News
Cook and Duarte win JWC
By Tyler Reed
BASS Times Associate Editor
TAVARES,
Fla.
— For 18-year-old Jake Cook,
bass fishing is all about looking for something different.
“Look for something out of the ordinary on
the lake,
something that other anglers aren’t focusing on and somewhere where
the fish can find food,” says Cook. “That’s what I did today. The
lake had lots of shallow areas, so I found a spot that was 11 to 12
feet deep with submerged trees.”
And there, Cook found 13 pounds, 1 ounce, more than twice as much as
his nearest competitor. He won the 15- to 18-year-old age division
of the 2009 Junior Bassmaster World Championship (JWC) on Lake Yale
East, and because his state B.A.S.S. Federation Nation chapter
(Washington) is an
Alliance
state, he also won a brand new
Triton boat.
Sharing the spotlight with Cook today was John Duarte Jr., a
14-year-old from
Baltimore
, Md.
Duarte
, who took fifth place in the 2009 Bassmaster CastingKids
Championship held earlier in the day, relied on frogs to help
him catch 5 pounds even — enough to win the 11- to 14-year-old
division of the JWC.
Duarte
found lots of bass that would strike frogs yesterday in practice,
but when the skies clouded up today, he couldn’t get them to bite.
“I tried flipping a beaver-type bait and caught one bass. Later,
when the sun came out a little more, I was able to get them to bite
a frog. I caught three of my keepers on a frog.”
Duarte
’s frog was a Stanley Ribbit fished on 65-pound McCoy Mean Green
braid, using a 6 1/2-foot heavy Kistler Helium LTX rod and a Shimano
Chronarch reel. When he was flipping, he moved up to a 6 3/4-foot
Kistler rod and flipped a J.C.’s Lures beaver rigged with a J.C.’s
Lures tungsten weight.
Both
Duarte and Cook were
nervous before weigh-in that a couple of
big fish that
they lost were going to cost them. Cook lost a 4-pounder at the boat
today, and another 5-pounder jumped off before he got it up to the
boat.
Duarte lost a 2-pounder on
his very last cast of the day. “I just didn’t get a good hook set,”
he explains. As it turns out, neither of them needed the extra
weight to best the rest of the field.
Cook caught most of his fish on a Bomber Fat Free Shad in citrus
shad pattern, fished on a Wright & McGill
Skeet Reese Cranking Rod with an
Abu Garcia Revo Reel and 20-pound McCoy Mean Green braid. “I
fancast the crankbait to find the piles, drag it over the tops of
the trees and they’d usually slam it,” he says. “It was mainly a
crank reaction. Then the one bite would trigger more bites and get
it all started. I had to wait 45 minutes to an hour for my first
bite today.”
Once he riled the fish up, he’d throw a Strike King Rage Tail
Anaconda on a St. Croix Mojo Bass rod to catch the other bass in the
area. He also relied on a
Bass Pro Shops Extreme Reel and Stren Sonic Braid.
Cook and
Duarte
both say they hope to be professional bass fishermen one day. Cook,
who attends
Columbia
Basin
College in
Kennewick,
Wash. , also plans to
become a police officer.
“These kids are excellent anglers,” says Stacy Twiggs, senior
manager, B.A.S.S. Federation Nation youth, referring to all 12 of
the kids in today’s competition. Cook’s boat captain, Glenn
Pilkinton, echoed the same sentiments about Cook and his younger
partner, Nick Jakobi. “They are awesome anglers,” he says, “just
unbelievable.”
2009 JUNIOR BASSMASTER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
TAVARES, FL. -- OCT. 30, 2009
Ages 11-14
1. John Duarte
Middle River
, MD 4 5-0
2. Danny Sprague
Hastings,
MI
3 4-5
3. Nick Jakobi Centennial, CO 2 4-3
4. Ralston Lusby
Hot Springs
, AR 3 3-15
5. Tanner Plumlee
Jackson,
TN
3 3-9
6.
Lowell Turner
Bradford, RI 2 2-14
Ages 15-18
1. Jake Cook
Kennewick
, WA 5 13-1
2.
Craig Conger St.
Peters,
MO
5 6-7
3. Frank Appaluccio
Sparta
, NJ 4 5-14
4. Ross Burns
Columbia
, SC 4 5-13
5. Jake Sasnowski Bowmanville, ON 1 1-6
6. Cody Harris Grand
Blanc,
MI 0 0-0
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 3, 2009
BASS Reporter’s Notebook: After Serious Injury, Jamie Laiche Gets Back to Pro Competition at Central Open Finale in Louisiana
To view related images, click here.
