It’s that time of the year again.

It’s that time when the sluggish pulse of the professional bass fishing world gets its annual jump-start.

It’s time for the biggest show in fishing.

It’s Bassmaster Classic time!

For me, this is one of the most exciting times of the year – even on par with major holidays like Christmas.

That may sound funny, but the Classic seems to amplify my love and passion for the sport of competitive angling, and it seems to transform my goal of making a living as a professional angler from mere pipe dreams into something that seems like a very real possibility. By doing so, the Classic gives me a renewed sense of focus and determination after a drawn-out and uneventful off-season.

A New Prospective

I've attended two Classics- my first in 2006 in Orlando, and last year in Birmingham. The '06 Classic I attended purely as a spectator, but at the 2010 event I was fortunate to be able to help the good folks at BassFan with angler interviews and such, in return for the opportunity to experience the Super Bowl of professional bass fishing from a behind-the-scenes prospective.

This year, I'm pretty stoked to be able to experience the Classic from yet another prospective-by working for two different companies at the Classic Expo. Aside from working with BassFan again on event coverage, I will be working with one of my sponsors, Topwater Clothing, and Bass Anglers Magazine, a publication I began writing for this year.

The opportunity to work the Classic Expo, to me, represents a new step in the maturing process of becoming a professional promoter of the fishing industry, which I believe is a prerequisite to becoming a successful professional angler.

Working industry shows is one of the biggest opportunities for professional anglers to represent the companies they work for (a.k.a. sponsors) in a face-to-face setting with those companies' potential customers or clients. They are also in many cases the biggest non-tournament related source of income for the professionals of the sport.

Fishin’ for the Right Impression

Though my responsibilities while working with these companies won't be all that labor-intensive or complicated, I am still a bit nervous. It is really important to me that I do a good job for them the first time around, so that they may view me as a valuable asset in the future or throw a good word or two around to other companies in or out of the industry.

I have already made some mistakes, however.

For instance, I made the huge mistake of scheduling the wrong time block with one of the companies, which would have overlapped the time I needed to spend with BassFan getting interviews from the pros as they arrive to the weigh-in.

It all ended up working out just fine, but I take pride in having my plans in order, and it was kind of embarrassing that I would have to force that company to shuffle their schedule around because of a rookie mistake I made.

Another mistake is that I won’t have my updated tournament jersey or new business cards in on time.

Despite those problems, I think that I will be properly prepared to give a good first impression.
One thing I did this year, as I did last year, is buy a couple sets of good-quality dress clothes to wear for media events, dinners, and even just around the Expo – which I guess could be interpreted as just a good excuse to put a nice pair of shoes on my credit card.

I don’t think enough people do that at industry shows like the Classic Expo. Most of the time you see people dressed in their tournament jersey, or just plain casual clothing. Shoot, some people are trying to work on their sandal tans on the showroom floor, which is cool if you are there just to look around. But if you want to stick out, I've found that conventional dress clothes really leave an impression.



It’s just like fishing a pressured lake – if everyone is throwing spinnerbaits, bass tend to lose interest. But if you spruce up your presentation a bit and throw an unconventional shallow-running crankbait, you might be able to get those fish to respond to it. So basically, I am going to be throwing shallow cranks instead of spinnerbaits to trigger some attention on the showroom floor.

Ready to Mingle

Like I said, I'm a little nervous about working the floor, but the more I think about it, the more excited I get, because it's an opportunity to meet so many new people with a similar interest – fishing.

I absolutely love meeting new people, and I absolutely love talking bass fishing, which is what really makes the Classic Expo so special. It's the biggest and best venue to bring vendors, consumers, media and professional fishermen (and women) together under one roof.

All in al,l I have mixed emotions about the 2011 Classic. I'm excited, nervous and even a little bit overwhelmed. It seems that each year my career is steadily moving up the staircase of success, and I feel that working the Classic from this angle is a very important step.

I will do the very best that I can, and see where things go. I guess the next big step in my future is to fish the Classic ... well, I guess I'll just take it one step at a time.

I hope to see everyone at the Classic Expo, either at the Bass Anglers Magazine booth (No. 5109) on Friday and Saturday between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., or at the Topwater Clothing booth (No. 9085) on Sunday during the same hours.

Miles "Sonar" Burghoff is a student at the University of Central Florida and an aspiring professional angler who writes a regular column for BassFan. To visit his website, click here.