This is it, the week that the bass industry celebrates its most significant event. Some might think that the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro only impacts the anglers competing for that prestigious trophy, but there’s actually a lot more to it — a lot more benefit to go around.
Certainly, this event has a great impact on the careers of all who qualify. Winning is always the objective, but qualifying for this event is an accomplishment in itself.
When we first start out, all of us are hungry to make that first Classic. (It took me five years to qualify for my first Classic.) Reaching that milestone shows that you can compete with the best of the best.
It’s a sign that you’ve arrived and that you’re probably going to have some longevity in the sport. On the business side, a Classic qualification makes sponsors look at you as somebody they might want to invest in long-term.
Trying to establish yourself as a pro and just have a viable career is a steep grade. Qualifying for your first Classic puts you at the top of that grade and gives you a solid outlook for making a living as a professional bass angler.
Winning a Classic is the pinnacle of our sport, but reaching that critical milestone of your first Classic qualification goes a long way toward solidifying that plan.
As for those other benefits, consider these points:
THE FANS
Amid the Classic’s incredible entertainment value, the real takeaway is that fans in attendance or watching from home get to see the best anglers in the sport compete when there’s the most on the line. It’s fun to watch how they handle the pressure and respond to fishing conditions.
You might want to watch a certain angler, or you might pick a new favorite. In any case, this a great opportunity to learn about them and learn from them. There’s no venue with more access to the sport’s top anglers than the Bassmaster Classic.
By comparison, I enjoy watching NCAA basketball but I especially like watching the NCAA tournament, knowing that it’s do or die at this event.
That’s what you have at the Bassmaster Classic, so I think the excitement is at an all-time high at this event. Anglers feel it; fans feel it.
SPONSORS
The Classic offers two venues for promotion. First, the Bassmaster Classic Expo is where companies release new products and display their current selections. Just about anything you want to see in the world of fishing will be here.
Secondly, companies benefit greatly from the exposure that sponsored anglers generate at the Classic, but there’s typically a rush to add anglers who look like they might have a good chance of winning.
Everyone wants to have a champion on their team. It’s easy to market a champion and sponsors can count on 12 months of promotional ammo.
TACKLE MANUFACTURERS
The tackle industry as a whole benefits from the Classic through the Expo and the entire event.
With winter coming to an end, cabin fever is almost over, but it’s still there for a lot of people. When they follow the Classic online, watch it on TV or read about it in the magazine, it makes them want to go fishing.
Before you go fishing, you go to retailers and begin buying your products. The Classic encourages a lot of people to get back into fishing mode.
This is a great time for fans to learn techniques, and we can always count on new innovations or modifications to be displayed at the Classic. Somebody’s going to do something a little out of the ordinary and somebody’s going to have a secret weapon that they’re going to pull out.
Maybe the tournament’s going to be won on an old standard lure like a jig. There’s going to be a lot of consumers out there that have never fished a jig and this may be just what they need to push them over the hump and motivate them to go jig shopping.
We’ll see a dozen different patterns play out, and consumers can learn to be more efficient at their bass fishing. That’s huge for the tackle industry because it creates great opportunity to sell to consumers that are new to the market and expand their brand to consumers that have been here for a long time.
The Classic creates a lot of excitement and encourages people to go bass fishing. With all the coverage — especially the live coverage on Bassmaster.com — if you really want to learn the ins and outs of a particular technique, there’s no better venue than the Bassmaster Classic.
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Lastly, the Bassmaster Classic is a great opportunity for us as pros to show the right way to manage our natural resources. There’s a right way to hold a big bass so you don’t hyperextend its jaw. There’s a right way to release bass. There’s a right way to safely hold and transport bass.
We anglers are penalized if a fish dies in our care, so we go to great lengths to make sure that the fish we catch remain in the best condition possible. Besides, we’re all sportsmen at heart and doing our best to protect and conserve natural resources is just part of our mindset.
This is something fans will see and hear about a lot at the Classic. From the time those fish leave Grand Lake, to the time they reach the arena and then make the trip back to Grand Lake, they’ll be handled with such care and proficiency that they’ll be happy and healthy for someone else to catch down the road.