A July 29 injury almost put
an end to Jamie Laiche’s bass fishing career. Ironically, it was the
therapeutic effects of fishing that got the Gonzales, La., angler
back into shape and competing in Bassmaster events.
Laiche will return to the Bassmaster Opens this week at the
Bassmaster Central Open, Nov. 5-7 on his home waters of the
Atchafalaya Basin out of Morgan City, La. However, the Open
wont be his first taste of Bassmaster competition since the injury
as Laiche fished in a Bassmaster Federation Nation event recently.
It’s been more than four months since Laiche incurred his freak
injury, which happened while detaching a 4-by-4 plate glass mirror
from a bathroom wall in his Gonzales home. As he lifted the mirror,
it slipped out of his right hand, hit a vanity countertop and
cracked in two. The top half of the mirror slid sideways and sliced
deep into his left wrist. Laiche wrapped his bleeding arm with a
towel and called 911.
Three days later he had surgery to repair a severed artery, the
tendons to his thumb and middle finger and the nerves of his hand.
His left arm was immobilized in a cast and after two weeks, the arm
was put in a splint for another six weeks.
He was on the disabled list for weeks at his job at a chemical
plant. What cut hurt Laiche was when he had to withdraw from the
Sept. 3-5 Central Open on
Sam Rayburn Reservoir. Without a shot at earning points at
Rayburn, his hopes were gone for one of the Central Open’s two 2010
Bassmaster Classic berths and for one of seven invitations to join
the Bassmaster Elite Series next season. All will be awarded Nov. 7
at the circuit’s season finale.
“When the doctor told me the timeline for my recovery, and I
realized I’d miss Rayburn, I was pretty distraught,” said Laiche,
34, who qualified for the 2008 Bassmaster Classic through the BASS
Federation Nation. “But I had a Federation Nation fall qualifier on
the
Red River at the end of September. I knew if I could just
make it to that, that I would be able to try to make the state team
again, get some redemption for not being able to fish Rayburn.”
At stake in the Federation qualifier was his chance to advance to
the Federation Central Divisional event, one more step on the road
to the 2011 Classic. That’s a Classic for which he particularly
wants to qualify because it will be out of New Orleans on the
Louisiana Delta — more or less, that’s home water for Laiche.
Not exactly defying his doctor’s orders, but not following them to
the letter, he took off his splint and ducked into his workshop. Rod
in hand, he worked a few self-prescribed
physical therapy exercises.
“I tried to pitch and flip a little bit, tried to get that movement
back. It hurt like crazy,” he said.
Finally, he got the splint off and doc’s blessings to try fishing.
Just before cutoff for the Federation event on the Red River, he put
in a weekend of practice.
“It was extremely painful to hold a rod, to set the hook,” said
Laiche, a left-hander who casts with his right, then switches the
rod to his left hand. “I was getting kind of discouraged. I didn’t
know if I was going to be able to fish the tournament.”
Back at home, he stepped up formal physical therapy sessions to
three times a week. He practiced casting in his yard. His therapist
and doctor were amazed at how much his injury improved in two weeks.
Come tournament time, he felt good and finished third overall and
second on his state team.
“So goal No. 1 is accomplished: I made the state team and I’ll go to
the divisional,” he said. “Now I’m looking forward to the Open on
the Atchafalaya Basin.”
His hand may never be the same. He said it is 25 percent numb, and
the thumb does not have full range of motion. Overall strength of
the hand isn’t what it used to be either.
“I’m not 100 percent, but my physical therapist can’t believe that
I’m as far along as I am,” said Laiche, who continues with therapy
treatments. “I didn’t want to tell her it is because I didn’t listen
and did more than I should have.”
“The doctor told me that fishing is probably one of the best forms
of physical therapy that I can do now. The movement of the wrist,
casting, everything about fishing is awesome therapy.”
WEEKEND QUALIFIER: Saturday, the final three qualifiers will
be determined for the 2010
Bassmaster Classic, Feb. 19-21 on Lay Lake out of Birmingham,
Ala.
Two will emerge from the Bassmaster Central Open circuit (see story
above). The third will be the winner of the Championship event for
the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series operated by
American Bass Anglers.
The ABA event will play out on Lake Dardanelle out of Russellville,
Ark. It offers a first-place boater prize of $100,000 as well as a
berth in the 2010 Classic. The top non-boater prize is $50,000.
The event’s 195 boaters and equal number of non-boaters qualified by
advancing through layers of local and regional events. The full
field will compete the first three days. The top 25 in each division
will move on to the final day of competition Saturday.
