B.A.S.S. Reporter’s Notebook: December 6, 2011
Randy Howell’s charity boat lift; Roumbanis and Remitz in South Africa; Browning on the Red; Glass or metal?; and ... High praise for the third stop of the 2012 Bassmaster Elite Series
by BASS News
Dec. 06, 2011 - Celebration, FL... Randy Howell’s charity boat lift: On Friday, Dec. 2, at 10 a.m., Randy Howell watched his 3,500-pound bass boat and trailer leave the ground. Suspended from the boom of a crane, the rig inched upward. Then it stopped, men stepped underneath, reached up, and attached a blue and white sign.
"This boat could be yours," the top of the sign read.
The lift continued. About 20 feet up, it stopped again, swaying slightly above the wide, grassy shoulder along busy Highway 280 in Birmingham, Ala. The sign flapped and cracked in the breeze.
The stunt was performed to entice people to stop and buy a $100 chance on the Triton-Mercury rig Howell used in the 2011 Bassmaster Elite Series. All raffle proceeds benefitted King’s Home, an Alabama charity that was also Howell’s boat wrap sponsor for the 2011 season.
American Drilling and Crane Service of Birmingham, a King’s Home supporter, suggested the stunt to boost raffle ticket sales. Howell said when he was approached with the idea to suspend the rig; his first question was about insurance. Reassured, he agreed to it. When the day came to see his boat swing, Howell said, he wasn’t overly anxious.
"It was pretty cool. They strapped it up with spacer bars underneath the bunks of the trailer. Nice and easy, they picked it up into the air," Howell said. "It was a little scary, but I knew this was way more simple than what those guys do every day."
The airborne boat and the guy wearing a professional angler’s jersey on the side of the road drew the expected attention. Howell said some people stopped and bought tickets, some asked for autographs, some just gawked.
About 5 p.m., the boat was safely lowered without a scratch, thankfully. Howell also was thankful to the 906 people who bought a raffle ticket. Although the boat-on-a-crane promotion was a good final push, it didn’t sell all those tickets. The majority were bought over the course of several months by people all over. Many are from Alabama, others from other parts of the United States. But tickets were also purchased by anglers in Puerto Rico, Canada, Italy and Spain, Howell said.
Online marketing efforts worked, but word of mouth within the vast fishing community over the last four to five days made the raffle an unqualified success.
"It just goes to show that it’s hard to find an angler who doesn’t have a big heart. They’re good family people, and they heard that this was for kids and moms who are hurtin’ and need help, especially now at Christmastime," Howell said.
The winner of the fully-loaded rig was Steve Griffin of Sipsey, Ala., a pharmacist Howell happens to know.
"I talked to him a couple of months ago about a ticket," Howell said. "He bought one, and then he got a lot of other people to buy tickets, too. He became a big supporter in his area."
The winning ticket was pulled from a certified drum on Dec. 4 in conjunction with a King’s Home fundraiser event, Kampfire for the King. Part of the event was a fishing rodeo for kids and adults. Howell said he and his wife, Robin, helped bait hooks, make casts and unhook the panfish. Kids received awards on the event’s stage.
"Having their name called out and going up on stage was as big to them as the Bassmaster Classic is to us," Howell said.
Other volunteers included the fishing teams of Hayden High School, Thompson High School of Alabaster, and the University of Alabama. Mark’s Outdoors, a big retailer in Birmingham and manufacturer Daiwa, donated tackle for the derby participants to use.
Roumbanis and Remitz in South Africa: At the invitation of their sponsor El Grande Lures, two Bassmaster Elite Series pros are in South Africa on a 10-day trek that is part safari and part fishing trip.
Fred Roumbanis and Derek Remitz are touring several areas of South Africa, including a bass hot spot and a lake that holds tiger fish. Roumbanis said the trip is in conjunction with filming for a TV program, American Invasion.
"El Grande has been my sponsor for over a year. When I signed the deal, I had no idea it would lead to adventure in South Africa," Roumbanis said. "I know the fishing is incredible there. It’s one of those underrated places."
