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Northwest Bass Championship – Vern and Zach
So I just got a text about the NWBass Championship from a friend who’s a great fisherman. It went something like this…
Friend: “So who won?”
Me: “Vern and Zach, down to the wire weigh-in, awesome”
Friend: “I’ve never heard of those guys?”
There are so many teams that fish NWBass, that it’s hard to know everybody, especially the guys who are just coming up in the series. Guys like Lippincott, Hogue, Hobbs, Kromm, Steiner, etc… we know those guys, cause they’re always kicking our teeth in, weekend after weekend.
Vern and Zach traveled with us this year, split camp spots and drank the extremely nasty coffee we brew in the mornings. They are a couple guys from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, who won Rookie of the Year in 2012, and were hoping for a good season in 2013. Their season was anything but great. Despite their constant practicing and hard work, the platform and anglers competing in Northwest Bass can be humbling, very quickly. They ended the year, 53rd in the points.
Championship day 1, they endured the wrath of the Columbia River in a smaller boat. They had so much water in the boat, Zach drown the phone in his pocket, and had to borrow dry clothes for day 2, but they were in 6th place. The talk at dinner was about Kromm, Hogue, Minderman and Lippincott, because those guys are always smart money in a bet.
Day 2, they battled gusts to 30mph, fishing in crowds, and lost fish…. but still weighed 20lbs. They had to fend off the determination of guys like Don Hogue… who dove into the river to catch a fishing rod, pulled from his hands by a monster bass. The act alone is impressive, but in those conditions is borderline psycho. Could you imagine what went through Ryan Brown’s head when that happened?!!???!??! Those two are bad-asses.
Stiles’s NWBass is an incredible platform that we’re grateful to compete in it, and be witness to things like Vern and Zach’s win. Thanks again Stiles and Northwest Bass. Congrats to Vern and Zach for your impressive, come from behind win. Jason and I believe you earned it through hard work.
I hope more teams compete next year. Fishing against these guys is never easy, but it can be very rewarding. Remember we all start at the bottom.
Views: 1239
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jon Sessler on
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Is Gary mailing Mike Bess' and my Participation Trophy?
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Permalink Reply by Russell Baker on
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Congrats to the winners for the Championship & The Boat Win.
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Permalink Reply by Jordan Doucet on
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Wow, congrats to those guys! It's great to see new faces up at the top.
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Permalink Reply by Chad Simon on
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Congrats
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Permalink Reply by Don Hogue on
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Congrats to Vern and Zach. It's always good to see new guys come in who understand what it takes to do well. It's such a humbling sport, especially if you hope to just get lucky.
Speaking of humbling...
As far as being any kind of bad a**, I feel more like a dumb a**. Not real proud of losing a rod/reel/ winning fish and winning boat all at the same time? And then going in after it and coming up empty handed and trying to get back in the boat in 4 footers. Good thing I had Ryan there!Impressive win for Vern and Zach. All the respect in the world for what they did.
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Don,
You could be Batman.
I think many thought he was a dumbass... but he was Batman!!!
I believe my initial reaction in that situation would have been some mumbling, random pointing and a confused look for the better part of an hour. After that I would have exaggerated the size of said bass to somewhere in the 10lbs range.
Dana, I am with you. I every time I use the latrine after last weekend, I check for blood from the kidney beating.
- j.boomer
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Permalink Reply by Marc Marcantonio on
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My partner and I only deserve half a participation trophy. Lost my down trim on Saturday, and couldn't get it fixed. There was no way I was going to fish that river and those conditions without the safety of a working trim motor, so we went home Saturday night with our tails between our legs.
Congratulations to Vern and Zach...were they the guys that had a weld break in their metal boat?
ciao,
Marc Marcantonio -
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No, they run a BassCat Pantera I believe. The guys in the aluminum Triton busted their boat hull in the rough water on Saturday, and couldn't fish the following day.
If Hogue is Batman, then the guy running the 18' Red Lowe Aluminum boat is Superman. Jay and I got our butts kicked running down river probably too fast. Everybody there knows how bad Sunday was, and those guys came rolling in less than 10 minutes later. Impressive. My hat is off to those guys.
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The red Lowe was in "BIG" water every time we saw them. Hat's off to them, but I'm not sure if it's bravery, confidence or ignorance. Regardless, they are studs!
Jake Boomer said:If Hogue is Batman, then the guy running the 18' Red Lowe Aluminum boat is Superman. Jay and I got our butts kicked running down river probably too fast. Everybody there knows how bad Sunday was, and those guys came rolling in less than 10 minutes later. Impressive. My hat is off to those guys.
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Cleanest carpet in the event... for sure.
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Permalink Reply by eric mccarthy on
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Congratulations to Vern and Zach awesome come back win! Also congratulations to Jake and Jason on AOY it was nice to meet you guys. I'm the guy with the busted tin Triton. I mean fixed tin triton that's ready for some epic fall Bassin :). Great season guys I look forward to padding your pockets next year
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Grimes on
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The red Lowe was Dale Williams.....I will not share my opinion on his sanity.
Jake, I think you hit it right on the head. Fishing the NW trail is , or can be, the same old 90% of the money going to 10% of the guys....but with some hard work and determination, at the end of the day.....anyone can win. Some may participate solely for something to do, or hoping to get lucky, or maybe they are independently wealthy. I think the idea that anyone can win with the right preparation is what keeps most guys coming back.
I think that aside from the actual fishing, Gary and Lisa do a great job of organizing and pulling off the tournaments time and again without major problems.
Congrats to Vern and Zach. Good Job!
Jeff
P.S. It was like " Deadliest BASS " that weekend. I have never caught that many fish before in 4 foot rollers coming over the bow of the boat.
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