Classic a GREAT Family Event!

Dear NBAA Anglers,

I accepted an invitation to attend this year’s Classic events in Pittsburgh at the last minute, so I loaded up my two boys in the van and headed east on Saturday. I didn’t think that my schedule would allow me to get away, but I’m certainly glad I made the time. I won’t bore you with the details of the weigh ins, as I’m sure most of you followed it closely. Congratulations to Kevin and the entire VanDam family. I do want to let everyone know what a great time can be had at this world class event.

As most of you know, I’ve been very involved in the fishing industry most of my life and have been to numerous industry and consumer shows. I wasn’t expecting to be overly impressed at this event. I was hoping that my boys – Danny, 9 and Will, 12, would get a kick out of it and have a chance to meet a couple of pros. I also figured (correctly) that my wife Jenny and daughter Emily could use a break from the guys. The entire Classic event was way beyond my expectations. I had an absolute blast myself and my boys were on cloud nine the entire event.

The weigh in was spectacular, in a class with any national event that you can imagine. We were fortunate enough to get great seats, but there really wasn’t a bad seat in the arena. The excitement that you saw on the television was real, with every major name in the game on hand. We were completely entertained for the entire four hours of the event. And it’s not easy to keep me focused for that long, not to mention the attention span of the boys!

As great as the weigh in was, I felt the best part of the entire weekend was definitely the Outdoor Expo. This free show appeared to be like any other outdoor show, except it was geared exclusively to bass fishing. Pros were everywhere and very approachable – my boys have a hatful of signatures to prove it. We walked the show for several hours and something was always going on – raffles, contests, demos, and tons of free handouts. It was great to see all of the NBAA members that I ran into as well as the sponsors that we work with through NBAA. I’ve put together a few shots of our trip to share with the members.

My hat is off to BASS and to ESPN. They’ve put a spot light on our sport and elevated all of us in the process. I strongly urge anyone who has the chance to attend a classic event to do so. Take your kids and make some great memories together.

Good Fishing,

Jim, Will and Danny