Just past 7:00 a.m., the four anglers in the morning session of the Bassmaster Classic Bracket began motoring on 6,612-acre Pokegama Lake. There will be no “takeoff” in this format. The anglers move to the places where they want to start fishing, and the judges – one in each boat – will let them know the exact time they can begin fishing.
The basics are the same as any B.A.S.S. tournament: 5 fish limit, and there’s a 12-inch minimum. The bass will be weighed and recorded by judges, then released.
Pokegama is an interesting change of pace for the Elite Series anglers. It’s got a good ratio of largemouth and smallmouth bass. Thethe two black bass species are mixed, like at Lake Champlain, not necessarily separated by structure types, as on many fisheries.
By the way, according to Wikipedia, Pokegama is an Ojibwe word meaning, “the water which juts off from another water.” The Mississippi River is nearby and at certain high-water levels, these waters mix.