The Toyota Texas Bass Classic begins today at Lake Fork. It's sanctioned by the Professional Anglers Association (PAA), which basically means that the PAA supplied anglers and filled the field through its internal points system.
Anglers were drawn from various levels of competition, based on the PAA points-accumulations system. That's just one thing that makes the tournament's format different.
Also keep in mind that it's a team event, but not in the buddy-tournament kind of way. The best frame of reference is golf's Ryder Cup, where multiple-man teams amass totals and compete against other multiple-man teams.
With that in mind, below are some angles that BassFans should consider as the weights
begin to come across the stage today. First, though, a brief overview of how the whole things works.
Format
The 3-day event fields 40 teams of four anglers, for a field size of 160. Each team member is responsible for a five-fish limit, and the four totals comprise the daily team total. Therefore, a team may record a maximum of 20 fish each day.
Two anglers from each team will share a boat in the morning, then check in. Teams are momentarily free to converse on strategy, then the remaining two team members share a boat for the balance of the day.
A judge will be in each boat to measure and weigh fish. Each bass over 14 inches will be recorded, counted toward an angler's limit, then immediately returned to the water. His limit will be his best five fish.
An angler may keep one fish over 24 inches in the livewell, to be weighed onstage, and a big-bass award will be given at the end of day 3 (a new truck).
The Top 5 teams after day 2 advance to fish day 3.
Team Mentality
This event isn't about the individual – it's about the team – and that's where the captains come in. Each team captain is essentially the strategist and decision-maker, but he'll have to be pliable too, and trust the feedback the team gives him.
And since each flight has only a half-day to fish, the premium will likely be placed on finding five fish fast for each angler, then trying to upgrade.
What follows are the teams as established prior to the event, with captains listed first:
Team 1: Dave Wolak, Stacey King, Gary Yamamoto, Les Phelps
Mike Iaconelli's a team captain, which is an interesting dynamic given his sometimes divisive personality.
Team 2: Mike Iaconelli, Mark Menendez, Dave Mansue, Frank Lannom
Team 3: Charlie Hartley, Tom Mann Jr., Doug Garrett, Robert Collett
Team 4: Alton Jones, Russ Lane, Steve Daniel, Kyle Mabry
Team 5: Mike McCelland, Rick Morris, Dave Smith, Micah Sepko
Team 6: Kevin Wirth, Frank Scalish, Kurt Dove, Rich Tauber
Team 7: Peter Thilveros, Scott Suggs, Tim Carroll, Randy Alexander
Team 8: Brent Chapman, Paul Hirosky, Jack Wade, Harold Allen
Team 9: Lee Bailey Jr., Terry Baksay, Roger Boler, Charlie Ingram
Team 10: Morizo Shimizu, Cliff Pace, Brad Wall, Rick Ash
Team 11: Jay Yelas, Randy Blaukat, Jimmy Mason, Shawn Hagler
Team 12: Aaron Martens, Pete Ponds, Todd Auten, Glen Delong II
Team 13: Larry Nixon, Paul Elias, Randy Yarnall, Dalton Bobo
Team 14: Chris Baumgardner, Terry Segraves, Ray Sedgwick, Mark Rose
Team 15: Dean Rojas, Yuzuki Miyazaki, Elton Luce Jr., Chuck Economou
Team 16: Mike Wurm, Mark Tyler, Pete Gluszek, Travis Loyd
Team 17: Randy Howell, Mike O'Shea, Bud Pruitt, Chip Hawkins
Team 18: Andy Morgan, Bradley Stringer, Danny Correia, Mark Burgess
Team 19: Jeff Kriet, Jimmy Mize, Darren Schwenkbeck, Tony DaDante
Team 20: David Walker, Dan Morehead, Joe Thomas, Johnny Lesesne
Team 21: Todd Faircloth, Anthony Gagliardi, Jeff Connella, Vince Hurtado
Team 22: Tommy Biffle, Clark Wendlandt, David Fritts, Randy Dearman
Team 23: Bernie Schultz, Terry Butcher, Marcel Veenstra, Mark Rizk
Team 24: Kevin VanDam, Matt Reed, Dave Lefebre, Theron Caldwell
Team 25: Jeff Reynolds, Bobby Lane, Keith Williams, Jason Reyes
Team 26: Zell Rowland, Mark Davis, Wes Thomas, Chris Bielert
Team 27: Luke Clausen, Shaw Grigsby, Sean Hoernke, Tim Dungan
Team 28: Chad Morgenthaler, Mike Hawkes, David Dudley, Darryl Burkhardt
Team 29: Takahiro Omori, Charlie Weyer, Glen Chappelear, Gerry Gostenik
Team 30: Edwin Evers, Ron Shuffield, Brooks Rogers, Tommy Stiles
Team 31: Brian Snowden, Curt Lytle, Luke Estel, Tony Chachere
Team 32: Kelly Jordon, Ray Scheide, Woo Daves, Ben Matsubu
Team 33: Denny Brauer, Matt Herren, Jon Bondy, Sam Swett
Team 34: John Crews Jr., Kevin Short, John Sappington, O. T. Fears III
Team 35: Guy Eaker, Ish Monroe, Tommy Martin, Tim Loper
Team 36: Gary Klein, Chad Brauer, Sandy Melvin, Clay Dyer
Team 37: Art Ferguson III, David Wharton, Jonathan Newton, Cody Bird
Team 38: Tim Horton, Mark Tucker, Jerry Williams, Brian Penso
Team 39: Jason Quinn, Ken Cook, Kevin Lasyone, Homer Humphreys
Team 40: Terry Scroggins, Chris Daves, Frank Ippoliti, James Niggemeyer
Teams To Watch
In no particular order, here are some notable items about select teams.
