Day One launch timelapse

This 3-minute video captures the action at the Day One launch of the 2012 Bassmaster Classic.

Palaniuk on Shaw Lake

Brandon Palanuik is in Shaw Lake, the backwater area where so many anglers practiced at least part of the day on Wednesday, and where Skeet Reese won the Classic in 2009.

So crowded they won’t be back

Yogi Berra once said of a restaurant, "Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded," which seemed appropriate for Wednesday's final practice.

Davy Hite on KVD

Kevin VanDam and Davy Hite are best friends on the Elite Series. They travel together and room together all over the country.

Evers on his first Classic

Edwin Evers is one of those anglers that you expect to win every event. And at some point, you just know that he will be a Classic champion or an Angler of the Year.

It’s a party somewhere

Kevin VanDam has joined the party in this Red River backwater area, which shall remain nameless. That brings the total to 14 of the 49-angler field that James Overstreet and I have seen here since 8:30 this morning. We decided long ago there was no sense in leaving to look for other angers when, sooner or later, they are going to come to us. There is, however, one drawback to staying in this stump-filled, wind-blown swamp: Overstreet and I have taken to singing our version of the REO Speedwagon hit "Riding the Storm Out." Our refrain is "riding the stumps out," as we pinball to the left when a stump rides down the right side of the boat hull, then lean to the right as a stump slides down the left side of the hull. And it's only Wednesday. This is going to be a long week.

Hite not taking a win for granted

Davy Hite has seen a resurgence in the last year. He won at Pickwick, his first win in five years. It was the longest dry spell of his career.

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