Photo by Jennifer Zdon, Times
Picayune via APBass can put up a spectacular -- and telegenic -- fight, as evidenced by this fish, which was reeled in by Davy Hite, of Prosperity, S.C., during the 1999 Bassmaster Classic at Lake Beouf, La.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
01 July 2005
By Curt Chandler
Photo by Jennifer Zdon, Times
Picayune via AP
Bass can put up a spectacular -- and telegenic -- fight, as
evidenced by this fish, which was reeled in by Davy Hite, of
Prosperity, S.C., during the 1999 Bassmaster Classic at Lake
Beouf, La.
The biggest tourist event of the summer is headed to Pittsburgh.
The Greater Pittsburgh Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates 45,000 people will attend, pumping more than $29 million into the local economy.
And they'll be here to see ... fish.
For rabid fishing fans this may not be news. But for many Pittsburghers, the 2005 Citgo Bassmaster Classic may have a lower profile than Bill Cowher's latest musing about the defensive backfield for the Steelers.
This will change in a few short weeks, when tens of thousands of people flock to the 'Burgh for the 3-day nationally televised fishing contest that will attract 47 of the top anglers in the world. The fishing will be paired with a free outdoors show at David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Attendance is expected to be especially strong because this is the last year the Bassmaster Classic will be held above the Mason-Dixon line.
For fishing fans, "it's like the Master's Golf Tournament and Wimbledon put together," said Karen Gainey, the freshwater fishing instructor for Community College of Allegheny County and host of "Karen's Fishing Corner" on PCTV. "This is the ultimate tournament for all bass fisherman across the country."
The contest will draw the top fisherman as ranked by BASS, the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society. The field will consist of the 2004 Angler of the Year, the 2004 Classic champ, the top five Federation Championship qualifiers, the top five Open championship qualifiers, the top 10 leaders in the 2005 Elite-50 point standings and the top 25 anglers from the 2005 Angler of the Year standings.
This will include three prominent fisherman with Pennsylvania roots, 2004 rookie of the year Dave Wolak, who lives near Scranton; the current Federation champion, Ed Cowan, who lives near Philadelpia; and 2003 Bassmaster Classic champion Mike Iaconelli, a native of South Philadelphia and fan favorite famous for yelling at fish.
Bill Wade, Post-Gazette
There are big bass in the three rivers, as evidenced by this catch displayed by Deron Eck of Kittanning, who hooked three bass weighing a combined 10.21 pounds during a Pennsylvania Bass Federation tournament in 2001. That event was staged from Riverfront Park under the Birmingham Bridge on the South Side. The boat launch area there is being renovated for the 2005 Citgo Bassmaster Classic.
"These guys coming in are really gonna open some eyes," Gainey said. "They're going to bring in fish out of these rivers that people never even believed lived here ... They're going to be finding fish in places that people never even thought to fish."
The competitors will have lots of places to look for bass. Beginning Friday, July 29, they'll launch each morning near Point State Park and can fish anywhere along 91 miles of rivers. The Classic waters extend from Locks and Dam No. 3 on the Allegheny, near Kittanning; to Locks and Dam No. 4 on the Monongahela, near Charleroi; to the Montgomery Locks and Dam near Shippingport, Beaver County.
The 47 contestants will split $700,000 in prize money, with $200,000 going to the champion.
This is incentive for some serious preparation, Gainey said. She estimated the pros have been studying river charts for many months.
"What you would do to get a doctorate in college is basically what they're going to do to these rivers. They are going to tear these rivers apart for a solid year. They are going to study each little section at a time until they know everything in that section," she said.
Iaconelli visited Pittsburgh in November to chat with one of his sponsors, Dick's Sporting Goods, and to check out the rivers. He spent three days on the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio, looking at locations he began marking on maps a month earlier. He programmed promising spots into a Global Positioning System (GPS) device, so he could test them during the five days of practice that begin at the end of this month.
John Beale, Post-Gazette
Mike Iaconelli, the 2003 Bassmaster Classic champ, right, used a map and a GPS device to mark a promising fishing spot last fall as Dennis F. Tubbs, Aquatic Resource Program Specialist for the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission toured him through the three rivers surrounding Point State Park, Downtown.
"I spent a day in each pool trying to just look at it," Iaconelli told BASS. "It was [November], so the fishing really wasn't as important to me as scouting, and I spent very little time actually fishing. I spent most of the time using my electronics and going up creeks and looking at the banks and stuff like that. That was my main motivation -- just trying to learn how to navigate through the pools."
He said the rivers feature an industrial setting similar to the Calumet River, the site of the 2000 Bassmaster Classic in Chicago. Iaconelli told BASS that river fluctuation caused by rain, man-made obstacles like the locks and dams, and a disproportionately large population of smallmouth (vs. largemouth) bass will add challenges not normally seen on lakes.
