12/26/07 Woodstock-Like Event, Biggest Story For 2007-The 2007 Story Of the Year is the PAA's inaugural event at Lake fork, Texas.  Billed as The Toyota Bass Classic the event proved without a doubt that the Professional Anglers Association had arrived and would be a force in the bass fishing world.

Officially started in March of 2005, when anglers voted for the original slate of officers, the PAA was a fledgling group, struggling for an identity in it's early months.  PAA Executive Director, Gene Ellison spent countless hours on the road, in conference calls and in board rooms, as did PAA Board Of Directors, as the organization gained its roots, slowly but surely.

Capped off by the announcement in 2006 that the organization would attempt to hold it' first stand alone event in April of 2007, the inclusion of the Toyota raised a lot of eyebrows however bass fishing has always been a "show me first" proposition, and the world would have to wait until the event to understand it's magnitude.

One knew that something special was about to happen.  Arriving at Lake Fork on Tuesday, April 9th and driving out to the festival grounds, "the first thing I noticed was the massive area that lay before my eyes.  This wasn't going to be a bass tournament, it was going to be a rock concert, as some 37 acres were laid out with a massive stage, massive sports show area, massive parking lot, the whole thing was very Woodstock like," noted ProBassAnglers.com's Keith Nighswonger who covered the event in person.

The angler Barbeque on Tuesday night was like a high school reunion as professional anglers that hadn't fished together for several years due to the politics of bass fishing were catching up on lost time.  The tournament format put four anglers together per team which forced further discussion and strategy planning.

Add to all of that a very unique on the water weigh in, a giant jumbotron, top name country entertainment, and of course Fish Fishburne, and the event took on a historic feel to it.

Of course, to continue it's legacy, the PAA will need to pull of future events, (the Texas event is a go for 2008,) however for a week in April of 2007, professional bass anglers re-took their sport, and showed other fishing organizations how it should be done.