Martha Rial, Post-Gazette Kevin Van Dam, of Kalamazoo, Mich, celebrates winning the 2005 CITGO Bassmaster Classic last year at Mellon Arena. Click photo for larger image.

The BASS boys, with their fast boats and crank baits, may be coming back to fish Pittsburgh's rivers -- but not until 2008.

Despite the hot weather, small fish and tough conditions that marked the 2005 CITGO Bassmaster Classic on the Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, Pittsburgh is in line to be the host of one of the three Bassmaster Majors tournaments, most likely the American, in July 2008.

No contract has been signed, but the four-day bass fishing tournament, one of the three "crown jewels" on the BASS tournament schedule, is expected to land in Pittsburgh in 2008, according to Ken Komoroski, an attorney and member of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development.

He said BASS officials called him in October with an offer to have the city hold another fishing tournament because they liked the 2005 Classic's attendance, enthusiasm and facilities. (It used the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and the Mellon Arena.)

"It's an opportunity. They came to us and offered it. We didn't go out looking for it," said Mr. Komoroski, who will once again lead the event organizing as he did for the 2005 Classic. "This is another chance to build on our efforts to promote the region's image."

"Pittsburgh's one of the first cities we're looking at for 2008," BASS site-selection director Michael Mulone said. "We don't have a contract yet, but we're still negotiating. We need to have more discussions with the city, but it's going in the right direction."

And another BASS spokesman, Doug Grassian, said, "We had a great experience there and are looking to come back."

BASS officials originally wanted the city to play host to one of the Bassmaster Majors for 2007.

"We could have had it for next year but we couldn't get organized and pull things together in time," Mr. Komoroski said. "But that put us in good position for 2008. If we can put the whole package together like we did in 2005, then we have it. We've been through it before and we can do it again."

Mr. Komoroski said he's already approached the Allegheny Conference and the state economic development office about the tournament, and both have indicated they will support the 2008 tournament.

The Bassmaster Classic in 2005 cost the state and city $1.3 million to stage. An estimated 100,000 people lined rivers and bridges to watch the pros fish, and the tournament generated economic benefits to area restaurants, bars, businesses and hotels of more than $30 million during July, one of the city's slowest tourist times.

Mr. Komoroski said the Majors tournament in 2008 will require state and local funding commitments totaling "somewhere in six figures." ESPN, which owns BASS, requires a $100,000 local sponsorship fee.

If the Bassmaster Classic is the "Super Bowl of bass fishing," the BASS Majors are the equivalent of golf's Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA. BASS also holds an Elite Series of 11 tournaments.

The fishing Majors -- the Memorial in May, American in July and Legends in September -- are four-day tournaments in which the top 50 anglers of the year's Elite Series compete. Each Majors tournament site also holds a women's event. Each Masters event has a prize purse of more than $600,000, with a first prize of $250,000.

Because the Bassmaster Classic was moved from July to February in 2006, Pittsburgh and other northern venues have been excluded. Mr. Komoroski said the Memorial in May won't work for Pittsburgh because it is staged before the state bass season opens, and BASS tournaments always follow state and local fishing rules. The Legends in September could conflict with a Steelers game.

The July tournament could run into the same problems that confronted the Classic in 2005 -- hot weather and low water flow.

"Because the fishing was so tough in 2005," Mr. Komoroski said, "there were those who thought Pittsburgh was a mistake and the Bassmasters would never come back. But it did."

Following the 2005 Classic, BASS expressed a desire to return to Pittsburgh as did many pros, including Kevin Van Dam, the 2005 Classic champ. He said that while fishing the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers was a challenge, local fans were some of the warmest ever.

"Not to put any place down, but we just left an event in upstate New York where we had very little support. Few people came to the weigh-in," he said. "I kept thinking, 'Where is everybody?' In Pittsburgh, even people who don't follow fishing were interested in us being there. They were friendly and enthusiastic, whether you went to a mall, a restaurant or a gas station."

Mr. Van Dam said Pittsburghers should make no apologies about the size of the local bass.

"Every place can't be a Toho where you catch record stringers. That's not what it's about," he said, referring to Lake Tohopekaliga in Florida, site of this year's Bassmaster Classic. "It's about testing the field. Tough conditions make it so the top anglers, the true pros, get a chance to excel."