ESPN Outdoors

The 2008 Bassmaster Classic champion is making a run at the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year title, too. He's one of eight Elite Series pros that have made the top 50 cut in all five tournaments this season. "I've got a couple of things going here," Jones said. "On schooling fish, there are brief windows of opportunity. Six or seven times a day, there will be a four- to five-minute flurry. I've used YUM's new Money Minnow swimbait, and if I can get that bait into them while they're on top or as they go down, half the time I can get a bite. And that's when the bigger fish are coming. That's when I've got my 3- or 4-pounders. Between flurries, I'll throw the dropshot. I caught a 4-pounder with a little YUM Houdini worm. I haven't found one color in particular, but watermelon red and green pumpkin — I'm kind of playing with colors." Read More | Standings | Photos | Notes | Archive

10:11 A.M. EDT March 26, 2008
Oval Office

THE PRESIDENT: I've got the fishing champs of this year. And, Judy, thanks for coming. She is from Many, Louisiana. She won the Women's Bassmaster. And Alton Jones from Waco, Texas, won the Bassmaster Classic.

And I thought it was important to welcome these champs here to the White House so that -- you know, to encourage people to fish. There's nothing better than fishing. I had a fantastic experience with Alton and our friend, Charlie Pack. He was a famous local fisherman. And he said, do you want to go fishing with a fellow named Jones? I said, I've never heard of him, there's a lot people named Jones. (Laughter.) It turns out the man I was fishing with is the -- wins the Bassmaster Classic. READ MORE

BRISTOL, Conn. — As Alton Jones was being driven to the ESPN headquarters at 6 a.m. Monday, he was still trying to grasp what had happened to him in the past 24 hours.

"(Sunday) morning when I took off to go fishing, I had no idea I'd be on a plane headed to Bristol, Conn., that night," Jones said. "I had no idea of the opportunities that I'd have." Read More

It was late Sunday in the concrete-walled bowels of the Bi-Lo Center. The swarm of media had mostly fled, and a 100-hour workweek seemed to be winding down for the ESPNOutdoors.com crew, which worked like government mules to crank out stories and photographs and all sorts of pretty Web pages. Complete Story