2008.02.21
First day of Bassmaster Classic could be epic
I just got to Greenville, S.C., where I'll spend the next three days covering the Bassmaster Classic.
I don't normally cover bass tournaments outside Western Virginia, but there are a couple of interesting local angles here.
One is that pro angler John Crews of Salem is fishing in the tournament. But I actually did some pretty significant coverage when he fished in his first Classic (in Pittsburgh in 2005) so I probably wouldn't have gotten the OK to come down just to cover him again.
My main focus out of the gate will be on Jeff Freeman, an amateur angler from Max Meadows. He's a full-time deputy who worked his way through a series of quailifying tournaments to earn a spot here. Basically, it's like a guy from your local country club earning a spot in the U.S. Open.
While Freeman is a longshot, it's not impossible for an amateur to win this thing. Bryan Kerchal did it in 1994.
I'll be on the boat with Freeman tomorrow. It promises to be an interesting day. The weather is supposed to be in the low 40s (at best) with rain. It's tough enough to fish in conditions like that. But I'll just be sitting there. I can only hope my Gore-Tex gear functions properly and that Freeman is really slaying 'em, which will make it more tolerable.
How Freeman and Crews do tomorrow will tailor my coverage on Saturday and Sunday. In addition to my stories that run daily in The Roanoke Times, I'll be posting additional info on the blog throughout the weekend.
Mark, You are one lucky dude to be able to ride in the boat during a classic tourn..I wish you the best and hope you have the time of your life and of course some great footage and we expect to hear all about it. Please let John and Jeff we all from roanoke/Salem wish them the best of luck and kick some bass.... Moefishn AKA...Moehuntn
Comment by Moe — February 21, 2008 @ 9:09 pm
Mark
I realize no one could not help but notice the very low water tables and with the water being low and the fish being concentrated to only so many areas.
Do you believe this is how many of the tournaments will be shaping up this year and what is the possible explanation outside of "Global Warming" which I believe is a fallacy.
I believe the answer is more natural than man made pollution. This is one possibility that no one is talking about "Global Expansion".
If we go back to the Tsunami that was caused by an undersea earthquake, this up heavel land reached as far inland to Virginia and Florida rising the water table by two inches as reported.
To many this may not seem like much, but this could be proven that land shift was far more devastating than first imagine or yet to be realized.
Comment by Backlash — February 24, 2008 @ 10:44 pm