Smith and Roundsley Win NABC Championship

Minnesotans Buckley Smith and John Roundsley carved their names in bass

fishing history by weighing in 34.95 pounds to win the North American

Bass Circuit’s first-ever NABC World Bass Championship, held on

Minnesota’s mighty Leech Lake.

Their 10-fish NABC limit of beefy largemouths earned them a $20,000

first-place check in the two-day event, along with a $1,000 Ranger Cup

bonus and a great prize package including Rapala, Trigger X and Sufix

products.

“It’s a great experience,” said Roundsley, of Brainerd. “Buckley and I

have been tournament fishing together for three years and had some good

finishes, but this takes the cake.” The majority of their fish came from

three feet of water in a reed bed in Waboose Bay, on jigs tipped with

soft-plastic craws.

After an exciting season spanning three states and thousands of acres of

prime bass water, the Circuit’s inaugural season drew to a dramatic

close at the Championship, held out of Trapper’s Landing Lodge on the

lake’s scenic south shore.

As the weigh-in crowd held its breath, Roundsley and Buckley edged out

reigning NABC Team of the Year, fellow Minnesotans Keith Tuma, of

Baxter, and Jim Smith, of Brainerd, who tallied 34.83 pounds. “It’s

still sinking in to get this win against the best of the best,” added

Smith, of Lindstrom.

The event pitted the NABC’s top 25 teams in an all-out bassin’ brawl

that treated the weigh-in crowd to numerous lead changes, big bass and

hefty baskets. Teams earned a berth in the invitation-only Championship

at the Circuit’s three qualifiers. The NABC’s first season started

strong on Wisconsin’s bass-rich Lake Winnebago Chain June 11, and teams

battled on Michigan’s Big and Little Bays de Noc July 30. Minnesota’s

Lake Minnetonka hosted the final qualifier August 19.

In all, the top seven teams shared the $30,000 cash payout plus $1,250

from the Big Bass Pot and sponsor contingencies. Tuma and Smith earned

$4,000 for second place, plus the $1,000 Cabela’s Angler Cash bonus and

U2 contingency.

The Leech Lake fishery produced largemouths on a variety of

presentations. Two- hundred and three largemouths weighing a total of

602.93 pounds were weighed in under

the NABC’s catch-and-release format. The Circuit’s Bass Conservation

Fund donated $15 per boat to the Minnesota Department of Natural

Resources for fisheries projects on the Leech Lake system. To date, the

NABC and its sister trail-the Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit-has

donated more than $300,000 to fisheries projects in states where its

tournaments are held.

Following the Day One weigh-in, the NABC and National Professional

Anglers Association presented kids age 12 and under with great gifts,

including free rod-and-reel combos, free tackle packages from Northland

Fishing Tackle, NPAA “Future Pro” T- Shirts and more.

This was the final event of the NABC’s inaugural season, and plans are

already under way for 2012. The NABC is open to all anglers. And its

popular team format-which lets you choose your partner and cut your

costs-has stood the test of time for 26 tournament seasons on the

Cabela’s MWC. For details visit northamericanbasscircuit.com, call toll-

free (877) 893-7947, or email [email protected].