Minn Kota®/Humminbird® Congratulates Pro Team Member Alton Jones on Classic Victory
2008-02-25
RACINE, Wis. (Feb. 25, 2008) – Waco, Texas Pro Alton Jones reached the pinnacle of the competitive bass fishing world on Sunday by capturing his first Bassmaster Classic Tournament title. The Minn Kota®/Humminbird® Pro Team Member took over the top spot Saturday and never looked back taking first out of the elite field that qualified for the event held at Lake Hartwell in South Carolina.
“We are extremely excited for Alton and glad to see him win such a prestigious event as the Bassmaster Classic,” said Judy Douglas, Director of Marketing for Minn Kota and Humminbird. “Alton has been a key member of our pro team for many years. His input has been instrumental in the development of products that measure up to the stringent demands of tournament competition. Alton has been a consistent performer on tour and he is well deserving of this accomplishment.”
This was the 11th Classic for Jones who collected $500,000 for the victory. He moved from tenth place to first after the second day of competition, winning with a three day weight total of 49-pounds, 7-ounces.
The 44-year-old Jones uses a Humminbird 1197c SI Combo in tournament competition. He was quoted by BassFan.com crediting Humminbird’s exclusive Side Imaging® technology for helping locate his fish. “I caught fish as shallow as 15 feet and as deep as 40,” said Jones. “Something really important to me in finding the structure is my Humminbird 1197 Side Imaging graph. I couldn’t have found the places without it.”
Jones also uses Humminbird fishfinder models 997c SI Combo, 797c2 SI Combo and a 777c2.
In addition, Jones relies on a Minn Kota Maxxum Pro 101 trolling motor to withstand tough tournament conditions. “The Maxxum Pro was designed with pros like Alton in mind,” said Douglas. “It is a workhorse of a motor that features Lift-Assist which reduces the effort of stowing and deploying by 50 percent while offering infallible reliability that keeps pros like Alton on the water doing what they do best, catch fish.”
Jones is the 38th Classic champion and said it was a fulfillment of his childhood dream.
The Marine Electronics Group of Johnson Outdoors Inc. consists of the Minn Kota, Humminbird and Cannon® brands. Minn Kota is the world's leading manufacturer of electric trolling motors, as well as offers a complete line of battery chargers, trim tabs and marine accessories. Trolling motors include Terrova™, PowerDrive™ V2, Maxxum Pro, Maxxum®, Edge, Vantage®, Vector™ 3X, Endura™, Riptide Pro, Riptide®, Riptide ST, Riptide SP, Engine Mount, E-Drive and Trim-N-Troll™ models. Humminbird is a leading innovator and manufacturer of fishfinders, fishfinder/GPS combo units, chartplotters, marine radios and digital depth gauges. Products in the Humminbird line include 1100 Series™, 900 Series™, 700 Series™, Matrix® Series, 500 Series™, 300 Series™, 100 Series Fishin’ Buddy™, PiranhaMax™ and SmartCast™. Cannon is the leader in controlled-depth fishing and includes a full line of downrigger products and accessories. Downriggers include Digi-Troll™, Magnum, Uni-Troll™, Easi-Troll™, Lake-Troll and Mini-Troll™.