wow!! what a classic

[Denny_ohio]

KVD!!!! what can you say.He's a force.I felt so sorry for Aaron Martins It looked like he was starting to get upset after the announcement...poor guy.I think this was his 3rd time finishing 2nd place in the classic.I was pulling for my
G- man but OHH well. Did you see Mike Ike fishing in between the two barges?
my God that's a tad too tight for my liking
Denny

[454ss]

Yea I also think this was a good classic. Congrats KVD! Maybe next time Aaron Martins will win it. Yea I saw ike fishing in between the barges i thought that was awesome I like it when people do what they got to do to get r done lol. Way to go KVD!! 2 Time Classic Champ!!!

[NJRapala46]

i hate KVD. lol, nah just kiddin. I was pushing for Ike though. That was awesome in between those barges.

[guacomole]

It was amazing, I am happy that KVD won. Aaron martens was outstanding also, he's got to change his line sponsor or something, because losing 4 dinks is not good, I think that cost him the win.

[InEccess]

I'm glad people thought it was a good classic. I thought all you southerners were going to hate Pittsburgh with it's 1lb bass. I'll tell you what though, I think I should get a job being a fishing guide for the pro's next time around.

[Rebbasser]

4 dinks cost him? Did you see what ALL of them were weighing in? Dinks! 3 days of fishing, a total of 24 hours on the water and the winning weight was 12 lbs 15 ozs for 11 fish. That averages out to just over a pound each. We all call that size dinks. Martens also lost several including one at the boat he said was about a pound and a half, which would have won it if he landed it. It just wasn't his day. You don't win AOY by catching only dinks.

It was a good tourney to watch-the best rose to the top on a real tough fishery. Congrats to KVD!

InExcess, you have a good smallmouth fishery up there, but looks like you need to know it to fish it successfully.

[lockjaw]

They sure did look stupid holding up 1lb. fish. What was the size limit anyway?

[JB]

Acutally that size fish is about normal for most of the wiegh in in ohio, the river fish at times tend to run 12 inches, most of the time some one has that size and maybe the bonus 2-3 pounder.

The waters are hit hard here, just like all states that have bass anglers...

[Fish2win]

I think it was a very competative classic because of the small fish. One guy could have caught a real bass and blown day 3 out. The fish were small but the intensity it took to catch them was big.
I feel for Martins but consider this. He also has a record. He has the most 2nd place finishes in classic history.Talk about a consistant fisherman. I know from personal experience that consistancy will take home more checks and honors than being an off and on fisherman that wins one every now and then. My hat is off to Martins. It takes a real deal to finish 2nd 3 years in a row.
I know one thing. If I every decide to open a tackle store in Pit I wont stock DD22 or 10 inch worms. There was not one legal fishon the screen by southern standards. Most southern states have a 14 or 15 inch minimum for LM and many lakes here have an 18 or 20 inch min on SM. It is strange that they caught a lot of 11 3/4 inchers with a 12 inch limit. Do the locals have a high percentage of catch and release anglers in thier group? It would make you think that most bass over 12 inches become table fair. The other side is that many of the fish were very low wieght for thier weight which makes me wonder if there are so many that they are stunted.
Anyway it was a good classic. Congrats to KVD. Fish2win

[PowerBass]

I liked how the weights were so close. Made for interesting fishing!

[InEccess]

Just wanted to continue with my trend of submitting pics I took from "work".



This is the Archway the anglers came through.



This is what they saw when they first went through the curtain.


This was a neat lil' leader board.


And this is the stage at "river" level.


**Edit**

Forgot to include this picture. These our some of our local river bass caught by a local angler (not me). I think either of these would've changed the tournment scoreboard.

[PowerBass]

very nice I like the pics

[bassfisher02]

ahaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh you mean i missed the classic? son of a..........dang thats a load of crap there........i need to find some replays......

