Well, you can't beat history. That's what I thought when I looked through next year's Bassmaster Elite Series schedule. Every one of the lakes lists brings up some BASS-related memory for me, maybe you too.
> Lake Amistad – GIANT bass. Giants in ultra-clear water. Tim Horton almost catching that whale. Breakfast burritos and fishing with Wade Middleton, host of Fishing and Hunting Texas, who apparently couldn't find a big bass in that lake if he glued live shad all over himself and spent a week underwater (just kidding – maybe).
> California Delta – Giant bass. Delta master Robert Lee OWNS that place. The state might as well give it to him, though that Dobyns guy is no slouch either.
> Clear Lake – Did I say "giant bass" yet? Swimbaits. Ish Monroe. VanDam refusing to stop fishing with swimbaits after seeing them chased by big bass in practice. Alton Jones beating his friend Mark Kile at the buzzer.
(Looks like BASS head man Don Rucks made good on his hint that BASS would be returning to California, doesn't it?)
> Clarks Hill – Davy Hite notched another win there this year, and a long-ago Classic (1973, according to BASS, won by Rayo Breckenridge).
> Guntersville – Uh, giant bass. Crankbaits. Ike winning, George Cochran winning. I sure want to fish there.
> Smith Mountain Lake – Okay, no memories here. I hear it has good stripers, maybe some catfish.
> Grand Lake – Mike McClelland, Mike McClelland, Mike McClelland. Another great bass fishing story about a great guy.
> Lake Champlain – How about that Brauer guy? Ike won a few years back, when he was a near-rookie on a tear that only hinted at what he's done lately. I think he beat Clunn in that one, in a weather-shortened event. I also remember: seeing a young, and less outgoing, Gerald Swindle practicing there; catching huge pike by accident with Bernie Schultz; funny times with Mike Auten; and Mark Davis being a true pro: doing a photo shoot and holding up fish while in great pain (his shoulder). Talk about being there for your sponsors. You can also catch bass here on anything with a hook in it. Last one: some guy named Mark Zona not winning an Open up there last year because he was paired boater-boater one day (ouch).
> Lake Erie and the Niagara River in Buffalo – No memories, but BassFan editor in chief Jon Storm has some because he grew up there. I think he saw the sun for one week a year, and trapped beaver just to survive.
> The Potomac River – Jay Yelas' winning spot, Tim Horton's winning spot and Angler of the Year win that year (his rookie year), great fishery. Long story about Yelas teaching me a thing or two about fishing when we were much younger (I'll tell you later). Somewhere down there there's a cliff or two that have all these fossilized shark teeth. I stopped fishing there one time to hunt around for a while. Found a bunch. Pretty cool.
> Toho – Dean Rojas catching about a thousand pounds, Aaron Martens and Mark Davis wondering why they didn't set the record that day when they maybe could have, Tim Horton winning one down there fishing some crazy spot in muddy water. And lest we forget, Mr. Big Time himself, Luke Clausen.
Now to the Bassmaster Majors:
> High Rock Lake – David Fritts and Denny Brauer, but mostly Bryan Kerchal and that red-shad worm. Was he great or what?
> Oneida Lake – Not much to remember here except that Tommy Biffle didn't finish 2nd. Aaron's next!
> Arkansas River – Where do you start and end here? Makes me think of mud, the birth of George Cochran's hot-skinny-water techniques, Scott Rook and about a zillion other Arkansas fishermen – and what's that guy's name again? Oh yeah: Rick Clunn. Also makes me think of those old black-and-white photographs of a young Ray Scott, talking into a microphone (which he was born with) and huge stringers of bass (on actual stringers) somewhere in the shot.
Very cool of BASS to honor some of its own history at these events: Kerchal at High Rock, Don Butler, BASS's first member, at Oneida, and Ray Scott at the river.
Just a few memories – hopefully accurate ones – triggered by BASS history. Got any of your own? Click here to share them.
BASS says the new schedule will be featured this Saturday, July 22, at 11 a.m. EST on a special edition of BassCenter on ESPN2. The special show they did last year for the 2006 schedule was cool. I'll be watching.
