One simple thought...turned into quite an event. That thought was, "What if any student in the state would be able to sign up to fish a bass tournament to represent their school? How many would attend?" That thought came to fruition when the Hot Rod Baits Bass Series created the first annual Team Bass Championship that took place Saturday at Pleasant Creek Lake near Palo, IA. I have enjoyed seeing the Indee Bass Club take off, but I knew there was much more interest around the state to fish bass tournaments, but schools didn't have a bass club. This event would allow any student in the state to join the event and fish a tournament with a huge prize pot. SCHEELS in Cedar Falls stepped up as the Title Sponsor for this event, allowing us to create beautiful trophies for the kids to enjoy for years down the road. Quantum Rods and Reels made the large prize purse a reality, Cliff Keen Athletic Wear provided high quality dri-fit shirts for purchase, Hot Rod Baits, Wig's Jigs, and The Rod Glove all gave items for the students as well. Without the generosity of these companies, this event would have not been possible. Also a big shout-out to tournament directors Todd Reed and Keith Donnelly, tournament staff Rick Wendling, Dave Dost and Darrin Isaacson for making things run smoothly. |
| Over $1,500 in merchandise given away, including AWESOME trophies from CJ's Trophies in Oelwein, IA |
Pleasant Creek Lake was chosen for the event. This lake recently had a make-over and according to DNR fish surveys has plenty of bass to go around. The lake is beautiful, clear water, rocky shorelines, brushpiles, rockpiles and plenty of shallow weeds. This is certainly going to be a good lake for years to come.
So how many students did show up for this event...56 students from ten different school districts signed up for the event. Independence, Alburnett, Starmont, North Linn, MLF/MarMac, West Des Moines Valley, West Delaware, Washington, Sumner/Fredricksburg, and Center Point-Urbana all were excited to get things going. Four students make up a team along with two captains manning the two boat teams. Each team could work together to find the bass, catch them and bring them to the live weigh-in. The weather was not a typical May Saturday, temperatures were in the fifties, and drizzle fell throughout much of the tournament. Spring here in Iowa this year has been like no other. The environment dictates every move of fish and on this day the bass were not very cooperative. Only three teams were able to bring in a bass over the 12-inch length limit. Those three teams and many random drawing teams took home over $1,500 worth of prizes and trophies. Dispite the bad weather and the poor fishing, kids were leaving with smiles on their faces. I hope to see many of them back for the 2020 event.
Here are the results:
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| 1st Place and Big Bass: Washington High School- 3.14# Caleb/Brock/Evan/Brady |
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| 2nd Place: MFL/MarMac- 2.92# Maccoy/Braden/Brittney/Logan |
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| 3rd Place: Center Point-Urbana Dylan/Dakota/Jacob/Bryston |
1st Place: QuantumPT Accurist Combos
Big Bass Winner also received numerous items from The Rod Glove, Hot Rod Baits and Wig's Jigs.
2nd Place: Quantum Throttle Combos
3rd Place: Quantum Drive and Pulse Reels
Very nice!
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