[bassinbob]

That was a great finish for KVD. Sitting there watching I'll bet every Pittsburgher was wanting to see someone pull out a 4 lber. They are in there, some of the guys caught a few in practice. I have one buddy that catches 4lbers, but he only uses live bait. Every fish caught was a dink, I'll agree. Most of us are used to seeing bigger weights than what was caught here. I was wondering did any of you feel like it wasn't worth comming here. I thought it gave every angler an even chance to win. I really did expect to see at least a half dozen over 3 or 4 lbs. Got a lot more auto's today. Almost had a heart attack when they were giving away a Triton. The announcer asked if there were any 52 year old guys in the audience. He had trouble with the last name on the ticket. Since I have a hard to pronounce hunky name I thought ......then he gave the first name and it wasn't Bob. Oh well. lol. If I am ever able to I will attend more of these classics. It really gave a lot of us northeners a chance to share ya alls thing. lol. They will be catching the big ones again soon enough. The nicest angler I talked with was the Hack Attack. Roland never stopped smiling. They made him run around the arena looking for the biggest fan Mercury giveaway. Paul Elais never answered any of my questions, that stunned me. There were no other people seeking his auto at the time. Every one else was very nice. Great bunch of fishermen.

Bob

[Rebbasser]

Bob, just because there weren't a lot of big sacks brought in doesn't mean it wasn't a great tourney. It looked like Pittsburg did a bang up job putting it on, and the final weigh in was fun to watch. The pros had nothing but good to say about the crowd and location. Glad you got to go-I'd love to go to one sometime.

[Rebbasser]

InExcess, I didn't realize you were running one of the lights until I saw the other post-y'all did a great job!

[InEccess]

I put my blood sweat and tears into this production. It's true. I wiped every forementioned bodily fluid on the truss/stage just so I can honestly say I did. It means something to me that it went off so well. Bob, I'm sure you'll enjoy hearing this... On my way down from the spotbooth, I shared an elevator with the host of the Classic. I asked him, "Will we ever see another BASS event in Pittsburgh?" I figured they wouldn't be back because the southern anglers kept coming up short (Clunn and Nixon come to mind). He told me, not another classic, since they're moving it to Febuary. But because the audience was so large and so into it, they'll be back for tournment stops.

I can say, I only messed up once, but it wasn't my fault. It was during the Super Six. I was running a spot on Rook, but the video director bled over into our com-channel so the first 3 cues were missed by the spot lights. I wanted to know how it came out on TV. Was Rook emerced in darkness on TV or was everything okay? I'm something of a perfectionist.

[Rebbasser]

Rook's appearance was a little dim for the first few seconds since it looked like only one spot was on him but like I said, it was just for a few seconds. Nothing to fret about-you guys really did a good job.

[DStu22]

Well, I fished my club tourney Saturday on the Connecticut River and came in 3rd place. I couldn't help but think about how the Classic could have been there, and how I could have been following the pros all around the CT. River hopefully learning some things. That would have been a great experience, but CT. lost the bid to Pittsburgh. Anyway, I spent the entire morning Sunday watching the live coverage on ESPN2 and the final weigh-in from 5:30-7pm. I wanted Aaron Martens to win and I really felt bad for him when he finished 2nd again for the third time in 4 years. I know that's still great, but that's gotta hurt being that close again and not winning it. Still it was tough to watch the small bass and tough conditions the pros faced in Pittsburgh. The last time the Pros fished a tourney on the CT. River (BASS Top 150 in 1994), Rowland Martin won it with a 12.28 lb daily average. Well, one thing is for sure, I will be at Toho in February for the 2006 Classic. My nephew lives in Florida (90 minutes) from Toho. I can't wait!!!!

[InEccess]

Funny post script to the story about the Pittsburgh bid. Ray Scott came to Pittsburgh and wanted to have the 2003 Classic here, but our mayor at the time told him no. He didn't want to shut the barges down and put the shipping and steel industry in Pittsburgh on hold for 3 days. If things would've been different, maybe everything would've worked out in your favor.

[bassthumb32]

How Would You Like To Win The Classic And The Piture Of You That Goes Down For All Time Is You Holding Up 2 1lb. Fish Lol. Even Though I Hold Up 2 1 Lb. Hawgs For The Classic. Lol. But It Was An Awesome Classic The Low Weight Made It So Much Closer. Very Suspensful.

[jordan09]

i stop watching after omamori got drop. hes my favorite