July Indee HS Bass Club Tournament

July Champions: Jackson/Captain Randy Toale/Dalton

Covid-19 canceled the April tournament, high Wapsi River levels canceled the June tournament, but the July event was huge success for the Indee Bass Club.  The tournament was held on Wednesday, July 8th in downtown Independence on the Wapsi.  Twenty-five students participated in this free event held by the Indee Bass Club.  Students entering 7th grade all the way to graduated seniors participated.

Mother Nature shined down on the participants that night, perhaps a little too much.  Sunny skies with heat indexes reaching 100 degrees greeted the anglers as they took off at 4:30pm.  Cold water was as much a necessity as a rod and reel on this night.  Anglers traveled up to 5 miles on the Wapsi to find largemouth and smallmouth bass to weigh in.  Each boat was allowed to bring 5 bass to the scale that measured at least 12 inches in length to be weighed for their team total.  Each boat also had adult volunteers known as captains to assist kids and help them learn the sport of the bass fishing.  Thirteen boats took off in search of their best bass spots on the Wapsi, and many of them were not disappointed.

Of the 13 boats, nine of them were able to catch bass for the live weigh-in.  This was just one boat away from tying a club record for ten boats weighing in bass.  As a group, nineteen bass were weighed in, thirteen largemouth bass and six smallmouth bass.  Jackson Toale was able to catch the largest bass of the tournament, a 3.00# largemouth bass.  This earned him the Hank's Bait and Tackle Big Bass Prize Pack.  Carter Cameron just missed this accolade with a 2.95# smallmouth bass.  Two fish any bass angler across the state would be proud of!  The team of Jackson and Zach captained by Steve McGraw had one bass weighing 1.53# for 9th place.  The cousin duo of Scott and Nathan, captained by Rick Wendling had one bass that weighed 1.89# for 8th place.  Landry and Caleb had one bass that weighed 2.21# for 7th place.  Chad O'Brien captained Kellen and Caden to one nice Wapsi bass that weighed 2.24# for 6th place.  Caleb and Teegan found two river bass that weighed 3.33#, good enough for 5th place, captained by Keith Corkery.  Dave Wilson captained Cam and Zach to a 4th place finish with 2 bass that weighed 3.59#.  Justin and Hunter, captained by Eric Johnston caught three smallmouth bass that weighed 4.71# and ended up in 3rd place.  Ranger and Carter, captained by Todd Reed, caught three bass that weighed 7.27#, good enough for a 2nd place finish in their first ever bass tournament.  Randy Toale captained Jackson and Dalton to five keeper bass that weighed 11.69# to win the event.  The top two teams received trophies, Scheels gift cards and hats.

2nd Place: Carter/Ranger/Captain Todd Reed

After the weigh-in the club was able to give away over $700 in fishing gear through a random drawing to the students.  These prizes are made possible by these club sponsors; Bank Iowa, Klever Concrete, Buchanan County Wildlife Association, Quantum Rods and Reels, The Rod Glove, Hot Rod Baits Bass Series, Scheels of Cedar Falls, and Hank's Bait and Tackle in Waterloo.  Without the help of these great sponsors and the volunteer hours given by the team coaches and captains, this club would not exist.  A huge thank you to the many captains that take the kids out during these events and help teach them the sport of fishing.
Search Indee Bass Club to find more information on Facebook and their website.  This club is open to any student entering 7th grade through 12th grade of the Independence Community Schools District, including St. John's.  The Indee Bass Club is the largest school bass club in the state of Iowa.