The 24th Annual Holder Ford-Mercury Team Bass Tournament kicks off Saturday and remains one of the more popular fishing tournaments held on the lake.
The first tournament was held in 1987 and, back in those days, was the only bass tournament held during the cold winter months. Just about all the tournaments took place in the spring and summer, with the Tournament of Champions being held in the fall.
The goal of the original tournament was to lure fishermen to Clear Lake and Lake County during the winter months when tourism was at a low point. I was invited to be a guest speaker at the Lakeport Rotary Club. My topic was on how beneficial bass tournaments were to the local economy and I suggested that Lake County host its own tournament and to hold it during the winter. John Lowman, then publisher of the Record-Bee, and Bill Brunetti, former owner of Bruno”s Foods, agreed to sponsor the tournament if I would be the director.
To say that I knew very little about bass tournaments was a gross understatement. In fact, I had never competed in a bass tournament. I thought all I would have to do is blast off the fishermen in the morning and weigh in their fish in the afternoon. How difficult could that be? How wrong I was.
The first tournament was a one-day affair and started out with what was supposed to be a 75-team limit, but it quickly increased to 122 teams. The entry fee was only $60 and the first place money was $1,100. It took 19.62 pounds to win.
The field was increased to 200 teams and the format changed to a two-day event in 1988 with an entry fee of $100. The total purse was $20,000 and the winning team caught 28.32 pounds to take home a tidy sum of $5,000.
As the tournament grew larger each year, fishermen from throughout the Western United States visited Lake County just to fish. In fact, teams came from as far as Chicago, Spokane, Seattle and Salt Lake City. The tournament also received national media coverage.
The concept of the tournament has always been to give local businesses a boost during the winter months and it has served its purpose. As an attraction to fishermen, the tournament features a 100-percent payback of all entry fees, unheard of in the professional bass tournament business.
As the tournament became more popular, the entry fees and the prize money increased. The tournament reached its peak in 1991 when 225 teams competed for a purse of $51,875 and first-place money of $17,500.
In 1992, for the first time in the tournament”s history, it failed to reach the quota of 225 teams although the tournament did draw 185 teams and had a purse of $50,875.
It was in 1994 when the Greater Lakeport Chamber of Commerce took over sponsorship of the tournament. Bob Simmons of Lakeport Tackle took over as the tournament director. Northlake Ford ran the tournament from 2003-2007 followed by Holder Ford-Mercury to the present day. Konocti Vista Casino and the Lake County Chamber of Commerce are co-sponsors.
Down through the years the tournament has seen many ups and downs. One high point was during the Gulf War in 1991 when, prior to blast-off in front of Library Park in Lakeport, I asked the fishermen to stand in their boats for the playing of the national anthem in support of our troops. The sun was just rising over Mount Konocti when the anthem began and a bass boat with a huge American flag roared past the silent fishermen. There wasn”t a dry eye in the crowd.
One of the most anxious moments came in 1989 when thick fog settled on the lake at daylight. I delayed the blast-off until the fog cleared. Finally, after hearing the fishermen complain and complain, I reluctantly agreed to let the boats go, despite visibility being less than 30 yards. The boats roared off into the fog. An hour later I received a call from a resident in Nice who had found floating debris near his dock including life vests and a fishing license. A check of the name on the license revealed that it wasn”t one of our fisherman. My blood pressure dropped by at least 20 points. Actually, it turned out that the debris had blown out of a boat three days prior to the tournament.
The worst moment came in 1992 when gale force winds forced me to cancel the second day of the tournament. I declared the first-day leaders the winners and gave them a check for $17,500. Not many fishermen appreciated me stopping the tournament and a number of angry fishermen almost ran me out of town.
While it”s doubtful the tournament will ever be as big as in 1991, it still remains one of the more popular bass tournaments held on the lake. It”s one of the few tournaments that you don”t need to be a top pro to take home the money and it offers more enjoyment than cash.
Fishermen can sign up for the tournament until 3:30 p.m. Friday at the Holder Ford-Mercury dealership located at 2575 S. Main St. in Lakeport.
