Indee Bass Club Year in Review

2023 Angler of the Year: Colton Cameron
and Coach Todd Reed

The 2023 Indee Bass Club fishing season has come to an end. A few weeks ago, the club had their end of the season banquet. Many awards were passed out at this event and a record number of families and friends of the club were in attendance. The bass club offered students of the Independence community a fishing event every month from April through October. Let's look at these events and which anglers took home end of the season awards.
April brought some very cold weather to Eastern Iowa, causing this event to be pushed back a week. With temperatures in the low forties and wind gusts up to thirty miles per hour, Coach Reed along with President EJ Miller and Vice President Ranger Reed decided it would be best to postpone the first event. This was a wise decision as the weather was horrible that day. The rescheduled tournament was held on the Wapsi River here in Independence. The weather was much better that day and 18 kids participated in the April event. Colton Cameron and Carter Eddy were the champs that day, they caught three bass that weighed 5.36 pounds. Gable Eddy caught the big bass of the event, a smallmouth bass that weighed 3.35 pounds.
The May event was the annual Iowa High School Bass Team Championship held at MacBride Lake. Forty-Nine boats (98 anglers) from seventeen different schools took part in this event, including several boats from the Indee Bass Club. The top placing team from Independence was Jackson Beatty and Gable Eddy. They were 4th place out of those 49 boats. Team Independence (calculated by the top two boats) placed 2nd out of the 17 schools.

April Wapsi Champs

As the students moved into summer, the bass club traveled to Pleasant Creek Lake near Palo, Iowa. Once again Colton Cameron and Carter Eddy came away with the win. They had a five fish limit that weighed 10.85#. Carter also had the big bass of the event, it weighed 3.24 pounds.
July was home once again to the annual "scramble event". This event randomly partners anglers and captains together to fish for the night. It was a gorgeous night on the Wapsi River and a lot of bass were brought to the scales. Colton Cameron and Will Clark found the winning bass, they had a three keeper limit that weighed 6.35 pounds, Colton also had the big bass that weighed 2.36 pounds.
The Iowa Bass Nation State Tournament was held in August on Pool 10 of the Mississippi River. Again, teams from all over the state participated in this event, the Indee Bass Club had 5 boats represented. The highest placing Independence team was Cal Sweeney and Hunter Sherwood, they placed 11th out of 37 High School teams. Later this month a virtual fishing tournament was held. Anglers from all over Independence fish whenever their schedule allowed and sent pictures of their catches on a ruler to Coach Reed. The top three anglers were 1st- Carter Eddy, 2nd- Clinton Junk, 3rd- Ranger Reed.
As school started back up again for the students, excitement around the September tournament grew. The last points tournament of the year was scheduled at Lake Delhi, and that would decide who was Angler of the Year for 2023. Fourteen students fished in this tournament, and every boat weighed bass in, a first for the year. Ranger Reed and Jackson Wolf were the Delhi Champions, they had five keeper bass that weighed 8.55 pounds, included in that was Ranger's Big Bass, a smallmouth bass that weighed 3.00 pounds.

Gable & Jackson at the HS Team Championship

A special event took place in October. The Highway 20 Bass Club Battle, for the second year in a row took place between the Cedar Falls Fishing Team and the Indee Bass Club. The Indee Bass Club won this event in 2022 on Lake Delhi, but in 2023 it was Cedar Falls that picked the venue. The Cedar River in Waverly was the site for this year’s event. Once again, the Indee Bass Club came away with the team win. In this unique format that places one club versus another, all boats go out fishing like a typical tournament, however at the end of the day only the top three boats from each team count in the club totals. The Indee Bass Club was led by Wyatt Mether and Carson Hanoway, they had 11.02 pounds, Ranger Reed and Jackson Wolf had 10.81 pounds including Ranger's big bass that weighed 4.40 pounds, and the third team was Colton Cameron and Carter Eddy with 9.16 pounds. The total was 30.99 pounds compared to 25.66 pounds that Cedar Falls was able to weigh in. It was a great fall day of fishing, and the traveling plaque once again is displayed at the Independence Junior/Senior High!
The Indee Bass Club is run by volunteer coach Todd Reed. Garry Anderson and Keith Donnelly assist at events as well. This club is free for any student in the Independence or St. John's school system. The club was able to give out fishing gear and gift cards throughout the entire year at every event, totaling several thousands of dollars. The club also pays for memberships for students which includes a subscription to the Bassmaster magazine. These great perks available to students would not be possible without the help of our great sponsors: Colony Plumbing/Heating and AC, BankIowa, Buchanan County Wildlife Association, Cy & Charley's, Tim Reed State Farm, Rick Wendling Memorial, Klever Concrete, Shay's Minn Kota, Scheels of Cedar Falls, Hank's Bait and Tackle, Quantum Rods and Reels, Hot Rod Baits, The Rod Glove and X-Zone Lures. This great list of sponsors keeps all these activities free for students and puts fishing gear in their hands for future enjoyment. Another huge shoutout to the many "Captains" that took the kids out fishing, many are parents of students, and some are just volunteers to help the next generation enjoy the great sport of bass fishing. These captains include Todd Reed, Dan Sweeney, Brian Miller, Jackson Toale, Cyrus Butters, Travis Butters, Dave Wilson, Chris Weepie, Steve Bley, Shane Beatty, Garry Anderson, Andy Sommerfelt, Kevin Christensen, Aaron Svoboda, Chuck Lee and Chad O'Brien.

