John about the team and what he thought made the team click.

“Homework” replied Newton , John said every evening a few days before a tournament you could bank on the teams truck and trailer being at the boat ramp parking lot till dark.  Newton went on to say folks that don’t know the two might feel they are hard to talk to however, the two are very great guys to talk to and will tell you they are average guys out to fish and have a good time.

I asked Gary to tell me without giving away secrets what was the way the fish came from. Gary said we pride ourselves on being versatile. You really have to be versatile to be consistent. They won 6 USA Bassin tournaments in the 2010 season and three tournaments were won shallow and three in deep water.  When asked what was the best tournament or most memorable of 2010. Gary replied winning the 2010 USA Bassin Classic in May is definitely the highlight of our tournament career. Gary felt the tournament was very well run from start to finish and given the number of boats he realized that was not an easy task. 

The teams winning way to the Classic with the conditions being the worst in classic history was flipping bushes on Lake Barkley. You can never rule out lady luck was another remark from Gary. He said you just don’t win a big event like that without her on your side. The team had an awesome bag on day one with 23.46 and was in first place. On day two the team struggled to catch 12.70. They were asked to wait and weight last. Gary said the two was nervous and unsure if the catch would actually hold up but it was a great feeling getting the win. With the number the team has put up this year you can tell the two will be looking to repeat the win.

 When asked about the team’s strength he felts fishing deep was the most productive style for the team.  They had a 26.55 bag, a 20.92 sack, and an 18.89 bag all caught deep last year. Beauchamp said “I believe you can catch bigger fish on average from deeper water”.  When asked what was the teams favorite time of year to fish he said we have more success from mid April to the end of June. I wanted to know if Gary and David fished the same styles or different and his response was that we both have been fishing now for over 20 years. When we first started we fished quite different but over the years we have became as one. Gary feels that makes the essence of the word TEAM. He went on to say that we have complete confidence in each other so there is seldom any conflict on where to go or how to fish a particular tournament.

 Gary has been fishing most of his entire life and called fishing a passion that more or less consumes us.  Both Gary and David are married with children. Gary has a son and David has two daughters. Gary is employed at Core-Mark International in Leitchfield, Kentucky as a purchasing manager. David works at the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, Ky. Both are thinking about retirement in the next 4 to 5 years.

Entry dates are getting closer. If you haven’t yet signed up for the Tracker Cup or Nitro Classic and are qualified please send your entries ASAP. All entry forms for both is located here on the Bassin’ website. I want to congratulate all members that qualified and wish each and everyone the best of luck in the upcoming tournaments.