What a day it was, hot, sticky and just plain miserable. June 11, 2005 at 5am it was already 76 degrees and muggy. We had 28 youth contenders signing up and 14 volunteer boaters ready to take them out fishing. The contenders came from all over Michigan, as far as Grayling, Grand Rapids, Berrien, Kalamazoo, Baldwin and would be fishing Lake Oakland.

            We had two team boats watching the contenders for safety issues and making sure no one was in any danger. At the temperature of 93 degrees and muggy by 1pm it was a concern. The contenders wore a life jacket all day but had plenty of liquids. One contender stated, “ I don’t like wearing these (life jackets) all the time because they get in the way. I understand why I have to and both me and my mom feel better and safer because I am.”

            Many of the contenders caught fish even though it was fished three nights before by a tournament of adults. One of the volunteer boaters was one of them adults and had this to say, “ I can’t believe that these kids are catching fish or even the numbers I see. Many of us three nights ago could not hardly even get bit.”

            All the contenders and boaters had donuts and milk for breakfast, had water, Gatorade and lunches for lunch, sponsored by M.B.C.F . When their came in for weigh-in, which was done in Bass Pro Shop in front of the fish tank, they all had pizza and drinks, sponsored by Wonderland Marine West. Two of the contenders said “ I don’t even eat this much at home.”

            All contenders were given a lot of tackle at the beginning to help them with the tournament. Daiichi hooks, Gene Larew craws, Snake Daddy lures, West Marine hats, M.N.B.A. donated plastics, Z&D Treasures donated plastics, Gary Yamamoto donated plastics, Cenex donated special hats and oil for the boaters and much more. We even had a special person that gave tips on lures and presentation of them for this lake, Chris Standhardt.

 Chris Standhardt made sure there was no illegal fish brought in by bumping them at the ramp, which there wasn’t any short fish, and also gave them all a bag of ice and catch and release to help the fish out with the weigh-in and transport. With this and the help of all the volunteers working the tanks in Bass Pro shop, we DIDN'T lose one BASS, not one. With the heat and all the transportation we saved all the BASS J.

            With this tournament we will be sending only one contender from each age group, 11-14 and 15-18, in February of 2006 for the world Championship. They will be competing against contenders from all over the World for scholarships and prize packages.

            The Michigan Bass Federation is proud to announce its final winners. The TOP ANGLER of 2005 goes to Stephen Gould from Kalamazoo with the total weigh of 7.75 lbs. He not only won some great prizes but also gets the traveling trophy for a year. Stephen took first place in age group 15-18 and will be going to the World Championship. Our 11-14 age group winner was Daniel Bertalan from Grayling with the weight of 4.52 lbs. Daniel will be going to the World Championship. The list below is the top three winners in each age group and their prizes. Also note that our main sponsor, Bass Pro Shop, gave out all the prizes below. They also supplied hats and shirts to all the contenders.

            All these winners also received a very nice plaque done by Little Bill’s trophies from Redford, MI. The emcee was Doug Phillips, promotion director of Bass Pro Shop and he did a great job helping.