BASS announced today that Lay Lake near Birmingham, Ala. will be the site of the 2007 Bassmaster Classic, scheduled to run from Feb. 23-25.

Lay has hosted two previous Classics, 1996 and 2002. George Cochran won in '96 with a 3-day total of 31-14 and Jay Yelas prevailed 6 years later with 45-13 in one of the best Classic performances ever: he led all 3 days and had big bass all 3 days.

As it happens, neither is currently eligible to compete in the 2007 Classic, as neither is fishing the 2006 Bassmaster Elite Series. Luke Clausen, the 2006 Classic champion, will likely be ineligible for the same reason.



Anglers will weigh in at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center.

“There is no doubt, Lay Lake is one of the premier bass fisheries in the country and we are excited to put the world’s top anglers on it to compete for the biggest title in bass fishing,” said BASS VP and GM Don Rucks. “Before moving to its new home in central Florida, BASS was founded and headquartered in Alabama. Our roots are in this state and we are thrilled to bring the Classic to our old stomping grounds."

Several States Were in Hunt

In a conference call, Rucks said BASS held discussions with "multiple cities" in Florida, Alabama, California and Texas about hosting the event. Cities in Arizona, Nevada and Georgia were also in the mix.

"When we look at locations, we look not only at fish-catching rates, but whether that city has the facilities to support this event," he said. "Birmingham was always on our list."

California, home to several of the nation's most renowned big-bass fisheries, was a major contender, he said. The state won't host a BASS event at the tour or triple-A level this year, but Rucks said it will likely be home to "one or more" Elite Series tournaments in 2007.

"California wanted to host this event very badly," he said. "It came down to a lack of facilities available on the dates required."

What About the Weather?

The Classic is now a winter event, and Rucks said there was some concern about Birmingham's weather in February. The city has high and low average temperatures of about 60 and 40 during the month.

"The anglers are up against these kinds of weather odds all the time," he said.
"We decided to pick the right city and the right fishery, and deal with the elements the way they are."

He said the total winning weight should be considerably higher than those posted by Cochran and Yelas in previous Classics at Lay. "Anything I'd say right now is speculation, but we should be in that 60- to 70-pound range. And also, the individual large fish that can be caught should be very impressive."

Some Like Logan

Two-time Classic winner Kevin VanDam was happy with the selection of Birmingham, but said he would've preferred nearby Logan Martin Lake as the tournament venue. He finished 26th in the '02 Classic at Lay and 6th in '96.

Logan Martin will host this year's FLW Tour Championship in August.

"I think Logan Martin is the better of the two, but Lay is part of the same system – it's just a little lower," he said. "Logan Martin has more habitat and good structure to fish, but there's plenty of big fish (in Lay) too.

"The thing that makes Birmingham such a great place for the Classic is they have such a huge number of people within a few hours' drive who love to fish. It'll be awesome."

Said Alabama native Tim Horton, who finished 18th in 2002: "I'm excited about it. It'll be close to home and easy for my family and friends and fans to get there. It's always good when you have more people cheering you on."

Would he have preferred to fish Logan Martin?

"Probably so, but they're both good lakes. You can't go wrong either way."

Another 'Bama resident, Gerald Swindle, agreed with Rucks' prediction that weights will be much higher than at past Lay Classics. "It'll be cold, but the fishing will be good," he said. "The best time to fish the Coosa chain is January through March.

"Now if they held it on Logan Martin, you'd see Luke Clausen's record (for total weight in a 3-day Classic) broken. You wouldn't see a 10-pounder, but the winning weight would be over 20 pounds a day."

Former Classic winner Davy Hite made the Top 10 in both previous Classics at Lay – and he employed two radically different fishing styles. He targeted deep structure to finish 2nd in '96 and shoreline grass to finish 9th in '02.

"This is great news to me," he said. "It's a great fishery that offers a lot of variety, and the area has a whole lot of fishing fans."

The field of 50 anglers will compete for a total purse of nearly $1.2 million, including a top prize of $500,000. Anglers can practice Feb. 13-15, before the waters go off limits. A final practice day is scheduled for Feb. 21.

All anglers will fish on days 1 and 2. The field will be cut to the Top 25 for the final day.

Notable

> ESPN2 will devote nearly 12 hours of programming to the event, including live weekend morning shows and same-day coverage on each competition day.

> The Classic ESPN Outdoors Expo will run on each of the competition days at the convention center.

> The first BASS women’s championship will be held in conjunction with the Classic. The Top 12 anglers and co-anglers from the 2006 Women’s Bassmaster Tour will compete for 4 days (Feb. 22-25) on nearby Lake Mitchell.

> Events leading up to the Classic include the Junior Bassmaster World Championship (Feb. 18, Logan Martin); the ESPN Outdoors Bassmaster Series Championship (Jan. 25-27, Lake Guntersville); and the Federation Nation National Championship (Jan. 17-19, Neely Henry Lake).