I was just thinking, some guys think the '05 Classic was the best ever because it was so close at the end, despite the size of the fish.

So how about this, The next time they run the Indy 500 I say we make all the drivers use electric go-carts and go round and round the inside of a basketball court!

Hey, it's not so silly. The competition will always be there. Those drivers always drive to win and I promise it will be a tight finish too.

LOL :7

Chris

Man oh man, I actually got to watch the Classic this year b/c they had satellite at the cabin we were staying at. I was on the edge of my damn seat, honestly. I root for Aaron every year and it was so BRUTAL watching him get 2nd to Van Dam. Christ Aaron!!!

Its like you said Chris, who cares what the venue is, these are the best guys in the world doing everything they possibly can to win it. It was hard to tell what exactly was going on from watching the footage but when I'm watching it I'm just sitting there going OK what pound test is Aaron throwing, what type of line, and what bait is he throwing - it must be something small because you couldn't see it when he was unhooking the fish, and ten thousand other detail questions!!! I read all the coverage on bassfan afterwards and it made sense what he was doing and it still just killed me that he broke off two fish - even if it was 5lb test. I want to know - were those breakoffs in cover? Were they open water? What knot was he using - San Diego jam or what? QUESTIONS QUESTIONS QUESTIONS!!! hahaha I loved it.

What I didn't love was the lame announcer BASS had. Who is this dude? Yelling out Westside like it was some kind of gang or something? pleeeeze. They said Cochran walked off stage during the super 6, and ehh I kinda don't blame him. And whats up with all the dancing? Ok Skeet yeah I can see Skeet dancing that's aright, and Iconelli that dude just makes me laugh because he's such a badass fisherman but its almost like he's putting on the show and dance to try to distract people from the fishing aspect. But Davey Hite dancing on the bow of the boat? Ai yi yi. Fishing is cool, but is it that cool? har.

I'd love to hear commentary on the classic. Hoopla aside, there was some hard core fishing going on out there.

How hard was that anouncer guy trying to sound like Fish?? Didn't like him at all- Davey Hite seemed to be the old crusty dude, he was pissed at everyone the whole time, pretty funny. I was bummed Aaron came up short, I thought he had #4 in the bag but it wasn't there, congrats to KVD- Stoked on all the coverage on ESPN- Next year Aaron!!!

>Its like you said Chris, who cares what the venue is, these
>are the best guys in the world doing everything they possibly
>can to win it.

Dang brah, didn't you taste the sarcasm? I thought I laid it on quite thick.

Pittsburg was as approriate for the Classic as running the Indy 500 with go-carts on a B-ball court.

I was so disappointed and bored, I deleted it off Tivo instead of transfering it to tape as I planned for my library. Blah. I don't care to re-watch that travesty ever again.

I know BASS doesn't have the quality of the fishery as it's highest priority. The location is chosen after bidding by cities to get it. And BASS likes big cities with lots of people & MONEY.
That's the problem.

The first priority of a world class tournament with world class fishermen should be fishing world class fisheries. Once a reasonable list of fisheries exists, the surrounding cities can then bid and bargain or whatever. But the fishery should always come first.

And that's my "Buck'o'Five" :+
Chris

I have to agree with Rob. I was on the edge of my seat. I liked seeing those guys have to work so hard. I was sure Aaron had it won. I was bummed when he came in 2nd again. I didnt like that DJ either, wish they would bring back Fish. Next one is only 6 monthes away and they will have big bags.

Which brings up another point.

Maybe it will have big bags. If a big winter cold front doesn't come thru and put a whammy on the fat girls.

How much of the country is still frozen or nearly frozen and unfishable in feb?

Most of it. Which leaves California, Florida and maybe southern Texas as the only places left that could host a feb Classic.

Oh - I'd much rather watch some good fishing instead of fishing for bass the size of trout. I just like watching the classic because you can see the desperation in the fishermen, no matter how big the fish are.

the only shame of the classic in my opinion (aside from Aaron) , was the choice of making Pitttsburg a place to hold the classic,with all the small fish and the nations best pro's drawing a blank on this body of water.oh and i feel awfull for Jooste-like Zona said "drain your livewell and let the guy, start the day over" would be the best way to punish the guy not by axing him from the competition.I taped all 3 days on tivo,watched a few minutes of the first 2 days and the final day all the way thru what a waste of tape.poor announcer,small fish and pro's being blanked= Yawms for me.Maybe they will make it up to us next year by fishing the Delta or somewere more productive at least.
Brian

The next classic is going to be on Toho Feb. 24-26, 2006.

