My First B.A.S.S Club Tournament

Arizona Outdoorsman / AZOD

By Gregory C. West

Finally, the time had come to fish my first B.A.S.S club tournament. I have been waiting since the middle of last summer to join a club. At the start of the year, my father and I joined Canyon Bass Club together. Canyon Bass Club allows you to fish with the same boater all year. I enjoy my father's company and plus he lets me drive the boat and he always lets me run the trolling motor.

At the first club meeting on January 6, I learned that Apache Lake was going to be our first tournament the 10-11 of January. January's club meeting was two hours of fun. There are some interesting people in the club. It seems that they are going to make the year fun no matter what. I am going to enjoy fishing this year in Canyon bass.

The dawn of the first tournament day was windy, and I would say the wind was gusting up to 25 mph. My father drew the first position to start the tournament. We took off at first safe light and was heading to my favorite spot on the lake. The white caps on the lake didn't seem to bother me driving at 65 mph. My father's new ranger boat seemed to handle the waves just fine at that high speed. During one day of pre-fishing my father and I decided to target areas near the deep river channel. We were cranking away in the heavy wind. I was using a shad imitation crankbait that ran 10-12 feet and would also suspend. I was targeting rocky shorelines for smallmouth.

The first hour and a half I went through my favorite shoreline without getting a hit. I had become a little worried, but I had confidence in my crankbait so I stuck with it. I restarted my favorite shoreline and continued to crankbait with the wind and the white caps. I came up to my favorite spot on the shoreline that I was fishing. I cast parallel to a rocky drop off and that is when I received my first hit. I set the hook and could tell it was heavy. I landed a 4.9 lb largemouth for my first fish of the tournament. I continued to fish my favorite shoreline and started all over again for a third time. I picked up another decent smallmouth with the same crankbait. I noticed that the fish wasn't hooked well and wish I had trusted my instincts to change the hooks the night before.

Gregory West and his 4.9 lb. Largemouth

I came back to my favorite area, cast out and received my third hit of the day. This time the fish ran in towards the boat with my crankbait in its mouth. The smallmouth came out of the water, my excitement instantly changed to utter disappointment. The largest smallmouth that I have ever hooked into in my 27 years of my life, jumped and spit my crankbait back at me. The moment I began reeling in and changing my hooks, all I could think about was the horrible mistake in not changing the hooks the night before. I have an appointment in early February for the smallmouth that got away. Next time she isn't getting away.

I moved to my second area of the lake and picked up three more smallies that were weighers. And each fish was hooked well. All I could think about was the fish that got away when I went to weigh my five fish at the scales. I was shocked that not many members of the club had limits of fish. When I heard the results for the first day of fishing. I found out that I had caught the second largest fish of the day, and I was in first place over all with over 9lbs of fish.

Canyon Bass Club has a potluck dinner after the first day of fishing. Most of the members of the club were camping together in the Burnt Coral campground at Apache Lake. The potluck was at the Ramada area of the campground. This is where the results of the first day of fishing came in. There was a nice fire after dinner and the members were all talking fishing and I felt welcome and fit right in with my own kind. A lighthearted conversation of choking came up between me and the guy in second place. I love the competitive spirit in my club. I think I made a good choice by joining Canyon Bass Club.

At the start of the second day of fishing, my father and I were the last ones out. We went right to our favorite spot on the lake again and started to fish the same pattern as the day before. The wind was still blowing, but not as bad. I picked up another 3.5 lb largemouth in the same area where I had lost that huge smallmouth. I also picked up two more smallmouth that day. I had another fish on that got off close to the boat and a few other hits on the same crankbait that I was using. I weighed my fish in at noon on Sunday and went to hear the final results for the tournament.

I caught the second largest fish for day two and I also came in second place in the over all standings for the tournament. I weighed 8 fish that were over 16lbs and the winner weighed 10 fish that was over 17lbs. I will regret not catching that majestic bronze back. She graced me with her presence for a few short moments, but I am still happy because I am starting the year off in second place. And there is a whole lot of this year left.