I Amost Got To Fish the Bassmasters Classic

Fishing the Bassmasters Classic is the dream of every bass tournament fisherman. It is the “Super Bowl” of bass fishing and only 51 of the top professional and amateur fishermen get to fish it.

The pros qualify through the Elite and Opens tournament trails. The amateur fishermen qualify through the state federations. In Georgia, each affilated BASS club can send its top six fishermen to a state Top Six Tournament. At that tournament in Georgia there are about fifty clubs participating so there are up to 300 competitors. The top 14 at that tournament go to the Southern Regional, with the teams from seven southern states competing.

At the regional, the top man on each state team goes to the nationals, where the seven regions compete. There, the top fisherman from each regional qualifies for the Bassmaster Classic. It is a tough way to make the Classic and only one Federation angler has ever won the Classic.

I joined the Spalding County Sportsman Club in 1974 and fished my first state top six in 1979. In 1983 I finished fourth in the Georgia Top Six at West Point and made the state team. The regional was at Kentucky Lake that year and I was excited but felt overwhelmed fishing with some great fishermen on our team.

Back then there were no nationals and the top fisherman on the top state team at each regional went to the Classic. Our team worked together, sharing patterns and places to fish, and won the tournament. I cam in second overall in the Regional, but was also second on the state team. Roger Farmer beat me by a little over two pounds in the three day tournament and qualified for the Classic.

I came THAT close to making the Classic that year, one 2.5 pound fish in three days.

Roger went to the Classic and I came home and signed up for all six of the tournaments on the old Red Man trail – what is now the BFL. But that experience is another story.

I am attending the Classic in Birmingham this year as a press observer. That will be fun and exciting, but not nearly as mush as competing in it!