How to watch the Bassmaster Classic

What do you remember most about the 2012 Bassmaster Classic? Was it the jump of victory by Chris Lane and his brother Bobby on the Classic stage? Was it the fish that slapped Aaron Martens in the face? Was it the down-to-the-wire near-win by Greg Vinson?

Whatever it was, our fans got to see it, just by tuning in to Bassmaster.com. And fans will get to experience all the action again this year for the 2013 Bassmaster Classic presented by Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa, Feb. 22-24. All of our coverage is 100% free to the public.

Here’s how to keep up with all the action throughout the tournament.

Bassmaster.com

The coverage of the “main event,” the weigh-in, is online every day — live, streaming video of the weigh-in. You’ll know who wins at the exact same time the winner finds out! You can’t beat that unless you’re sitting in the seats at the BOK Arena.

But plenty of action happens every day before weigh-in. Here are other offerings we’ll have each day:

• Lowrance War Room: This feature debuted at last year’s Classic and was such a hit that we continued it throughout the Elite Series season. Each day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., our reporters will report on live video what they’re hearing from the water, complete with video, pundit commentary and maps.
• Toyota BASSTrakk: This feature has been a favorite of fans for years, but this year, it’s even better! It includes a mapping feature so you can see where your favorite anglers are, and you can even pick which anglers you’d most like to follow.
• Live Blog: This blog contains the voices of multiple on-the-ground and on-the-water reporters who are keeping fans up to date as quickly as possible. Our Live Blog is already running, with posts about how the pros are getting ready for the Classic, and you’ll even see posts from on the water on the official practice day, Wednesday, Feb. 20.
• Humminbird BASSCam: This series of videos is shot everywhere — on the water, at the launch, at the Expo, at the weigh-in — and it’s uploaded immediately. So, fans get near-live updates of what’s happening in the tournament.
• Live Launches: This year, by popular demand, we’ll be live-streaming video of the launch each morning.
• Live Leaderboard: During the weigh-in, official weights are posted on the Live Leaderboard so you can see where your favorite anglers line up against their peers.
• Toyota Hooked Up!: This video is filmed daily at the conclusion of the weigh-in with The Bassmasters hosts Tommy Sanders and Mark Zona.

Facebook

Fans of B.A.S.S.’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/bass, get updates and photos throughout the day right in their newsfeed. You can comment, ask questions and share photos, all within Facebook.

Our College B.A.S.S. page, www.facebook.com/collegebass, will post special updates daily to let fans know how Carhartt Bassmaster College Series contender Matt Lee is doing, and to keep them posted on the College Classic, which takes place on Sunday.

Twitter

In fewer than 140 characters apiece, you can read updates of the tournament as it is happening. From your laptop, phone or desktop, you can watch the event unfold, tweet by tweet.

There are several ways to follow along on Twitter. You can follow the official B.A.S.S. Twitter account, www.twitter.com/BASS_nation, where you’ll get insider info provided by B.A.S.S.’s on-site staff, B.A.S.S. emcees and tournament officials.

You can follow the official hashtag of the event, #bassmasterclassic. Anyone connected to or interested in the tournament tags his or her posts with this keyword, and fans can read multiple perspectives on the tournament’s goings-on. Tweets posted with this hashtag will be displayed live at the Expo, and select tweets will appear on the big screen before the weigh-ins.

You can also follow the pros’ or insiders’ Twitter accounts. Click these links to follow the lists of Classic contenders https://twitter.com/BASS_nation/classic-pros, including Kevin VanDam and Mike Iaconelli, or to follow B.A.S.S. insiders, including emcee Dave Mercer and host Mark Zona.

On-site

If you’re in Tulsa for the Classic, you have the opportunity to have an incredible experience, assisted by technology.

For the first time ever, B.A.S.S. is offering an app that will help you navigate the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods. The app is free, and you can determine which booths you’re interested in, find them on a map and check them off as you visit them. You can also view the floorplan on your laptop or desktop here.

In addition, at the Expo, fans can enjoy the Outdoor Game Zone, a kid-friendly area that hosts the Shakespeare Kids Outdoor Challenge, the S.R.S. Super Dock Dogs and the Daisy Inflatable Air Rifle Range. The Shakespeare Outdooor Kids Challenge is designed to give kids an understanding of a full fishing experience, from preparing the tacklebox and respooling reels before actually going fishing, to putting on a life jacket and putting a bait on a hook. Then they go "fishing" and finally clean up the environment. This is all done in a timed format and the fastest "anglers" each hour in three age groups are awarded prizes. Everyone will walk away with prizes and goodies.

Fans can go to the launches, which happen daily at 7 a.m. at Wolf Creek State Park. They can then get free boat demo rides after the contenders have taken off!

At weigh-in, fans can get a great seat to watch the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing. On Saturday and Sunday, they’ll also get to enjoy the Timberworks Lumberjack Show powered by STIHL.

On TV

Once the event has concluded, our video editors and producers will spend many sleepless nights condensing hundreds of hours of on-the-water coverage to three episodes on ESPN2. You’ll get to see the fruits of their labor the following Saturday, March 2, at 9 a.m. ET; Sunday, March 3, at 7 a.m. ET; and Sunday, March 3, at 10 p.m. ET. Our production arm, JM Associates, is a nationally recognized and heavily awarded company, and the quality of the production is unmatched by any other.

So tune in, whether you’re at home or on-site, and enjoy all the free coverage we have to offer!