The official scouting period on the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers in Pittsburgh is long over and the actual competition days for the 35th annual Bassmaster Classic, July 29-31, are still well off. But the 47 Classic contenders have kept busy preparing for the most important event in professional bass fishing.
Here is a sampling of what the pros are doing to ready themselves for the upcoming world championship:
- Four-time Classic winner Rick Clunn is centering much of his efforts on fishing a small, clear, smallmouth stream that runs through his farm in rural Missouri. "I'm fishing my creek a lot, which is kind of an unusual thing," Clunn said. "I really believe this is going to be a finesse-type tournament. That's not my strength, so I'm fishing with my spinning rods a little bit everyday down on the creek just to get more comfortable with that type of tackle. "I'm not bad with a spinning rod, but I don't do it much anymore. In fact, a lot of my limits came on an old Charlie Brewer 4-inch Slider Worm back in the '70s. A lot of people don't think of me in those terms, but back then, that was one of my favorite techniques."
- California pro Skeet Reese is taking an opposite approach. His pre-Classic days will include traveling for sponsors, filming segments of ESPN2's "Bass Tech" show and an anniversary celebration with wife, Kim. "Pretty much last week I packed most of my tackle up," he said. "The only other thing I'll do is pay attention to the weather and what's going on in Pittsburgh as far as the rain goes. I think that's the biggest determining factor on how the event unfolds. If they get a lot of rain and the waters get high and muddy, that's going to create completely different conditions from what we had. Other than that, I don't care if it's 50 or 120 degrees."
- Former Classic champion Jay Yelas is spending time formulating his approach. "Once I got back from Pittsburgh, I knew what I was going to need, tackle and bait wise," the Texan said. "The real key now is formulating your strategy and your game plan for the week. That's what gets the most thought and the most time. I spend a lot of time going out for a walk or sitting somewhere quiet and thinking about what I'm going to need to do because there's a lot of strategy involved in the Classic."
- Renowned jig fisherman Tommy Biffle gave his tackle box an extreme makeover for the Classic. "I'm loading up on little baits," the veteran Oklahoma pro said, laughing. "I don't own very many small-fish baits. So I've ordered a bunch of them. And I've been practicing with a spinning rod some. I rarely fish with a spinning rod, but at the Classic I might fish with one a little bit."
- Federation national champion Ed Cowan is getting his gear together. "It's a monumental task just trying to get everything out of my boat and organized into two tackle boxes and getting 10 rods rigged up with fresh line because I have a full-time job."
Classic stay
The only Classic contender who is staying in Pittsburgh from the official five-day scouting period until the actual event is also the angler who traveled the farthest to get there.
Gerry Jooste, who will be competing in a record fourth Classic as a BASS Federation representative, remained in PENNSYLVANIA rather than traveling back to his home in Harare, Zimbabwe. The 47-year-old fisherman is the only Classic contender living abroad at the time of the world championship event.
Using a rental car, Jooste is visiting friends and exploring the western portion of the state.
Classic sandbagging?
After a week of complaining about the fishery in the Three Rivers area and predicting that this year's tournament will break all records for Classic futility, angler assessments were disproved by a local tournament held one day after practice ended.
Jim and Craig Bushey of Greensburg won the Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta tournament with five bass weighing 11.26 pounds. And the big bass of the day was a 4 1/2-pound smallmouth. Both are respectable statistics for summertime bass fishing.
Weirdest catch
This week's installment of the weirdest catch comes from this year's Classic waters.
"Dude, check this out," Virginia pro John Crews said. "When I was up in Pittsburgh, I caught a pair of pants. I was throwing a crankbait. I couldn't believe it. They looked like blue work pants. I was just glad there was nobody in them."