My trip to the Classic - Day 4

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Day 4 - Saturday 2/25


Today started with the familiar 3:00am wake-up call, waking me from a deep four hour nap.? Once again it was off to the boat yard to press our luck and try to get connected with a pro as an observer for the second day in a row.? We arrived a bit earlier this time but during the repetitive observer meeting, they announced that even if you had claimed a truck, you might not get it because they wanted to let the observers who missed out on day one have a turn.? Immediately the truck I had loaded my stuff into was given to somebody else as was Ken?s.

After all of those people were placed in trucks, once again they said find a truck without lights on and claim it, I took off bobbing and weaving through boats and people, until I spotted a truck at the other end of the parking lot, I rushed over to it and sitting in boat #6, eating a breakfast sandwich was Jay Yelas.? I quickly put my gear in the truck and went back to introduce myself, we made our acquaintances and like that, I was observing again.? Ken, who had went back and was talking to Stacy King for a while missed out on a chance for day 2, but I think he has Stacy interested in some soft plastics that one of Ken?s sponsors produces.? Jay and I talked from that point until we made it to the ramp, what a personable guy, very interested in who I was and what I was about.?

We launched and made our way over to the dock store where blast off started.? This is also when we went over and talked to Jay?s sponsors in the big Yamaha saltwater boat and where the picture was taken of us that made it on www.Bassfan.com .? Prior to the blast-off I took my Fish Hedz out of my bag and prepared to strap it on, Jay was interested in the mask but wouldn?t try my second mask on, besides we were only running about a mile away.?

Jay fished the northern half of Lake Toho throughout the whole tournament, sight fishing shallow beds.? Being with Jay was like being involved in my own private bass fishing training seminar.? He made a point of talking about every move, every cast, and every situation he encountered.? At one point he was fishing a bed but lost sight of it, I told him I could still see it well, so he moved to the back of the boat and I got down on the passenger seat, he set the hook on the what turned out to be small bass and launched it out of the water, it hit me in the chest, and in my best Detroit Lion like performance, tried to harness the bass, but it hit my hands and went on through my arms back to its watery home.? Jay looked at me and said, it was a perfect pass?it hit you in the hands!? We both got a good laugh out of it and continued to bring it up throughout the day.? Jay fished all new water on this day just sighting spots and adding to his weight when he could.? He fished right up until the deadline and we checked in with 2 minutes left, a full efficient day of fishing.? According to our BassTrak he would be weighing in about 16lbs, which would most likely get him through to Day 3.?

Once we arrived at the Orange County Event Center and lined up in anticipation for the weigh-in many of the other anglers huddled around talking with Jay.? He seems to be one if the more respected anglers on tour and its easy to see why, what a great guy.? At one point I was leaning against the Toyota, next to me was Jay and Dean Rojas to the right, and on the left was Kevin VanDam and George Cochran.? That is some impressive company for a guy like me; we all talked like it was just another day at a club tournament.? Amazing! I managed to single out Dean Rojas for a moment and asked him some tuning tips for his new frog bait; he gave me some specific Michigan pointers.? We took Jay through to the weigh-in stage and I continued on to the boat yard for the last time.? I had determined earlier that I wouldn?t observe on the final day because we were heading back to Michigan immediately after the final day weigh-in.?

Once I parked the boat I again found Rocky to get the gift that was promised to us for helping as volunteers, we were presented with a new Mustang automatic inflating life vest retail value of $199.99.? I met up with Ken here and we headed back to the Classic Expo to have another look around.? I saw Jay here and he came over to me to talk, turns out he only had 15lb 2oz for weight that day but still made the cut.? We walked from one side of the show to another talking about the day and what he would do on day 3.? Hank Parker stopped us, he wanted to say hi to Jay, before he could Jay introduced me to Hank, what a selfless guy, I wished Jay luck and continued on to wander the show.? We spent the next couple hours talking to vendors and scattered pros, another day in the books, but what a great day it was!