CHICAGO, July 18 - Forty-six of the brightest minds in professional bass fishing are poised to uncover the finny treasure that exists in the shadow of the nation's third-largest city as the 30th edition of the prestigious BASS Masters Classic begins Thursday in the big-league venue of Chicago.
The watery stretches of the Windy City, including the Lake Michigan lakefront and the Chicago-Calumet River system, is home to a growing smallmouth and largemouth bass fishery as a result of the Clean Water Act and other environmental measures of the past 25 years. And the country's top tournament pros will help the fishing public to gauge the size of the region's bass wealth during the three-day Classic, which is the biggest event in competitive fishing.
"This is going to be an exciting Classic," said Davy Hite of South Carolina, the defending Classic champion. "It's exciting because there are just so many unknowns about this fishery. We just don't have much experience fishing these waters. So we don't really know what's out there. You can't check all of this water in just six days of (official) pre-practice.
"It's going to be an interesting tournament, and it's not going to be over until the very end. There is so much water, you could possibly do poorly the first day, and then go someplace completely different and catch a big bag. And anybody in this tournament is capable of doing that."
The Classic pros, who survived a season-long qualifying process to get to Chicago, were allowed to scout the tournament waters for six days last month. But most of the pros emphasized that the practice period was of dubious value because these Chicago bass are likely to be in completely different seasonal locations than they were a month ago.
"This Classic is anybody's game," added Tim Horton of Alabama, the reigning B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year. "There are some places out there where the smallmouths will be bunched up. But they are hard to find with so much water to cover."
Horton predicted that the "Great Lakes guys" in this Classic field will have a "big advantage" entering the event. That includes three-time Angler of the Year Kevin VanDam, recent B.A.S.S. winner Art Ferguson, Classic rookie Kim Stricker and Philip Jones (all of Michigan).
At stake is a $100,000 top prize and the most important title in professional angling. The Classic championship has been worth as much as $1 million to the winner in the past through endorsement contracts and speaking engagements.
It was a joint effort between the city of Chicago and state of Illinois that brought fishing's Big Show to the Windy City. Tom Gray of the Mayor's Office of Special Events said Mayor Richard Daly was anxious to showcase Chicago's emerging bass fishery to the world.
"(The fishing) is like a diamond in the rough," Gray said. "The mayor knows there are great fishermen on our waters around Chicago. He sees them fishing around the lakefront. And we know that the fish are here."
Gray estimated the economic impact of the Classic on the region will be $40 to $45 million.
"It is a developing bass fishery," added Mike Conlin of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. "This area has been known for trout and salmon, but that has been changing over the past 25 years. And people have started taking note of it.
"I guarantee you that after this event is done, a lot of people will come to Chicago to fish. A lot of people are going to be made aware of what (bass) fishing they have here."