A Gathering Of Eagles, Page 24

A Gathering Of Eagles, Page 24

A WORLD of ITS OWN :

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Bassin ’

no motor. Gary Okasako won Angler of the Year honors in 1983 and he won a 350 Ranger with a trailer, no big motor, and Minn-Kota trolling motor. In additions, all the Angler of the Year winners got their entry fees paid for the next season. A who’s who of Northern California bass pros fished these tournaments, Dee Thomas, Dave Gliebe, Gary Klein, and Don Payne, while southerners like Don Iovino would often venture north. After a successful first season, West Coast Bass started a team circuit. The entry fee was $30 with a $2 big fish pool. In those days Fish and Game only allowed team circuits to award $200 for first place and the money went down from there for the other anglers. These tournaments always drew over 100 boats and sometimes over 200 boats. The Bearry brothers and Godsey lost over $40,000 in the first three years and sold it to Rich Bryant who shortly after partnered up with Larry Viviano. The new West Coast owners had some marketing genius and big things started happening through sponsor help. Larry Viviano was in the television busi- ness as an art director for KCRA channel 3 and knew marketing and how to get big dollar sponsors to bring the new circuit to a whole new level. Ranger boats came on- board, Skeeter boats, Eagle Electronics, Ford, Stren, marine dealers, and Mercury. The new West Coast Bass’ claim to fame and what really separated them from the other pro bass circuits was their TOC West Coast Classic at the end of the year. Viviano was ahead of the curve with his bass tour- nament format. Viviano turned heads and got some great attention when he got Ranger boats to send out brand new boats for all the

One of the toughest teams in tournament fishing was the combo of Ron Hillock and Gary Dobyns. They tore up the West Coast Bass team events.

By Bill Mays

W

hen pro bass tournaments first started they were tailored for the southern anglers. Western Bass only came to the north a couple of times a year and the northern anglers did not want to travel to the big desert lakes, one reason was the cost and another was they were not familiar with the lakes. Besides, fishing was a lot better close to home.

90%, with 10% going to a TOC at the end of the year. We averaged over 100 boats every tournament after Camanche and the only money we made was from the $5 late fee for anglers signing up the day of the tournament.” Because there were no tournament sponsors the first year, there were no prizes for the Angler of the Year. Emery Oxley was the first to win the honor but garnered only fame. The second year, 1982, Darrell Burroughs won the Angler of the Year honors and he won a Skeeter bass boat with a trailer but

“We wanted to establish a pro bass cir- cuit for the blue collar working class angler, make it an affordable one day tournament, and fish in our back yards,” said Calvin Bearry. The Bearry brothers, Calvin and Selby, and their good friend Jack Godsey formed West Coast Bass in 1981, the first pro bass circuit that was tailor-made for the northern anglers. “Our first tournament was in 1981 on Lake Camanche and we had no idea how many anglers would even participate,” said Calvin. “We ended up with 82 anglers. Our entry fee was $50 and our pay back was

24 SILVER EAGLES _ July 2011