Buddy Gross
Date: June 23, 2021
Venue: Lake L, a small flatland reservoir
Water: 83 degrees, stained
Weather: Cold front, sunny, 54 degrees early, high 82, east wind
Pro: Buddy Gross, 48, Chickamauga, Ga. Gross, a former FLW hammer, qualified for the 2020 Elite Series via the Eastern Opens. He won the 2020 Elite event at Lake Eufaula (Ala.) and qualified for the 2021 Classic.
Boat: Bullet 21 XRS with 250-horsepower Mercury outboard; Minn Kota trolling motor; Garmin, Humminbird and Lowrance electronics; and twin Power-Pole shallow-water anchors.
2021 and Buddy Gross’ fondest dreams were about to come true. He’d grown up in the world of competitive bass fishing, first partnering with his dad in local team tournaments as a teenager, then winning $450,000 on the FLW tour and finally moving to the B.A.S.S. Elite Series after qualifying via the Eastern Opens. “I’d watched Bassmaster televised tournaments since I was five years old and always dreamed of one day qualifying for the Classic,” Gross says. These dreams became reality when he won the 2020 Elite tournament at Lake Eufaula and subsequently earned a berth at the 2021 Classic at Lake Ray Roberts. “I thought, ‘Wow, this is really happening! I’m actually headed to the Classic!’” That’s when fate intervened. Buddy and his family are avid equestrians, and the evening before heading to Texas for the Classic practice period, Buddy fell off his horse, severely spraining his