A few years ago, Roumbanis was invited to a tournament in Spain. He traveled to Mexico in late 2009 for the promotional filming of an orphanage there, and spent some time on a 100-bass-a-day lake.
"I never dreamed a fishing career would take me all over the world," he said the day before he left on his African trip.
Browning on the Red: There are good reasons why Stephen Browning of Hot Springs, Ark., is a pro to keep your eye on in the Feb. 24-26 Bassmaster Classic on the Red River out of Shreveport-Bossier City, La.
One: He’s a self-proclaimed "river rat". The Arkansas River was his proving grounds, and the ways of this river are an ingrained part of his fishing expertise.
"There are some little things I grew up doing, as far as fishing shallow for prespawn fish, that I feel like will be an advantage, something I can capitalize on," the Bassmaster Elite Series pro said after two days scouting the Red in late November.
Two: Only three hours by car, Hot Springs isn’t far from Shreveport-Bossier City. Browning thrives on the idea of supportive friends and fans being there with him.
"You get a lot of support when the event is closer to home," he said.
There’s an underlying third reason: redemption. Browning did not qualify for the 2009 Bassmaster Classic, the first time the Classic was booked for the Red River. For a river rat, missing that first Red River Classic was, he said, "disappointing, even more so because it was close to home."
Browning’s recent reconnaissance of the Red was the first time he’d been on the river since 2002. He went primarily to update himself on navigation and changes in the riverbed. A recent rain muddied the water, but that’s that kind of river condition he can handle, he said.
Browning will be appearing in his eighth Classic. His highest Classic finish was seventh in 1997 on Alabama’s Logan Martin Lake, the Coosa River impoundment on which he took his sole Bassmaster tournament title in 1998. His Bassmaster career record includes 25 top-10 finishes.
Glass or metal? The stumps and shifting sandbars of the Red River have Bassmaster Classic qualifiers weighing the pros and cons of glass vs. metal.
On the one hand, an aluminum boat with a jet drive can get an angler into Red River backwaters that are not accessible by a fiberglass bass boat, which is heavier and has a lower unit open to damage. On the other hand, the traditional bass boat rides easier and much faster, and its size and features make it an all-around better tool.
Another consideration: at a high-profile event like the Bassmaster Classic, anglers want to showcase the sponsors connected with their main rig and its wrap.
But then again, a new and expensive wrap job that’s gouged and peeling from the season’s first event will look dog-eared for the entire season.
Earlier this week, Classic qualifier and Bassmaster Elite Series pro Randy Howell of Springville, Ala., was packing his jet-drive aluminum rig for a trip to the Red River.
"It’s a good scouting boat. I can run around and jump stumps, and not tear up a nice fiberglass boat," he said.
He said he would consider using the metal boat at the Classic, but conditions for the Feb. 24-26 tournament out of Shreveport-Bossier City, La., would dictate that decision.
"If there was a reason I thought I could win using it, I would do it," he said.
Howell guessed that like him, at least four or five of the 49 Classic competitors would have an aluminum boat in reserve, parked somewhere in the host cities of Shreveport and Bossier City. (Classic anglers can have only one boat each in the official boatyard.)
But, not Elite pro Stephen Browning of Hot Springs, Ark. A self-described "river rat" who scouted the Red for two days in late November. Browning didn’t take a tin rig with him, nor does he plan to have one at the Classic.
"I feel like an aluminum rig limits what you can do," he said. "Any time that you chose to do that, it’s an extreme gamble. You don’t have to have an aluminum boat to win the Classic. Skeet proved that to everybody."
Skeet Reese won the 2009 Classic on the Red River, outfishing several anglers who ran aluminum rigs.
"I hope everybody but me brings one this time," Browning said.
High praise for the third stop of the 2012 Bassmaster Elite Series: "Bull Shoals...could be the Amistad of the Ozarks." ? Mike McClelland of Bella Vista, Ark., during an interview on Tommy Sanders’ Livewell show on Bassmaster.com
About B.A.S.S.
For more than 40 years, B.A.S.S. has served as the authority on bass fishing. The organization advances the sport through advocacy, outreach and an expansive tournament structure while connecting directly with the passionate community of bass anglers through its Bassmaster media vehicles.
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