What do you get when you combine great fishing, helpful tips, and some of the country’s hottest Bass Pros’? The answer is a fishing show with a lot of rod bending, heart pounding, line stretching action mixed in with a college level course in bass angling.

December 30th, 2002 marked the beginning of a new era in bass fishing television. An all new program called “Classic Patterns” hit the Outdoor Channel airways. The show is a joint collaboration between Pro Bass angler Mike Auten, Becky Auten owner of Auten Interactive, Scot Rob, Pro Bass angler Joe Thomas and Minoru Segawa from Lucky Craft Lures.

This is definitely not the fishing show of years past. The program is designed to be both informative and enjoyable. “What we are trying to do is show anglers many similarities between each type of waterway”, explains BassMaster Touring Pro Mike Auten. “All of the waters that we fished were public. We fished a wide array of water, from natural lakes to reservoirs”.

In many of the episodes, you will see two top Professional Bass Anglers attacking the same water using very different patterns. For example during the first show, you will see Pro Angler Joe Thomas catching nice smallmouth bass on jerk baits. Then you will witness Mike Auten hooking more nice smallies on tube jigs. Although these are two very different patterns, they both proved to be successful during the show.

Over the course of the season, viewers will be treated to 13 new episodes. Each show will highlight a different aspect of bass fishing. “We will have shows on Top water fishing, structure fishing, fall Midwestern lakes, grass lakes in Florida, fishing the great lakes and even fishing for spotted bass” Auten explained. Not to mention all of the hot Touring Pro’s that will host each episode.

Although the program is sponsored by Lucky Craft lures, the show is far from being product driven. “If you noticed in the first episode I wasn’t even using a Lucky Craft bait”, stated Auten. “The shows are about techniques and patterns that can be adapted to a variety of lures”.

One very noticeable aspect of the show is the visual effects. The graphic design team at Auten Interactive does a superb job of mixing style and technology in every episode. The high tech graphics are complimented by modern music tracks not commonly used for fishing shows in the past.

If by some misfortune you missed the first episode of “Classic Patterns” don’t panic, you can still catch the rest of the season. The program airs Monday nights at 8:30pm (central time) on the Outdoor Channel. The show will be rebroadcast Wednesday evenings and also Friday mornings. Check your local listings for correct times.

Don’t miss a show or you might just miss out on the valuable information you need to become a better angler.