BASS has strict rules for the anglers. They can only practice fishing the area for five days during the year of the contest. The practice dates for the 2005 Citgo Bassmaster Classic are from daylight Monday, June 27, through sunset Friday, July 1. In fact, those are the only five days in 2005 the anglers are allowed to fly over the area (except in commercial airliners).
From the time the practice period begins, until the end of the tournament, contestants are not allowed to "solicit, receive, or gather any information via phone, electronic devices, or any other means about locating or catching fish on Classic waters unless that information comes from another contestant in the 2005 Classic."
Contestants are forbidden from practicing "with anyone who has fished a competitive tournament on these waters or anyone who has any knowledge of these waters unless they are a contestant in the 2005 Classic."
And they have to have a Pennsylvania fishing license.
Iaconelli's scouting trip was allowed because it was in 2004. He saw the waters in the fall, now his challenge is to imagine what the rivers would look like nine months later. He predicted there should be good fishing on all three rivers. "No one pool will dominate," he told BASS.
So where should spectators go to watch the Classic?
J. David Ake, Associated Press
In his scouting report for BASS, Mike Iaconelli compared the 2005 Bassmaster Classic to the 2000 contest held on the Calumet River in Chicago. Spectators there had no difficulty watching Kotaro Kiriyama, of Japan, as he fished on the second day of competition.
Curt Chandler, Post-Gazette
Bass fishing expert Karen Gainey says most Pittsburghers will be surprised to see the size and quantity of trophy fish that Bassmaster anglers are going to haul out of the three rivers.
Freshwater fishing instructor Karen Gainey shares her insights on the 2005 Citgo Bassmaster Classic.
Gainey said spectators should take advantage of the river setting and the close access provided by just sitting on the bank.
"There's going to be a mad rush early in the morning," Gainey said. "Some guys are going to stop short and other guys are going to run a long distance. They may go miles and miles. They may run through two or three locks to get to where they want to fish."
She said she expected a lot of anglers will stay close to Downtown, where there's plenty of good fishing. She said the Point, the North Shore, Station Square and Millvale will be good locations to see the action from shore. She suggested cruising Route 28 and looking for concentrations of boats on the Allegheny, especially below dams. Despite the temptation, Gainey said you can't park on bridges to watch.
Thousands of people are expected to travel to Pittsburgh to see the Classic, especially anglers from northern states because it is likely the last time the bass championship will be held above the Mason-Dixon line. BASS announced in January that the 2006 Classic will move to late February or early March, allowing exposure to the much larger pool of television viewers available when winter weather keeps sports fans at home. Plus, the post-Super Bowl TV landscape features fewer sports alternatives, since it is after football, before baseball and NASCAR, competing against only regular season basketball and hockey (you remember that, similar to fishing except the pond is frozen and there's more hooking). The concession to TV means the tournament will have to be in the South, where it is warm enough for competitive fishing.
The Bassmaster Classic is the ultimate tournament for bass fishing fans
The anglers depart in a shotgun start each morning at 7. Their catch is weighed in at 3:15 p.m. and televised after a short delay on ESPN. The weigh-ins will be at Mellon Arena where admission will be free.
For the thousands of spectators expected to line the shores and take to the water to see the fishing, there is strict etiquette. Gainey said conversation with the pros is strongly discouraged.
BASS says boaters must stay 75 to 100 yards away from the anglers when they're fishing.
People who want to learn more about fishing really don't need to talk to the competitors, Gainey said. There will be plenty of folks -- including her -- ready to answer questions at the Classic ESPN Outdoors Show at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
BASS says more than 40,000 people attended the Classic ESPN Outdoors Show last year.
"There's going to be more fishing information in one place for three days then you could possibly see in a year," Gainey said. "That's going to be the place to go." For example, she said contests like the Bassmaster Classic have sparked constant innovation in artificial lures. Bassmaster magazine articles and ads feature lures with names like Speed Trap and Mad Craw. There seems to be no end to the variety of rubber worms.
"Thirty years ago rubber worms ... were just beginning to be used. Now you can get rubber anything. If you can design it, you can make it out of rubber," Gainey said. "There are things now that are being used to fish with, that they don't even know what to call them. They're calling them 'Things' because they don't know how to describe it. But it catches fish."
The experts at the show "really know their stuff," Gainey said. "I've seen guys cast a practice plug with a bait casting reel and drop it in your pocket, or put it over your shoulder in your coffee cup."
In addition to the main events, the Classic will be preceded by a Bassrock concert Wednesday, July 27. The next day features a family day at the Point followed by a Country and Western concert at Heinz Field.
Nationally ranked young anglers will compete in two age groups (ages 11-14 and 15-18) at the Junior Bassmaster World Championship July 24 (practice) and 25 (competition) at Kittanning.
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Curt Chandler can be reached at (412) 263-1499 or cchandler@post-gazette.com
Additional information about the 2005 Citgo Bassmaster Classic can be found at
http://www.post-gazette.com/bassmaster/
http://2005bassmasterclassic.com/