The 1st Annual Okanagan Classic Tournament is fast approaching! A huge thank you to Chris Blake, our Tournament Director, for organizing
and planning this event, which is sure to be the talk of bass fishing in B.C. throughout the fall!
The 4th Annual BC Open on Shawnigan
Lake is now history and although the fishing conditions were tough, the tournament was by all accounts a success. My first tournament
was a great experience. The West Coast Bass Anglers and Tournament Director Chris Blake put on a great event with
a fun atmosphere, great prizes for the winners and also giveaway prizes (including 2 Kistler rods and 2 Fenwick rods among other things!). I
am proud to announce that my partner Jesse Martin and I finished in third place in the tournament behind Steve and Gord Sasaki in
first place and Shawn and Hassan Smith in second place.
After flying into Vancouver early Friday morning and taking the ferry
over to the Island with the WCBA members, the weekend event started for me with a day of pre-fishing on Elk Lake with some of
the guys. Although no one managed to catch anything, it was nice to shake off the rust of a long winter. It proved to be an omen for
the difficult conditions at the Open on Saturday. The weekend was capped off with a fun fishing day with Shawn and Hassan Smith and
Jesse Martin on Sunday in Shawn's Ranger Bass Boat. Fishing from that boat was definitely a highlight of the weekend.
All in
all it was a tremendous event. I met a lot of great bass fishermen and made a few friends along the way. The WCBA members are not
only talented bass anglers, they are passionate about the future of bass fishing and committed to making the BC Open even better next
year. Keep an eye out for the Okanagan Classic in October. It is sure to be a great tournament event.