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You've read the Brushpile for some time now, and look at you...you're ok. Outside of that nervous tick, some abdominal spasms and a bit of nausea, you're just fine. This week Keith Nighswonger descends on the unsuspecting people of Florida, to give us his first hand account of the 2006 Bassmaster Classic. This week's Brushpiles will have a definite Classic tilt to them and we bet you will find them interesting. By his own admission, Nighswonger is off to find the stories that you won't read about anywhere else. If you go to the Classic, you may not see him, but rest assured he will be watching you. There is no telling where he will show up, so be on your best behavior...... You've been warned!

2/24/06 Classic Notes-So many things happened today that it will probably take me several weeks to cover everything. Here are the pressing stories that you simply must have!

Ish Monroe-(19-02 in 9th place) "I thought I would catch 25 pounds today, my water holds those kinds of fish. Yes, I am disappointed with 19 pounds."
Watch Out For Kevin VanDam! What is that you say? He is way back in 25th place, not a threat! In listening to Kevin speak, it occurred to me that Kevin has come across something that may give him a chance in the next two days. VanDam struggled early today, but then made an adjustment by changing to a new area and switching techniques. "I couldn't catch a single fish on a spinner bait today. The area that I moved to later in the day has a population of fish that I think are just starting to move in. I didn't have anything going this morning, but I made the move, actually I probably made the mistake of staying in my original water to long. This new water has something special about it, and I believe that I will be able to catch them tomorrow."
VanDam spoke with that quiet confidence of a gun slinger, who knows he has an edge on the competition. "I caught my fish late in the day, if I had been there earlier, I am sure I would have weighed in a bigger limit." You heard it here first: Watch out for VanDam.
Zell Rowland (8-10 46th place,) "I caught 13 keepers today on spinner baits, I'm going to go get all over VanDam, because I'm a better spinner bait fisherman, (said with a smile.)
Chad Morganthaler (14-08 23rd place,) "I'd like to have done better, but you know if my worst day in 14-08, I think I will be OK."
Edwin Evers ( 23-10 3rd place) "I really didn't have any idea how good my areas were. I didn't stick a lot of fish during practice and I felt that I probably was around a lot of 2 and 3 pounders. I was pleasantly surprised by the big fish that were in there.
Luke Clausen (29-06 1st place) is in the same boat as Evers, "I didn't expect to catch as many big fish as I caught. I was thinking 15 maybe 17, but every where I went today, I caught a big fish, they were just there." Clausen is not sight fishing. "I do have quite a bit more water that I never touched today."
Greg Guitierrez, (11-13 34th plcae) "I only pre fished on Wednesday, I had to renew my certification to be a fire fighter last week, so I had to miss the whole practice time. I still have some water that has good fish in it."