The 2014 GEICO Bassmaster Classic is in Alabama this year! Fishing will take place on Lake Guntersville and the weigh-ins will take place at the BJCC in Birmingham. 55 participating qualifiers are already at Lake Guntersville getting a layout of the huge lake before the competition begins on Friday. Geek Alabama is putting out a quick guide so everyone can enjoy a great fishing tournament!
First off, the lake. On Friday-Sunday mornings, anglers will take off from the Guntersville City Harbor bright and early at 7:15 am. The harbor is located at 201 Blount Ave. on the northbound US 431 side. In downtown Guntersville, Blount and Gunter avenues are one way streets. Gunter Ave. is for southbound traffic while Blount Ave. is for northbound traffic. And as you can already believe, traffic is going to be heavy with limited parking. Luckily, there are ways you can enjoy the Classic without dealing with the traffic.
If you are in Guntersville during the morning. There will be several park and ride parking areas and shuttles that will be picking up people to take them to the city harbor. Routes begin at 5 am Friday-Sunday. And buses will continue to run until 11:30 am when the last pickup at the harbor is scheduled. Check out the maps below.
For the weigh-ins in Birmingham. Doors for the weigh-ins will open at the BJCC at 3 pm. But the weigh-ins are not the only thing going on at the BJCC. The Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods will take place next door to the weigh-ins. The expo will have plenty of things that anyone will enjoy, and it’s free! Learn more about the expo at: http://www.bassmaster.com/expo
In addition to the classic, college anglers representing many colleges in Alabama will fish on Lay Lake on Sunday, and weigh-in at the BJCC on Sunday. The winner of this year’s challenge advances to the seventh annual College Classic in February 2015 in Greenville, S.C. To learn more about the college competition, go to: http://www.bassmaster.com/news/college-classic-set-lay-lake-feb-23
If you are at Lake Guntersville at the launch point, you can enjoy on-the-water boat demo rides courtesy of Mercury, Nitro, Skeeter, Triton, and Yamaha on Friday-Sunday. If you are at the weigh-in at the BJCC, you get to enjoy free pre-weigh-in entertainment including The Evan Williams Bourbon Classic Warm Up featuring the Super Retriever Dock Dogs on Friday-Sunday. Also, there will be a high school exhibition weigh-in featuring 10 high schools from across the country, including 6 from the state of Alabama on February 22nd at the BJCC.
One concern from people, will the fish survive the 80 mile trip from Lake Guntersville to the BJCC and back? Do not worry, officials will make sure the anglers have the equipment necessary so the fish can survive while traveling to Birmingham. After the weigh-in, the fish go down through a trapdoor into the large holding tank maintained by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which is basically a 500-gallon aquarium, and at the end of each day that will be trucked back to the lake. Learn more about the process at: http://www.bassmaster.com/news/classic-survivalists
If you can not attend the Bassmaster Classic in person. The website will have plenty of ways you can keep up with the Classic. You can watch the weigh-ins live from your computer. You can keep track with the live leaderboard and blog. You can keep up to date with their social media channels, and you watch live video from the lake. Learn more about how you can keep up at: http://www.bassmaster.com/news/10-ways-follow-2014-classic
Welcome Bassmaster Classic anglers to Alabama, hope you enjoy your tournament! Learn more about the Bassmaster Classic at: http://www.bassmaster.com/tournaments/2014-bassmaster-classic
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