2004 Citgo BASS National Federation Championships
A Look Back,

Wil Wegman,
OBF Conservation and Media Director

Canadian CastingKid Champ Shauni Voisin Qualifies For World Championships - the Bassmasters Classic

The biggest news for Canada coming from the 2004 Citgo BASS National Federation Championships April 22-24 in Oklahoma, had to be the performance of nine year old Shauni Voisin during the CastingKids event. Shauni beat out all Northern Division contenders in the 7-10 age class to capture first place. Even more remarkable - she now becomes the first Canadian CastingKid to qualify for the National CastingKids Championships event that will be held this summer during the Bassmasters Classic in North Carolina. Here the Teeswater Ontario resident will compete against some of the best young casters in North America for thousands of dollars in scholarship monies.

Interestingly enough even though she is only nine, this was her second appearance at semi-final event. Herb Quan OBF secretary was down in Oklahoma for the BASS Federation presidents' meetings and helped run the CastingKids events. We caught up with Herb to hear first hand what he thought of Shauni's win and of the Nationals.

"Last year, down in Tuscaloosa Alabama, she almost won when it came down to a castoff (tie for 1st) but ended up in 2nd place. At the time, she mentioned that she had problems seeing the target clearly and basically was casting by memory at a blur of blue of the target's surface. This year she wore glasses and had no problem seeing the targets she was casting at. I was very proud, almost emotional when her name was called as the winner". Herb concluded by commenting " Shauni is one cool cucumber when she 's in competition and the entire Ontario BASS Federation can be sure she will make us all proud at the Bassmasters Classic this summer."

Back home in Canada, we caught up with Shauni and interviewed her about the victory and trip to Oklahoma. When asked how she thought she would do in the competition, she replied "I thought I would do ok but never expected to win. All I wanted was to have a good time and meet more kids down there. My goal was 150 points. I was told to aim high because it would take a high score to do well." Asked about how often she practices, Shauni responded "I practice for 30 minutes to one hour everyday. I was using the school gym until basketball started. Then I had to find somewhere else. One of my Dad's friends let us use his horse barn. Everyday he picks me up after school and takes me out there to practice." What about all the pressure of competition in front of the thousands of people who watched these CastingKids events in Oklahoma? "I pretend that the crowds aren't there. I let on that I am in the barn with my Dad and don't allow the pressure to bother me. There isn't anything special that I am doing. I just practice a lot with my Dad. He makes it fun.

About the World Championship CastingKids event this summer in North Carolina, Shauni said that she hopes her whole family can come down again like they did for the Nationals. "I know that my Dad, Mom and older sister, Samantha are going but I'm not sure about my little sister, Sierra yet. They like to watch and support me." What about her future and some advice for other kids who might want to become casting champs? Shauni said "I hope to keep competing until I am 14. I love fishing, even ice fishing. My first day of open water fishing this year was Saturday May1, 2004 when I competed in a local derby and won again. I can't wait to go fishing. We usually go every weekend in the summer. I take my rod so I can fish where we camp every year. The best advice I can tell anyone is to practice as much as you can and have fun."

Kudo's should also go out to David MacInnis, who was our older CastingKids contender. He's from the Barrie Jr, Bassmasters and member of the this year's Jr. Team Ontario going down to fish the Junior Bassmaster Championships on Lake St. Clair at the end of June.

Vermont Federation Angler Dies in Oklahoma During The Nationals

The saddest part of the Nationals had to be the sudden death of the Vermont contender Ray Sprano who died in his sleep sometime Friday night or Saturday morning. He did not answer his wakeup call and his wife found him in bed. Herb explained that "The BASS Federation reps had a 6:30 a.m. meeting on Saturday to meet ESPN people. Don Corkran, National Federation Director got the boys together before the meeting and announced the sad news. Don was clearly shaken and was very emotional. The contenders were also notified prior to blastoff. OBF contender Jamie Janzen, at the weigh-in, gave the most touching speech in honour of Ray Sprano. Jamie's gesture was pure class and Ontario should be proud not only of his remarkable talent as an angler but also his humanity."

