That's Entertainment?

[dtrs5kprs]

i was astounded when i turned on the computer to see who won, and they were still weighing in. sure glad i got in a nap and missed all of that non-sense. i am in agreement about putting people in danger traveling on slick roads.

i know ashley is a somewhat local, but he just flat out caught bass all three days. the best thing he did was figuring out the bass were on the bottom adjacent to the trees. but, if you caught glimpses of his sonar, he was right on the channel edge. the other key was finding those areas where that edge was at the depth the bass wanted to be at. this is a key point for many to soak in. you have to search for depth changes, meaning your ledge edge or roll off, that occur at the depth the bass are wanting to stay. now as evidenced, when the bass get active, they will leave home for a while but eventually return there. ashely was very astute at knowing when the bass were active and when they were at home, and to understand where home was for that tournament. again, great job and well deserved win.

bo

Did it remind anyone else of the gray roadrunner or Stacey King's old Cordell shad?

[Bill Babler]

Ashley in the early morning clips and from what he said, was he was targeting suspended fish coming out of what we here would call a pocket or a cove. There it is called a drain or a ditch. Really just a cove gut.

Said the fish were up, under the Herring and pushing them to the surface in 35' to 60'. As the sun comes up those fish retreat to the bottom and use depth for cover, just like they do here.

I believe day 2 he had a limit of schooling fish in the first 35 minutes.

Later in the day from the shots on his Lowrance I saw he was setting in 43' to 45' throwing those long run outs on either side of the cove mouth. The fish simply position themselves out there after the early morning bite and then as the light decreases they will follow that bait again back into the pocket.

There were lots of guys running this same pattern, trying to ambush the suspended fish on either a jerkbait or some type of a mid-range presentation early and then either drop shotting or dragging a big jig on those long points after 9 AM.

Skeet had the pattern right off the bat with the swimbait, but it looked to me like there were not as many fish where he was fishing and after the 1st. day he had wacked them about as hard as he could. He also said he just could not see or find them after the early bite.

Ike did the exact same thing, and really Tok being out on that long run was also targeting fish that were doing the same thing. They would move in small schools on and off. Drop shot and Jig.

Mike was doing close to the same thing, it looked like in the limited coverage of him. But with a difference he was working the suspended fish that we could see all day on the graphs of every fishermen they gave a screen shot of. Great pattern and durn near worked for him. He said it would take 45 pounds, which was a bit lite, but he had 41 with 14 fish so he knew exactly what he was going to produce. He said he had 2 four pounders come off for no reason, and knew that does not happen if you are going to win the classic, those fish just stay on if its your time.

The crankers also knew that the fish were up there early, but they thought that some would always stay shallow and not move, but they moved. They started out like a ball of fire each day and by 9 or 10 oclock the wheels came off as the fish moved out to darker water.

Any body notice what hooks the Howleer said he was using on his crankbaits?

Really interesting deal.

[dtrs5kprs]

He's sponsored by Daichii, so Deathtraps presumably?

[Outofsightpdr]

I guess I didn't pay that much attention to all the theatrics. Was just excited to be able to watch it live. I will agree on having the set in a quiet place. I liked how last yrs was in that room and they had the monitor up showing different things. I do think they need to keep the booth at the expo. Just need to cut to it occasionally. Maybe when they have a guest. I too wish they would have shown more afternoon coverage. I think they cut it off so more would tune into the weigh in. Basstrakk can we way off in the weights. As for the month. Feb is probably the best month for it. People are fired up about fishing. Hunting is over and they have cabin fever. The weather in Feb is also pretty stable. March can be a roller coaster and tournaments have started by then. Meaning less fisherman on The classic weekend to watch and attend. I think early fall is a bad choice as well. Guys can be a little burned out and hunting becomes a lot of our focus. Midwest to mid south is the best locations.

[Bill Babler]

I found it kind of funny he kept hooking himself and catching his gloved hand. Believe I would have taken off the glove. Ya they are sharp.

Also did you see Ike cut that hook out of his rain suit. That left a mark. I probably would have a hard time cutting a hole in a set of 500 buck rain gear, but I have to pay for mine.

