Road To The Classic
What's In A Name? Everything

Thursday, July 22, 2004
by Ray Scott

But the sport of pro bass fishing was not always celebrated and cheered as it is at the Classic today. As a matter of fact, in the early years of BASS it suffered from well-meaning critics in the outdoor press, boosted by distrust from the Sport Fishing Institute (SFI), the non-profit conservation organization. The SFI was so alarmed by tournament angling, it passed a resolution in 1973 "reaffirming the contemplative nature of fishing."

Photo: Ray Scott Outdoors Now a popular cable fishing show host, Hank Parker won two Classics before retiring from the B.A.S.S. Tournament Trail.

Some of the SFI concerns were well-founded, like too much pressure on the resource, and dead fish. Ironically, it was the influence of BASS and tournament fishing that firmly established the practice of catch-and-release and our BASS fishermen – especially Federation members – moved not only to protect the resource, but to improve it.

Nonetheless, journalists attracted by the controversy posed the question: is tourney fishing bad? We faced some bad press, and the anti-fishing chatter surfaced from coast to coast. Make no mistake, the groundswell of negativity and controversy could have swamped our BASS boat at any time, but for the stroke of a public relations plan conceived during an eventful road trip.

On a drive between Montgomery, Ala. (headquarters for BASS) and a fishing-tackle show in Atlanta, "the Classic" was born.

In the car was Bob Cobb, who was the first full-time editor of Bassmaster Magazine and later was the producer of the award-winning The Bassmasters TV show. Doubling as director of the BASS News Service, Cobb and I mused and fussed over our frustration in getting tournament bass fishing onto the sports pages. Some fishing writers used our BASS News tournament coverage, but the general Sport Desk had the opinion that "if you can't kick it, dribble it or hit it, it ain't worth covering."

We decided we needed a major event – a super-tournament, like the NFL's Super Bowl. The tournament would be held on a "mystery lake" and we could get the outdoors writers to come along and actually fish with the pros.

Photo: Ray Scott Outdoors Here's Ray with Bryan Kerchal, a 23-year-old angler from Newton, Conn. who was the first "amateur" to win the Classic from the B.A.S.S. Federation. Only months after his 1994 triumph in Greensboro, N.C., Kerchal was killed in a commuter plane crash.

The intense brainstorming developed to the point we needed a name for this bass fishing Super Bowl. Cobb recalls how we arrived at the name some 32 years ago. We wanted the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society recognized, so BASS was in all caps as in the original BASS Masters Classic (the usage has changed now to Bassmaster Classic). As a new sport, we wanted to establish a name with strong tradition, high standards and championship quality. The fact we were driving to Georgia, the home of the prestigious The Masters golf championship, gave us an idea.

The BASS Masters had a nice link to sports tradition. But the world finals of bass fishing needed an exclamation point. Is there a better word in the English language to define a high point in sports like "Classic?"

Thus the official name of the world championship of bass fishing was coined: the BASS Masters Classic. And for 32 years it has lived up to that name. All the qualities of a Masters and a Classic will be on display July 29 through August 1 in Charlotte, NC. I'll be there with my cowboy hat on. I'd like to see you there, too. Come up and tell me you're a fan of BassFan.

Notable

> Per my last column, the International Game Fish Association recently confirmed my 7-09 catch as the Alabama state record for 4-pound-test line.