Anglers land lunkers at Lure Safe Open Bass Tournament

BREWSTER -- One of the first public events held in the Quad City area since the COVID-19 lockdown was the Lure Safe Open Bass Tournament hosted by the Okanogan Valley Bass Club (OVBC) and sponsored by Mauk Fishing Stuff on Saturday, June 20.

Nearly two dozen boats turned out for the event despite the difficulties navigating the coronavirus restrictions and in so doing demonstrated two facts:

● Bass fishermen are a resilient bunch.

● The Columbia-Okanogan river system is home to some large bass.

Long time OVBC members Rick Lind and Ken Chaplin cast their way to first place and the $660 grand prize with a combined total weight of 17.38 pounds of largemouth bass. It was a back-to-back win for Chaplin who took top prize in the previous OVBC event.

Second place and $230 went to TJ and Taylor Merrell with 16.04 pounds of largemouth.

Steve Brown and Lance Manning won third place and $130 with 15.44 pounds of largemouth.

The team of Jason Robeck and Brad Baranouskas finished fourth for $90 with 15.24 pounds largemouth and 6.04 pounds of smallmouth bass. One of Baranouskas’s largemouth proved the whopper of the day and earned the angler another $330 for landing the biggest fish.

“It was an awesome sight to see competitive bass fishing being brought back to our great local waters,” said Mauk, who received a big shout out by the OVBC members. Special thanks are also extended to Amanda Kay for helping at the tournament.