Birmingham, Ala. -- The yearlong Bassmaster CastingKids competition crowned its two champions Saturday.
The competitors were narrowed down from thousands of participants all over the globe during the last 12 months. Saturday morning at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, the final 12 were paired down to four. The final four, representing the 7-10 and 11-14-year-old age groups, faced off in the arena prior to the second day weigh-in of the Bassmaster Classic.
In the 7-10 age group, eight-year-old Sierra Voisin, from Teeswater, Ontario, Canada, emerged the winner. Thirteen-year-old Nicholas Neidige from Seymour, Ind., took the honors in the 11-14 group. Both winners were awarded $5,000 academic scholarships, with the runner-ups receiving $2,000 scholarships.
"It's great," said Voisin, who added that it was a lot of work to get to the finals but the best part of winning was "getting trophies." She wasn't sure how she was going to celebrate her win, but that she would make sure and do something "fun."
Neidige said the win gave him the motivation to continue on the road to a professional bass fishing career. "It feels great," he said. "I started in 2006 with the regionals, the state and then the semi-nationals and nationals then here."
Since its founding in 1991, the Bassmaster CastingKids program has had more than 1.6 million youngsters that have participated. More than $3.3 million in cash, scholarships and prizes have been awarded through nearly 19,000 events.
TSUKIYAMA FEATURED
Japanese Classic contender Shigeru Tsukiyama, a Buddhist priest and outdoor writer who qualified for the Classic via his performance at the BASS Federation Nation National Championship in January, was profiled in the New York Times Friday.
A Times reporter rode with Tsukiyama during the lone Classic practice day on Wednesday and, with the help of an interpreter, delved into the angler's day and his life in Tokyo.
"Tsukiyama's poise may be surprising because, for a bass fisherman, the Bassmaster Classic can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience - especially for an angler like Tsukiyama, 42, who qualified through a series of amateur tournaments. The three-day event, which starts here Friday, pays $500,000 to the winner, and victory can set up the winner for several years of lucrative endorsements," wrote Ray Glier, the author of the piece.
WORLD-WIDE MEDIA EVENT
For Classic XXXVII, ESPN issued more than 200 credentials to media outlets before Classic week began. Considering the large number of outlets that applied for credentials on site, the Classic is the biggest media event in fishing.
And the 2007 Classic is definitely an international event. Credentials were issued to 14 international media outlets located in Japan, Spain and Portugal.
SUPERSTITION
Most of the Classic contenders have a superstition or two. Florida pro Peter Thliveros has a strange one: He doesn't want to catch a bass on his first cast of the morning, so he is always careful to drop his lure away from his targeted spot and then quickly reel it in.
BOBO IN ATTENDANCE
Dalton Bobo of Northport, Ala., holds the dubious distinction of losing a Classic by a mere ounce. Instead of Bobo, Dion Hibdon took home the winner's trophy of the 1997 Bassmaster Classic on Alabama's Logan Martin Lake. That one-ounce margin made it the closest finish in Classic history.
Bobo is one of many fishing pros fans can meet at the Classic ESPN Outdoors Expo. The Expo continues through Sunday in the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.
CLASSIC PFD
Bassmaster Classic contenders are all wearing the latest in personal flotation devices: Mustang Survival's Deluxe Inflatable PFD.
Its sleek and lightweight design gives anglers maximum mobility on the water. Inflating in seconds after being manually or automatically activated, the Mustang provides 35 pounds of buoyancy even though the average person needs only eight pounds to float.