Joining a bass club is a life changing experience!

I have had the honor of being a part of a couple of different bass clubs for many years now. When I was 15 years old I joined a club called the ‘Dakota Sportsmen Society‘. It was a small club located in rural South Dakota with about 10-15 members. My dad and my uncle’s were a part of this club and I couldn’t wait until I was old enough to join and see what being part of a fishing club was all about! It was everything that I had wanted it to be, talking about fishing, learning about fishing, getting involved in the community, getting to know new people, and of course actually going out and going fishing! Those are the best parts of being a member in a club. When I started college and I learned that the internet was a really valuable tool for fishing. Using this valuable tool I was able to locate a bass club called the “Hub City Bass Busters,” located in Aberdeen , SD. I contacted the president and became a member. I was anxious for the first club event to learn new ways and tricks to catch bass. By joining that club not only did I become a more improved smallmouth bass angler, I met some new friends that I have shared many great fishing and hunting trips together ever since. A few years down the road it was getting harder and harder to make it to club meetings and other club events in South Dakota. To make matters worse, the state that I was living in did not have a bass club in the whole state of North Dakota, Uggg! What is a crazy bass fishing addict to do in a situation such as this? Simple, create one. In 2006 the Badlands Bass Bandits bass fishing club was created, it’s first tournament had ten members and was held at Raleigh Reservoir. Since then the bass club has been growing steadily ever since. But why? Why would joining a bass fishing club be so great? What is the point? The simplest answer would be “join our club and find out.” But for those of you who have never been part of a club here is some reasons why joining the club can be life changing.

The first reason that comes to mind would be meeting new people who love to fish like you do. When you meet club members for the first time it isn’t difficult at all to start up a conversation. Just start talking about fishing and that will start up a conversation that won’t quite until the sun goes down. Club members conversing with each other starts to build the main foundation of a club. It creates such a positive and friendly based atmosphere that will carry on the water during club tournaments and other club events. Do all clubs have this? No, not all, but the Badlands Bass Bandits do. It is a fact that our club helps other members load and unload boats during fishing events, it is a fact that our club tells other tournament anglers what the fish are biting on during club tournaments, and that is just the beginning. Since this club has started all of the members like to visit and share ideas with each other that people stay well over an hour or two after each event is done. The bass bandits also have a program called “spill the beans” after each tournament event. Spill the beans is a moment after the tournament awards are presented, the top three anglers of the tournament event have to share what they used and did to catch the winning fish. This is a huge learning curve for everyone, even for the winners of that tournament.
Another great side of joining a fishing club, is the friendship that you create with other people on and off the water. Our club camping weekend that is held annually is a huge hit. Club members bring food for the pot luck after day one of our tournament for that weekend and we all feast and visit. One of the top events for that evening is the “ladder ball” championship, where club members team up with each other and try to be the top dog of the game! It’s gotten so popular we had to start making trophies for this event. Another example of friendship would be my Christmas experience for this year.

I was traveling to South Dakota for Christmas and got stuck in Lemmon due to a bad snow storm. Immediately after I checked into my hotel room there was a knock at the door. When I opened the door there stood Mike Wentz with a box full of his wife’s Christmas cookies…yummy! Later on that night the gave me a call and invited my and my dog Trapper over for Christmas dinner. We had a ball that night eating good food and talking about fishing and the highlights of our bass fishing club. I could go on and on about how great the Badlands Bass Bandits club is or any other club for that matter. But, I just wanted to give people an inside story on what they might be missing out on. If you are interested in joining our club or any other club contact the club’s president and get started today!

-Paul Reinbold