Among the boaters on the roster are three-time Classic qualifier
Jeff Coble of Manson, N.C. His first Classic qualification, in 2002,
was through the Bassmaster Open circuit. His other two, in 2006 and
2008, came by winning Weekend Series Championships.
Weigh-ins are set for Dardanelle
State Park at
3 p.m. CT on Nov. 4-6 and at 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 7.
THE FEDERATION SIX: Six of the annual 51 Bassmaster Classic
qualifiers carry the honor of being BASS Federation Nation
qualifiers. For the 2010 Classic, three of those six have at least
one other attribute in common.
They’re Classic repeaters.
Bryan Schmidt of Olney, Texas, Jeff Freeman of Max Meadows, Va., and
Brent Long of Cornelius, N.C., made Classic appearances in,
respectively, 2009, 2008 and 2007.
Of the three, Schmidt was the most successful Classic angler; he
finished sixth on the Red River in February 2009. Freeman posted a
28th place finish on South Carolina’s
Lake Hartwell and Long, a 49th place, on Lay Lake,
where the 2010 Classic will be.
The other three who qualified Oct. 30 at the 2009 Bassmaster
Federation Nation
Championship presented by Yamaha Outboards and
Skeeter Boats in Tavares, Fla., by winning divisional honors
were Randy Phillips of Oxford, Mass., who won the overall
championship title as well as topped his division; Don Hogue of
Pasco, Wash.; and Jody Adkins of North Canton, Ohio.
SUPER SISTERS: Sierra and Shauni Voisin of Mildmay, Ontario,
possess four of the world’s hardest-to-win, not to mention most
unusual, trophies.
Between them, the sisters own four Bassmaster CastingKids
first-place awards.
Three of the trophies belong to 10-year-old Sierra. Her third was
earned just days ago in Leesburg, Fla., at the Oct. 30 Bassmaster
CastingKids National Championship in the 7-10 age division. The
fourth trophy in the Voisin family was won in a previous year by
Shauni.
To get them, they had to cast, pitch and flip to targets, just as
they did at the local, regional and divisional competitions over the
past year to qualify for the annual finals.
Shauni, who competed this year in the 11-14 age group, almost
collected a first-place trophy again this year. She ended in second
place after a cast-off against Jared Raymer of Brandenburg, Ky.
Raymer, like superstar Bassmaster Elite Series pro
Kevin VanDam, said he munched on lucky cookies prior to
taking his first win.
DOUBLED UP: Johnny Duarte, 14, of Middle River, Md., had
quite the day on Oct. 30. He competed in the Bassmaster CastingKids
Championship in Leesburg, Fla., finishing fifth, then hit nearby
Lake Yale East for the Junior Bassmaster
World Championship.
For Duarte, the second one was the charm. He won in his age group,
11-14, taking home the trophy for four bass that weighed 5 pounds, 0
ounces.
COOKED UP: Jake Cook of Kennewick, Wash., hauled 13 pounds, 1
ounce, from Florida’s Lake Yale East to win the 15- to 18-year-old
age division of the 2009 Junior Bassmaster World Championship.
He won a
Triton boat rig.
Cook’s recipe for success included dragging a crankbait over the
tops of submerged trees in a deeper area that attracted bass.
NEW CHAMP: “I never thought I’d have a chance to win this
event. …There are a lot of great anglers here. … I’m ecstatic.” —
Randy Phillips, 2009 Bassmaster Federation Nation Championship
champion and one of six Federation anglers to qualify for the 2010
Bassmaster Classic
About BASS
For more than 40 years, BASS has served as the authority on
bass fishing. The organization advances the sport through advocacy,
outreach and its expansive tournament structure while championing
efforts to connect directly with the passionate community of bass
anglers through its Bassmaster media vehicles.
As the flagship offering of ESPN Outdoors, the Bassmaster brand and
its considerable multimedia platforms are guided by a mission to
serve all fishing fans. Through its industry-leading publications
Bassmaster Magazine, BASS Times and Fishing Tackle
Retailer; comprehensive Web properties in
Bassmaster.com,
BASSInsider.com,
ESPNOutdoors.com and
ESPN360.com,
and ESPN2 television programming, Bassmaster provides rich,
leading-edge content true to the lifestyle.
BASS oversees the prestigious Bassmaster Tournament Trail, which
includes the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bassmaster Opens, Academy
Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Women’s Tour, BASS Federation Nation
and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bassmaster
Classic.
BASS offers an array of services to its more than 500,000 members
while spearheading progressive, positive change on issues related to
conservation and water access. The organization is headquartered in
Celebration, Fla.
