After two decades of dreaming about being the Bassmaster Classic Champion, Randy Howell won bass fishing’s world championship Sunday on Alabama’s famed Lake Guntersville, and by mid-week he was still riding high on Cloud Nine.

“It feels like a dream,” said Howell after a day filled with interviews from magazines to newspapers to television to radio and even fishing websites. “I wake up and I still think, ‘Oh God, please don’t let this just be a dream’.”

The Springville, Ala., pro has qualified for 12 Classics in his career and his best finish prior to Sunday was last February when he finished 10^th in the Classic held on Grand Lake O’ The Cherokees at Tulsa, Okla., and won $20,000. He had a much heftier payday at Guntersville, claiming a $300,000 paycheck for first place, plus a $7,500 Toyota Bonus Bucks award, boosting his career win money to well over $1.5 million.

And he did it in championship fashion, vaulting from 11^th place on Saturday into the top spot on Sunday when he had what observers termed a “charmed day,” one during which he caught so many big bass that he was culling 4- and 5-pounders before weighing in five at 29 pounds, 2 ounces, with his biggest bass a hefty 7 pounds, 3 ounces.

That boosted his three-day total to 67 pounds, 8 ounces, exactly one pound ahead of B.A.S,.S Nation angler Paul Mueller of Naugatuck, Conn., and 1 pound, 13 ounces ahead of Elite Pro Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla., who was the leader going into the final day of competition.

“It was the best day I’ve ever had in 21 years of professional bass fishing, a day of a lifetime,” Howell said.

“I caught my first one on my second or third cast,” he said. “I caught one almost every cast or two and had a limit in the first 10 or 15 minutes. It was quick. It would have been quicker if I hadn’t had to stop and retie every time because of the rocks.”
The rocks were the riprap up against a causeway bridge on Spring Creek. That early flurry included releasing eight 4-pounders, he said. Howell worked the riprap and a grassy area farther back in the creek with a Livingston Lures model being developed within the Pro Series – a medium diver in a crawfish color. He also used a Rapala DT6 crankbait in the “demon” crawfish color and a Yamamoto bladed jig.

Although he entered the final day of fishing believing he could win and had a fantastic day of fishing on the water, Howell said he did not know for sure he’d captured bass fishing’s top prize until Mueller weighed in.

“Davy Hite told me in the hallway that Mueller had a chance to beat me, but he needed 25 pounds, 11 ounces, and he only had 24 pounds, 11 ounces. I bent over and almost started crying when I saw his weight.”

Winning the Classic, Howell said, is the culmination of more than 20 years of paying his dues and only winning two B.A.S.S. titles along the way. “I don’t win tournaments very often,” said the 43-year-old pro who claimed his third win with the Classic title Sunday.

“I dreamed about it my whole life. I did a lot of praying and planning and I try every year to get better and learn more. I had a lot of talks with the Good Lord about what I had to do to make it happen. Then all of a sudden here it comes and it is a dream come true.”

Financially, Howell said, the prize money will be a major boost for his investments, college fund for his children and retirement.

“But, family-wise it is even better,” he said. “My wife and I do everything together. Our boys travel with us and my wife home-schools them, so we think of our family as Team Howell.”

Howell said he hopes his success and that of Team Howell will be a greater influence now on other families looking for direction in life.

“Everybody who knows me knows I wear my faith on my sleeve. The biggest thing about this is that it gives me a larger platform to reach out to more people and help more people. It opens up my ministry, so more people can hear what I have to say,” Howell said.

“Hopefully, we can revitalize fishing to where it is all about family, fishing for fun, and get more people into it like it was in the good old days,” he said. “I am living proof to the younger generation, college kids and high school kids fishing. If you have a dream chase it, but put God first and treat people right and it will all come to you eventually.”

For Team Howell, the dream lives on, beyond the celebrity of a Bassmaster Classic title.