> Team 2: Mike Iaconelli captains this ship. Interesting is that Ike divides fans of pro fishing – half love him, half can't stand him. And quite a few pros don't care for him either (while quite a few do). How will he fare as a leader? That makes this one a must-watch team.
> Team 9 fields Roger Boler, who once set the Bassmaster Tour afire. He hasn't fished at the tour level since 1999.
Dean Rojas heads up a team with two other Texas residents.
> Team 13 puts Larry Nixon and Paul Elias together, so it's a meeting of the true veterans. Also of note for the team is former Bassmaster Classic runner-up Dalton Bobo. Randy Yarnall, who failed to requalify for the Bassmaster Elite Series, rounds out the team.
> Team 15 has Dean Rojas and Yuzuki Miyazaki, who both live within casting distance of Fork. Teammate Elton Luce Jr.'s also a Texan (he lives on Sam Rayburn). While many teams said they'd shy from sight-fishing, Rojas is probably good enough to set up a 2-hour bedding milk-run, at least on day 1 if he can beat the weather.
> Team 21 fields a few hot anglers – namely Todd Faircloth and Anthony Gagliardi. But the wildcard here is Californian Vince Hurtado, who might turn to a big bait.
> Team 22 is scary. It's captained by Tommy Biffle and includes Clark Wendlandt and David Fritts, along with triple-A-level Randy Dearman. Biffle can do damage anywhere, but Fork sets up perfectly for him. Same goes for Wendlandt. And if those post-spawn fish are on a crankbait, Fritts can bang wood with the best of them.
> Also put Team 24 on the "scary" list. It's captained by the world's best angler, Kevin VanDam, and includes red-hot Dave Lefebre, who nearly won 2 weeks ago at Ft. Loudoun-Tellico. What we'd like to see is whether KVD dishes out orders, or changes his own strategy based on team feedback. Texans Matt Reed and Theron Caldwell, both from the nearby Dallas-Ft. Worth area, fill out the team.
> It's a little shocking that Mark Davis doesn't captain Team 26, but that's likely due to some rough finishes the last 2 years. But he's coming off a win at Loudoun–Tellico, and has Texan Zell Rowland commanding the team. Davis, of course, is PAA president, so he'll have to put a giant shell over himself and just concentrate on fishing the next few days.
> Team 32 gets classified as a must-watch because it's captained by Fork junkie Kelly Jordon, who won yesterday's pro-am kickoff event, and includes fellow Fork junkie Ben Matsubu. But check out the other two – Ray Scheide and Woo Daves. Nice.
> Team 33 epitomizes what this event means for BassFans – two anglers competing together who otherwise maybe never would. The captain is Denny Brauer, one of the best to ever fish, and it includes Matt Herren – one of the best to fish only FLW. Also on board are Jon Bondy and Sam Swett.
> Team 35's a mix of the old school and the new school. First comes the gray (and we mean gray!) – Guy Eaker and Tommy Martin – alongside young gun Ish Monroe. Tim Loper fills out the team.
Notable
> Watch for BassFan's coverage of the event today and tonight.
> Stacey King (Team 1) had to pull out due to recent heart surgery. Mary DiVicenti is filling his slot.
> Dustin Wilks (Team 31) withdrew from the event due to injury and was replaced by Luke Estel.
> Dave Gliebe (Team 13) didn't make the trip and was replaced by Dalton Bobo.
Weather Forecast
Here's the Weather Channel's forecast for the tournament days. Note the cold front with predicted strong storms today and temperature drop tomorrow, along with significant winds.
> Fri, April 13 – Scattered Strong T-Storms – 74°/51°
- Wind: From the SE at 18 mph
> Sat, April 14 – Partly Cloudy – 60°/39°
- Wind: From the NW at 23 mph
> Sun, April 15 – Sunny – 70°/44°
- Wind: From the SW at 7 mph
