Grand Lake O’ the Cherokee narrows the Field & a new Classic Champion is crowned
Behind the Scenes of the 2016 Geico Bassmaster Classic
presented by GoPro
By Ben Martin
(Title photo caption – Aaron Martens fishing the same bluff wall he helped rescue a stranded cat from, a story he later recounted at the Day 2 weigh-in at the BOK Centre in Tulsa.)
Ben Martin closes out his official follow-up coverage of the 2016 Geico Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro, with all the highlights from the tournament highlights on Grand Lake to the Weigh-in at BOK Centre in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The alarm went off at 3:45 a.m. but I was already awake and visualizing the day before me in my head.
Grand Lake, the site of the 2016 Bassmaster Classic, is an hour and a half drive from Tulsa, and to make matters worse, my hotel is on the far end of the City. Gearing up is the easy part; I am packed and loaded for official excursions such as this the night before. No, the hardest part this morning was that I didn’t have access to my usual Tim Horton’s coffee, despite my unusually early waking-time.
My first stop was to pick up esteemed outdoors journalist Lydia Lohrer at the hotel downtown where a lot of other media and Elite anglers were staying. From there I knew it would be a fairly straight-forward drive and I had my toll money ready to go – something that Canadians take for granted when we drive on our own highways.
McDonald’s provided the coffee, and we were on our way. It was day 2 of the Bassmaster Classic, launch was at 7 a.m., and Outdoor Action Ontario had just enough time to get there and cover the full launch and Day 2, live from beginning to end.
The launch crowd at 6 a.m. on Day 2 of the 2016 Bassmaster Classic
To say that the thrill of the crowd upon arrival was “electric” almost doesn’t do the situation justice. Fans running up to line the shore, Elite Anglers with their huge Trucks and trailers with boats being unloaded, and awaiting me behind the scenes, the Docks where the Elite Anglers were mooring prior to launch – brimming with at least 100 cameramen and interviewers, as well as anglers, their crews and everyone else.
Helicopters buzzed the air, at least a hundred boats were out in the water (public waiting to be marine spectators) and bullhorns and microphones created a cacophony of beautiful chaos at 6:30 a.m. and the sun beginning to peek over the horizon.
After a quick look around I was pleasantly surprised to run into a friend from the Ottawa Valley, Rob Jackson, known as RJ in fishing circles. Rob was constantly providing excellent play by play through his outlet, Fish-Hawk.net (www.fish-hawk.net) , inside Professional boats himself, and it was incredible to see two Ottawa guys playing media moguls down at the Bassmaster all in support of our mutual friend, Charles Sim who was himself competing.
Right before launch, with RJ riding with Brandon Palaniuk for the duration of the day, myself following numerous Elite anglers on the “Media boat” and Charles Sim moored beside RJ in Brandon’s boat, Ottawa Ontario was fully represented, and I was lucky enough to capture it on film. Each passing moment seemed to further solidify the role I was playing as outdoor media covering the Classic – and the euphoric feeling from being there first-hand was just a natural rush that I realize now is a part of covering such exciting events.
Rob “RJ” Jackson with Charles Sim, immediately prior to Day 2 launch at the Bassmaster Classic – for more inside action with RJ check him out here: http://www.rjnbirdeesoutdooradventures.ca/
As Charles and the other Elite anglers idled out at the 7 a.m. launch, I realized the fun was just getting started. I hopped into my media boat, driven by Pro Dale Johnston of Wichita, Kansas. It was only after a few minutes that he began to open up about his own tournament success on Grand Lake. Turns out my wheel man for the day was going to be able to take me to all the hot spots across the entire Lake where we could pinpoint numerous Pro’s in action.
How good was my Driver? Good enough to get us yelled at by a certain pro – but looks are deceiving, we are easily 100 yards back in this photo.
Mike Iaconelli worked the shoreline hard with a crank but couldn’t find the right pattern on Day 2.
After several hours of driving around Grand Lake and taking over 500 photos of various professional Anglers as well as some fairly interesting scenery, it was back to the docks for me. This would provide me a few interesting opportunities. First, I was going to be able to sample some local food – smoked chicken, smoked Burgers as well as smoked brisket. It also provided me with a chance to speak with some of the locals from around Grand Lake. (Media tip 101 – it also gave me a chance to plug different batteries for cameras and phones into chargers to get some juice back in my devices after an intensive Film/Video session running from 6 a.m. to 12 noon.)
