GLENOMA — The Coastal Bassmasters tournament season ended last Sunday in the same place that it began. To name a place, the amiable anglers were congregating in east Lewis County along the shores of Riffe Lake.
A dozen die-hard, fun-loving lip rippers from Southwest Washington spent the weekend plying the placid waters of the dam-spawned lake. Their lines were cast in hopes of determining not only the weekend’s luckiest angler but also the quasi-prestigious distinction of Angler of the Year, the winner of which gets their name on a plaque and gets to hold onto it all year long. It is the gold plated championship belt of bass fishing.
To hear them tell it, the members of the Coastal Bassmasters club are just a jovial bunch of pals. When they gather around the campfire they are just friends who happen to own boats and fishing poles while also enjoying the gilded allures of camper and trailer travel in the the great state of Washington.
But in the light of day with a little cash on the line and the barbed hook of fisherman’s pride attached, well, let’s just say that the friendly waters can turn a bit murky.
Lee Bunnell is the president of Coastal Bassmasters. He is also their tournament director and was Saturday’s leading fishermen with 15.05 fish on the scale. On Sunday Bunnell’s luck was nearly as good, until he fell asleep on his boat, lost track of time and failed to make it to the dock by the 4 p.m. deadline. While their president made his way to shore, the rest of the club alternated between relief that their friend was safe and curiosity as to what the penalty would be.
The official club rules, according to secretary treasurer and 24-year member Eric Roos, stipulated that a penalty would be implemented for the first 15 minutes of tardiness. Any time beyond that meant Bunnell’s catch of the day would not count toward his total.
When Bunnell finally reached the dock at 4:30 p.m. it seemed his luck had unalterably changed, but then someone proposed that perhaps the club could take a vote to allow their leader back into to the contest. In an honest moment that revealed his true leadership qualities Bunnell steadfastly refused the offer and disqualified himself. As official scale master Bunnell could tell that the risk of making waves in the club outweighed any profits he forfeited.
While battening down the hatches on his boat in the parking lot Roos extolled the virtues of the club’s president.
“He’s a real go-getter type guy,”explained Roos. “He wears the pants in the club. I’m just the secretary treasurer.”
Another club member chimed in on cue, “The rest of us are just characters.”
Out on the water all of the characters are serious. Jerry Hovis has been tournament fishing for 32 years and said that Sunday might be his last.
“I’ve already got this boat sold,” said Hovis, who plans to keep on fishing closer to his home in Westport.
When it comes to fishing tactics, Hovis considers himself a plunker.
“To me, patience is the name of the game,” explained the mustachioed bassman.
Hovis likes to fish the steep bank drop offs of the main river channel with his artificial bait and he’s always on the lookout for the infamous “wolf packs” of aggressive medium size fish that reportedly devour anything in their path.
“You wouldn’t want to be a smaller fish around them cause they’ll eat you right up!”
For the day Hovis hauled in more than 15 fish, but only five were legal size for the tournament—which was both catch and release and required fish to be 12 inches long. “There’s a lot of 11-inchers out there,” said Hovis, who once caught a 6.2 pound smallmouth bass at Riffe.
On Sunday the weather was calm with no wind, warm sun and a slight haze over the water. “I call this froggy weather,” said Hovis. “I don’t know if the fish like it, but I sure do.”
Aside from the weather, Hovis was not fond of the other main lake condition. On the heels of this summer’s drought Riffe Lake is down about 40 feet from its maximum capacity. Stumps and rocks are exposed or lurk barely submerged all around the lake. Hovis said the lake is about as low as he’s ever seen it. To put it another way, the lake was about 15 feet below where he likes it for fishing.
Despite the froggy weather and low water Hovis managed to have himself quite a day. The five fish he caught weighed more than any other bounty brought to the scales on Sunday, and included a 4.2 pound smallmouth bass that won him Fish of the Day honors, along with $100.
Bunnell would have had the day’s largest catch and run away with the tournament asleep at the wheel if he hadn’t actually fallen asleep at the reel. After calibrating the final tallies, Hovis and Larry Bosler of Elma wound up co-champions of the tournament with a total haul of 19.05 pounds.
As secretary treasurer, Roos was in charge of distributing the split pot prize money. “We have a great time. We really do,” explained the Grays Harborite. “It’s all for fun. There’s no real big money it.”
The Angler of the Year honor is awarded on a NASCAR-like points scale so, despite failing to medal at Riffe, Roos was able to take home the coveted plaque. The newly anointed Angler of the Year noted that Riffe is the Coastal Bassmasters’ traditional tournament-season-closing lake.
“This lake has a lot of nice things going for it,” added Roos. “The fishing just seems to be getting better and better.”
Co-champion Bosler had a different take on the lake, saying, “I prefer to think that it’s actually us that’s getting better.”
Membership to the Coastal Bassmasters costs $60 per year and the group is currently accepting new members. Information on tournaments and membership can be found on their website at http://coastalbassmasters.webs.com, and email inquiries can be sent to, coastalbassmasters@yahoo.com.