Total sight fishing tournament, although the last big tournaments on Toho didn't have anywhere near the weights they did when Rojas set the 5 fish weight record in 2001. I wonder if Biosonix works on bedfish lol.

The worst part was the announcer. That guy was an absolute horrible match for bass fishing, and especially for the personalities of the fishermen themselves. I was embarrassed for some of those guys. I dont know, I dont like the idea of ESPN owning BASS, its going in a very odd direction. Its almost done up like a WWF event. Its good for the fisermen due to larger purses, but IMO bad for everything else.

Whoever was in charge of tyring to match up the right announcer to the event failed miserably at factoring in many variables. He would have worked at same rap jam contest, but not the Classic.

Classics are cool no matter what

I was at the Classic this year and the announcer was horrible. You guys didn't get to see all the stuff in between the commercial breaks. He called smallmouth spots and largemouth smallmouth...moron!

It was a close deal and we got to see a few guys fishing right outside the convention center. Gerald Swindle caught about 15 fish in front of us to keep one! ESPN and BASS have a lot of politics going on. Ike does the things he does because BASS told him to do it. They are trying to make it more exciting than just fishing.

Aaron was fishing Berkley gulp minnows on drop shot and the Robo Alive shad. Talked to him Sunday night and he told me that. He said he lost fish because he was trying to haul a$$ and get fish to the boat because he locked up once or twice. It was a cool being at the Classic again this year. Definately worht going if you have never been.

The Cochran deal was weird, they basically blasted him on stage and he got pissed and left. One of the other guys accused him of fishing his water or something like that. The announcer tried to make into some big ordeal and he got mad and walked off stage. They were waiting for him for 15 minutes to come back and he never showed. The show must go on so they went on without him. They tried to create some drama but I don't think they need to do that to keep people interested.

I was at the Classic in 2000, it was really fun, same deal, big city thing, weigh in at Soldier Field in Chicago, but the wind blew and so did the fishing- Hopefully this year is the last time they try that stunt and just look at the fishery rather then the hope of spreading out the market- at least Chicago could have been epic if the wind would have let those guys out on the big water for bags of 6 lb. smallies, but it sucked. Toho has a better chance to make it fun for us to watch, I think a Classic at the Delta or Clear Lake when it's on would blow minds. I did like all the coverage on ESPN, beats watching some clown in rollerblades grinding off his mom's station wagon bumper or some dudes playing poker- when did that become a sport? :P

Fish is epic, they need to bring him back!!!!!

Too bad Aaron got second again. Congrats to VanDam but I'd wish that a guy from the West would finally show the Eastern boys how to really win a Classic. I mean, if he'd just taken those a few extra seconds every time he hooked up to fight those fish instead of trying to flip'em towards the boat he would've won. Same with Swindle, too. Even if they're small fish, their money in a Classic like that!
I didn't see the Classic itself, just the Bassmaster thing like a week afterwards. I missed the announcer :-) but from I heard that's ok! Guys were calling it the greatest Classic yet because it was so close. I'm sorry but any tournament where the the largest fish MIGHT top 5 lbs. is dull. ;(
I say we let them com west with the Classic. Delta would be cool, why not let them have a crack at Castiac or Casitas? then we could show people how a bas reallly should look! }(

Well, the sad thing is everybody who isn't a tournament bass fisherman and some who are, are laughing at bass fishing. They aren't going to recognize that a mere few ounces or whatever it was is a tight race and exciting, blah blah-ad nauseum. They'll only see a bunch of rednecks in high dollar boats with fancy electronics chasing itty-bitty fish.
Those who are new to the sport or seeing it for the first time want to see FAT SACKS FULL OF BIG FISH!

That's what's exciting to everyone.

If BASS and ESPN took the body of water and time of year as the first priority, they'd be a lot more successful attracting an audience.