Daily Limit: Way to go, Jacopo!

Bravo! Bravo per Jacopo Gallelli!

Not only is Gallelli the first Italian to ever qualify for the Bassmaster Classic, he’s also the first European to make it in the 48 previous championships held by B.A.S.S.

Gallelli finished third in the Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation Championship presented by Magellan Outdoors on Lake Pickwick Saturday, securing one of its three berths to the 2019 Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.

Gallelli, of Firenze, Italy, will join overall champion Randy Pierson of Oakdale, Calif., and Kyle Dorsett of Odenville, Ala., on the Tennessee River out of Knoxille for the March 15-17 championship.

On stage, Gallelli said this to B.A.S.S. Nation director and emcee Jon Stewart:

“This moment is probably the most emotional of my life, after being dead, obviously.”

Scusi, un informazione, per favore

In English, that means, “What’d you say?” We’ll certainly dig into exactly what that was about, possibly learning something was just lost in translation.

Overall, Gallelli seemed to have a really good grasp of English, but there were a few times …

“I know that everybody in Italy is looking at me, hoping, cheering,” he said, showing a decent command of the language.

“Yesterday you ask-ed me about my secret lure,” he later said. “It’s a small, small spinnerbait. I was casting these with 10-pound fluorocarbon by P-Line, going very close to the seawall, trying to deflect off rocks. That was my techniques to bring every day the limits.”

We’ll certainly excuse him that minor slip, but what he lacks in word order he made up in marketing.

“This lure has no distribution in the U.S.,” he said jumping back to the mike, “so if someone would like to contact us, we’d be happy.”

With 46 pounds, 4 ounces, Gallelli secured the third and final spot behind Pierson (55-11) and Dorsett (51-14). The most recent foreign angler the Nation sent to a championship was Gerry Jooste of Zimbabwe, who made his fifth Classic appearance in 2013 on Grand Lake.

Being a first, a number of fellow Europeans expressed congratulations to Gallelli. France’s Sebastien Depeyris wrote on Facebook:

Bravoooooo! Félicitations from France,” which translates to “Well done! Congratulations from France.”

The Italy B.A.S.S. Nation had Gallelli plastered all over its Facebook page, and countrymen showed their pride, even if something was definitely lost in translation.

“For me it’s a huge emotion, thank you Jacopo, you’re a great one. Proud of you,” wrote Vasco Lotti.

“Great Jacopo you are making all the bass fishing Italian dream,” was Franco Mancini’s mixed up message even though we get the gist.

Takahiro Omori became the first non-American to win the Classic in 2004. From Japan, Omori was living in Texas at the time. In 1994, Bryan Kerchal became the one and only Nation angler to win a Classic.

Pierson quietly accepts title

The jubilation of the Nation anglers realizing their dreams of reaching the Classic run the gamut from jumping up and down hollering, to breaking down in tears, to stunned silence. That’s about what happened to Pierson when he took the title.

“I’m kinda in shock right now,” he said. “I thought I would be emotional and kind of a wreck. Right now, I’m just, I dunno. I’m kind of in shock.”

Stewart told him it’d sink in right before handing him the Bryan Kerchal Memorial Trophy. Pierson really battled through some things last week that might have upset about anybody else’s apple cart.

There was a false alarm scare when a doctor advised his father not to travel there, then Pierson experienced boat issues all week.

“You guys and the service crews saw me more than the water saw me,” Pierson said. “The nice thing was … everything got fixed and was running perfect. Better that it ended this way than to start good and end bad.”

Get by with help from friends

Second-place Dorsett got by with a little help from a friend, namely Elite angler and defending Nation champ Caleb Sumrall, who he beat out for a Classic spot.

“One person I gotta thank is Caleb,” Dorsett said. “I didn’t bring hardly any spinnerbaits up here.”

Of course, it was several borrowed Kajun Boss Outdoors Spinnerbaits from Sumrall that helped Dorsett catch most of his fish.

“I kind of put all my eggs in this one bank. I weighed in 13 fish, 10 of them come off that bank – six of them have been 5-pounders,” he said, again mentioning Sumrall in his thank yous. “… and Caleb for helping me with the baits. It’s a company one of his buddies owns, and they (the bass) liked it.”