Valuable Information With Some Entertainment Mixed In

Entertaining. Enlightening. Educational.

There might even be a few more "E" words that could be used to describe a session of The Bass University, but those three do a pretty decent job of summing it up. Put Mike Iaconelli in front of a captive audience, and there will be entertainment. Put a handful of pros with different backgrounds and experiences at the front of the room at the same time and let them field questions from the crowd, and there will be enlightenment. And if you listen to one of the world's best anglers expound on a topic he knows intimately for nearly an hour, you will learn something.

I sat in on most of the seminars during the recent B.U. stop in Sacramento. I went in wondering whether it was a good idea to give up one of the last bird-hunting weekends of the 2009-10 season. I came out with a lot of knowledge I can use during weekend tournaments and fun-fishing excursions year-round.

Make no mistake: These seminars are way, way beyond anything you're going to see at your standard boat-and-outdoors show this winter. A lot of big names in the bass-catching world show up at those, too, but they can't do there what they do at a B.U. event. If they tried, they'd lose about 80% of the audience in the first 5 minutes – only the hard-core anglers would be left.

Although some of Ike's antics would get a laugh from just about any crowd, the B.U. main course is tailored for the serious angler. A lot of it is about how to catch bass under the toughest conditions, and that's explored in depth with a region-specific focus. And no detail – no matter how minute – is left out of the equation.

Brent Ehrler stopped by on day 1 to deliver a couple of seminars, one of which covered finesse tactics. He was on his way to Lake Shasta for the Western FLW Series opener, where he fared pretty well with a spinning rod.

Michael Bennett couldn't make it due to a schedule conflict, so organizers Iaconelli and Pete Gluszek had to dredge up a replacement. That turned out to be three-time tour-level Angler of the Year (AOY) and former Bassmaster Classic champion Jay Yelas, who went into heavy detail on swimbaits in one seminar and jigs in the other.

Gary Dobyns, the West's all-time leading money-winner, and Ish Monroe showed up on day 2. Dobyns provided insights on tournament strategy and Monroe, a terror on the California Delta, gave a month-by-month breakdown of the cover that bass relate to on that huge maze of channels. He also pinpointed the precise location on the cover where they were likely to be found during that particular month

For their seminars, Easterners Iaconelli and Gluszek focused on topics that weren't specific to the region, such as triggering reaction strikes from inactive bass, advanced finesse techniques and pre-tournament research on an unfamiliar body of water, Twice each day, all of the pros took the stage and engaged in a free-wheeling roundtable session, moderated by local pro/media personality Kent Brown, with questions from the audience that produced some surprising admissions you'd never hear at a boat show.

The attendees included Bill and Ryan Brown, the father-in-law and brother-in-law, respectively, of Don Hogue, who'll represent the Federation Nation Western Region next month in the Bassmaster Classic. They flew down from Washington state.

Curtis Spindler came all the way from Missoula, Mont. He just finished up several terms as his state's Federation Nation president and had previously attended a Bassmaster University event, also in California, before BASS discontinued the series.

"I wanted to learn more about finesse stuff and fishing in tougher conditions like we have where I live, and some of the subtle things in the techniques they went over will help me," Spindler said. "It's a valuable program and I told (Iaconelli) that I was really glad they brought it back."

There was one guy in the crowd who doesn't care much about bass fishing. Ed Antenucci, a real estate consultant from the San Francisco Bay Area, was accompanying his 14-year-old son Jeff, who has designs on a pro career.

"I fish a little, but my main job is to tow the boat to and from the Delta or Clear Lake," he said. "I have an older son who was drafted to play pro baseball and Jeff probably has more talent for the game than he did, but he says, 'Dad, I love bass fishing.'

"He'll spend 2 1/2 hours a day just flipping and pitching into our pool at home. And because he has that kind of dedication, that's why we're here."

Notable

> The last of the four B.U. events this year will be held next weekend (Feb. 6-7) in Grapevine, Texas. Instructors are Iaconelli, Gluszek, Monroe, Fred Roumbanis, Peter Thliveros and Byron Velvick. For more info, click here.