Open: Registration in Richmond

The 2016 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open #2 on the James River starts early on Thursday morning, but before the anglers tackle the tidal fishery, they must first go through registration at Varina High School in Richmond, VA.

The BASS Registration sign points the anglers in the right direction.

Joe Hamilton (right) gets his fishing license checked by B.A.S.S. officials.

These two pieces of hardware are the goal this week for two fortunate anglers this week. The winner on the pro side, given that he/she has will fish all three Northern Opens, will punch their ticket to the 2017 Geico Bassmaster Classic. Meanwhile the co-angler winner will win a brand new boat!

The Toyota booth is in attendance and their college representative, Trevor Lo, stops by to talk to the guys.

Carhartt, like always, has a booth with multiple colors and sizes for every angler that wants one.

With registration starting at 1 p.m. and wrapping up around 4 p.m. anglers roll through at different times.

Justin McClelland, son of Elite Series angler Mike McClelland, rolls in and makes his way to registration.

Toyota hands out a custom rod sleeve and other goodies.

William Shipes, former college angler at Clemson University, obviously grabs for the orange Carhartt shirt.

Richmond tourism had a booth welcoming anglers to the area and offering some coupons and goodies in their bag.

Phoenix boats, a new B.A.S.S. sponsor for 2016, has a table set up as well.

Along with hats, they also had boat brochures for all of their models set up.

After anglers head through the sponsor tables they are greeted with the Northern Opens standings.

The Top 5 non-Elite series anglers after the three Opens may get an invite to join the 2017 Elite Series.

A group of anglers get their information confirmed and their licenses checked.

Former college angler Frankie Appaluccio hangs with former Elite Series angler Joe Sancho.

Former Elite Series angler Kurt Dove (right) hangs out with Brian Schmidt (middle).

After registering in the Varina High School gym, anglers head to the auditorium where the briefing meeting will take place.

Sam George (right) hangs out with Alton Jones Jr. (left) and their buddy Bart (middle).

Chad Pipkens and Adrian Avena talk about their past event at the Potomac River and also about the prospects of the James River this week.

Tournament Director Chris Bowes gets the briefing started.

Henrico County stopped by to make the anglers feel welcome and to feel free to ask for food options around town.

Legendary angler Woo Daves doesn’t live far from the James River and could be ready for a great week.

After a solid start to the Opens season at Oneida Lake, Hunter Shryock is looking for another good finish here at the James River.

Wil Hardy made a big splash as he won the Northern Open on Oneida in early July and as long as he fishes this week and at Lake Champlain he will be headed to the 2017 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Conroe.

Chris Dillow is all smiles as he won this very event in 2015 and made it to the Classic.

To this day, I haven’t ever seen former Elite Series pro Charlie Hartley without a smile on his face.

Mike Iaconelli brought his son to the registration and they hang out close to the front.

Over 300 anglers will hit the James River in competition tomorrow so they all listen to Chris Bowes as he explains rules like no wake zones and other regulations.

The full field of 157 boats is ready to go! Takeoff is at 6:30 a.m. ET and weigh-ins are approximately at 2:45 p.m. ET.