"Smith Mountain Lake in October is pretty tough," said Salem, Va., pro John Crews. "In the Tour event, it's going to be tough overall."

CELEBRATION, Fla. — Three berths into the coveted 2007 CITGO Bassmaster Classic and big money are at stake during next week's CITGO Bassmaster Northern Tour finale, Oct. 26-28, on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia.

BASS first visited Smith Mountain in October 2004 for a CITGO Bassmaster Open. It was won by local favorite David Dudley with 33 pounds, 14 ounces.

This time around the pros will compete for a $75,000 top prize and the season's most consistent performers will battle for three invitations to the 2007 Classic, set for Alabama's Lay Lake on Feb. 23-25. The top five points finishers receive invitations to the 2007 Elite Series season.

At 40 miles long and 20,000 acres, Smith Mountain Lake is Virginia's second largest freshwater lake. It features more than 500 miles of shoreline nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of rural southwestern Virginia. The 39-year-old impoundment was created for power generation with the damming of the Blackwater and Roanoke rivers.

CITGO Bassmaster Elite Series angler John Crews, who is up against reigning CITGO Bassmaster Angler of the Year Michael Iaconelli and Lucy Mize from the Mercury Marine Women's Bassmaster Tour presented by Triton Boats, among others, expects the lake and fishing conditions to challenge the field and make largemouth bass hard to find.

"Smith Mountain Lake in October is pretty tough," the Salem, Va., pro said. "In the Tour event, it's going to be tough overall.

"I know some of the anglers in the top 10 from two years ago had two or three fish a day. And they finished in the top 10. There won't be a lot of fish weighed in, but the average size fish is going to be pretty good size. I would guess the average size fish is going to be between 2 1/2 and 3 pounds."

Crews predicts anglers will hammer the plentiful boat docks in the deep, relatively clear lake.

"That place used to be a great schooling lake, but once everybody figured that out, it went away pretty quickly," he added. "There's still some schooling action, but a lot of the fish are starting to come back shallow and a lot them will get on the docks. That's probably going to be the predominate pattern."

The numerous creeks will get plenty of attention, as well as the Blackwater and Roanoke arms that feed the lake. The river arms contain good populations of bass, but typically get considerable pressure, according to anglers.

The winner, Crews predicted, will have about 35 pounds.

"Somebody's probably going to have a decent bag or two during the course of the event," Crews said. "But doing that back-to-back, that's tough — especially that time of the year."

Daily launches and weigh-ins will take place at the Bridgewater Plaza, 16410 Booker T. Washington Hwy., Moneta, Va., 24121. Click here for more info: www.bridgewaterplaza.com. Launches will begin at 7:15 a.m. and weigh-ins will begin at 3:15 p.m. Both are free to the public.

Anglers

Alabama
Boyd Duckett - Demopolis
Kotaro Kiriyama - Moody
Travis Rulle - Huntsville

Arkansas
Rocky Cummings - Emmet
Lucy Mize - Ben Lomond

Canada
Greg Roth - Cambridge, Ontario
Lawren Wetzel - Sharon, Ontario

Colorado
Joe Conway - Colorado Springs
Jeremy Montoya - Fort Collins

Connecticut
Terry Baksay - Monroe
Daryl Biron - South Windsor
Paul Kimball - Glastonbury

Florida
James Charlesworth - Saint Cloud
John Cox - DeBary

Georgia
J Todd Tucker - Moultrie

Illinois
John Morris - Robinson

Indiana
Rodney Hardwick - Connersville

Kentucky
H D (Howard) Dotson - Paintsville
Charlie Hill - Franklin

Louisiana
Craig Dowling - Many

Maine
David Barnes - Weeks Mills

Maryland
Lee Cox - Hagerstown
Chris Petersen - Laytonsville
Justin Riley - Woodbine
Darrin Schwenkbeck - Silver Spring
Brian Wilhoit - Oxon Hill

