The Leavenworth Bass Club (LBC) held its' annual end of season banquet on 23 January 2010 at the American Legion Post 23 in Leavenworth, KS. The LBC was formed 25 years ago by a group of avid anglers as a means to improve their bass angling skills through fellowship and the friendly exchange of bass catching techniques. They organized around the core functions of: stimulating public awareness of bass fishing as a major sport; promoting a full adherence to all conservation codes and water standards; providing state conservation departments organized moral, political, and physical support; and promoting youth fishing by fostering young people’s appreciation of outdoor recreation activities. The LBC is simply a group of avid outdoor enthusiasts that love Mother Nature and place a premium on the camaraderie they enjoy when together. They are bass anglers and their membership reflects a vast array of angling experience from successful regional tournament professionals to weekend recreational anglers. And above all they hold dear the freedoms of living in the greatest country in the world. Though organizing and conducting competitive bass tournaments is just part of the LBC’s annual activities, they did conduct 11 competitive bass tournaments on five different lakes catching and releasing over 1,095 lbs of bass in 2009.

Since its' humble beginings over 25 years ago, the club has grown significantly over the years into the largest BASS affiliated club in the state of Kansas. As the club grew, so did its'sense of civic responsibility. Over the years the LBC has undertaken numerous conservation projects, working directly with state conservation departments emplacing fish habitat in Leavenworth County Lake, Lost 80 Lake, and Hillsdale Reservoir. The LBC works hard to engage our youth in the outdoors and has organized and conducted numerous BASS sponsored Casting Kid’s events, hosted youth fishing derbies, and sponsored a junior bass club. As the adult club sponsor of the Blue Valley Bass Buster in Olathe, Ks; the LBC conducts seminars, provides boats for their tournaments, and club members take on mentorship roles for these up and coming young tournament anglers. Additionally, the LBC has been instrumental in supporting the Kansas Bass Club Federation Nation (KBCFN) kids programs by providing boats for all three Kansas state junior qualifying tournaments last year.

Even with all these annual activities, the LBC took on another meaningful project in 2009. They planned, organized, and hosted their 1st annual Fishing for Freedom event on Truman Reservoir. The LBC organized volunteer boaters from Kansas, Missouri, and Kentucky to take 30 wounded warriors and Global War on Terrorism veterans out for a day of tournament bass fishing. Thanks to private donations and numerous local and corporate sponsors, these warriors enjoyed great food, awesome participation prizes, great camaraderie, and trophies for the winners. The success of the 2009 event generated a tremendous amount of support and the LBC hopes to be able to take 100 warriors out in 2010.

The LBC awards banquet is an annual winter ritual where members, guest, and sponsors come together for an evening of fellowship to reflect on our blessing and freedoms, and to recognize members for their successes and contributions throughout the year. Following a buffet style meal, the 2009 LBC president, Steve Clark, presented certificates of appreciation and thanked the 2009 Club Officers, committee members, and sponsors.

The president then turned the floor over to the club’s 2009 tournament director, Bob Greene. Bob recognized the 2009 awardees for their accomplishments during the season with a custom club fishing shirt donated by Bass Pro Shops and embroidered by Cathy’s Creations.

2009 Leavenworth Bass Club Awardees

Angler of the Year/Guide of the year Bob Greene

Bob’s successes included:

Table Rock 1st Place

Mozingo 1st Place

Truman 1st Place

99.51 Pounds Weighed

Big Bass 4.95

Sponsors

Fishblaster Baits

Wired2fish

Mikes Probass Gear

Gandy Custom Tackle

Gemini Sport Marketing

Whopper Baits

Transducer Armor

Fitzwater Jigs

Iguana Grafix

2nd place Larry Stoafer

Larry’s successes included:

Table Rock 1st Place

Truman 1st Place

Pomme 2nd Place

81.82 Pounds Weighed

Big Bass 4.57

Sponsors

Secret Weapon Lures

7-24 Outdoors

Crooked Creek Tackle

Blackwater International Inc.

3rd place Bill Gevedon

Bill’s successes included:

Table Rock 1st Place

Pomme 1st Place

Truman 2nd Place

84.20 Pounds Weighed

Big Bass 5.6

4th place Bill Horvath

Bill’s successes included:

Table Rock 2nd Place (2)

Mozingo 3rd Place

66.37 Pounds Weighed

Big Bass 4.15

5th place Ken Hackworth

Kenny’s successes included:

Table Rock 3rd Place

Mozingo 1st Place

83.58 Pounds Weighed

Big Bass 5.86

6th place/Co-AOY Mark Luna

Mark's successes include:

Table Rock 4th Place

Mozingo 4th Place

53.74 Pounds Weighed

Big Bass 5.65

7th place/Boater Big Bass Randy Kenton

Randy’s successes included:

Smithville 1st Place

Table Rock 6th Place

48.02 Pounds Weighed

Big Bass 6.02

8th place Ray Hillebrand

Ray’s successes included:

Table Rock 7th Place

Truman 9th Place

20.56 Pounds Weighed

Big Bass 4.73

9th place Craig Schale

Craig’s successes included:

Table Rock 10th Place (2)

Truman 7th Place

13.17 Pounds Weighed

Big Bass 4.98

10th place Bob Jorgenson

Bob’s successes included:

Mozingo 1st Place

Truman 3rd Place

59.79 Pounds Weighed

Big Bass 4.57

Co-angler Big Bass of the Year Danny Lee

Danny’s successes included:

Smithville 3rd Place

Mozingo 2nd Place (2)

57.91 Pounds Weighed

6.71 Big Bass

Rookie of the Year Carl Chasteen

Carl’s successes included:

Mozingo 3rd Place

Truman 6th Place

41.37 Pounds Weighed

Big Bass 4.48lbs

2009 Sportsman of the Year Steve Clark

The Sportsman of the Year is the most coveted LBC award and is elected by secret ballot at the October meeting. The results of the Sportsman of the Year election are not announced until the award is presented at the annual banquet. The definition for a sportsman of the year is not precise. But he is not necessarily the best fisherman; he doesn’t have to have the biggest or fastest boat or the most expensive equipment. He does not have to be the most popular or best looking member of the club. But, the Sports Man of the Year contributes. He is active in all the clubs activities and gives more than he receives. He willingly shares his angling knowledge and is respected for his opinions, attitude, and love of the sport. He is the member that we look up to, not out of jealousy, but with admiration.

2008 Leavenworth Bass Club Awardees

Front Row left to right – Ray Hillebrand, Danny Lee, Bob Jorgensen, Randy Kenton, Bill Horvath

2nd Row left to right – Steve Clark, Larry Stoafer, Bob Greene, Mark Luna, Kenny Hackworth, Bill Gevedon

After the awards ceremony, things settled down for the night’s big attraction, a raffle of numerous prizes donated by sponsors or purchased by the club. Jeff Irvin was the big winner. Jeff won the week long Canadian fishing trip donated by Big Cannon Lodge. Additionally, Travis Perret won a three night stay at Fish Hook Resort on beautiful Table Rock Lake donated by Richard and Brenda Cornell. The banquet was a wonderful success and was only made possible by our generous sponsor’s support. We sincerely appreciate them and will endeavor to maintain their support in the future by not only providing excellent and enjoyable fishing opportunities for both experienced and novice anglers but also by giving back to the community.

If interested in joining the Leavenworth Bass Club, you can contact any of our club officers listed on our webpage www.theleavenworthbassclub.org for additional information.