On June 10th and 11th, 2011 under extreme heat 21 USA Bassin’ Next Generation teams faced off. Douglas Lake was the waters that adult/youth teams would compete for scholarship prize money in excess of $29,000. Directed by Joe *****mings and assisted by many volunteers  the 2011 Next Generation Classic was the first National Tournament for youth in USA Bassin’ history. 

Using electronics, Steve and Lance Freeman spent hours in practice locating fish. Lance Freeman is a   junior in high school and wants to seek a career in professional bass fishing when he completes college. The young Freeman had never fished as deep as the fish were located on Douglas. While in practice his dad Steve reminded him that in order to fish professionally he must be able to fish all types of conditions that a given lake might present him. Lance took the advice and managed to catch a couple keepers from a school located in practice sitting in 28-25 feet of water. On the first day the team managed to catch five keepers with a jig-in-spoon weighting in at 20.41 lbs. Two of the fish would be over five pounds. 

Day two of the Douglas deep water venture would bring about a turn of luck for the Freeman team. When they returned to the spot they had success on the first day they found the fish to be not as aggressive. Still the team managed to catch their limit early and it was crucial that they keep the fish alive. Livewells have to run continuously. Within a few hours the battery on the boat started to fail.  The team made a big decision to stop fishing and called tournament director *****mings asking to weigh-in early. The two brought a limit of bass in that weighted 13.50 lbs not enough for the winning sack of day two but enough to win the two day event by over 8 ½ lbs.

Winning the Classic scholarship will also land Lance a spot on the Bethel College bass fishing team. Lance plans to attend Bethel starting fall semester following his senior year of 2013. Lance is undecided on a major at this time. Freeman excels in math and makes great grades in school. He enjoys bass fishing and the outdoors. Congratulations to all the teams that participated in this year’s classic and thank you to all the sponsors that helped make it possible. It not too late for you to put together a Next Generation Team and  get qualified for next year's Next Generation Classic held June 16th and 17th on Kentucky Lake out of Paris TN.