Blake and dad Andrew Middlebrook take in the first weigh-in presentation on opening day of the Bassmasters Elite fishing tournament and festival in Orange Thursday. The event, which includes a carnival, live music nightly, food and vendors, continues through Sunday. Photo made Thursday, April 8, 2021 Kim Brent/The Enterprise
Kim Brent/The Enterprise
ORANGE — As the top 10 anglers made their way to the stage for Sunday’s Bassmaster Elite Series championship weigh-in, each took a moment to admire the crowd gathered at the City of Orange boat ramp.
Just before the first angler was set to weigh in, that crowd made its record-setting presence known.
“We’re back,” a fan yelled from the middle of the pack, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
For the first time since 2019, fishing fans in Orange welcomed the world’s best bass anglers to the Sabine River, setting a new attendance record in the process.
The event was originally postponed to the summer because of coronavirus precautions, but with Gov. Greg Abbott relaxing Texas’ restrictions in March, the tournament was back on for this weekend.
Five weeks after Abbott’s announcement, Orange set a new Bassmaster Elite Series attendance record as thousands of fans flocked to the city’s boat ramp to catch a glimpse of their favorite anglers.
Although an official attendance number for the four-day event was not yet announced Sunday, BASS officials did say Orange surpassed the previous record of 36,200 fans held by Waddington, New York. Organizers estimated the total attendance in Orange this weekend to be more than 40,000.
“Orange rolls out the red carpet when these anglers come to town,” said David Jones, the tournament’s co-chair.
According to estimates by the Orange County Greater of Commerce, the Bassmaster event has a multi-million dollar economic footprint. A River Festival in conjunction with the fishing tournament adds to that impact.
After organizers decided to reschedule the event once again for this weekend, it left an extremely short amount of time for planning. Luckily, many sponsors and vendors kept their original commitments and jumped at the chance to be involved.
Jones said all potential sponsorships and vendor spots were sold out merely a week after BASS announced it would hold the event this past weekend.
As for the actually fishing, Oklahoma angler Jason Christie conquered the Sabine River to take the title with a four-day total 43 pounds, 15 ounces. He was the leader going into the final day of competition, and secured the victory with a Sunday bag that weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces.
For four days, Christie committed the majority of his time to a narrow creek about two hours upriver from takeoff. Locating the spot in practice, Christie recognized its mix of shallow wood and cut banks as prime bass habitat.
The distance discouraged most other anglers from fishing the spot, but Christie thought the risk was worth the reward.
“There’s a lot of backwaters downriver from this area, but then there’s like a 20-mile stretch where there’s nothing until you get to this spot,” Christie said.
“The first two days of the event it was super treacherous to run...there were logs, sandbars, stuff like that. That’s what kept people from going up there.”
It’s Christie’s sixth career win on the Bassmaster Elite Series. He beat out second-place finisher Brock Mosley by 1 pound, 6 ounces.
Orange marked the fourth event on the Elite Series this season. It’s one Christie soon won’t forget.
“To win in Orange in front of fans like this, I couldn’t ask for anything more,” Christie said.
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