Archived Articles

Field Trip to D & R Sports was a lot of fun

Our Bass club is always looking for interesting things to do to keep our members involved.  This month we went to D & R Sports in Kalamazoo.  We sat in on all of the seminars and met the pros.  Mark Zona, Jonathon Van Dam, Gerry Gostenik, Skeet Reese and Ish Monroe were all there.  Some of the boys even got pictures with them .  We also did some spring shopping to get ready for the upcoming season. We went March 30th on a Saturday.  We even got to wear our brand new club shirts to the event and Randy Van Dam and Skeet Reese even noticed them.. 

Marcel Veenstra Seminar was very informative...
As part of an on going effort to teach our youth members as much as possible, Marcel Veenstra graciously offered to do a seminar about bass fishing at one of our meetings.  Marcel cam to a meeting we set up at the Northfield Township Fire Station on Main Street in Whitmore Lake.  Marcel spent an entire two hours speaking on everything from how to fish Kent Lake to what type of baits to use during certain seasons.  We had about 30 people at the seminar.  Everyone learned a lot, even the adults who attended.  We want to thank Marcel for doing this seminar.  He had done one before, right after the club was formed, back in 2008.  At that time the Youth club was only about 10 members.  We have grown to 25 youth member and 30 adult members this year.  Click here to see more pictures from the event.

2012 Club Classic Title Taken by Chris Gutuskey 
Results, CLICK HERE
The annual club classic tournament was held at Lobdell Lake near Fenton. The day was cool and windy, as could be expected in October in Michigan. Chris Gutuskey managed to catch a decent 10.84 pound sack on a fairly tough day.  He also ended up with the big fish for the day with a 3.57 pound Largemouth.  Ironically, it beat out a 3.59 pound Largemouth, because Royce Reetz, Jr. was 25 minutes late coming back in, oops. Only 2 limits could be had all day.  Mark Wilfong won the Boat Marshalls side of the tournament with one 2.56 pound Largemouth.  We chose this lake this year because we will be fishing it next fall for the MBI tournament.  Everyone had a pretty good time at our once a year individual tournament.  We always fish our events as Team Tournaments.  Everyone is already looking forward to the 2013 season and we can't wait !!!!

2012 Junior State Championship
Our own CJ Hatton Wins the 11-14 Age Group Title
   For a second year in a row, one of our Junior Anglers has managed to take a First Place Title at the Michigan BASS Nation Junior State Championship.  CJ Hatton, 14, managed to bring a very respectable 17.71 pound sack to the scales and beat out the other Junior Anglers in the 11-14 age group.   CJ also had the Big Fish overall for the day with a 6.02 pound Smallmouth.  The nice 6.02 pound Smallmouth was actually caught on a Cruncher Baits Tube, Cruncher is one of our longtime sponsors.  CJ has been in the club for sometime and has shown a continued improvement in his skills and he is obviously becoming a great angler. This is CJs last year in the 11-14 age group, he will me moving up to the 15-18 group next season.  CJ worked closely with his Partner, Jake Dorony to find fish on Lake St Clair.
   We also had another Junior Angler come in 3rd place in the  15-18 age group with a nice 15.41 pound sack of fish.  Mitchell Edds, did very well for himself.  This was Mitchells first year in the club.
   CJ and the other Junior Michigan Angler, Danny Sprague from the Junior Michigan Bass Gang went to Illinois on August to compete at the next level at the Northern Divisional on the Mississippi River.  The fishing was tough for everyone and neither boys finished near the top of the field.  Better luck next year.  The boys all made us very proud, apparently they are paying attention and actually learning a thing or two...

The 2012 season was a huge success....
We have finished all but the Club Classic Tournament this year.  The Youth club has finished up as well..  They almost all fished every tournament.  We had another winner at the State Championship at Lake St. Clair again this year. The club has grown quite a bit over the past couple of seasons, with the adult club expanding to about 18 members while the Youth club is pushing 20 Junior Anglers.  This is the largest the club has been since we started up in 2008.  We got a new sponsor on board this year, Oakley Fishing came aboard this past winter.  Cruncher Baits is still on board as well.  Gander Mountain, Novi is still helping us out with a meeting place each month for our Junior Club.  We want to thank them all.  You can read more here...

Michigan Bass Anglers CPR Training Class

Our Bass club is always looking for interesting things to do to keep our members involved.  We came up with an interesting topic.  The members of the Michigan Bass Anglers took a Hands Only CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) class this February as part of an effort to improve our skills and maybe someday save another anglers or someone else’s life in an emergency.  Four classes were held over two weekends.  Our members and all of their family members were invited to attend the class at the Northfield Township Fire Department, in Whitmore Lake, Michigan.  We trained a total of 37 people during the 4 classes.

A lot of our members were at one or another of the classes.  Some of our members already have the CPR training through their job or another resource, so they are already prepared. 

This class has been in the works for some time.  We have been discussing having a CPR class for everyone because we all have come across an emergency at one point or another, either while on the water of just out and around.  Our Club President is retired from the Fire and EMS service and has had a lot of experience over the years with actually having to perform CPR on hundreds of people over his career.  Chris Bishop (Deputy Chief at the Northfield Township FD, Whitmore Lake, Michigan), our instructor for the class was gracious enough to organize and instruct all 4 classes.  The classes were a big success.  Everyone learned how to perform the newest and simplified “Hands Only CPR” modeled after the American Heart Associations class.  We had members of all ages at the class.  Everyone from our youngest ones (6 years old) up to our most seasoned members received training.  We served lunch between the classes as well. Every member who attended even got 10 points towards their “Angler of the Year” points.

We want to challenge every other club to take this and encourage every club to contact the American Heart Association about doing one of these classes. It only takes a few hours and with all of us getting older, who knows, it might save your life some day.

Dan Wagner shows off his 2010 AOY Trophy, this is Dan's Second MBA AOY Win Second Annual Awards Banquet We held our second awards banquet and it was a big success.  For a second year in a row, we had almost every club member and the vast majority of the Youth Members attend as well as several spouses and Youth member partners and family members.  The Pot Luck Dinner was delicious and very successful again this year.  Just about everyone brought something to set out.  We want to send out a special thanks to the Northfield Township Fire Department and Chris Bishop for setting us up at the nice facility.  Greg Choiniere was awarded the 2009 Angler of the Year and Jake Choiniere was awarded the Youth Angler of the Year.  There were not two more deserving people.  Both worked very hard this year and their efforts were rewarded.  Over all, everyone one walked away with a trophy for their wins or their finish places.  CJ Hatton shows off his Junior Club 2010 AOY Trophy in the photo to the right

Our Own Austin Ruddell takes Second Place at the B.A.S.S. Northern Divisional in Iowa
   Austin Ruddell, a Junior Angler with Michigan Bass Anglers, managed to squeak out a second place finish at a very tough tournament on the Mississippi River on August  12th.  The 2011 B.A.S.S Northern Divisional was held out of Ft. Madison Iowa on pool 18 and 19 on the mighty Mississippi over 3 days with the final day also hosting the Junior Northern Divisional Championship.  10 of the 16 Youth Anglers did not manage to catch a keeper but Austin managed to get a single 2.2 pound Largemouth.  That fish got him a second place finish, right behind the winner. Zach Nighswonger also participated in the tournament representing the Michigan Bass Busters as the Younger Youth Championship winner from Michigan.  The Michigan Adult Team took Austin and Zach under their wings and helped them find and share fishing spots during pre-fishing.  It was impressive to see them all work together.  Congratulations should go out to Austin for his efforts.