| BassMaster Classic Notebook | ||||
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LEADERS Weighed In
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 Art Ferguson III Classic # 4 Art Ferguson fished the BASS Federation Circuits from 1986 until 1990 where he finished 3rd in the Federation Championship (1st in the Northern Division) Like 2003 Classic Champion, Mike Iaconelli, Ferguson has his roots in the BASS Federation. Ferguson is no tour rookie, he has been at this game since 1990 and has two wins, a BASS TOP 150 (Tour Level) win at Lake Wheeler in Alabama, during the 2000 tour season and a Northern Open win at Lake Oneida in 2003. His Classic experience includes a 9th place finish at Lake Michigan in 2000, an 18th at the New Orleans Delta in 1999 and a 40th place on the James River in 1990. June 27th (Sunday) After finishing 35th at the BASS Northern Open at Lake Erie, Art Ferguson is driving non-stop to Lake Wylie North Carolina to participate in the BassMaster Classic pre-practice period. The Lake will go off limits for a month starting on July 1st and Classic qualifiers will be on Lake Wylie this week learning all they can before the off limits period. "I'm driving on a bridge crossing the river right now and it looks terrible. Its red and muddy from torrential rains they have been having. I don't know if I will be able to fish tomorrow because they are predicting heavy thunderstorms. The river is up six feet |
something I am told is rare for this lake, during this time of the year. The Summer months usually are plagued by draw downs, so high water is not something that this lake is used to seeing this time of year. The problem with the long off limits period is that it is likely that a month from now, the water may clear a bit and the lake level could fall so all of this work could be for nothing. The important thing during this week will be to get acquainted with the lake. We only have one day of practice for the actual Classic during the Classic week. I believe it will be important to locate off shore structure/cover incase the lake level falls. This should be an interesting week." | ||