-30-
Media Contact: Doug Grassian,
407-566-2216 or
doug.grassian@espn.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 6, 2009
BASS Reporter’s Notebook: BASS is Among the Leaders in the Fight to Protect Access for 60 Million Anglers
For related images, click here
A federal-level task force appears determined to develop a rushed
policy that will ultimately govern anglers’ use of public waters,
including the likely expansion of no-fishing zones into the
Great Lakes. Any such recommendations will be met head-on by
BASS and several other sportfishing advocacy groups.
Representatives of the sportfishing community collectively provided
extensive input to the Interagency
Ocean Policy Task Force for its
interim report. When that report was released Sept. 17, it
was obvious that information was ignored. A couple of the groups’
key objections to the interim report are the lumping of recreational
anglers in with the
commercial fishing industry and the fact that
sustainable use is passed over for preservationist policy.
“There’s a huge difference between the impacts on the resource from
recreational fishing versus the
commercial fishing industry,” said Chris Horton, BASS
director of conservation. “One of the biggest concerns we have is
that the task force doesn’t even recognize that there is a
difference. They also fail to mention recreational angling as a
sustainable use.
The highly successful North American model of
fish and wildlife management has been based on the
sustainable use principle and shouldn’t be continue to be ignored by
the taskforce.
“As anglers, we have been largely responsible for funding
fisheries management since the early 1950’s. We are the first
to be involved with any effort to restore troubled fisheries. We’ve
always been supportive of healthy oceans,
lakes and rivers,”
said Horton.
Another big concern is the report’s inclusion of the Great Lakes,
making it the first time that freshwater fisheries have been thrust
into the marine sanctuaries or protected zone discussions, he said.
“Once they start on a freshwater path, it opens to further
restrictions,” he said.
Besides BASS, the fight is being led by the American Sportfishing
Association, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Shimano,
Coastal Conservation Association, and Center for Coastal
Conservation
In a memo dated June 12,
President Barack
Obama created the task force “In order to meet our nation’s
stewardship responsibilities for the oceans, coasts and Great Lakes
…” according to the interim report. Obama told the task force to
come back within 90 days with an interim report, then follow up with
a full report. Obama gave the task force 180 days from June 12 to
“…develop, with appropriate public input, a recommended framework
for effective coastal and
marine spatial planning.”
“Spatial
planning” is a fairly broad, ambiguous term and opens the
door for various interpretations and restrictive measures, said
Horton. In the interim report, the meaning appears to relate to
no-take
marine protected areas, or MPAs, which usually ban
recreational use — including sportfishing — along with commercial
use.
The topic is covered extensively online at www.Bassmaster and
ESPNOutdoors.com.
More information can be found
here and
here. Another extensive piece is slated to appear in the
November issue of BASS Times.
To see the interim report, go to
http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/09_17_09_Interim_Report_of_Task_Force_FINAL2.pdf.
FRIENDS AND RIVALS: Pam Martin-Wells of
Bainbridge, Ga., and Juanita Robinson of Highlands, Texas,
have a lot riding on the Oct. 16-18
Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Women’s
Tour Championship
in Shreveport-Bossier City, La.
With points earned at the championship, either Martin-Wells or
Robinson could emerge as the 2009
Toyota Tundra
WBT Angler of the Year. Going in, they lead the 20-angler
points race, Martin-Wells just 21 ticks ahead of Robinson.
Both want that AOY trophy for what it brings — a new
Toyota Tundra
and a berth in the 2010 Bassmaster Classic — as well as for what it
means. Both want the AOY prize so much, in fact, that it was
worthwhile to them to put in 10 days scouting the championship
competition water, the
Red River.
By coincidence, they ended up staying at the same place in Bossier
City, across a narrow driveway from each other.
So how do rivals handle such a sticky situation? They get together
to watch ESPN2’s three-hour coverage of the Bassmaster Elite Series
postseason. Together they witnessed
Kevin VanDam take his fifth AOY title by triumphing over
Skeet Reese.
“It was kind of ironic,” said Martin-Wells. “Two running for Angler
of the Year sitting together watching two running for Angler of the
Year.
“There are probably a lot of people who would see that as weird,”
she said. “Hey, we’re both out there doing a job, having fun, and
may the best lady win.”
Robinson said she saw no reason to be anything but friendly to each
other. “We chatted, we watched TV a couple of nights, we had
breakfast together,” she said. “I was by myself, so her husband
helped me put my boat in. She gave me her phone number and told me
to call them if I had any problems.”
