This is the fourth time I have done one for the members of the Yuma Bass Man
forums, but its the first time I reallt felt like it was successful. We had
18 members show up to fish all day, four or five more show up just to
socialize between rounds. I had an absolute blast. Sure finishing up round
three with a couple good fish to win the last round, and the over all best
weight for the day helped, but I really enjoyed the chance I had to fish
with a different person each round.

We were one boater short in round two and round three due to another member
showing up to fish, so I put my son in The Tin Can and told he got to be the
pro for the day. He did as well as any other "pro" (boater) out there. His
boat handling leaves a little bit to be desired, but he did ok. Near the
end of round two he called me on the cell to tell me, "Dad, I learned a jon
boat does not corner well at speed, and can you come pull us out of the
tulies?" He still managed to weigh in a 2 pounder for that round.
Considering a lot of teams zeroed in that round, that's not bad. Then in
round three he stuck three fish. (each round had a three fish limit) He
noticed his backseater had gone to sleep and was dragging a lure so he
disqualified himself for trolling and turned loose his fish. Awesome
sportsmanship. I was really proud of him for that, but I sure wish he had
read the rules better. It was a "fun tournament" and the rules allowed any
legal method. Oops.

My wife, daughter, and some others cooked us up a nice bacon, eggs, and hash
browns breakfast after round one, and they had grilled burgers waiting after
round too. It was pretty awesome. I don't know how she did it on the
budget I gave her, but the food was excellent and plentiful. We didn't have
to provide beverages though. Thanks to James Craig of the local Pepsi Cola
distributor we had a couple big coolers full of water and sports drinks for
all the thristy anglers as they came off the water.

Greg G drove over from San Diego with one of his fishing buddies, and he
brought three big bags of baits to give away to the top three finishers
overall. For me that was a surprise I wasn't expecting at all. He didn't
just throw in junk he doesn't fish with anymore either. Its all good new
stuff you can go out on the river and catch fish on today.

Clint LaRose of XTINKT Sportswear brought out some really nice logo shirts
also that he asked me to give away by random drawing to those people who
fished.

I know it sounds like I'm bragging, but I'm not. It was everybody who came
that made it a great day. Not me. I was busy all day, but I never really
felt like a did all that much except fish. Of all the tournaments I have
fished in or run, this is the most fun in one I have ever had. I'm not
taking credit though. I planned the format, and paired the anglers, but it
was the guys I fished with and all the people who did all the work at the
ramp, cooked the food, weighed the fish, and just seemed to have a positive
outlook that made it a good day for me. Having my son running one of the
boats for the first time as the pro and in charge was cool too, and having
him stick some good fish and do well at it too was awesome. I had a great
day, but it wasn't because of what I did, but about what everybody else who
came did, and the positive friendly outlook that was exhibited by everybody
I talked with.

Bob La Londe
www.YumaBassMan.com