West Coast Bass began to put on activities for the women, entertaining them with games and competitions, teaching them to tie knots and back a boat into the water, and treating them to brunches on the water so they could see their men fishing during the competition. The involvement of the women brought family support to the sport; our events be- came not only great competitions, but great vacations that all parties could enjoy. One of the most personally gratifying events was the annual West Coast Bass Take- A-Kid Fishing event, always popular and drawing well over one hundred participants, with both bank and boat divisions. I loved to see those kids light up as they weighed their catch and talked about the experience. To think some of them are in their 40s now! The One Hundred Thousand Dollar Big Bass Derby with live radio broadcasts of hourly winners drew over 1,200 anglers, an accomplishment that has never been repeat- ed on the West Coast. Anglers like Robert Lee and Bobby Barrack put a year’s salary in their pockets from those West Coast Bass promotions. In 1986 I bought out Rich Bryant so he could go on to other endeavors, and I con- tinued to promote the shared weight concept Pro-Ams that culminated in multi-media covered Classic fishoffs. The Pro-Am concept has remained popular today in our absence, and the concept took off nationally and I’m sure it is responsible for the accelerated skill levels of many new bass anglers, a fact that I am proud of for sure. West Coast Bass is more than the prizes, and fish, and the stakes. It is about the people. I have made some great friends over the years, such as Don Lee, Forrest Wood and Dennis Lee. Jerry Tilton, a great friend and West Coast Bass supporter, made every West Coast Bass Classic and won one at Lake Mead. Others like Gene Buchholz, Jim Lyon and Ron Towery: thank you for choosing West Coast Bass and thank you for your input in those early years. I met Jim Lyon for example, at a 1982 U.S. Open where I drew him and he vowed to, and did fish the West Coast Bass events slated to be offered in Northern California. Jim and I have been great friends ever since. Another guy I met and drew at an early U.S. Open is Bob Morrison, a quality stand up guy who did what he could to promote West Coast Bass to the southern anglers, driving up north to all
our events and dragging guys like Gary Boyd and a number of others with him. These among many provided invaluable insight that enabled the organization to grow and succeed. West Coast Bass even had an informal “advisory committee”: geographically chosen high profile anglers that would share feedback through periodic phone conferences. It is largely due to the input and the experience of these anglers that we were able to evolve and adapt over the years. I have had some exceptional people working for me almost right from the start: Gary Ennen, Ron Sanches and Doug Pieper
Larry Viviano, top, used his publicity expertise to draw attention to West Coast Bass. Below, Bobby Barrack still uses his Delta bass fishing expertise to win money.
and my ex-wife Lisa. They were an essential part of the growth of West Coast Bass. Tommy Thompson, a special but feisty old man, who was a part of West Coast Bass from the beginning as our weigh master and is now passed on, like many gone but never forgotten. The pro-am concepts made some head- lines for some young up-and-coming anglers in the early years. I remember the youngest an- glers that excelled, like Joe Everett, Wayne Breazeale, Kent Brown, Mike Reynolds, and John Caufield, to name a few. Those men- tioned are all still associated with the sport and continuing the tradition. So many thank you’s should go out to supporters like Steve Tosh, Dave Rush, Gary Okasako, Pat Clement, Bret Leber, Ed Ackerman, Howard Hughes and especially Russ Meyer for his loyalty and
support. There clearly are too many great guys to mention: thank you all for your support. They say a formidable business is only as good as its competition. I would be remiss not to mention Harvey Nasland. Yes, when writing about West Coast Bass, not Western Bass or WON Bass. He was truly a pain in my side, but a formidable, loveable pain at that. Harvey and his appointed northern director Hal Huggins worked hard and brought many clever concepts to the sport. Thank you Harvey for all you have done for the sport and now for honoring the Silver Eagles, the West’s oldest Bass Pros, otherwise known as the “geezers of the sport”. Many of the Western bass anglers and perhaps many facets of the sport itself would not exist if it weren’t for you Harvey.
July 2011 _ SILVER EAGLES 33