CLASSIC NUMBERS: Four Bassmaster tournaments happening over
the next four weeks will sew up berths for 12 anglers in the 40th
Bassmaster Classic, Feb. 19-21, set for Birmingham, Ala.
* 1 berth from the Oct. 16-18 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Women’s Tour Championship
* 2 berths from the Oct. 22-24 season finale of the Bassmaster Southern Open circuit
* 6 berths from the Oct. 28-30 Bassmaster Federation Nation Championship presented by Yamaha and Skeeter
* 1 berth from the Nov. 4-6 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series Championship operated by American Bass Anglers
* 2 berths from the Nov. 5-7 season finale of the Bassmaster Central Open circuit
The 12 qualifiers will join the 39 already
on the roster: 37 through the Bassmaster Elite Series Toyota Tundra
Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings and two Bassmaster Northern
Open pros.
Those anglers will complete the 51-angler field for the Classic on
Lay Lake out of Birmingham, Ala., where the winner will claim
$500,000.
About BASS
For more than 40 years, BASS has served as the authority on
bass fishing. The organization advances the sport through advocacy,
outreach and its expansive tournament structure while championing
efforts to connect directly with the passionate community of bass
anglers through its Bassmaster media vehicles.
As the flagship offering of
ESPN Outdoors, the Bassmaster brand and its considerable
multimedia platforms are guided by a mission to serve all fishing
fans. Through its industry-leading publications Bassmaster Magazine,
BASS Times and
Fishing Tackle Retailer; comprehensive Web properties in
Bassmaster.com,
BASSInsider.com,
ESPNOutdoors.com and
ESPN360.com,
and ESPN2 television programming, Bassmaster provides rich,
leading-edge content true to the lifestyle.
BASS oversees the prestigious Bassmaster Tournament Trail, which
includes the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bassmaster Opens, Academy
Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Women’s Tour, BASS Federation Nation
and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bassmaster
Classic.
BASS offers an array of services to its more than 500,000 members
while spearheading progressive, positive change on issues related to
conservation and water access. The organization is headquartered in
Celebration, Fla.
-30-
Media Contact: Doug Grassian,
407-566-2216 or
doug.grassian@espn.com
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
February 26, 2009
BASS and Bass Pro Shops Form First-Time Marketing Program
BASS, the
worldwide authority on bass fishing, and Bass Pro Shops, the #1
Outdoor Retailer in
“This is an
exciting opportunity for us to partner with the premier bass fishing
organization in
The companies will
launch a co-branded Bass Pro Shops rewards program in the spring of
2009 that will provide BASS members an opportunity to earn bonus
points for purchasing select products associated with the Bassmaster
Elite Series throughout the season.
The relationship
will kick off on Feb. 27 at the Bass Pro Shops Spring Fishing
Classics with The
Bassmaster
GearUp Giveaway presented by Bass Pro Shops. It is an opportunity
that allows fans to win some of the newest 2009 products by
registering at
www.Bassmaster.com/gearup.
The promotion will run through March 16, with the winner being
awarded the grand prize of fishing gear and tackle with a retail
value of approximately $4,200. For the complete sweepstakes rules
and prizes
click here.
All Bass Pro Shops
Spring Fishing Classic attendees will have an opportunity to get
their picture on a souvenir cover of
Bassmaster
Magazine, held at Bass Pro Shops retail outlets. For the Bass Pro
Shops Spring Classic schedule visit
www.basspro.com.
The Springfield,
Mo.-based company is also the official apparel of the Bassmaster
Elite Series Marshal program, and will include a $25 gift card for
all participants. The Marshal program provides BASS members the
opportunity to ride along with Elite Series pros for a full-day of
tournament fishing from the best seat in the house.
“Aligning two
industry-leading organizations will only serve to benefit fishing
fans and the outdoors industry as a whole,” said Tom Ricks, vice
president and general manager, BASS. “We are pleased to offer BASS
members bonus reward points and augment the Bass Pro Shops
experience for fans. We are excited to work with Bass Pro Shops and
will continue to collaborate on innovative programs that provide
long-term growth in the industry.”
Additionally, Bass
Pro Shops will receive exposure across BASS’ multimedia properties,
including
The Bassmasters
on ESPN2,
Bassmaster
Magazine and
www.Bassmaster.com.
Bass Pro Shops is
associated with a number of Bassmaster Elite Series anglers
including Kevin VanDam of
For more
information on Bass Pro Shops, visit
www.basspro.com.
For more
information, contact BASS Communications at (407) 566-2208 or visit
www.Bassmaster.com.
