By Dick Streater Western Bass Club members applaud the tournament winner, who was allowed first pick among a table full of prizes. When you think of fishing and Seattle, what comes to mind? If you're like most folks, salmon fishing is your answer, followed in the distance by fishing for either trout or steelhead. Bass fishing probably wouldn't be on the list. But Seattle is the unlikely home of what may be the oldest bass club still in existence. Back in 1938, a small group of bass fishing enthusiasts founded the Western Bass Club at a meeting in downtown Seattle. Club research has turned up information about several "Fin and Feather" clubs, and community "Sportsman's" clubs older than that, but no pure bass clubs prior to that date. All of the charter members are now gone, but Chuck Cleveland, an early club member, past president and long-time secretary of the club, recalls the earlier years vividly, and has researched the club's beginnings. According to Cleveland, the club has its roots in what was a combination restaurant-sporting goods store in the basement level of a downtown office building. It was named Ben Paris after the owner, a widely respected sportsman in the community, and was a magnet for the local business people. Patrons would gather for lunch and swap fishing stories. Ed Frederick came up with the idea to start a bass club, and he was elected the club's first president. In his later years, Frederick became known as "Mr. Bass, a title he earned because of his tireless efforts to promote warm-water fishing in this cold-water state. The founding members were business, owners, doctors and lawyers and the first roster had about 30 members. Dues were $1 per year to cover postcard postage. According to one anecdote, the Ben Paris restaurant had a big glass tank with several nice bass swimming in it. Club members would come in for lunch and feed the fish an assortment of worms, nightcrawlers and crawfish. One enterprising member went to the local pet store and bought some cheap gold fish and tossed them in. This practice quickly was halted when one of the women present witnessed the feeding frenzy and threatened to write a letter to the editor of The Seattle Times Club members fished from wooden boats and with crude tackle. Yet they caught plenty of bass in their competitions. Among the favorite waters for these western-Washington anglers was Silver Lake in Cowlitz County, a 3,000-acre take that had everything needed for that era - a population of huge bass and resorts with cabins and boats and motors for rent. It is located on Spirit Lake Highway and quite close to Mount St. Helens, which erupted violently a few years ago. It must be in the genetic makeup of bass fishermen to hold contests and give out prizes and awards, as the club held a bass tournament during its first year. Fishing derbies always started at noon on a selected Saturday in spring, usually in May, and they ended at noon on Sunday. There were no restrictions on pre-fishing, so most of the participants would drive down Friday, fish that evening and next morning, and then start the real action at noon. The winner was the one who caught the biggest bass - not the heaviest total weight, as is customary in club tournaments today. The big bass were taken to the scales and, sometimes, to the taxidermist; small ones went directly to the frying pan. Sunday fishing could start anytime after midnight, if contestants were so inclined, but Silver was tough enough to fish in the daylight with all its stumps, trees, bushes and weeds. Most would try night fishing once, and then opt for the extra hours of sleep. Rules apparently were rigidly enforced. According to an anecdote from the club's historical records, one member had just gotten a new fly rod the day before a bass derby and decided to try it out the morning of the contest. He came back to the dock 15 minutes before start time with an 8 1/2-pounder. The bass would have won first place, but the angler caught it a bit too soon. There were no livewells in the boats, of course - just stringers - and no penalties for dead fish. One of the few regulations that they did establish was the strict prohibition on the use of any form of live bait. This was quite a revolutionary restriction back then, and there was some grumbling about it, but "Mr. Bass" and his club stuck with it all the way. Other annual awards that were instituted by the club were: Biggest Bass Of The Year, Biggest Bass By A Lady Member, and Member Of The Year (for outstanding service to the club and to bass fishing in general). It was easy getting valuable donations for the contest prizes. Being perhaps the only bass club writing to the manufacturers, distributors and retailers, the Western Bass Club collected piles of booty. One year, Johnson sent a new 5-horsepower motor. Shakespeare provided new reels, as did Pflueger. Heddon provided the company's finest rods. And Creek Chub sent dozen-packs of baits, while Martin, a local tackle maker, named its diving crab-type bait the "Western Bass Plug" and always sent packs of them to the contest chairman. Now, with the proliferation of bass fishing and bass clubs driven by the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society, there is much more competition for prize donations. With the advent of World War II, Seattle became a huge war-production center, including The Boeing Co., shipyards and expansion of other port facilities. This brought in workers from all over the United States, and many newcomers, especially those from the South and Midwest, were already dedicated bassers. Interest in the club and in bass fishing in the region took a great leap forward. By necessity, early anglers had to get by with limited equipment. When I compare my Lund Bass Boat with those in pictures from club archives, the flat-bottom wooden boats with 3- to 6-hp outboards or perhaps just a pair of oars - seem crude. But photos and records show that the anglers who fished from them caught some nice bass. The fishermen used steel or bamboo casting rods with basic levelwind reels and nylon line. Most had only a limited assortment of lures, but as a tackle collector, I wish I had access to some of those old tackleboxes and their contents. A short list of the most popular baits of the time includes the Johnson Silver Minnow, Foss Shimmy Wiggler, Rex Spoon, Shannon Twin Spinner, Creek Chub's Pikie and Injured Minnows and Heddon's Vamps, Bassers and Crab Wigglers. Also in this list should be jars of pork rind strips and chunks. The club has always taken its responsibility to promote and improve bass fishing in the Northwest very seriously. It published some of the first small books listing the bass and panfish lakes in the area, using proceeds from their sale for projects enhancing the fisheries. One year, the club pooled its earnings and contributions to purchase a tank carload of bass fingerlings from a Montana hatchery. With the cooperation of the state fisheries department, members planted the fish in selected lakes throughout Washington State. Bassmasters are fishing for the descendants of these bass today. Return to: Articles Home