HBAA Team Trail Series features six tournaments on two west-central Kansas reservoirs

HAYS, KS (March 21, 2024) — Hays Bass Anglers Association has set the dates for their 2024 Team Trail Series. The series will consist of six tournaments on two reservoirs in west-central Kansas. HBAA Team Trail #1 will be held on Saturday April 13, 2024, at Cedar Bluff Reservoir. Team Trail #2 will be held on the following day, Sunday, April 14, 2024, at Cedar Bluff. Team Trail #3 will be held on Saturday, May 18, 2024 at Lake Wilson. Team Trail #4 will be held the following day on Sunday, May 19, 2024 at Wilson. Team Trail #5 will be held on Saturday, June 29, 2024, at Cedar Bluff Reservoir. Team Trail #6 will be held the following day on Sunday, June 30, 2024 at Cedar Bluff. This is the third year that Hays Bass Anglers Association has offered the team trail series and has added two additional events for a total of six one-day tournaments making up the Team Trail series. Anglers may fish all six events and may choose their top four events for scoring. Details of the events can be found on this site as well as entry forms that can be downloaded here. A separate entry form needs to be submitted for each tournament fished. DOWNLOAD ENTRY FORMS HERE ——— DOWNLOAD RULES HERE

Easton Smith of Ellis gets a little help from Hays Bass Anglers Association’s Ryan Bechard during the Bass Cast competition on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023, at the Youth Outdoor Festival in Hays.

Bass Cast popular at Youth Outdoor Festival

HAYS, KS (Aug. 19, 2023) — Hays Bass Anglers Association hosted welcomed youth to the Bass Cast competition at the Youth Outdoor Festival on Aug. 19, 2023, at the Hays City Sportsman’s Club northwest of Hays. Nearly 150 youth participated in Saturday’s event. According to club members, that is the highest number of participants that have ever competed in the casting event.

Youth learned a variety of basic casting techniques as they competed for prize. The program, which stems from Bass Anglers Sportman Society’s (BASS’s) Casting Kids competition, has been kept alive by the HBAA under the name Bass Cast and continues to be a successful part of Hays’ Youth Outdoor Festival.

Bass Cast is similar to the NFL’s Punt, Pass and Kick competition. The program, although abandoned by BASS, has remained a strong youth event in the Hays area. Youth are judged on three casting techniques and their scores are totaled to determine prizes. HBAA Club members teach the three casting techniques designed to help them develop skills that may be used on actual fishing trips.

Prizes were handed out to the winners in each age class at the conclusion of the event.

Area & community respond with support after theft

Hays, KS (Feb. 17, 2021) – Members of Hays Bass Angler’s Association (HBAA) are overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from the area and the community following the theft of the club’s activity trailer. HBAA received its largest donation yesterday, $7,500 from the Schmidt Foundation, facilitated through Eagle Communications and Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Ellis County. The donations will be used to replace the clubs trailer and its contents after the theft that occurred on Nov. 19, 2020 in Hays. The criminal act was caught on camera by video surveillance equipment but has not been recovered. The Hays Police Department continues to investigate but indicates recovery of the trailer and its contents is not likely. The club has recently received overwhelming support from donors across the state to help replace the trailer and contents. HBAA conducts fund-raising tournaments to support community donations, an endowment scholarship, youth activities and fisheries habitat conservation projects. The names of donors and sponsors are being compiled and will be printed on a trailer wrap. The printed trailer wrap is also being donated to the club by Commercial Signs of Hays, and is one of many donations received.  The club wishes to thank all who have donated to during this time of need.  (Photo Caption: HBAA’s President Darrell VonFeldt, left, is pictured with Jenny Bates, area manager for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Ellis County, second from left, Travis Kohlrus of Eagle Communications, second from right, and Gary Shorman, chairman/CDO of Eagle Communications, right, as HBAA received a $7,500 donation to replace the club’s stolen trailer and contents from the Schmidt Foundation facilitated by Eagle Communications with the assistance of Kansas Bigs.)

Theft of HBAA’s new club trailer under investigation

Hays, KS (Jan. 6, 2021) – Members of Hays Bass Angler’s Association (HBAA) are trying to recover from the disappointment after the theft of the club’s new trailer on the evening of Nov. 19, 2020 in Hays. The theft was caught on camera by video surveillance equipment at a nearby bank. The new trailer, which was purchased two months earlier, was stolen from a business lot in Hays where the club has historically kept its old trailer parked for years. The value of the trailer and its contents, which exceeds $5,000, contained items the club used to conduct fishing tournaments, youth events and tools used by the club for fisheries habitat and conservation projects. Most hurtful, the trailer contained more than a dozen fishing rods and reels used for an annual fishing event with children from Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Ellis County. The theft also included tents, poles and targets used for the club’s Kids Casting Competition. The Kids Casting Competition is a popular event that routinely draws more than 100 participants each year at the Youth Outdoor Festival in Hays. The theft of the club’s new trailer was a painful loss as it was not yet fully insured. If you have information about the theft please contact the Hays Police Department.

The team of Myles Guadian and Brandon Hayzlett, of Garden City, won Hays Bass Angler’s Cedar Bluff Open bass tournament on Saturday, May 5, 2018, at Cedar Bluff Reservoir near WaKeeney, Kan., with 15.70 pounds. Thirty anglers competed in the event.

HBAA hosts Cedar Bluff Open

Hays, KS (May 5, 2018) — Thirty anglers competed in Hays Bass Anglers Association’s Cedar Bluff Open Bass Tournament held on Saturday, May 5, 2018, at Cedar Bluff Reservoir located about 30 miles southwest of Hays, Kansas. The spring fishing at Cedar Bluff was excellent as the club hosted a return trip for competitive bass fishing at the lake that is rich in Kansas’ bass fishing history. Although the reservoir has been suffering through several consecutive years of drought, the lake still offered excellent quality spring bass fishing. The event featured 80% payout. Myles Guadian and Brandon Hayzlett of the Garden City Bassmasters won the event with 15.70 pounds of bass and also won big bass of the tournament with a largemouth bass weighing 3.90 pounds. Second place went to the team of Mitch Keeley and Jason Leiker, who won the high-stakes pot. HBAA’s team of Keith Harmoney and Clayton Rudman took second place in the high-stakes pot.

HBAA changes date of Big Bass Challenge 

Hays, KS (Feb. 6, 2018) — The Hays Bass Anglers Association (HBAA) decided to change the date of one of the biggest bass tournaments in the state Monday night after the club learned that Kansas Bass Nation (KBN) scheduled their own youth tournament on the same date and on the same lake as the Big Bass Challenge. HBAA is mindful to always schedule around known fishing events. In lieu of KBN’s oversight, HBAA decided Monday night to change the date of the Big Bass Challenge to Sept. 15, 2018, with respect to the participants in KBN’s youth event. At this time, the date will remain unofficial until the permit dates have been changed and approved