BASS paid tribute to Ray Sprano prior to the final weigh-in with a moment of silence which included having a black SUV pulling Ray's boat with a black shroud on the front casting seat. Across the seat where Ray would have been sitting on that final day of competition, there were a dozen yellow roses and his fishing rods were crossed leaning on the console. It was a very touching and a class act. At the award dinner that night, sponsors and fishermen and others spontaneously collected and donated over $6,000 for his widow."

Federation President's Meetings:

The busy meetings of Federation Presidents and BASS/ESPN staff covered a wide variety of topics ranging from sponsorship programs to the 5 year plan. However, according to Herb, "These were the most positive meetings of the Nationals that I have ever attended. I think the Federation and ESPN/BASS are now on the same page and we are continuing to move forward rather remaining fixated on unproductive matters. BASS/ESPN is realizing that there is such great value in the Federation and have therefore even brought back one of its strongest supporters - Ray Scott. Ray has been hired to promote BASS and boost its membership around the world. One of BASS/ESPN five year program's is to increase the number of Federation members and there might not be a better man alive to do that then the founder of BASS - Ray Scott."

There will be an announcement of a 'weekend' one day Sunday draw tournament trail geared toward Federation members. Whether it comes to Ontario is not known at this time however the reaction from most federation presidents was very positive.

On an issue near and dear to Canadian bass-tournament junkies, Herb reported that "Don Corkran addressed the issue of the Bassmasters show coming back to Canadian TV at one of the meetings. Although he is working to bring TV's hottest bass tournament coverage back to Canada, it's way up in the food chain of ESPN as to whether this happens or not." Herb explained in more detail that "I get the impression that the Canadian affiliate and the CRTC are more of roadblock then ESPN is. Apparently it comes down to money as it sounds like the affiliate may be asking for too much to show Bassmasters TV here. Of course, Canadian content rules of CRTC don't help matters either. Don did say we will be able to see the Classic but how much of it or on which network it will be aired on is unknown at this time."

Jamie Janzen Does Canadians Proud

Ever since the Ontario BASS Federation has been sending its representative to fish the Federation Nationals, there has not been a Canadian contender yet who was not totally impressed by the magnitude of this event. At only one step away to the Citgo Bassmasters Classic, presented by Busch Beer, the Nationals have become a huge show in and amongst themselves and the anglers fishing it have been treated first class all the way. Jamie's impression of the Nationals were indeed like those other Canadian anglers before him who have been fortunate enough to make it this far ... but like them, Jamie had some unique experiences all his own.

* Although the fishing was still remarkably tough during the event ... it was far better than during the pre-fishing period when flooded conditions practically made it next to impossible to catch bass.

* Jamie was impressed by all the sponsor boats that the anglers had for their use, however he was also amongst the first group of National anglers in about two decades to see these bass boats being pulled by a variety of vehicle manufacturers. Normally, nothing but former sponsor -Chevy Trucks would be pulling these boats. After Chevy pulled out, BASS was dependant on local volunteers to pull the boats with their own personal vehicles. Thanks to a dedicated Oklahoma Federation, this was possible.

* Day one of the competition Jamie had a total of 6 bites - he caught one keeper at 2.04 lbs and two shorts. Bass were hitting real short in the chocolate milk colored water.

* Day two he had 9 bites but again most of the fish were hitting real short. He had two that didn't measure.

* Day 3, Upon hearing the news just before blast-off of his friend's untimely death Jamie really found it tough to go out and concentrate on fishing. "It was a very difficult day", says Jamie who blanked the final day.

* Of his friend Ray Sprano, Jamie could only say that he was a great guy and that they got to know each other back during the pre-fishing days.

* A notable experience that Jamie won't soon forget were the continual threats of tornado's - including the time everyone staying at the hotel had to come down from their rooms to meet in the lobby before heading down to the basement for their protection from an oncoming tornado. Leaning up against a wall, Jamie and the guests waited it out until they could return to their rooms safely.

Despite the poor fishing this year for the vast majority of competitors, Jamie is anxious to try and make a return trip to a future Citgo BASS National Federation Championships event. He will continue to fish hard back home in his Catherines Bassmaster club tournaments and the Hank Gibson Ontario BASS Federation Qualifier. As an alternate for the 2004 Ontario Team traveling to South Dakota for the BASS Northern Divisional, in September, Jamie may very well get that opportunity to fish the Nationals sooner rather than later.