The Northwest Bass – Banks Lake Qualifier was on April 13. Associate Guide and pro bass angler, Jon Blank fished this tournament. Jon and his partner Steve Potter won the Banks Lake Qualifier in 2012. This year however, was a different story.
84 teams blasted off at their chance to take top honors at the NW Bass Banks Lake Qualifier. The weather did its best to beat the anglers down with strong gusty winds blowing hard from the South West all day with temperatures running in the mid 50’s.
Water temperatures were in the mid 40’s and many anglers sought refuge in the Devils Punchbowl, Jones Bay or Osborn Bay to keep out of the gusty high winds. Some were brave enough to make the bone shattering run down to the south end of the lake were they enjoyed much of the south end to themselves.
At the end of the day the team of Paul Hall and Jarrid Turner ended up with top honors at the weigh in station with 18.02 total pounds of small mouth bass! As a result of their stellar efforts they took home a cool $10,526 dollars with $7,000 dollars of that coming from the Triton Gold incentives. The second place team of Jake Boomer and Jayson Bryan finished the day with a respective total of 17.4 pounds! Third place honors went to Jeremy Tripp and Charlie Lynch with 16.86 lbs.
Big fish of the tournament was caught by Ken Huttman and John Allen with a 5.18 pound largemouth! Unfortunately they did not pay into the big fish option pot which cost them some cold hard cash at the end of the day, as well as a lesson learned for next time. They still enjoyed a nice prize package from Sniper Lures and Lamiglas Rods.
I am sponsored by Peregrine Lodge and Rivers West, to name a few. This year NW Bass has a sponsor prize package for tournament anglers who beat our boat at each tournament throughout the season.
In the race to beat the Peregrine Lodge/Rivers West boat, the team of Trevor Windhorst and Bob Stepp took home a nice prize package of Rivers West apparel for their efforts of the day! Each team member enjoyed a Rivers West Cascade Mountain Jacket, Radial Hat and the ever so comfy Blisterless Socks! Visit Rivers West for more information about their outdoor clothing.
There was a total of 187 fish caught and released with a total pounds caught of 509.44. Total hours fished was 1,330 hours and all boaters made it back safely. Special thanks to Gary and Lisa Stiles as well as Jeff Priester for their efforts in making this another successful tournament event! Nice job Northwest Bass!
