LAKE SAKAKAWEA STATE PARK - Prefishing was fine. Day 1 was good, but lousy weather put a halt to Day 2. That is what happened to the Badlands Bass Bandits Classic Championship last weekend, the final event on their tournament calendar for 2012.
The Day 1 leader was Robert Reinbold of Lemmon, S.D., who held a half-pound lead over Marty Mantz of Center. Mantz, the season points leader with too large an edge to be overtaken in the final standings, was in second place after Day 1 of the Classic Championship.
"The weather knocked us out of Day 2 on Sunday," said Mantz. "They decided to set up another day sometime in October to finish the tourney."
When the second half of the tournament gets under way, it is expected to result in some very close competition at the top of the leaderboard. In addition to Mantz, Reinbold will have to hold off former champion Janine Wetzel of Mandan, currently second in the season standings; third-place Matt Sullivan of Bismarck; fourth-place Jeff Wetzel of Mandan; and fifth-place Paul Reinbold of Dickinson.
The Classic Championship was originally scheduled for Sept. 15-16. It is headquartered out of Lake Sakakawea State Park. This is the first year the Bandits have conducted their final event on Lake Sakakawea, moving it from Nelson Lake, which had hosted the Classic since the club's founding in 2006. A completion date for the Classic must be approved by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department.