Expanded Schedule, Hands-On Workshops Are Highlights

The Bass University, the seminar series founded by pro anglers Mike Iaconelli and Pete Gluszek, will stay entirely in the eastern half of the country during year 2 of its existence. But the schedule has expanded from four stops to five and the events will feature more one-on-one interaction between the attendees and instructors.

"We did four last year and got some pretty good reviews, and we did pretty well in attendance," Gluszek said. "We hope to continue our expansion, but we want to take it slow and steady.

"Maybe we'll eventually get to 10 events, or maybe 20."

Here's a look at the 2010-11 schedule:

> Nov. 6-7 -- Kissimmee, Fla.
> Dec. 4-5 -- Chicago, Ill.
> Dec. 11-12 -- Nashville, Tenn.
> Jan. 8-9 -- Shreveport, La.
> Jan. 15-16 -- Framingham, Mass. (Boston)

Nashville is the lone repeat stop from year 1.

"That was a great event last year, and we're going back," Gluszek said. "We had more than 150 people at that one."

Seeing and Doing

The biggest change to the B.U. format this year will be the addition of hands-on workshop stations. Attendees will split off into small groups and rotate through each pro's station, which will allow them to get a much better feel for the subject matter.

"We'll have all the speakers for that event there and each will be doing different demonstrations," Gluszek said. "Last year after every class, the pro would break away and there'd be 20 questions from guys wanting to know more about specific things they'd talked about.

"This will let people try this stuff themselves and still ask questions, whether it's about flipping and pitching, tying knots or whatever. We had a lot of questions about how to tie braid to a fluorocarbon leader and other questions about different knots. And Pure Fishing will be there with their line machine, showing the differences between types of lines."

The demonstrations will be relatively short – perhaps 15 minutes. "Then that same pro will do it again for the next group."

Another new twist will be more extensive videotaping of the seminars.

"We want to incorporate more video on the website, both classroom and on-the-water stuff. We'll step up what's available on the site for the people who can't get to one of the seminars."

Earlier Start

The B.U. seminars are beginning earlier this year, primarily to accommodate attendees at the two southernmost stops. Deals have been struck with the Kissimmee and Shreveport-Bossier City visitors bureaus in an effort to get participants to schedule family vacations around the seminars.

"Most of last year's seminars took place when there was ice on the lakes, but this year some of the students will have an opportunity to fish afterward," Gluszek said. "The fishing in Florida in November can be fantastic, and those people will get a chance to go out on Lake Toho and try out what they've learned."

The Chicago event will follow Kissimmee in early December.

"That's one we're really excited about and it's a region we haven't been to yet," said Gluszek. "We get more hits on our website from that region than anywhere else."

One of the goals for this year is to attract a minimum of 200 participants to at least one of the five events. Nashville is a prime candidate for that, based on its impressive number from year 1, and Boston is another possibility.

"Massachusetts has historically drawn people to this type of seminar. One of the old Bassmaster University sessions had like 700 people one year."

Notable

> The list of speakers has yet to be finalized for any of the events, but Gluszek promises they'll all be region-oriented. "We'll make sure we have guys who specialize in the things that are done in those places," he said.

> The turnout at least year's event in Sacramento, Calif. was sparse, so there will be no stops in the West this year. "We'll spend a year building our brand and then try out there again next year," said Gluszek.

> To find out about group discounts and obtain other information, call (856) 521-0046 or send an email to BassUniversity@gmail.com.