Bass

The Bassmaster Classic is just around the corner. Yep, Tulsa, Oklahoma will be buzzing over the action taking place on Grand Lake o' the Cherokees from March 4-6. The Bassmaster Classic always provides tremendous drama and often a surprise winner.

Oklahomans are thinking big as the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro draws near. They want the Classic hat trick - a record-setting catch, record-setting attendance and, of course, a local champion.

The nation's grandest fishing event, along with the Bassmaster Classic Expo returns to Tulsa and Grand Lake O' the Cherokees, March 4-6.

Bassmaster Elite Series pro Byron Velvick has dealt with physical injuries over the last few years. These setbacks have been severe enough to keep him from fishing competitively. Last year he suffered another injury that sidelined him for much of the season.

After watching his friend and fellow competitor on the Bassmaster Elite trail, Brett Hite, nearly win the 2015 Bassmaster Classic by strategically nail-weighting soft plastic baits, Kevin VanDam realized he had some homework to do.    

While he’s always been known for his preference to fish fast and efficiently, once KVD delved into this technique, he realized it was right in his wheelhouse.

When you ask a famous pro basser like Abu Garcia pro Mike Iaconelli what items comprise his Three Must Haves to be successful on tour many folks would figure something unique. Something unheard of, etc., since he has such a larger-than-life personality.

Tennessee pro Ott DeFoe loves to crank, even when the water’s frigid and he can see his breath. When those conditions prevail, it’s almost a no-brainer that he’ll start flinging his favorite cold-water hard bait—the Rapala Shad Rap. It’s been around for three decades, and while there have been many imitators, no one’s been able to pin down that natural action quite as well as our friends from Finland.

With the B.A.S.S. Open season upon us and the Bassmaster Elite Series starting in March, Pros4- 1Source took the time to hunt down legendary Mercury pro Shaw Grigsby and see what he's up to. Grigsby paused his practice for the B.A.S.S. Open event on the Kissimmee Chain in Florida long enough to spill the beans on his "Three Must Haves" while on tour.

1. Cold Weather Bag

For Mark Zona, smallmouth bass fishing isn’t a hobby, or even a passion—it’s an affliction.  If you think a little bit of cold weather, or even a thin layer of ice, is going to keep him and his Nitro Z-21 from crushing some small jaws, you’ve got the wrong guy.

Fishing bass during the pre-spawn season is just about one of the best times to be fishing. No doubt, the qualifying anglers in the Spring Bassmaster Classics will be in the midist of pre-spawing bass and some very unique challenges. Anglers who understand how excessive rains can dump an abundant amount of fresh off color water into many of the tournament waters will tell you it will be hard to find clear water

If you want to catch more bass, learn to hunt for them in areas of the lake where trees have fallen into the water.

Trees that are visible above the water can offer big clues to whether the structure will hold fish or not. If the tree has lots of limbs showing, it means that there is likely to be plenty of cover and forage below the surface.