Chris Lane, popular professional bass angler, fished the 2016 Bassmaster Classic on Grand Lake near Grove Oklahoma using The Leash. Outboard motors can strike submerged objects at bass boat speeds, break off, and flip into the boat while still running. Just like a NASCAR tire tether prevents tires from breaking loose during a collision and becoming a dangerous projectile, The Leash prevents the outboard from reaching bass boat operators or passengers.

I used Photoshop to crop and brighten an image taken by Bassmaster showing Chris Lane with his orange Power Poles and orange The Leash.

The Leash on Chris Lane’s boat during 2016 Bassmaster Classic
photo is an edited version of Bassmaster’s Bling Gallery image #24

All the remaining photos were taken by me.

Chris Lane at Bassmaster Classic 2016 blastoff Day 1

Blast-off Day 1. We have a high resolution version of this image that looks very nice.

Chris Lane loading out at Bassmaster Classic 2016 Day 1

Running up on the trailer Day 1

Chris Lane waves to the crowd during Bassmaster Classic 2016 Day 2 blastoff

Blast-off Day 2

As I sifted through the over 1,200 photos we shot last weekend, I found Chris Lane’s boat in about 25 of them. His orange Power Poles made it real easy to pick him out of some of the crowded shots with many boats in the photo. We hope you enjoy them.

Thanks to Chris Lane to running The Leash and bring some attention to this safety issue. It’s kind of interesting. We often see friends and family of young people killed by boat propellers wear plastic bracelets / wristbands of certain colors or with slogan on them as they mourn the loss of their friend and loved one. In this instance, The Leash itself looks quite a bit like a bracelet / wristband made for an outboard motor AND instead of just calling attention to the issue or concern, it actually prevents the problem.

Chris Lane entering arena at Bassmaster Classic 2016 weigh-in Day 2

We are shooting handheld from up high on the far end of the arena so the weigh-in images are a bit blurry.

Chris Lane waving while being trailered in during Bassmaster Classic 2016 Day 2 weigh-in

Boat is being pulled to the podium area.

The Leash on Chris Lane’s boat during Bassmaster Classic 2016 Day 2 weigh-in

They trailered the boat around the arena but our end was pretty dark. I was able to capture a blurry image of The Leash when the parked a few minutes to await exiting the arena while another contestant was at the podium. Pretty blurry, but not bad for shooting from here (see below).

Bassmaster Classic 2016 weigh-in Day 2

Shooting handheld from my seat in low light from that distance I thought our compact consumer Nikon L840 performed quite well.

We look forward to watching The Leash as it enters the bass boat safety marketplace.