Bassmasters Classic

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The CITGO Bassmasters Classic is the most prestigious competition in professional bass fishing. It was first held in 1971 in Lake Mead, Nevada.

The event has turned into a three-day spectacle, complete with a theatrical presentation of the weigh-ins and hours of television coverage. The purchase of the Bass Anglers Sportsmen Society (BASS), which organizes the event, by ESPN has increased the Classic's profile.

The field consists of 55 anglers: the top 40 in the season-long BASS standings and 15 regional qualifiers.

1 Rules and procedures
2 Past winners
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Rules and procedures

The Bassmaster Classic takes place over three days. All fish are caught under catch-and-release rules, must measure at least 14 inches, and must be alive at the time they are presented for weigh-in. There is a cut after the second day, in which only the 25 best anglers, based on total weight, advance to the third day. The highest total weight after three days wins the competition.

Contestants can only fish in specified areas at the competition venue. This is usually a lake, but the 2005 competition was held along the Three Rivers that make up the Pittsburgh area.

[edit] Past winners

1971: Bobby Murray, Hot Springs, Arkansas
1972: Don Butler, Tulsa, Oklahoma
1973: Rayo Breckenridge, Paragould, Arkansas
1974: Tommy Martin, Hemphill, Texas
1975: Jack Hains, Rayne, Louisiana
1976: Rick Clunn, Montgomery, Texas
1977: Rick Clunn
1978: Bobby Murray
1979: Hank Parker, Clover, South Carolina
1980: Bo Dowden, Natchitoches, Louisiana
1981: Stanley Mitchell, Fitzgerald, Georgia
1982: Paul Elias, Laurel, Mississippi
1983: Larry Nixon, Hemphill, Texas
1984: Rick Clunn
1985: Jack Chancellor, Phenix City, Alabama
1986: Charlie Reed, Broken Bow, Oklahoma
1987: George Cochran, North Little Rock, Arkansas
1988: Guido Hibdon, Gravois Mills, Missouri (first winner from outside the South)
1989: Hank Parker (had moved to Denver, North Carolina)
1990: Rick Clunn
1991: Ken Cook, Meeks, Oklahoma
1992: Robert Hamilton Jr., Brandon, Mississippi
1993: David Fritts, Lexington, North Carolina
1994: Bryan Kerchel, Newtown, Connecticut (first winner from the East Coast and the first BASS Federation member to win the classic)
1995: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Arkansas
1996: George Cochran (had moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas)
1997: Dion Hibdon, Stover, Missouri(Son of 1988 classic champion Guido Hibdon)
1998: Denny Brauer, Camdenton, Missouri
1999: Davy Hite, Prosperity, South Carolina
2000: Woo Daves, Spring Grove, Virginia
2001: Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Michigan
2002: Jay Yelas, Tyler, Texas
2003: Michael Iaconelli, Woodbury Heights, New Jersey
2004: Takahiro Omori, Emory, Texas (but born in Japan; first foreign-born winner)
2005: Kevin VanDam
2006: Luke Clausen, Spokane Valley, Washington (first winner from a West Coast state)
2007 Boyd Duckett

[edit] Trivia

Murray won $10,000 for winning the first event; Clausen won $500,000 in 2006.
After years of being held in July, the Bassmasters Classic was moved to February in 2006, leaving only nine months between events.
First-place money has grown from $10,000 in 1971 to $500,000 in 2006.
Clausen's total catch of 52 pounds, nine ounces in 2006 is a record.
The 2007 competition, to be held near Birmingham, Alabama, will include women for the first time. They will compete in a separate event.
Bryan Kerchel in 1994 was the first BASS Federation member to win the classic. The Federation is an organization of amateur and semi-pro anglers. Bryan unfortunately died in a plane crash months after winning the classic.
Rick Clunn is the only person to win 4 Bassmaster Classic titles, and also the only person to win it back to back in 1976 and 1977
Boyd Duckett is the first person to win the Bassmasters Classic in their homestate