LA CROSSE, Wis. — Tommy Biffle was watching the clock. With 45 minutes left in the final round, Biffle knew it was time to give up on the special smallmouth spot he’d been milking during the entire four-day Diet Mountain Dew Mississippi River Rumble presented by Power-Pole.

Thirty years of pro bass fishing tells you to when to make a move.

“If you sit there and hope they come and they don’t come, you have do something,” said Biffle, 55, of Wagoner, Okla.

Going into Sunday’s final round, Biffle was 7 ounces in back of leader Aaron Martens of Leeds, Ala. Biffle wanted the win, and especially the Bassmaster Classic berth that comes with an Elite trophy.

He abandoned the spot that had kept him in contention all week, and ran to a similar place he knew of nearby, with hard current between two islands. It hadn’t produced much before, but Sunday it paid off quickly.

“First throw, I caught a big one, second throw I caught a big one,” he said. He built his weight to 16 pounds, 13 ounces.

It was enough to get the better of Martens by 2 pounds, 7 ounces. Biffle won with a four-day total of 64-2. The win was the seventh in his Bassmaster career, and his fourth in the Elite Series. He also hit the $2 million mark in B.A.S.S. earnings.

Biffle’s prize was $100,000 and an instant-in for the 2014 Classic.

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