Welcome to Bassmasters Classic Week!!!

It's time for the 40th Bassmaster Classic which is being held at Lay Lake in Alabama. The Bassmasters Classic is widely held to be the most prestigious tournament in the world of tournament bass fishing. In February of 2007 the Classic was held on Lay, but it looks like things are going to be a colder than they were 3 years ago when Boyd Duckett barely beat 2009 Classic Champion Skeet Reese. It has been a much colder than normal Winter in Alabama and it is not going to warm up significantly this week.

Here is the weather forecast for the week:
> Mon., Feb. 15 - Partly Cloudy - 34°/27°
- Wind: From the W at 12 mph

> Tues., Feb. 16 - Mostly Cloudy - 28°/29°
- Wind: From the W/NW at 11 mph

> Wed., Feb. 17 - Cloudy, Overnight Snow/Rain - 48°/31°
- Wind: From the SW at 10 mph

> Thur., Feb. 18 - Mostly Sunny - 50°/31°
- Wind: From the W/NW at 7 mph

> Fri., Feb. 19 - Partly Cloudy, Overnight Snow/Rain - 48°/31°
- Wind: From the SW at 10 mph

> Sat., Feb. 20 - Partly Cloudy - 48°/31°
- Wind: From the SW at 10 mph

> Sun., Feb. 21 - Partly Cloudy - 46°/36°
- Wind: From the NW at 7 mph

The cold probably means that the tournament will be dominated by the Alabama Bass, which until very recently were believed to be Spotted Bass. The "Coosa River Spots" as they are often called are known to be aggressive and hard fighters. In 2007 Boyd Duckett won on the strength of a couple of big largemouth, but I think runner up Reese was all "Coosa River Spots."

Here is how the week shapes up in terms of the fishing schedule:
Monday, Feb. 15 -- Off
Tuesday, Feb. 16 -- Off
Wednesday, Feb. 17 -- Official practice
Thursday, Feb. 18 -- Off
Friday, Feb. 19 -- Competition
Saturday, Feb. 20 -- Competition
Sunday, Feb. 21 -- Competition

The anglers have been on the water for the past 3 days, but the coverage of that pre-practice has been pretty minimal at the official BASS/ESPN website. I expect maybe BassFan and BassZone will get out some info about the pre-practice this week.

At this point I would have to say favorites to win are Boyd Duckett, Skeet Reese, and Kevin Van Dam who finished 1,2,3 in 2007 along with spotted bass phenom Aaron Martens, and experienced locals Matt Herren, and Russ Lane.

It is going to be interesting to see how the lone woman angler and veteran pro Pam Martin-Wells handles the pressure. Personally I look for her to have a strong showing.

Update: BassZone has a little on pre-practice from Browning, Short, Niggemeyer, and Pace.

Update: To get more Classic info I'm going to give in and get the BASS Insider 30 Day free trial. I really don't like to do free trials, but if I don't the Classic info at my disposal looks like it will be pretty minimal.