I appreciated that some of the local Fans took the time to chat with me about their Bassmaster Classic experience. Lisa Ramsey, of Chouteau, Oklahoma, said it was her 2nd Classic and she was cheering for local boy Jason Christie, who at that point was actually #1 on the leader board. Her favourite thing about being a spectator at the Classic was seeing the Pro’s first hand.
Locals were excited to take part in all the Bassmaster festivities, which for food meant everything smoked – Everything.
The Roberts family was excited to be cheering on Mike Iaconelli in person – a man who certainly has a lot of fans not just in the US but also up in Canada and Ontario specifically. Their little town of Miama, Oklahoma is just a few miles down the road from Grand Lake, and they were grateful for the business the event provides to the local economy. Certainly this was a theme I heard throughout the week, such as when I heard the Mayor of Tulsa speak, when I was named an “honorary Okie” by him just a couple of days prior.
Good family fun, stimulating the local economy, people coming in from all over the world – this is what it’s all about. BASS and the Bassmaster Classic had simple beginnings, but had grown to so much more. I was about to find out just how big it has truly gotten.
The Race to the Weigh-In and wrapping it all up…
Charles Sim fished hard on Day 2 of the Classic to pull himself up to within range of going on to fish the final day and have a shot at the Championship. Reports from the water put him in the top 25, hovering near the cut-off. As I gathered my gear and packed my car, I saw Charles in his truck and trailer leaving the Launch area back to Tulsa. Problem was that I had to cover the incoming wave of Anglers.
It was going to be a fast trip to Tulsa, and my fingers were going to be crossed I didn’t see any State Troopers along the way.
After testing the limitations of my 2016 Ford Taurus Limited rental car (thanks Avis) I was able to wheel up to the BOK Center in downtown Tulsa, run in with my media credentials flashing, and run into the Arena just in time to raise my Nikon D750 and take the following Picture:
I had just made it – close doesn’t even describe. I managed to lose contact with the media crew I had entered with – but my only mission at that moment was to cover Charles in this possibly historic moment.
Charles would not end up making the cut. He was the reason I came to cover the Bassmaster Classic, he lost out by a single Pound. In fishing terms, that’s as close as a whisker. Still, I did not feel an ounce of regret for him – all I had was beaming full-on Canadian pride. Proud of him, proud of the people who came to support him, proud of all the people from BASS who worked to make it all happen, proud of all the people I had met down in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as I covered the Classic.
It all came together at this moment – the lights, the packed arena, my friend up on stage, my phone lighting up with friends in the media backstage feeding me information, and myself – up on a platform in the middle of it all, snapping away and trying my best to do whatever I consider is “outdoors media”. As far as I was concerned, I earned my stripes that day…
The author covering the Day 2 weigh-in at the 2016 Bassmaster Classic at BOK Centre in downtown Tulsa, Ok.
As the dust settled on the day, it was bittersweet knowing that Charles was done in the tournament. A quick media meeting and coffee with a friend to go over the day’s events and review some of the footage was good for taking the edge off, but I knew that my coverage of the on-the-water events, where Edwin Evers would go on to win the entire Classic with a historic Day 3 showing on the water, was basically over with Charles being out of the running.
I already had over 1000 photos, 6 hours of video, and countless interviews done. The trip was nothing short of a massive success. As far as I was concerned everything else was now just “gravy”. I ended Day 3 of the tournament by covering the Expo Centre, where numerous vendors were in exhibition. Then I had an early travel schedule to get back to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
As I saw the results of the giant Evers win stream online, I couldn’t help but think about all my experiences at the Classic. By this time, I was already in Denver, looking out towards the Rockies and awaiting a flight to Toronto. It had only been a few hours but I already felt wistful about the entire trip. I found parts of myself I didn’t know about, and covered an official event without fear of being a “rookie” or of making a few mistakes here and there. For the most part, it worked out perfectly. And now, I’m pleased to be able to report it all back to OAO Nation… the first of many reports to be brought to you, no matter where our adventures may take us across Ontario, and even the World!
Stay tuned, in the coming days we will also have some special interviews to share, and I want to thank the lovely people of Tulsa, all the folks at BASS and all the others I met on this eventful journey.
Closing Pics…
Aaron Martens had a strong showing on Day 2.
Dave Mercer interviewing Anglers before Launch
Downtown Tulsa, this monument honours the local Cherokee and early Settlers, taken on Day 3, before my departure.