Hwy20 Bass Club Battle CHAMPS

It is hard to believe that fall is here, and winter is just around the corner. As the seventh year of the Indee Bass Club came to an end, the annual awards banquet caps off all the great accomplishments brought forward by the members of the club. The awards banquet took place on October 12th. The largest group ever showed up to celebrate with the club members with cookies and milk enjoyed by all. During each club event, four in total, anglers accumulate points towards the Angler of the Year. A 1st place gets you 10 points, 2nd place 9 points, 3rd place 8points, etc. When all things were calculated, Jackson Beatty was in 5th place, Ranger Reed in 4th Place, Gable Eddy finished in 3rd Place, Carter Eddy in second place and Colton Cameron was crowned the 2023 Angler of the Year. Ranger Reed earned this title in 2022, and Jackson Toale won it in 2021. Anglers that weighed in a limit at a tournament received their 2023 Limit Medals, those included Will Clark, Ben Anderson, Colton Cameron, Carter Eddy, Jackson Beatty, Gable Eddy, Ranger Reed, Carter Cameron, Hunter Weepie, EJ Miller, Owen Latwesen, Jackson Wolf. The Big Bass of the year award went to Gable Eddy, he weighed in a 3.35# smallmouth bass he caught on the Wapsi River.
It was a great year for the anglers and a lot was learned about the sport of bass fishing. Again, the Indee Bass Club thanks all fourteen of the different boat captains for their help and the sponsors for allowing the club to give away fishing gear and gift cards to help build the kids' equipment and enjoyment of fishing. Kids have already voted on places to fish for the 2024 season and planning is already happening to ensure another great season for the Indee Bass Club. You can find out more information about the club on their Facebook, Instagram and website, search them out for pictures and information.

2023 SPONSORS

4 Rivers in 4 Weekends

 

Fall in Northeast Iowa means one thing to me...time to get on the rivers as much as possible.  While thinking back this week, I realized I have fished four different river systems in the past four weekends...something I have never done before.  It started off on the Mississippi River near Lansing, then the Maquoketa River near Manchester, then my adventures took me to the Cedar River near Waverly and of course, lastly the Wapsipinicon River in Independence.  All four of these are very different, however there were definitely some similarities at each river that will always be consistent.  River bass love Texas Rigged Hot Rod Baits tubes, they love IMA crankbaits and they love current.  These are all things I have come to find out over the years and in the fall it can be no truer.  October is special time on the rivers of Iowa, smallmouth bass really start to show up like no other time of the year.  As the water temperatures dip into the low fifties and high fourties, the smallmouth start feeding up, they know winter is around the corner.  The weather patterns are a bit behind the typical year, this past weekend the Wapsi River still had water temperatures around 54 degrees.  It is close to the prime time of the year, but not quite there yet.  It does make for some fantastic fishing, and applying those baits with a proper Quantum combo just makes things that much sweeter.  

I have started to see the bass slowly get out of the current, several weeks ago on the Cedar River, anywhere that you could visually see current, you would catch bass.  More recently on the Wapsi River, the bass are not currently in those current areas.  I do believe as the cooler weather moves in, the bass will rush to the current areas once again for some easy food, and then start to migrate to their winter haunts.  

It is an exciting time of year to chase bass, and any day could be your best day of the year.  Get out when you can, the days are numbered.

Topwater Time Running Out

 

Fall is definitely here in Eastern Iowa, the first "frost warning" has been issued for tomorrow morning.  I absolutely love this time of year, topwater bass, smallmouth start to group up, and of course ice fishing is within sight.  The only sad thing about this time of year is that the topwater rods and boxes will be put off to the side shortly.  There is still time...that is for sure, but the days are numbers.  This time of year my favorite topwater has to be the IMA Lures Little Stik.  This walking/spitting bait is fantastic as the water cools.  You can work it erratically or slow it way down, enticing the most lethargic bass this time of year.  It has a smaller "brother" too, the Baby Stik which measures 4.1 inches, which works great for smallmouth and more finicky bass as the water cools.  Rig this bait on a 7'2" Quantum SmokeX Rod/Reel combo and you have yourself one BIG BASS catching machine.  

Get out there...topwater time will soon be gone!