Club
History
The
Duluth Bass Club (DBC) was formed in late 1986 by a few local anglers from the
Duluth, GA area, who wanted to unify local anglers around the great fishery of
Lake Lanier for fishing monthly tournaments.
Their goal was simple; to "Have fun", Catch fish, and
Improve Fishing skills but most of all (like any good bass anglers) they sought to resolve
Bragging rights".
DBC
originally started out with only five teams that mostly comprised as husband and
wife or father and son teams. This
laid the foundation for one of the club’s core values of “family
participation.” To ensure this
would remain a key focus, original members vowed to keep entry fees and
membership dues low, so those raising a family could still participate in
competitive bass fishing tournaments.
In
the early days, the club was very casual with little structure and primarily
fished Lanier. Simply, the club was not much more than a pot tournament,
whereby word of mouth, anglers gathered at the ramp. But as word
spread and interest grew, founders saw a need for organized structure.
Founders then and adopted bylaws and began holding monthly meetings and voting
upon different lakes, so anglers could test their skills on new waters.
Then they added a yearend organizational meeting to amend bylaws and elect new
officers to ensure that the format remained beneficial.
The original club operated and held its monthly
meetings from Duluth Outdoors, or affectionately known as “Bill’s.”
Those remotely connected with fishing from this area know what you mean when you
mentioned Bill's, the name of William Schramm, owner of Duluth Outdoors.
Duluth Outdoors has been existence only a little longer than the club and has
always been a place where local anglers could come and pick up the latest
angling supplies and have their tackle serviced. More than that though,
Bill has created a place where anglers feel welcome. Many of the local
anglers would come to Bill's just to congregate and drink coffee and
swap fishing tales. And, to this
day, Bill's still has that old time bait shop experience, where one can see and
make friends. Defiantly, Duluth
Outdoors’ atmosphere helped boost the idea of DBC.
However, in time as the club grew popularity, Duluth Outdoors' facility
was busting at the seams and could no longer house all its members, so in 1997
the charter members moved headquarters to Bass Pro Shops. Despite, to this
day members still patronize Bill's often.
Today
club members now develop their skills by fishing the many diverse waters of
Georgia. The club has evolved into
fishing two separate seasons a year, Spring and Fall, with six monthly
tournaments, where membership dues go to the classic fish off at the end of each
season for the top qualifying teams. Primarily,
DBC fishes Georgia lakes, however out of state lakes may be voted upon within a
specific area. In each season, the
club fishes one 2-day tournament. In
a year's period, DBC could fish as many as twelve different lakes, making their
presence known in many different communities.
With today's' size of the club, when the Duluth Bass Club rolls into
town, they bring with them a few million dollars worth of equipment and provide
a significant economic impact to the local communities and merchants during a
weekend visit.
Each
year the club continues to grow and expand its vision and members are commented
providing a well-organized team tournament trail.
A part from its regular team tournaments, DBC holds at least one open
tournament each year, where the entire fishing community is invited. The
opens are professionally run, like big circuit tournaments and with the aid of
sponsorships, door prizes are awarded. DBC is also active in the promotion
of the sport with today's youth by helping to organize youth fishing tournaments
and casting contests. In addition, since February of 1999 the club has
hosted its’ own website with its own domain.
The website is frequently updated and acts as a portal for anglers around
the region to access news and information to help them stay ahead of their game. The site also contains all the latest club information,
stats, and up to date pictures on the club's happenings. The club’s web pages are posted to benefit all and will
even lend a hand to promote competing circuits.
For this reason the website now receives over 1500 hits per month.
In addition to the website, DBC has a hotline number for club anglers stay
informed on the latest happenings. And like the website, hotline is always
up-to-date.
The Duluth Bass Club’s philosophy and vision remains; promote conservation and what’s good for the sport of bass fishing by providing a family participation sport, and avenue to get away from it all and have some fun.
MORE ABOUT US
The DBC is team format only. Members join the ranks as a team. The club does not pair up partners. DBC has its regular monthly tournaments on the 3rd Sunday of each month and holds its monthly meetings at Bass Pro Shops on Tuesday nights before each tournament. The only exceptions to this is in December and if any night tournaments are voted in. Within each season a two-day tournament is scheduled for a predetermined month at the annual org meeting for the Saturday and Sunday that fall on the 3rd Sunday of that particular month. Lakes are determined by the voting teams present at the meeting, one month prior to each tournament, with the exception of two-day tournaments, those are voted upon two months in advance. Points are awarded in order of finish according to the weight of each teams' catch. Teams compete during the seasons to finish tops in the point standings for eligibility to fish in the Club Classic. Teams have three avenues to qualify for the club's classics, which is held on a lake determined by a random drawing by qualifying teams. Classics are fished on the Sunday following the season's final tournament. For further clarification on the format, please see the Bylaws.
Membership is open to all who have the desire for good fellowship and to learn more about the sport of Bass Fishing. The Club's format provides excellent opportunities for anglers new to the area and for teams just wanting to get their feet wet in tournament fishing.
In 2000; We increased the membership limit to 40 teams and continue to be over run with local anglers and new teams who are interested in the fun of competitive fishing. Come join us at our next meeting and see what we are all about.
2008 OFFICERS FOR THE DULUTH BASS CLUB
President Vice President Sectary/treasurer Tournament Director
Rick Cotten Randy Little Jay Donohue Ashley Hansgen