Technology makes bass tournament a real catch

The world championship of bass fishing is under way in Shreveport, La., with 51 Bassmaster Classic qualifiers juking and jabbing for late winter largemouths on the sloughs and oxbows of the Red River.

Like other pro sports, professional bass fishing is benefiting from technology, and it isn’t limited to the electronic gadgets that help competitors navigate waters and locate fish.

The Bassmaster Classic is sanctioned by BASS Inc., which is owned by ESPN. The television sports company is making every effort to put viewers in touch with the action, much as those who watch TV golf, basketball and baseball see every play unfold on the screen.

While the Classic contenders use sonar and GPS to travel safely around the snag-infested Red River, the folks at ESPN have developed a high-tech reporting system that enabled virtual play-by-play documentation of the action on the water.

With a blogger posting regular updates based on the information he received from the 51 boats, online viewers at www.bassmaster.com are able to know unofficially how the stars are performing. That’s no small feat, of course, considering they are scattered over 120 miles of the Red River.

As this was written Friday afternoon, the Bassmaster blogger had Arkansas’ Scott Rook unofficially holding the lead with more than 20 pounds of bass.

Actually, checking the blog during Friday’s first round was fascinating. Those who logged on were able to learn when the first fish was caught, who sacked early limits, who had risked the long downriver run through two agonizingly long lock-throughs and who, sadly, was struggling to put Red River bass in their boats.

The first keeper caught during Friday’s first round was a 3-pounder landed by Edwin Evers of Oklahoma. Classic fans rooting for Kevin VanDam of Michigan were disappointed to watch throughout the day as reports continued to be posted that he was fishless. He finally landed a keeper at 1 p.m., but his struggle continued.

By 3 p.m. Friday, Ohio pro Bill Lowen was hovering in 10th place with about 14 unofficial pounds in his livewell. Lowen grew up fishing the Ohio River, and is ideally suited to the backwater fishery in Louisiana. Stumps, logs and brush are his targets on the Red, just as they were on the Ohio.

The leaderboard will no doubt shake up throughout the tournament. Those who perform well Friday are certainly not guaranteed they can hold onto their spots in the standings, especially under the pressures of fishing for a $500,000 first prize.

All of the news about early leaders, big catches and goose eggs is unofficial, but interesting nonetheless in a sport that heretofore has not had much real-time action reporting. Fans previously had to wait for the weigh-in to see how their favorites were faring.

The action continues today and concludes Sunday. Competitive fishing buffs can stay tuned to ESPN2 broadcasts and the Classic blog on the Bassmaster Web site.

ESPN2 will air 14 hours of coverage today and Sunday. Tune in from 8 to 11 a.m. today for a recap of Friday’s first round, and then again at 10 p.m. to see highlights of today’s fishing.

Sunday’s coverage includes a 6 to 10 a.m. broadcast. The final weigh-in will be broadcast starting at 10 p.m.

jwwollitz@aol.com