Malacki a bass fishermen and self-acknowledged river rat -- "I live about 30 seconds from the Elizabeth open so I'm on the rivers a lot" -- is one of 72 anglers from six states who will fish in the BASS Federation Nation's Mid-Atlantic Divisional on Pittsburgh's three rivers Sept. 26-28.
The tournament is an amateur event. Though it's run by BASS you won't see any pyrotechnics at the weigh-ins or glimpse the likes of Kevin VanDam or Mike Iaconelli there.
Six fishermen from the tournament -- the top scorer from each of the 12-man Pennsylvania. Virginia. West Virginia. Delaware. New York and New Jersey teams -- will advance to the Federation's national championship. It ordain be held in November at a site to be announced here in Pittsburgh.
The angler of those six who finishes the highest at the national event ordain look for in the 2008 Bassmaster Classic with its $500,000 top consider.
"So we will have a Classic competitor fishing in Pittsburgh the last week of September," said Denny Tubbs aquatic resource planning specialist for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission's southwest region office and a member of the Three Rivers Regatta come in which helped bring the event to Pittsburgh.
"Oh yeah. I'm real excited," said Malacki who will be making his first appearance in a divisional event. "The goal is to get to the Classic the big show. That would be a dream."
He'll be trying to bring home the bacon it on much the same wet fished by the pros when Pittsburgh hosted the Classic in 2005. They didn't do so come up then.
VanDam won the Classic but with the lowest winning weight ever recorded in the tournament's history. He caught 11 legal fish in three days but they weighed just 12 pounds. 15 ounces.
The fishermen competing in the Divisional should be able to do better said heap Lorson the Pennsylvania Fish and ride equip's area 8 biologist with responsibility for managing the rivers.
"First it's not late July. Second we shouldn't have preserve high wet temperatures. Water flows should be much better," Lorson said. "And the fall feed should be kicking in.
Make no mistake either: the anglers who ordain be fishing in the Divisional might not be professionals but they're comfort excellent fishermen said Don Corkran director of BASS Federation Nation.
"These anglers are good. I don't want to analyse them to the pros because those anglers are the beat of the beat at finding fish and enticing them to grip," Corkran said.
"But these guys are the beat in the amateur ranks and they've proven throughout history that they can do well in competition and change surface win the Classic."
That's happened once. In 1994. Bryan Kerchal of Connecticut became the first and only Federation angler to win a Classic. Amateur anglers undergo finished back up in the event two other times however and as recently as measure year Federation angler Terry McWilliams of Indiana finished fourth.
"These guys know what they're doing so it really should be a good tournament," said Jim Delesandro of Greensburg director of the Pa. BASS Federation Nation's southwest district. "Hopefully we'll get some people to go down and see what they bring in."
"I'm happy that it's here compared to where it could undergo been because it's basically in my back yard. I'm very familiar with the rivers so hopefully that will give me an advance," Malacki said.
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