By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
With the help of angler Kurt Dove, and a few of his friends, the dream of chasing the big ones on Lake Amistad has become a reality for dozens of young anglers every year.
May marks the return of the annual Kurt Dove Pro Bass Camp. Since 2011, anglers, usually ages 12-18, travel to Del Rio and its world famous bass factory that is Lake Amistad to take part in a week-long learning experience that culminates in the Camp Classic on the final day.
This year 64 youth from across the country converged on the area for a pair of camps. Twenty-eight took part in the first camp and 36 were expected to take part in the second camp that was scheduled to conclude June 6.
“It started back in 2011. A went on a guided trip with Chase Kemp and Roger DiCamillo who both lived in New Mexico. They asked if I’d be able to take a group of kids from their fishing club and hold a fishing camp for them,” Dove said. “Growing up I always enjoyed attending basketball camp and I always wanted to do something like that for fishing. So that first year all the kids were from New Mexico and it just grew from there. Really, I just wanted to extend that passion for youth bass fishing.”
Five years later Dove said he really started to advertise the camp and soon he was getting people calling him from all over. Most of them had heard of the camp through word of mouth and the camp continued and just got bigger each year.
“Usually we host kids who are between 12 and 18 years of age, but we’ve hosted some as young as nine and some as old as 19. It’s an overnight camp, so I ask the parents if they feel their kids are mature enough to handle something like that and if they are then they’re welcome. The maturity aspect dictates the ages of campers and who can attend,” Dove explained.
For four-and-a-half days campers learn from a variety of instructors about more than just how to fish. Through seven classroom seminars and three days of on the water instruction, the campers learn everything from fishing techniques, studying weather conditions, boat positioning, use of boat electronics, boating safety and more. They’re even taught how to handle aspects of the weigh-in from handling fish to answering questions in front of an audience and cameras.
“There are 14 instructors, so one for every two campers per boat. We hold two camps on Amistad and one in New York. This will be the fourth year we hold a camp in New York,” Dove added.
The camp concludes with the Camp Classic, a one-day tournament that can earn young anglers prizes including rods, reels, other fishing merchandise and a share of the $7,500 in cash prizes awarded to the top five anglers of the day.
With a limit of three bass that can be weighed in the competition can be a little nerve wracking. It’s a chance for the campers to put what they’ve learned to the test. There’s no guarantee they’ll catch the bass of a lifetime, but it’s a friendly competition between the group that came to the camp as strangers but many will leave as friends.
Trenton Gordon was one of those anglers. Hailing from Stockdale, Texas, this was the second time Gordon attended the camp. His reasoning for attending was simple.
“I find this sport really fun, and hopefully I’ll use what I learn here to get better,” Gordon, 14, said.
Gordon said he caught plenty of fish during his time on Amistad, but the wind and the lower lake levels than last year made the fishing a little more challenging this year.
“It’s really good learning all the different aspects of fishing. You also make a lot of friends here. The main thing is you just get better at bass fishing,” Gordon.
Kylar O’Neal was the top camper at the first bass camp fishing session. He landed the biggest bass of the tournament, a 4.61-pounder worth $500, and took the top prize of $2,500 after weighing in three bass for 9.23 pounds.
O’Neal, who calls San Angelo home and who considers Lake Ivie his home body of water, was a first time camp participant this summer.
“Chase Brooks told me about it,” O’Neal said, referring to a friend of his who attended the camp previously. “I fish quite a bit back home. Usually it’s just me and my dad.”
Despite having the biggest bass of the Camp Classic, O’Neal said it wasn’t a matter of landing bass, but finding those big ones that made the difference. Doing that was the biggest challenge of the week.
“There were a lot of fish, but not a whole lot of big ones,” O’Neal said. “The one thing I learned this week that stuck with me was that the fish here really like grasses and not so much on the rocks.”
With a 6:30 a.m. launch, it took about 45 minutes for O’Neal to land his first fish of the day. From that point forward, his goal was just to make it to the top five.
He did that and then some.
“It felt really good to win. It was exciting because this is really a big event,” O’Neal said. “The whole camp was really fun and I learned a lot about fishing and I think it really helps you out a lot. I think I’ll be back next year.”
The full list of winners from the June 1 Camp Classic is as follows:
Biggest Bass of Camp – Caden Alexander, 6.01 pounds, $500
Flipping/Pitching Champion – Nate Nelms, a new rod and reel
Sixth place – Nate Nelms, 6.09 pounds, a new rod and reel
Fifth place – Layton Sharp, 6.81 pounds, $250 and bass fishing product
Fourth place – Ben Allen, 7.40 pounds, $1,000
Third place – Tucker Rust, 7.48 pounds, $1,250
Second place – Jacob Potter, 8.08 pounds, $1,750
First place – Kyler O’Neal, 9.23 pounds, $2,500
The second Camp Classic is set to take place Monday, June 6, at 1 p.m.
“We always hold the camps around the same time each year because the fishing is better this time of year, and the more bites you get the more you learn to love the sport,” Dove said.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
