BWSTA Letters

BWSTA Letters & Email

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Incredible Sportsmanship & Extraordinary Service Displayed at Pickwick Classic

During the 2007 Bass World Classic on Pickwick Lake, Jason Downen’s lower unit blew out. Most of the anglers at the Classic already know that Jason Hazelhorst of Belleville Sports Sales drove to Nashville, TN, met up with him about 12.30 am that night and replaced the Lower unit for him. Obviously anyone looking for a boat dealer that provides good service should keep this in mind the next time they are shopping for a new boat.
              What most people don’t know is that Carl Wasem and Mike Hofstetter quit fishing on that 1^st day and ran up the lake to our location to see what they could do to help us. Knowing they had a good bag of fish and were in contention, they were more concerned about the well being of a fellow angler then what they might accomplish with more fishing time.
             These 2 anglers gave Jason a ride back to the ramp to weigh in and get his Truck and Trailer to come back down the lake to pick me and the boat up at the closest ramp, unfortunately dealing with this disaster neither of us thought to get the keys out of the boats glove box! 2 more anglers were right there to lend a helping hand Jeff Faust and Ken Voelkerding took their boat back to their hotel came back to McFarland Park got Jason’s Trailer and took him to pick up myself and the Boat. It took about 3 hours out of their evening to do this.
            The two teams finished 2^nd and 3^rd respectively in the Classic. When you see these gentlemen and are congratulating them, please make mention of what great Sportsmen these 4 gentlemen are. If Bass World Sports gave out Sportsmen of the year awards these 4 would certainly be deserving of the Honor.
          The biggest problem I see is how you could possibly choose one team over the other. The 4 of them are role models and deserve the respect of Anglers everywhere.

Sincerely
AJ Johnson & Jason Downen
You wonder daily “Are there any good people left in the world?”
…….MOST DEFINITELY!!!

Bob and all the BWSTA folks, great job on the classic.

Our sponsors have asked if any photos are available from the awards presentation. I would appreciate it very much if you could please email me the digital photos of Dave Epema and I receiving our Top Points Team award. I believe we were the second team called up since the awards were presented in numerical order by division and we won in Division 2 (if that helps locate the photos).

Thank you and again, good tournament. Great to see Ann there.

Jim Belcher

I have been in Bass World Sports for a couple years now. I am very impressed with the way things are handled thru the year and the professionalism used to operate these tournaments. I am looking forward to another season and years to come. Thank you for giving me the angler, a chance to compete and have fun at the same time.

A.J. DeSplinter (Division 13)

Bob or Ryan,

Looking forward to fishing again this year. I have had a great time fishing your tournaments for the last 4 years. I appreciate the professionalism that is used when running the tournaments. I think this year is the year for Mike and me!

Thanks,
Bob Bellville

Bass World Sports Tournament Association

To Whom it May Concern:

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank the Horrell family and all of the other assistants in your BWSTA Team Classic endeavor. I felt that this year's Team Classic, was one of the best Classic's that I have attended. The tournament meeting was done quickly, the food was great, and everybody's attitude was cheerful and informative. The Horrell Family should take great pride in their accomplishments. In today's world we do not see enough family business creating their own destiny. It takes a great amount of integrity, perseverance, and character to be a successful family business.

Again simply Thank You.

Sincerely,
C Michael Ortmann

Bob

Great tournament at Bull Shoals. Really should be proud with all the participation this year. Ryan did a super job also as did the rest of your staff. See you soon.

Dick Fanning

Up A River Without A Paddle

Dear Bob,

Please print this is your magazine, about these guys, they are some great sportsman!

I have fished for about 15 years everything from Buddy tournaments to B.A.S.S. But I have never met a group of tournament anglers like the one's I met at the Bass World Sports Team Classic. It was the first day of the Classic I had ran up the river about 40 miles, I got lucky and caught a limit of fish. I was in my Dri-Port Marine sponsored Ranger Boat, coming back down the river when my motor just stopped after checking the fuel switch and other obvious things I realized it was not going to start. At about that time, team #102 stopped ( Tom & Steve Ives, from Rockford, IL ) stopped and asked it we needed help. We told them our problem and they suggested we bag our fish and put them in their livewell since they did not have any fish. They took our fish along with my partner back to the weigh-in. During the weigh-in it started storming. Wind blowing, lighting and raining. But out of the rain and wind, came this beautiful boat with team #60 ( Dave Veselsky and Tom Pickel, from St. Louis, MO ) to tow me to my trailer. Unbelievable. I had never met these guys, but Bob and Ryan, had asked them if they could come get me and tow me in. I just can not hardly believe it. What a great group of the most professional people I have ever met. Thanks to all of you and Steve, at Bull Shoals Boat dock. I made it back out Sunday and qualified for the M1 Ranger Tournament in Cypress Gardens, Florida. If it was not for team #102 and #60, I would not have made it. To me, they are the real winners

Mike Koby

Bob and Staff,

Thanks for a great time at the Team Classic. The tournament and meeting was run exceptionally well. My partner and I are already looking forward to next year's tournaments on Shelbyville.

Look forward to seeing you in the spring. Nice job at the Classic. It was a great tournament

Thanks
Rick Huette

Bass World Sports

Enjoyed fishing with Bass World Sports. Thanks for all the hard work in putting together such an organized circuit.

Sincerely,
Jerry & Sally Crosthwait

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