Picking Debbie and Mike Otto up at the Charlotte airport tomorrow morning, then headed to Greenville, SC to set up the Pond Boss booth. Who's headed to the Classic? Look us up...we want to see, meet and greet you.
Bob,
Is Ray Scott going to have his new lake life pump displayed at the classic? I here it is pretty neat! I won't be able to make it to the classic, but would like to see the new pump.
Bob:
I'll be there, but only through your reports, ESPN, and ESPN.Com. It sounds like yesterday's practice was pretty tough with the wind, rain and cold. Should make for some interesting competition. I am predicting another surprise winner, just like last year.
I have been lucky enough to see World Series and All Star games, The first NASCAR race at Indy, the Daytona 500, Taladega. etc.
I have a trip to the Super Bowl and the NCAA Final Four on my wish list. However I believe, especially with the publicity ESPN has given it, that The BassMasters Classic now ranks at the top of my list of things to do next.
Bing
IN THE FIRST POSTING I FORGOT TO MENTION THE GREATEST EVENT OF ALL. OF COURSE THAT WAS THE FIRST POND BOSS CONFERENCE. YOU CAN BET I'LL BE AT THE NEXT ONE AS WELL.
Well, just back from setting up the Pond Boss booth. Got to say hello to Ray Scott, Vicki Bender and Jim Liner, from Ray Scott Outdoors. Got to shake Charlie Campbell's hand and say hello to Kevin VanDam. Yes, the Kasco folks have set up a Lake Life Pump in their booth. I'll shoot some photos and post them later.
Otto is headed to bed. He got up at 30 after midnight, grabbed my wife at 2 a.m. and both of them headed to the airport. Debbie's had a nap and ready to do the town.
Spent a few minutes with Ted Lea and his bride, with Sue Cruz...our Vertex friends. We may spend some time together this evening.
Back to you all later on. The party is starting.
Sounds like a lot of fun Bob, one of these years I will make a trip to see the Classic in person. I would rather be fishing the Classic instead of watching it.
Go VanDam!
Bob,
Could you do me a huge favor and tell Sue that Nate says hello!
Nate, Sue read your post and says, "Hello" to you. Our booths are side by side. We have wireless, so I shot a few photos. More as the day plays.
The Pond Boss booth. Otto is talking with a potential Pond Boss subscriber.
Ted & Terri Lea, with Sue Cruz in the Vertex booth here at the Classic.
Our friends with Kasco Marine. The Lake Life Pump is on display.
Dr. Larry Varner in the Purina booth. Dr. Griffin is iced-in in St. Louis. He's trying to get here.
Mitchell Morton with Foster Lake Management from Garner, NC, near Raleigh.
Ray Scott and Bob Lusk...Ray is signing some old copies of BassMaster magazine
Ray and Matt at the Lake Life Pump
Can you tell Ray and Sue and Ted hi from me too?
And of course Ah-TOE! (Otto)
They say, Hello!!! jWish you were here, they know how cold you are. Ted's wife, Terri cracked a tooth...she wants you to come fix it. Hank Parker is signing autographs. If he comes by the booth, I may try to call you, so you can talk to him. Email me with the best number to call you.
Keep the pictures coming!!
Bob pass along our collective thanks (hello) to Ray , Ted , Sue , Jim K. , Mark (upon arrival),Otto , Bob R. (assume he is in attendance) and the entire group.
Thanks for the pics.
Judy Pachner Martin (Her dad started Farm Pond Harvest), Me and Roland Martin.
Three legends...Roland Martin, Ray Scott and Doug Hannon, the "Bass Professor" in Ray's booth, next to ours.
Ray autographed this lucky little fella's forehead. Go figure.
Jim Kientz (l), Jim Liner (c) or Ray Scott Outdoors, with Vicki Bender, Ray's business and office manager.
Roland Martin, Lusk, Doug Hannon. We are having a ball.
I just read an interesting story about Doug Hannon the Bass Professor. It seems he has invented a new open faced spinning reel.
http://www.wavecast-reel.com/Interesting concept. Since, with a slight case of being a senior citizen, I find it harder and harder to keep those loops under control with an open face, I am curious about whether this reel performs as promised.