Michigan
Kevin Long - Berkley

Missouri
Scott Campbell - Springfield

North Carolina
Pat Golden - High Point
Gregory Scott - Rocky Mount

Nebraska
Aaron Lee Jakub - Lincoln

New Jersey
Gregory Dipalma - Millville
Michael Iaconelli - Runnemede
Ed Stiefel - Mahwah

New Mexico
Frank Boothe - Albuquerque

New York
William Beekman - East Quogue
Steven Bunt - Wallkill
Tony Dadante - Derby
Otto David - Jefferson Valley
David Hovanec - Unionville
David Marion - Cold Spring
Craig Nels - Baldwinsville
Matthew Sphar - Pavilion

Ohio
Brent Broderick - Oregonia
Glenn Delong - Bellville
Mark Hicks - Millfield

Oklahoma
Bradley Hallman - Norman

Pennsylvania
Kenneth Acornley - Larksville
Ken Baumgardner - Monongahela
Paul Hirosky - Guys Mills
Matthew Lazaroff - Mercer
Paul Mazzitelli - Pittston
Jeff Stoner - Wellsville

South Africa
Anre' De Villiers - Goodwood, South Africa

South Carolina
Micah Sepko - Greer
Jason Williamson - Aiken

South Dakota
Jami Fralick - Martin
Monty Fralick - Martin

Tennessee
Ray Brazier - Lawrenceburg
Rogne Brown -Kimball
Sam Lashlee - Camden
Brandon Stanley - Johnson City
Ron Wheaton - Columbia

Texas
Kip Bodkin - Rhome
Dave Parsons - Yantis
Derek Remitz - Hemphill
Jason Welch - Royse City

Virginia
Jerry Aldhizer - Goodview
Monte Atkins - Greenville
Monte Boogie Atkins - Greenville
Calvin Bates - Evington
Mike Bryant - Chatham
James Cassaday - Wirtz
Mark Clingenpeel - Boones Mill
John Cole - Buena Vista
John Crews - Jetersville
Chris Daves - Hopewell
Woo Daves - Spring Grove
Ramon Deisher - Covington
Allen Deweese - Troutville
Chris Dillow - Waynesboro
David Dudley - Lynchburg
Cleve Easome - Callands
Ray Emerson - Dry Fork
Mark Fields - Moneta
James Garrett - Buena Vista
Emery Grosvenor - Forest
Rick Hawkins - Roanoke
William Hayes - Roanoke
Bill Horne - Penhook
Robert Hoyt - Wirtz
Andrew Kartesz - Roanoke
William Keen - Martinsville
Raymond Lloyd - Monroev Jack Mann - Big Island
Shawn Moore - Vesuvius
Jon Moss - Danville
Robert Mullins - Vinton
Davis Murphy - Blue Ridge
Tim Newman - Goode
Gary Nichols - Hardy
Brandon Reynolds - Callands
Kenny Reynolds - Danville
Steve Roberts - Lynchburg
Ed Robtison - Roanoke
Matthew Terry - Moneta
Rick Tilley - Moneta
Trevis Towe - Daleville
William Ward - Salem
Burley Warf -Moneta
Bill Watson - Christiansburg
Dale Wilson - Huddleston
Thomas Wooten - Huddleston
Robert Hoyt - Harrisonburg, Va
Quinten Stacy - Bassett, Va

Wisconsin
John Kolinski - Greenville
Mike Weiss - Union Grove

West Virginia
Timothy Bailey - Oceans
Jeff Camp - Wht Sphr Spgs
Jeff Caruthers - Scott Depot
Paul Noechel - Lost Creek

Co-anglers

California
Jack Farage - Discovery Bay

Canada
Stephen Barrett - Kirkfield, Ontario
Peter Typer - Pt Colborne, Ontario
Anthony Zitzmann - Montreal, Quebec

Colorado
Bob Howard - Colorado Springs

Connecticut
Frank Vida - New Fairfield

Florida
Keith Carson - Debary
Robert Morin - Palm Bay

Georgia
Ted Morgan - Atlanta

Iowa
Jake Thomas - Iowa Falls

Illinois
Tony Kyriazes - Chicago

Indiana
Neil Howard - Salem

Kentucky
Jason Akers - Jenkins
Johnny Denny - Lancaster
Craig Gipe - Lancaster
Jack Palmer - Hopkinsville

