B.A.S.S. announced today that the Bassmaster Elite Series attendance record was broken for the second time this year at last week's event at the St. Lawrence River out of Waddington, N.Y.
A total of 34,100 people turned out for the event. Waddington has a population of 972.
The previous four-day record of 33,650 was set at this season’s opener at Texas' Sabine River in March.
“Elite Series attendance is an excellent measure of how the sport of bass fishing continues to grow,” said B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin. “B.A.S.S. and its sponsors work to promote each event going in. But of course we would not be breaking attendance records if the local hosts weren’t going all-out to create the level of interest we’ve been seeing this year.”
Janet Otto-Cassada, the mayor of Waddington, said attendance far exceeded her expectations.
“You could not find someone who’s happier than I am right now,” she said after the crowd numbers compiled by law enforcement officials were released. “The event put us on the map. I knew that it would draw people. I knew that it would be big because it was something new and different. We needed that here in upstate New York.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo held a press conference Aug. 8 at the tournament site, announcing that an Elite Series tournament will be held on one of the Finger Lakes of New York in 2014. The lake will be disclosed when the entire 2014 schedule is released in the near future.
While the anglers competed on the water, fans were drawn to Whittaker Park by a big slate of free entertainment, including the 4-day Tastes of the North Country Festival with more than 100 vendors, 15 concerts, exhibits and fireworks, all organized by the Village of Waddington, the official host.
