Boyd Duckett's recent win at the Bassmaster Legends tournament on Lake Dardanelle was a big deal for a couple of reasons. First of all, Boyd added a quarter of a million dollars to his BASS winnings for the year, pushing them up over $800,000. More importantly, though, I think it established him in the eyes of many fishing fans as the real deal.
In fact, Boyd was the real deal before he won the Legends tournament … or even the Classic, for that matter. But I like it when a Classic champ follows up with something big. Too many Classic winners were one-hit wonders who never really accomplished very much before or after their win.
Eight men won a Bassmaster Classic without ever winning another BASS event. The list starts with 1973 champ Rayo Breckenridge, a reported wizard with a rod and reel, who only managed seven Top 10 finishes in a 62-event career.