All My Exes

The Classic is heading to Lake Ray Roberts, near Fort Worth, and all is going to be right with the world again. I know that the economics and logistics don’t necessarily allow it, but I’d like an Alabama Classic one year out of five, a Texas Classic one year out of five, and you can fill in the other three as you see fit (although I’m still desperate for a Lake Mead event, and my feelings wouldn’t be hurt if they pushed it back far enough to put one up north in smallhead country).

Why is this a good choice? Well, first of all, it’s a major city. I know people have criticized the Houston and Pittsburgh and Chicago Classics for varying reasons, but if we want the exposure to be greater we have to crack the code on cities larger than Greenville and Tulsa. There’s nothing wrong with those places, and they’ve been worthy and gracious hosts, but there’s only so far they can take us.

Second, it’s Texas in March. Duh. Someone’s going to weigh in a 10-pounder. Or several. 

Also, in a state where every driveway seems to have a bass boat or three parked in it, even in the bone dry areas to the west, we’re going to see record crowds. Assuming the economy is back after this COVID-19 mess, or perhaps even if it’s not, Texans like to throw dollars around and that inspires copycat behavior from visitors. Expect to see expo-attendees leaving with full Academy buckets of all sorts of shimmy grubs and space age polymers.

Perhaps most importantly, there haven’t been a whole lot of top tier events on Ray Bob. Matt Herren won the TTBC there in 2016. Keith Combs fished that one, and will no doubt be an early favorite among the pundits and fans, but it’s not a lake like Guntersville or Hartwell or Grand (all otherwise great choices) where everyone has been repeatedly. Is it Falcon? No, but Falcon couldn’t offer up the same facilities? It’s not Rayburn, either, but the same deal applies. The stockyards of Ft. Worth are where the most rabid and numerous fans will collide with some of the nation’s biggest tournament bass catches, and absent another pandemic, it should be more than memorable.