Bass tournaments are great learning experience

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There are lessons to be learned from bass tournaments. The annual Big Bass Bonanza is especially valuable in this regard because it is a competition of average anglers, amateurs, mot the talented and experienced professionals.

From last weekend's 2009 Big Bass Bonanza, which covered the length of the Arkansas River in our state, one lesson was perseverance. John Higman of Evansville, a hamlet in Washington County, taught this lesson.

Higman fished the Fort Smith pool of the river last year, and that supposedly as a handicap in itself. The Dardanelle and Pendleton pools were where the biggest bass hunt out, supposedly. Higman caught a 7.81-pound bass and led the 2008 Bonanza until the final four hours, when Duke Gunnell of Benton caught one in the Pendleton Pool that weighed 8.11 pounds and won the $100,000 first prize.

This year, Higman went back to the spot where he caught that '08 winner and, on the last year, hauled in a bass that weighted 7.30 pounds. This bumped out Danny Sheeks of Stuttgart with his 7.16-pound bass from the Pendleton Pool. Higman collected $100,000.

The number of entrants in this year's Bonanza was down somewhat with 1,998 anglers competing. Probably, economic conditions are much of the blame. Weather was extremely hot for the three tournament days, but it's summer time in Arkansas.