This past weekend found me in Knoxville, Tenn., site of the 2019 Bassmaster Classic tournament on the Tennessee River.
The “Classic” is the most prestigious bass-fishing tournament in the world, with 50 of the top anglers from the Bassmaster Elite Series and Bassmaster Opens tournaments competing for a $300,000 first-place prize.
In addition to the tournament, there was a large outdoor show going on that nearly every fishing-related company had a presence at, including boats, motors, tackle, and clothing. In all, the show took up four large halls–nothing like I have ever seen.
I was asked by a couple of my sponsors to attend to help support their booths and talk fishing with people.
Since I started fishing the Bassmaster Elite Series this year, it was a good event to attend and I’m glad that I did. I have found excuses not to go over the past few years but that was a mistake because it is such a big event.
All of the top media people in the fishing industry are there, the fishing companies and their marketing teams are all there, and thousands of fans attend–it’s a really big deal!
Over the course of the three days at the expo, I was amazed at how many people passed through the doors, including dozens of groups from Canada, mostly southern Ontario folks who made the trip down to take in the event. A lot of them came and said hi, which was pretty cool.
I even ran into friends from International Falls and Fort Frances!
The tournament itself is a three-day event that gets the most media coverage of any bass tournament during the year. Each morning there were more than 5,000 spectators who attended the take-off to watch all of the boats go.
The weigh-ins took place inside the Thompson-Boling Arena on the University of Tennessee campus, which crammed in more than 15,000 people to watch each angler’s boat and truck get pulled through to loud music and a light show.
It was crazy, like nothing I have ever seen before.
My tournament season this year consists of nine events that culminate in qualifying for next year’s Classic, which will feature the top 40 from the 75-angler field. After a subpar start to the season, I find myself sitting in 60th place in points after two events but I can tell you that after attending this event this past weekend, I am so motivated to get it together so I’m fishing in the Classic next year!
After all was said and done, it was estimated more than 150,000 people attended the event over the course of the weekend, which Bassmaster called a new record. It was crazy simply trying to find a place to park or a spot to eat, everything was so busy.
While there was some inconvenience there, it sure was fun to be a part of all the festivities.
The tournament itself ended up being won by local angler Ott Defoe, who has fished the Bassmaster Elite Series for several years. He was the favourite going in and overcame all the pressure that comes with this tournament to get the win.
He had a large entourage of boats following him on the water each day and a lot of media hype to overcome. Another Tennessee angler, Jacob Wheeler, led going into the final day but ended up finishing second.
I’m back home now and ready to get in as much ice-fishing as I can over the next 10 days or so before I head back down south for my next tournament in South Carolina.
Look for the ice-fishing report in next week’s column.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
