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Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive MarineTournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine

BFHOF Report

The Bass Fishing Hall of Fame (BFHOF) has announced financial grants $12,000 to three organizations whose efforts will greatly benefit the sport.

Fishing’s Future, Friends of Reservoirs Foundation, and the Mille Lacs Smallmouth Alliance will each receive a $4,000 grant to assist with their 2022 projects.

BASS Report

Bassmaster Classic in Knoxville, TNBassmaster Classic in Knoxville, TN

The venue that was home to one of the most successful and well-received Classics of all-time will once again be the host for professional bass fishing’s biggest celebration in 2023.

B.A.S.S. officials announced yesterday that the 2023 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk will be held in Knoxville, Tenn., March 24-26 with competition on the Tennessee River lakes of Fort Loudoun and Tellico. Daily weigh-ins will be held at Thompson-Boling Arena — the palatial 20,000-seat venue on the University of Tennessee campus — and the annual Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo will take place at the Knoxville Convention Center and the adjacent World’s Fair Exhibition Hall.

The Visit Knoxville Sports Commission will once again serve as host.

“Our first Bassmaster Classic in Knoxville produced record-breaking fan attendance and was one of the best Classics we’ve ever had,” said B.A.S.S. CEO Chase Anderson. “The Bassmaster Classic is the Super Bowl of Professional Bass Fishing. It’s not just a great competition; it is a true celebration of the competitors, the fans and the sport as a whole.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to be headed back to Knoxville.”

With daily takeoffs from Volunteer Landing, located downtown at the head of the beautiful Tennessee River, the 2019 Classic drew a record crowd of 153,809 spectators and generated an economic impact of $32.2 million for Knoxville and East Tennessee, according to a report released by the Visit Knoxville Sports Commission.

St. Croix Report

Smallmouth specialist, Travis MansonSmallmouth specialist, Travis Manson

Smallmouth specialist and previous Bassmaster Elite angler, Travis Manson, is owner of Travis Manson’s Guide Service and host of the popular Smallmouth Crush live stream and podcast. The wayfaring guide grew up fishing in northern Wisconsin, but now tackles Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, as well as upstate New York’s St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario’s 1000 Islands region. He’s particularly handy with a jig, and as angler and guide who spends hundreds of days per year fishing for smallies, Mason considers hair jigs absolutely imperative. “It’s effective at catching smallmouth anywhere fish have good visibility. If I can see two to three feet or more into the water, I feel good about using the hair jig,” says Manson.

The proclivity of hair jigs to entice big fish is now well-known, but that wasn’t always the case. “There is something about the hair jig that smallmouth love, and for a number of years a lot of high-profile anglers were able to keep it to themselves,” Manson says. “Although the hair jig has been around for a long time it really started to come back in the smallmouth community in the mid 2000's. There were a few years when only a few anglers were consistently using this bait and doing very well before word got out. It can be a magical technique at times.”

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