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, 53^rd 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 6^th 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.