JACK WOLLITZ Bass fishing classic comes to Pittsburgh

Move over, Pirates, the bassin' world will take over the sports spotlight around the Three Rivers in Pittsburgh next summer.
Bass anglers and tournament fans are abuzz about this week's announcement by ESPN and BASS that the 2005 CITGO Bassmaster Classic Presented by Busch Beer will be contested on Pittsburgh's Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela rivers July 29-31. Daily weigh-ins will be in Mellon Arena and the Classic ESPN Outdoors Expo will be in the new David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
The 2005 Classic will mark the closest the world championship has been to the Youngstown area and thus provide a rare opportunity for local anglers to compare how they fish the tournament waters with the world's best bass pros.
Ohio's reputation
Two previous classics on the Ohio River -- Cincinnati in 1983 and Louisville in 1987 -- served up the two smallest catches in classic history. Based on the winning weights of the three-day classics those years -- 18 and 15 pounds, respectively -- the Ohio River has a national reputation as a very stingy fishery.
Those of us who fish the Ohio on a regular basis know the river has improved and today is capable of producing 15-pound, five-bass limit catches. My guess is the 2005 Classic contenders will come close to those numbers, helping to reverse the negative image anglers elsewhere in America have when they hear the words Ohio River.
Experienced Ohio River anglers know that enough 3- and 4-pound smallmouth bass live there to pack potential excitement in each cast. Plenty of spotted and largemouth bass also reside in the Three Rivers vicinity; classic anglers will be able to count all three species in their tournament catches.
While it's way too early to predict how the pros will attack the Three Rivers, it's a safe bet that smallmouth bass will be a major factor. Classic contenders who understand smallies will have an advantage because, while largemouths do live in the upper Ohio, they are more difficult to pattern there due to the relative lack of typical largemouth habitat such as flooded creek mouths and backwater areas.
Smallies love current breaks and gang up in the summer months around points, washes and islands, where they feed on the prolific shad.
Local tactics include topwaters, crankbaits and soft plastic tube baits, all of which account for the majority of the fish hooked in the numerous tournaments held on the Ohio River.
City benefits
Without question, landing the CITGO Bassmaster Classic is a huge plum for Pittsburgh.
Generally regarded as the world championship of professional bass fishing, the classic attracts far more media coverage than any other single event in tournament angling, and its winner becomes the most famous person in fishing.
For Pittsburgh, hosting the classic means hundreds of thousands of fans will focus their attention on the city during the week of the tournament. Mellon Arena undoubtedly will be packed with people watching the weigh-in and throngs will crowd the aisles of the David Lawrence Convention Center for the big outdoor show.
What's more, ESPN will broadcast extensive coverage of the fishing action and weigh-in festivities.
What the fans will see on TV and in person will boost Pittsburgh's efforts to shed the image that it's a grimy, sooty industrial wasteland. Audiences will see glittering cityscapes -- much like the familiar nighttime aerial shots during Monday Night Football -- and lots of video of pro bass anglers yanking strong bass from the Ohio, Mon and Allegheny rivers.
"Securing this event is a testimony to the more than 60 years of efforts that have made Pittsburgh one of the cleanest and most beautiful cities in the country," said Joseph R. McGrath, president of the Greater Pittsburgh Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The classic has been contested in a variety of venues. Previous sites have included Richmond, Va., and the James River; Baltimore and the upper Chesapeake Bay; New Orleans and the vast Louisiana Delta; Birmingham, Ala., and Logan Martin Lake; Greensboro, N.C., and High Rock Lake; and Chicago and Lake Michigan.
The '04 Classic will be in Charlotte, N.C., and nearby Lake Wylie.
jwwollitz@aol.com