Green Pond Public Landing to be site of daily launch
The Bassmaster Classic will return to Lake Hartwell and South Carolina’s Upstate in 2015, bringing with it an approximate $30 million impact on the local economy.
“We are excited about it,” Tommy Dunn, chairman of the Anderson County Council told the Anderson Independent Mail. “It is the Super Bowl of fishing tournaments.”
The 2015 Classic will launch from the new Green Pond Public Landing and Tournament Facility, which features a 6-lane boat ramp, 180 parking spaces and additional park-user amenities.
Daily weigh-ins as well as a large outdoors expo that accompanies the event will be held in Greenville. Further details about sites and dates will be released in a press conference on Thursday at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, formerly known as the Bi-Lo Center, where weigh-ins were held when the tournament previously visited the area in 2008. It is expected the same facility will be used for the 2015 Classic.
After the 2008 Classic, which broke a record for the highest attendance at a Classic sources connected to the event alluded to a likely return to the Upstate in a 5- to 7-year window.
Local reaction to the news was overwhelmingly positive.
“It was a great event back in 2008; it really showed the world what kind of fishery we have at Lake Hartwell,” said Justin Holder, the manager of Greenville’s Port-Tronics Fishing World. “If anything, our bass fishery has gotten even better in the six years since they were here. I expect to see a lot of local records fall.”
The 2008 event was won by Alton Jones of Waco, Texas.