I'm very interested in that Stormr stuff, looks like the real deal.

I at first had a hard time watching the real time fishing as my computer on Internet Exploder would freak out. I went to Google Chrome and no prob.

[BATCAB27]

IT'S A FINNED FREAK OF NATURE!!!!!

[dtrs5kprs]

I found it kind of funny he kept hooking himself and catching his gloved hand. Believe I would have taken off the glove. Ya they are sharp.Also did you see Ike cut that hook out of his rain suit. That left a mark. I probably would have a hard time cutting a hole in a set of 500 buck rain gear, but I have to pay for mine.I'm very interested in that Stormr stuff, looks like the real deal.I at first had a hard time watching the real time fishing as my computer on Internet Exploder would freak out. I went to Google Chrome and no prob.

I looked at somesome of the Storms gear last spring, just because I happened to see some at Mondo in Lenexa. Looks very tight fitting (read as bad for fat guys like me), and feels a bit like a wet suit. Both of those things probably make it very good.

Hard to explain Howell, except there are just days they come off. Maybe they were just nudging at it. Would not expect it to be a hook problem at that level. He was certainly hurt by the current shutting off.

[kjackson]

I looked at somesome of the Storms gear last spring, just because I happened to see some at Mondo in Lenexa. Looks very tight fitting (read as bad for fat guys like me), and feels a bit like a wet suit. Both of those things probably make it very good.

On the Stormr gear-- I have the Stryker coat, and it is the best I've used if you're sitting in a boat fishing. Wear it while doing something active, and you'll be too warm. A friend does a lot of photography and video work for various companies in the fishing biz. He has the complete Stormr set and said that the trouble with Stormr is that you have to learn to dress appropriately. I fished with him last year just after ice-out on Lake Ontario and Erie where we had ice packs floating by the boats all day long and a killer cold wind. I was wearing a full complement of Guidewear and layers of warm clothes--read that fleece. My friend could only wear shorts and a t-shirt and wool socks under the Stormr gear, and he was warm all day.

Fit is interesting, and may be a problem for some folks--meaning you'll have to try it on to get the size right. I normally wear an XL Tall, but my coat is an XXL and it fits, but I'm pretty sure an XL would be snug.

[Sprint21fter]

1. I hate Nascar

2. I would think the 2nd week of March would be best which shouldn't conflict with any of the big circuts because they all will work with each other to try and get as many top anglers in their tournaments instead of having schedule conflicts. Also, it would keep all the anglers in tournament mode looking forward to the next week of tournaments instead of having a few weeks to mourn over a loss or having a party hang-over.

3. The weigh-ins take way to long, it should always be about the anglers and them thanking their sponsors not all the other stuff.

4. The classic was a very good fishing tournament, after watching the first 2 days of live coverage the anglers were all doing different things but they were also fishing to their strengths. Most of us tournament fisherman when we fish are looking for 6-7 "right" bites in order to compete. If you are fishing for numbers and keepers it normally doesn't do anyone any good. I enjoyed watching them more when they were not catching anything so I could see if they would try something else, make a move and continue running their pattern etc. We usually just see all of the good stuff on TV not the BORING adjustment or fishing part.

[abkeenan]

The weigh in is terrible. WAY WAY WAY too long as every has already mentioned. But let's cut them some slack on the live feed from the boats. This is their first crack at it and I would say it was a huge success overall. I would imagine that next year they will make improvements, adjustments and tweaks after they get feedback from Elite guys, fans, sponsors, etc. I'm sure they will see the problem with only being on 5 boats and if they aren't catching then it makes for bad TV. They will probably expand to more boats linked in next year and hopefully keep the coverage going live from start to finish and not shut it off 3 hours they are off the water. I also agree that I much prefer the "war room" they had in years previous as opposed to being in the expo center. I was watching at one point where there was a lull in action and cut to that D End for the Bears that was a guest and they had kids at the expo showing their NFL "sack dance".....seriously? That was horrible and totally off topic. Stick to the fishing....because after all that's why we are tuned in.