I was in one of those four boats in the early days of Illinois Bass 25. Looking back, I am reminded of a proverb that went something like this, “Despise not the days of small begins.” I sure have enjoyed watching the growth and development of this well oiled machine. Most things start small, but Bass 25 is a pattern of operation to take note of.
That year they printed up posters announcing the new club and put them in every tackle store, pub and gas station that would let them. The sign up meeting was set for a Thursday night early in February of 2001. The hope was for just 30 teams to sign up. Well, Thursday came and seven teams signed up. Seven! That night they sure went home with their tails between their legs.
The next morning, Lynn and Starr exchanged e-mails trying to figure out their next step, or if there even was one. Starr e-mailed Jeff Lampe, an outdoor writer for a local paper, and he put two or three sentences in the Sunday paper about the club. That Monday, 5 new teams signed up and by Friday night they had 42 teams registered. Lynn e-mailed Starr on Monday and remarked he thought they had created a monster.
In 2001, Illinois Bass 25 Club fished five points tournaments, two fundraiser events and one classic. The cash a club takes to the classic is, by industry standards, a measure of how well a club has done during the year.
The first 2001 Classic they paid out $1,875.00. In 2002 they recruited a few sponsors and added a 50/50 drawing as well as 10 new teams. The Classic cash prize for 1st through 10th was around $4,000.00. Lynn stepped down as director in 2003 and Starr assumed the role as director. In 2003 thru 2005, membership continued to grow as well as sponsorship efforts, and in their 2005 Classic, members fished for $8,800.00. They reached a level that would be hard to pass without some new ideas. The club had grown too big for the lakes they fished. New plans were implemented and they were off to accomplish new goals.
Starr set a goal of a $10,000.00. Classic, and also that nobody would pay to fish the Classic by 2008. The new ideas came in the fall and winter between the 2005 and 2006 season. Steve Friedrich, a club member since 2001, brought up the idea of a club raffle to raise Classic cash. Well, the raffle went as planned and during the 2006 tournament season, Bass 25 club met and exceeded its lofty goal of a $10,000.00 classic where no one paid to compete. They raised over $12,000.00 in Classic cash and gave away an impressive total of $21,000.00 in cash and prizes. Bass 25 members thought this would be the Classic by which all others would be judged, but in the 2007 Classic, Bass 25 would pay out a total of $30,000.00 in cash and prizes with the first place team taking home $6600.
At one point they asked themselves how far they would go with this. Should they put their feet on the gas or stomp on the brakes? With their membership closed in 2007, they turned away 30 teams wanting to sign up and fish Illinois Bass 25 Club. In response, they changed their name to Bass 25 Peoria, dropped the confines of Illinois and set plans to start a sister club in nearby Bloomington. Starr’s assistant directors Tom Cassel and Domenic Theison, both from nearby Bloomington took on the task of cloning Bass 25. Bass 25 Bloomington will be accepting new members for the 2008 tournament season. Their sign up meeting will be held February 2, 2008 at 9:00a.m. Shooters Lounge, 503 Prospect Rd.
Bloomington, IL.
You may contact
Tom Cassel at :
ib25blm@frontiernet.net or call 309-275 4555 in the evenings.
Bass 25 intends to add other sister clubs throughout the state and will be searching for likeminded individuals in Illinois in 2008.
Bass25.com will be opening soon in late January 2008 and who knows what the future will hold.
Article by Don Fraim |
