West Coast Bass events attracted the very best bass fishermen from all walks of life.
was incredibly popular, partly because of the extensive media exposure it received and partly because Ranger would offer a boat for both the pro and the amateur champions as prizes. Ranger also supported the events by bringing out 35 to 40 brand new Rangers for the qualifiers to fish out of during the
event. That kind of sponsor support by Ranger made these events very special. The most popular West Coast Bass Classics were held in Old Sacramento on the River, and of course the one in Redding at the convention center, where we drew over 6,000 spectators. At that event we held the
first Western drive-thru weigh in, pulling the anglers through the building to the scales in the boats with sponsor trucks. A special thank you must be given to Don Lee, the Ranger rep, and the Ranger dealers, especially Ron Crews and Bob Holloway, who supported our Classic concept by selling those West Coast Bass Classic event boats. Pro-Ams were a huge success. Ranger was now on board to offer prize boats to the amateurs as well, as we were creating future boat buyers. Young non-boater anglers like Mike Reynolds and even Skeet Reese would soon show up at the top of the leader board, and stand out as up and coming pros. I re- member a story that Phil Mitsueda told me about winning the amateur prize boat from West Coast Bass and selling it to start his now iconic business in Redding: Phil’s Props and Tackle. I love that story…we made a differ- ence in ways that are hard to measure. West Coast Bass also originated the first Forrest Wood Open, to honor the legend himself. Forrest never failed to fly out, which made it the special event that it was through the years. Forrest and his wife Nina, along with Ranger boats, inspired the tradition of including the fishermen’s wives in the event.
32 SILVER EAGLES _ July 2011