Jeff Gustafson of Kenora, Ont., competes Friday in 'Superbowl of bass fishing' - Action News
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Jeff Gustafson of Kenora, Ont., competes Friday in 'Superbowl of bass fishing'

Friday morning, on Lake Guntersville, Ala., 53 professional bass anglers from across North America will be taking part in the Bassmaster Classic, what many call the "Superbowl of fishing." Jeff Gustafson of Kenora, Ont., will be among them.

Bassmaster Classic first prize is worth $300,000 US

In only his second year as part of the Bassmaster Elite, Jeff Gustfason, of Kenora, Ont., will be fishing the Bassmaster Classic, on Lake Guntersille, Alabama. (photo: bassmaster.com)

Friday morning, on Lake Guntersville, Ala.,53 professional bass anglers from across North America will take part in the 2020 Bassmaster Classic, what many call the "Superbowl of fishing." Jeff Gustafson, of Kenora, Ont., or"Gussy" as he's known in the fishing world, will be one of the competitors.

This will be Gustafson's first time fishing the event, an experience he calls "surreal".

"It's the equivalent of getting to play on Hockey Night in Canada, or playing in the NHL or playing in the Olympics," he said. "You know it's sort of the Superbowl event in bass fishing. It's been a dream of mine literally since I was like 10 or 11 years old. So I am pretty pumped to be taking part."

Gustafson said he started fishing the Bassmaster Elite Series after taking part in the Fishing League Worldwide tournament series forseveral years.

He said the Bassmaster Elite is considered oneof the top fishing tournament circuits in the United States.

After making the jump to the Bassmaster Elite, Gustafson took part in 10tournaments all over the U.S.A. in 2019, competing against 75 anglers in the field.

Jeff Gustafson said winning the 2020 Bassmaster Classic would be a "life-changing event." The first prize purse is $300,000 US. (photo: bassmaster.com)

The anglers were awarded points based on where they finished in each event. The top point winners booked aticket tothe classic.

Gustafson made the cut.

"You know, there was a lot of fishing to get here," he said. "I had some bad days last year in a couple tournaments, but fortunately the good outnumbered the bad days and I made it."

The Classic is being held on Lake Guntersville in northern Alabama, one of the most historic bass fishing lakes in the southern U.S.A., said Gustafson.

Anglers competing in the Bassmaster classic will do the live weigh-in of their fish in downtown Birmingham,in an arena full of spectators.

The Classic also has a large Expo and features the largest consumer fishing show in the US.

"I mean the whole fishing industry will be here and there's a lot of coverage of the event," he said. "You know a lot of my idols and anglers that I've sort of looked up to became superstars from from winning this tournament."

Gustafson said his practice fishing has been difficult, describingGuntersvilleas a lake that sees plentyof pressure from bass anglers. But he said the lake is known for large bass and his two fellow Canadian's in the Classic, Chris and Cory Johnston, were having pretty good fishing during the lead up to the event.

"It's a super busy, popular lake and I think there was like seven different tournaments going on out there over the past weekend," Gustafson said. "So you can imagine there's just like boats everywhere. And you know it makes the fishing kind of tough because they're educated, they see a lot of lures."

Gustafson, who is 37, said he has dreamed of fishing the Bassmaster Classic since he was 10 year old. (photo: bassmaster.com)

Gustafson noted that his family has been supportive of his fishing passion since he was a kid and that has continued as he has climbed the ranks as aprofessional .

His parents, brother, sister and wife were all able to come to Birmingham to cheer him on.

Gustafson also said he has had "a ton" of support from friends, fans and fishing industry colleagues in Canada and northwestern Ontario.

"Someone's life's going to change on Sunday," he said. "Whomever wins gets $300,000as the first place prize and I mean that's significant. But just having the title of Classic Champ is a big deal. If you win this tournament you buy yourself several years of good sponsor support and promotional opportunities."

The Bassmaster Classic runs from March 6-8.