Has anyone tried one of these yet?
Bing
I just called Fred, let him speak with Doug. Questions answered. What did he tell you, Fred?
This one probably deserves a separate thread if anyone is interested. Doug answered my questions and I plan to order one of the reels. Although I've fished with open face reels for many years, it seems the older I get the more loops I throw with them, and the less tolerant I am of picking out birdsnests. (I also think loops probably give a left handed person like me more problems than a right handed one.) Doug has developed this reel with a wavey, (like ocean waves), front lip to the spool, rather than the smooth spool lip all of the other ones have. If it works as well as he says it does, and it does come with a guarantee, it should be great. Doug thinks he will be at the conference in Arlington in July, and either way I'll be glad to discuss it with anyone who is interested. By then I will probably either love it or hate it.
I am absolutely convinced that if you follow the BASS pro circuit and watch the pros like Roland, Bill, Jimmy, and Hank on TV then a trip to the Classic is a must. It would be much like going to the World Series, or any other professional athletic event and get to meet one-on-one with the "stars".
Bing
Holy cr**!! Doug Hannon is there??!?!?!?!?!
That guy is the one who originally gave me the idea that there might be a connection between science and fishing. To me he's right up there with Hank Parker. I've read every word he's ever written that I could get my hands on.
Bruce what about his videos ?
Vicki, Ray and my wife, Debbie
Go Ray!
Hey Bruce, Just met Teeg, from Omaha, the guy with Recycled Fish. He said to tell you, "Hello."
Fred, there are lots of fishing's stars and some of them are just hanging out.
Bruce what about his videos ?
He has videos? Shows how much I know. I just always read stuff in In-Fisherman, and other Outdoor magazines that feature his observations. I'd like to meet him sometime.
Hey, Teeg!!! It's dang cold here.
That's cool!! I'm going to check into those.
The thing about Doug Hannon, is that he never accepted the status quo. He decided that he was going to find out for himself what was
really going on underwater, then report it scientifically to the rest of us.
I have no doubt that over half of what we actually know about largemouth behavior is either directly or indirectly tied to Doug Hannon and his research.
...and of course I always watched his segments on ESPN!
Bob: With all of this star power discussion going on it is sorta hard to remember there is also a fishing tournament going on.
Any news on how they are doing, who is leading, big fish, etc. If the weather reports hold true it could be a rough weekend.
Bing
Bob Lusk - see if you can get one of Doug Hannon's new fishing reels for the Pond Boss Conference's Silent Auction.
I just got done watching classic video on ESPN 2 of Ray Scott and a bunch of great bass fishermen flying to Las Vegas, as Ray announces to everybody what the "secret" lake is that they're going to fish for the first "Bassmaster Classic".
I saw that, too, this morning. You should hear Ray tell the story. I also heard the story from one of the writers on the trip, John Thompson. Ray tells about Poolie, one of the cogs in B.A.S.S. for years, (who worked for Ray)getting the fleet of boats on site under the cover of darkness. Seems Poolie took a somewhat circuitous route. Poolie was the only one who knew where he was going and the other guys following him had no idea. They just knew they were pulling boats to the first Classic. It was a huge secret. Amazingly, the secret was kept. Ray had all the anglers incarcerated on one chartered plane. He also had the foresight to bring along all the key writers to cover the event. It was 1971. I was a sophomore in high school.
Debbie just strolled by, said to say "hello" to everyone. I'll check back in later.
Bob, I just saw that Scott Rook was leading the Classic for a while yesterday throwing a shad colored Shad Rap parallel to the shoreline.
Sound familiar?
I love it! This show has been so busy, I haven't had time to post. Got some great photos to share, though. I'll try to put them on my blog tonight. Got a great shot of Forrest L. Wood with Ray Scott. We'll be in touch.
Headed to the final weigh-in in a hour.....new photos on my blog, from yesterday. Got some cool ones today, too.
Hey is there a guy in the running by the name of Jed Culler? He's a good customer of mine and from my neck of the woods. He won an expensive bass boat a few years ago.
Didn't see your guy, Cecil.
Here's your winner. Long time angler, resident of Waco, Texas and long time Pond Boss subscriber, by the way....Alton Jones.
