Hey Hall of Fame Family,
I hope this blog post finds you well. 2024 has now come and gone, ending the first annual bass fishing tournament with Paul, a group of friends, and myself. There is a blog post from last year about this tournament, in which you should check out here. We did it 5 fish limit style, except the tournament lasted from 1/1/24 through 12/31/24, spanning across state lines and on a multitude of creeks, rivers, lakes, and ponds. We kept track of everyone's five largest fish on a Google Sheet as the year went on, sharing any updates as people weighed in fish. A photo of the fish had to be seen on a scale with the weight visible to count. Here's how it went down:
I started the year off quite poorly, not catching a bass until April. By May, I was in dead last. Paul and our friend Matt were quick out of the gates, in first and second by a healthy margain. Our friend Robby and cousin Jordan also had a few pounds on me by May. That changed on a magical Saturday morning in June, though...
My family was fishing our home lake. I was still in last place by a couple pounds, only having weighed around 5 pounds up until that point. God must've felt bad for me. I had a big creature bait, big swimbait, and 10XD tied on, and I could do no wrong that day. I only weighed 3 fish, boosting my total weight by 10 pounds in one day! This propelled me into an arms race with Paul and Matt for the rest of the year (I passed Jordan and Robby in one day and didn't look back). This day in June was easily the best day of bass fishing I had in 2024. By July, Paul, Matt, and I were big fish hunting, not bothering to weigh most of the fish we caught. We all needed 2+ pounds to weigh a fish.
The three of us traded punches throughout the fall, and as we kept adding weight to our totals, Jordan and Robby fell further behind. In September, Paul weighed a 2.5 pound largemouth from Lake Michigan, just barely putting him into first. Then Matt weighed a 3 pound 10 oz from his home lake. Then Matt again, then me, then Paul.
Going into December, I was in first place by 5 ounces over Paul, and Matt was about 1 pound behind him. Paul's best 5 bass up until December 1st weighed 15 lbs 10 oz. This is important because he would not weigh any more fish in the final month of the year. I was down in Texas for work, and had some time to kill one afternoon. I found a park with a pond near the jobsite, and quickly started fishing. I caught a 3 pounder, and man am I glad I brought a scale! I weighed and submitted my catch, giving me a little breathing room in first place. Being in the southern warmth may have given me an advantage over everyone else in snowy Missouri. Matt just had to make it interesting, though. He would weigh the final fish of our tournament, another 3+ pound bass from his home lake. This would be enough for second place, but wasn't quite enough for first. He was just 1 pound short of me come the first day of 2025. Without that insurance bass from Texas and that one day in June, I think Matt might've had me beat.
Here are our final 5 best bass from 2024. Erik: 17 lbs 10 oz. Matt: 16 lbs 9 oz. Paul: 15 lbs 10 oz. Jordan: 9 lbs 9 oz (he did weigh the largest smallmouth of the tournament, though). And lastly, Robby with 7 lbs 7 oz. This tournament was such a fun thing to do with our friends, and I'm looking forward to some more friendly competition in 2025 (and bragging rights)!
Thanks for reading!
Erik Hoffman, Hall of Fame Outdoor Co.