BASS just announced the Classic will be at Lay Lake in Alabama again. I'm sure there are a bunch of good practical reasons why it makes sense for them to put it there but ... how boring! I think Ray Scott had the right idea when he held the first Classic on Lake Mead, flying everyone in in secret to make it a totally fair competition. I love watching the classic because everyone fishes so hard and pulls out all the stops but it just seems kinda lame to have it on the same lake where it's already been held twice before.

Ratings is a big part of it and good weights will keep people interested. I think it sucks and they should have it at tough lakes like Mead or some small fish waters.

Let me shed some light here..... The ultimate decision is on what city puts up the most $$$$$$$$$. The Classic in Florida this past February was a joke. The locals didn't even know that it was going on. For example, the taxi's in all cities have a list of events that are happening so they can adjust where the most people will be located. The taxi's around the Classic site didn't even know it was going on. What I'm trying to get at is, they are going to pick locations that give them the most $ and the most press.

I do agree though, Lay Lake is Lame. Put blindfolds on the guys and ship em off somewhere. That way it's not who gets the best information but who's the best at finding fish right away.

I was thinking about this more...

Maybe what they should do is rig up 50 Versa Vessel Kickboats with 6 rod holders each and two tackle bags. Let the classic contenders bring as much tackle as they care to row around with all day, and have at it at a totally unknown location. Pick somewhere at least 1000 acres and pick a plaace with great fishing.

The best guys are still gonna win and you know some dude like Ike would row about 5 miles each way to get to some unfished water :)

Rob your idea is similar to something I was thinking about.

Give 20 guys kick boats and let them scout a unknown lake/river for a few hours. Then give them all a set amount of money, say $500.00 in gift certiifcates to the same tackel store (Bass Pro Shops Cabelas could sponser it)They have to buy everything they are going to use the next day with that money (rods, line, tackel everything) The next day set them loose on the place they scouted and hold a tourney.

Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have-yous

I think that's an awesome idea. That's a real fishing competition.

I think a boat would be fine for them to use, but it would go down like this:

Tell them to bring whatever tackle they want to use and rods/reels

Don't tell them where they are going just load them up in a bus or plane and take to a lake that never has big tourneys on it.

They fish for three days with no info or prefish time and see who wins.

Then you can see who is the man and who isn't.

heh, I'm mostly joking about the kickboat thing. Obviously these guys have boat and motor sponsors and all that so fishing out of a kickboat isn't an option. It would be funny to watch though :)

Sacto John - maybe one day kickboat fishing will get big enough to make an event like you're describing more viable. B-n-T has 4 regions now and the Clear Lake open just drew 50 something anglers. SCBBBC is drawing 20+ guys at their tourneys and getting national media coverage through ESPN. So you never know what the future may bring :) A Western regional classic type event? Time will tell.

The format I was thinking about would work with bass boats as well; just make them allt he same, like they do in the classic.

Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have-yous

I was at the Classic in 97 at Gay Lake and its just that. One thing though is the city did big things for every one involved with the Classic and thats why they are going back. There are a million other places they could ahve done it, but I guess no other city put up the cash or supported BASS like Birmingham.

Lay Lake may have been chosen for political reasons as well. With all the BS going on with BASS in the last year or so, maybe ESPN felt it was a good move to have the Classic back in the area where the whole thing started. Who knows.

One thing I do know is that I dont really like Lay Lake. I used to work on that reservoir, and spent 3 years fishing it. It can be a very tough lake, but if the timing is right you can get some good bags in the twenties.