A Gathering Of Eagles, Page 25

A Gathering Of Eagles, Page 25

TOC anglers to use during the tourna- ment. His first West Coast Classic was on Clear Lake and he had Ranger boats with Yamaha motors, but the only trolling motor sponsor he could get was Pflueger. The boats and motors ran great but most of the trolling motors broke down on day one. Viviano called Pflueger and had a pallet of trolling motors sent overnight air freight. Well some of the troll motors broke again, but the tournament pressed on and it was a good event. Steve Wilson won and he really wasn’t a touring pro, he worked in Southern Cal at a marine dealership. The second West Coast Classic was on Lake Mead and Jerry Tilton won the tournament. It was difficult for the West Coast crew to get the anglers and staff to Lake Mead, so there was never another West Coast Classic held any place but in the north. WON BASS came on the scene in 1988 with Harvey Naslund as tournament direc- tor, Hal Huggins as weighmaster and Bill Rice and George Kramer as editors. The veteran team was all from the original Western Bass circuit and Naslund was a great promoter and salesman who was going to do his best to get a big chunk of the Northern California market. In 1988 the WON BASS entry fee was $300 and limited to 150 boats and a total of 300 anglers. The cash prize money was $10,000 for first, $7,000 for second, $6,000 for third, $5,000 for fourth, $3,000 for fifth through 10th, 11th through 20th got $1,000, and 21st through 30th received $500. The WON BASS claim to fame was the organization’s revival of the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open paid more to the winner in those days than the Bassmaster Classic winner. It was then and still is the most prestigious bass fishing tournament in the West. There was a great deal of competition between the WON BASS and the West Coast Bass fishing circuits. Throughout the late 80’s and into the 90’s Ranger boats gave away over 20 boats a year to the winners of both circuits. That’s how top anglers like Gary Dobyns, John Murray, and Dave Gliebe added all those boats to their tournament resumes. Operation Bass rolled into town with the Redman circuit in the late 80’s and put many of the elite northern anglers on a na- tional level. Anglers Mike Reynolds and Jay

Gary Okasako, pictured receiving an award from Fenwick’s Dee Thomas, won the 1983 West Coast Bass Angler of the Year title. WON BASS worked hard to regain market share in the north state. Rich Bryant, bottom center, took over West Coast Bass and brought in Larry Viviano.

July 2011 _ SILVER EAGLES 25