BASS Plans to Trash the Competition

Members of the Bay Area Bass Anglers Sportsman’s Society (BASS) will exchange their fishing rods for garbage bags Saturday when they converge on the Upper Sespe Creek north of Ojai to compete in a nationwide waterways trash and garbage removal competition.

The Bay Area chapter, with members primarily from the Venice and Culver City areas, is one of 1,800 BASS clubs competing in the effort to clean up the nation’s waterways. At the end of the day, garbage bags will be counted, stacked and photographed. The club with the most full bags wins.

The winning club’s representative will be flown to the world championship BASS Masters Classic on Aug. 25, 26 and 27 in Richmond, Va., to receive a national Take Pride in America Awards plaque from Secretary of the Interior Donald Hodel and a $1,000 check from BASS.

BASS is the world’s largest fishing organization with more than 525,000 members in 50 states and 52 countries. BASS Anglers for Clean Water is a 16-year-old environmental arm of the club.

For information, call John Conklin at 823-1195 or Ed Wasserman at 656-4691.