Louisiana
George Fister - Lake Charles

Massachusetts
Lee Hannah - Grandville
Earl Purcell - Granville

Maryland
Joshua Fiedler - Clear Spring
Larry Frye - Clarksburg
Jim Kline - Hagerstown

Maine
Michael Sills - Oakland

Michigan
Mikhail Borashko - W Bloomfield
Travis Green - Grand Blanc

Missouri
Jim Mcdevitt - Eldon
Robert Wilson - Saint Louis

North Carolina
Dallas Blount - Timberlake
Stephen Green - Whispering Pines
Richard Lemons - Eden
Tom Mcdermott - Madison
Mark Williams - Taylorsville

New Jersey
Steven Brinster - Highland Lakes
Richard Favire - Winfield Park
Eric Persson - Hamburg

New York
Olexiy Luchnikov - Brooklyn
Stephen Schneider - Selden
Kenneth Strimple - Fairport

Ohio
Tony Johnson - Westerville
Bill Rea - Greenfield
Lee Winkler - Cincinnati

Pennsylvania
Donald Bishop - Verona
David Dominoski - Mechanicsburg
Thomas Landish - Monongahela
Charles Robison - Allison
Andy Starner - Dover
J Graydon Thomas - Reading
Valeri Timofeev - East Stroudsburg

Tennessee
Larry Bryant - Goodlettsville

Texas
Justin Malone - Morgan

Virginia
Andrew Aesy - Salem
Richard Alley - Boones Mill
Gary Arthur - Lynchburg
Don Barger - Martinsville
Harold Black - Goode
Lewis Bowles - Forest
David Bowyer - Bedford
Aaron Brown - Tazewell
James Brugh - Moneta
Glen Bryant - Dublin
Ronald Butler - Moneta
Brian Calloway - Danville
Roger Castillo - Goode
Blaine Chitwood - Wirtz
Mike Compton - Hurt
William Custer - Martinsville
Frank Dalton - Hurt
Ronnie Daughtry - Verona
Russell Jr Davidson - Lynchburg
Joey Dawson - Rustburg
Josh Demaury - Troutville
Christopher Dixon - Abingdon
Walter Dixon - Madison Heights
William Eubanks - Charlottesville
William Ens - Moneta
Bobby Fleming - Luray
Jeffrey Freeman - Max Medow
Bobby Gillespie - North Tazewell
Jeff Gore - Lynchburg
Jonathan Hankins - North Tazewell
Terry Hebb - Staunton
Tom Hebb - Moneta
Brian Hite - Glade Hill
Gary Horsley - Danville
Robert Hudson - Lynchburg
Jason Irby - Rustburg
Matt Jennings - Suffolk
Brian Jones - Salem
Butch Jones - Lexington
Lee King - Chesapeake
Michael Larocque - Amissville
Jonathan Marlow - Burke
Jeffery Martin - Rustburg
Bryan Mayhew - Hurt
Donnie Osborne - Keeling
Chris Persiani - Bristol
Tad Phipps - Max Meadows
Mitch Price - Christiansburg
Greg Reavis - Roanoke
Ben Reynolds - Callands
Basil Riley - Tazewell
Carlton Roberts - Hurt
Scott Roberts - Lynchburg
Richard Rowland - Gretna
Ed Santuk - Hardy
Donald Sheffey - Concord
Richard Strubell - Huddleston
Peter Taylor - Ashburn
Charles Timpe - Wirtz
Daniel Ray Towe - Salem
Bill Uzzell - Covington
Steve West - Lynch Station
Daniel Williams - Roanoke
Kurt Wolfe - Huddleston
Quinten Stacy - Bassett
Russell - Evington

West Virginia
Jeffrey Fouch - Martinsburg
Trudy Noechel - Lost Creek
Justin Talkington - Bridgeport
Lester Thompson - Elkins