As a professional bass angler, I’ve represented my sponsors at countless sport shows. This year marks the 21st consecutive time I have done so at the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo.
It feels so much different this year because I’m fishing the Bassmaster Elite Series for the first time. I could actually qualify for next year’s Classic. I have competed in many bass championships, but never the Classic.
I grew up dreaming about the Classic, which is obviously the world’s biggest bass tournament. To see guys I fished against in the first two Elite Series events of 2025 vying for that coveted Classic trophy has me feeling a bit jealous.
Classic Outdoors Expo
No sport show remotely compares to the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo. A number of fans have stopped by to see me at the Expo for the past 10 successive years. They may only get one or two weeks of vacation each year, and they reserve that time for the Classic.
You have to go to a Classic to realize how many fans come to it. It’s amazing. The Expo is massive. The bigger companies display their goods, but don’t sell them. However, many smaller vendors are there, and they sometimes have screaming good deals.
Some companies introduce new products at the Expo to give anglers an opportunity to acquire them at the start of the fishing season. That’s true of Evergreen, one of my sponsors. Besides Evergreen, I spend time at the displays of my other sponsors Daiwa, Blazer Boats and T-H Marine.
It typically takes me 20 minutes to get from one display to another because some of the fans often want to talk with me and take a picture. That really makes you feel like you’re doing something special.
On the third and final competition day, the Classic field is cut to the Top 25 anglers. The pros who don’t make the cut come to the Expo that day where the fans have an opportunity to meet them.
The Classic weigh-in
The Expo is jammed with fans until the daily weigh-in draws near. Then, suddenly, the place is practically deserted as everyone flocks see the pros bring their bass across the stage.
It underlines just how much it means to the fans to see the fish. The Classic weigh-in is absolutely the best. Every angler is pulled up to the stage in his truck and boat.
I can’t wait to, hopefully, get to do that someday and walk across that stage with a bag of fish. That would be so awesome. When you’re in that arena, you get the full effect of the sound, the lighting and the excitement. It makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
The crowds at takeoff on tournament mornings are also spectacular. Even the big bosses from the fishing industry show up for that. To see all those people just before blastoff must really get the pros pumped up.
You can see the exuberance on the faces of many of the contenders. Australian angler Carl Jocumsen does a daily video update with a big smile on his face. He’s excited to be in the Classic despite windy weather and the fishing conditions.
Every angler in the Classic field knows that winning this championship could be a life-changing event. I’ve traveled with Jordan Lee who has won two Classics, and I’ve discussed this with Canadian Classic champion Jeff Gustafson. They both talk about how different their lives have been since winning the “Big Show.”
For those who have never been to a Classic, it’s an event you need to see firsthand to appreciate its full glory.
