1998 BASS Federation State Championship Report (March, 1998)

The 1998 B.A.S.S. Federation State Championship Bass Tournament for Texas was held on March 26, 27 and 28 at Lake O. H. Ivie near San Angelo. Forty-four bass clubs affiliated with B.A.S.S. (Bass Anglers Sportsman Society) Federation sent six of their best amateur anglers to the championship. The boat ramp at Concho Park launched approximately 132 boats with 264 anglers each morning for the three-day competition. Top -six Federation members Sam Fling, Bobby Barnes, Ray Rippstein and Clyde Wilkerson, and alternates Larry Glover and Todd Carnes represented the Bryan Bass Cub from our area.

Sam Fling, Bryan Bass Club's angler-of-the-year, finished in 2nd place accumulating 27.16 pounds of bass. With this state championship win, Sam qualified to be one of twelve amateur anglers representing Texas in the B.A.S.S. Federation Central Division Championship at Oklahoma's Eufaula Lake in June. With more winning performances, he could advance to the Wrangler/B.A.S.S. National Championship and eventually compete against the world's top 35 professional bass anglers as the Federation's top amateur angler in the prestigious BASS Masters Classic.

Lake O.H. Ivie has a 5 bass daily possession, 18 inch minimum size limit. The state championship tournament seemed more like a big-bass tournament with such a large minimum size. Most competitors caught plenty of bass each day, but it proved difficult to catch ones that were big enough to weigh in. Three days of very high winds offered additional challenges to boating and locating fish on the lake.

Overall, the Bryan Bass Club finished in an impressive 3rd place out of the state's top 44 clubs by weighing in 11 bass weighing 58.33 pounds (mostly Sam's catch). Other Bryan Bass Club members weighing in bass were Bobby Barnes with 15.20 pounds (for 18th place), Clyde Wilkerson with 8.20 and Larry Glover with 7.77 pounds. The Federation practices catch-and-release, all bass are returned to the lake after weigh-in.