The Champion Tournaments

Not long after the Gutweiler boat deal, John called me and wanted to start a Champion owners tournament, and he wanted to run it out of Pontiac. I was all for it! Thus the First Annual Champion Bass Tournament was held in October of 1984. What an incredible event! The entry was very simple: If you owned a Champion bass boat you could enter, and there was no fee.

An early morning take-off.

One of the first tournament weigh-ins.

There were 205 boats in the first tournament, and the planning had only begun earlier that summer. Over the next few years the tournament grew to a record-breaking tournament with 816 boats in 1991. The planning for the next year's event would begin immediately after the current one ended. We would have a meeting with Champion to discuss how the tournament went and how we could improve it. Champion not only sponsored the greatest tournament, but the customer support was amazing.  Factory representatives from Champion were there to tend to any problems owners had with their boats. Reps from Trailer's, Inc. (now E Z Loader) were there walking around checking trailers and fixing any problems they found. There were also support teams from Mercury Marine, OMC, and all the electronics people. It was a first class event.

Awards ceremony. John Storie, left, and Bill Pace, right, walking off stage.

We, along with the help of Verne Cubbage, raised money to help offset the cost of the banquet that was free for all participants. Verne sold advertising specialties and printing. The tournament was much larger than our small resort area could handle. so we reached out to surrounding areas for support. We sold ads around a map of the lake to resorts and restaurants and marinas so the participants could see where they would be staying in relation to where the tournament was held.

Verne Cubbage's tournament map in 1991.

In order to make as many boat slips available as possible, we would ask our annual stall customers, primarily pontoon owners, if they would allow us to pull their boats out for the tournament in exchange for a free winterization. We also built a special weigh-in platform that would allow the boats to swing by and weigh their fish without having to leave the water. Our crew would spend a solid two weeks leading up to the tournament getting ready and then another two weeks after putting things back to normal.

One of the earlier weigh-ins.

Our local fishermen did quite well. Doc Klayman and Gary Arthaud took second place twice. They won boats in the second and third tournaments. Lots of other prizes were taken home by other participants.

The winners of the second annual tournament. Recognize those two guys in the lower right corner?
Gary Arthaud, far right front, and Doc Klayman next to him.

Eventually the ownership changed at Champion, and the tournament was broken down into other areas and left Pontiac. We were sorry to see that record breaking event go.

Written by Cap'n T Morgan