City Of Fort Worth: Mystery Surrounds Weekend's Bassmaster Classic On Lake Ray Roberts

Press release from City of Fort Worth:

June 11, 2021

The 54-angler field for the Bassmaster Classic will arrive at Lake Ray Roberts with far more questions than answers. Such is the case when a tournament is held three months later than expected.

The Fort Worth Sports Commission and Visit Fort Worth are hosting the event at Lake Ray Roberts this weekend.

The annual Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo at Will Rogers Memorial Center, 3401 W. Lancaster Ave., will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 12 and from 19 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 13. Exhibitors will be selling a variety of merchandise for fishing, hunting, camping and more. As part of the expo, the Go Out{side} Experience will offer fun options for families, including inflatable archery, cornhole, jumping dogs and knot tying. Kids can catch their first fish at an onsite catfish pond.

Originally scheduled for March 19-21, the annual Super Bowl of Professional Bass Fishing was postponed due to pandemic-related restrictions on large gatherings until June 11-13. Takeoffs will be held each day at 6:15 a.m. from Ray Roberts State Park Isle du Bois Unit, and weigh-ins will be held each day at Dickies Arena.

Fisherman Brandon Palaniuk said the event, which features a total purse of $1 million and pays $300,000 to the winner, will feature as much intrigue as any Classic in recent memory.

“I went and I pre-practiced, mostly for navigational reasons,” said Palaniuk, a veteran Elite Series pro from Rathdrum, Idaho. “I was expecting to have to go to the backs of certain coves and sloughs, and that’s not always easy on Ray Roberts because it’s a tough lake to run. I don’t know if that’s where the fish will be now — I don’t think anyone does. It looks like nobody’s going to have a clue what’s going on.”

Mystery will indeed be the chief theme as the anglers descend on the 29,350-acre North Texas fishery.

For one, since B.A.S.S. has never held a major event on Ray Roberts, many of the competitors have either never fished the lake or only spent minimal time there during pre-practice or events held by other organizations. Plus, the water level is more than 3 feet above normal pool at the moment and not likely to stay there.

Conventional wisdom could also be out the window in terms of early-summer timing since Texas, like many states around the country, has had a mild spring after a particularly harsh winter.

Ray Roberts is loaded with standing timber that will add another air of mystery to the event. Sometimes simply getting from Point A to Point B without wrecking your equipment can be a challenge.

The full field will fish the first two days, and then the top 25 will advance to Championship Sunday for a chance at the $300,000 first-place prize and the trophy that represents one of the biggest accomplishments in pro sports.

View four hours of Championship Sunday coverage on FS1 beginning at 7 a.m. June 13.

Photo: Lake Ray Roberts is hosting the Bassmaster Classic this weekend.

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This press release was produced by City of Fort Worth. The views expressed here are the author’s own.