The Heavyweight Bass Classic (HBC) is the brain-child of Ken Huddleston and Ron Cervenka, who transformed their simple “what if...” vision into one of the most exciting and revolutionary new ideas to hit the world of competitive bass in decades. It is Extreme tournament bass fishing at its finest.

The HBC is the final frontier in competitive bass fishing and utilizes a format of the likes never seen before. It is one-fish, big-fish, winner-takes-all format that is so simple that it is brilliant. Never before have trophy bass anglers been offered a platform on which to perform and showcase their incredible skills - until now. The HBC is bringing some of the biggest names in trophy bass fishing out of obscurity and putting them in the spotlight, thus giving them the recognition that they deserve. The HBC is entirely sponsor based and every penny of every entry fee is paid back to the winner.

HBC events are limited to a field of 50 Anglers who fish out of their own boat. Each HBC Angler has a non-fishing Volunteer Tournament Official (VTO) on-board with them to maintain the integrity of the events and of the sport itself. The VTOs are not permitted to assist their respective Anglers in any manner and they are, as their name implies, tournament officials and have the authority to disqualify Anglers for any rule violations.

In May of 2008, Heavyweight Bass Classic incorporated as a Limited Liability Company (LLC) with the assistance of Randy Black Jr., co-founder and a principal of Land Baron Investments of Las Vegas, Nevada. Randy is an avid outdoorsman who, like many of us, became addicted to trophy bass fishing with swimbaits. Without Randy’s dedication and support, the HBC would not be possible.

It is the goal of the HBC to offer trophy bass anglers from across the country and abroad a series of fun, fair, and honest trophy bass tournaments, while protecting one of our most valuable natural resources – trophy-sized largemouth bass.

The HBC Staff

Ken Huddleston

Ken Huddleston is a highly skilled and very gifted artist. His passion for trophy bass fishing has led to the creation of some of the most successfully trophy bass fishing lures in history. Ken has been designing and manufacturing lures for over three decades and, with the help of long-time friend Chomp Josephite, created the original and legendary Castaic Hard Bait. Ken was the founder and former co-owner of Castaic Soft Bait Company, where he developed the extremely popular Castaic Soft Bait. This bait featured a hard composite head with a soft plastic body and is credited for igniting the swimbait boom during the 1990s. Ken left Castaic Soft Bait Company in 2001 and established his own proprietary company, Huddleston Deluxe, Inc., in 2002. In 2003, Ken developed a state-of-the-art new swimbait that incorporated a new weighting system called the Rate of Fall (ROF) system. Ken’s new swimbait, the eight-inch Huddleston Deluxe Trout, became an immediate success and is responsible for numerous record-setting tournament victories across the country and in Japan. Ken recently introduced a new six-inch version of his Huddleston Deluxe Trout, along with an exclusive HBC Special color of his eight-inch Trout that is available only on the HBC website. In addition to being a co-founder of the Heavyweight Bass Classic, Huddleston Deluxe, Inc. remains the HBC’s title sponsor.

Ron Cervenka

Ron Cervenka has been a professional tournament angler for over thirty years. In 1993, he became a private contracting tournament director and administered tournaments for WON BASS, Bassing for Abused Kids, The Friends of Castaic Lake, J&T Tackle, and many other tournament organizations. He is a former fishing guide and college instructor and is a frequent guest on bass fishing radio shows in Southern California. Ron also writes for Western Outdoor News and Westernbass.com. Ron works as a detective for the Burbank Police Department in California and carries over his attention to detail and personal integrity from his profession into his tournament directing. He has a reputation for being a firm but fair tournament director and has always treated everyone equally, regardless of who they are.

Scott Harvey

Scott Harvey is the HBC’s statistician and Information Technology (IT) expert. He is also the HBC webmaster and developed the “Real Time Weigh-In” program utilized during the HBC weigh-ins, thus allowing interested persons near-instant results of every Angler weighing in. Scott also manages the HBC’s on-line tournament registrations and the HBC Store. Scott works as an IT Supervisor for the County of Los Angeles and brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience. Scott has worked as a member of Ron Cervenka’s tournament staff for the past five years and he also competes in regional tournaments in the Southern California area. Scott is a former regional tournament director for the California Bass Federation and is currently the president of Cal Central Coast Bass Club (3CBC). In addition to his bass fishing activities, Scott is also an avid photographer and a tournament poker player.

HBC Support Staff

Randy McBride – Assistant Tournament Director – National Events

John Barron – Assistant Tournament Director – Southern California Events

Richard Smith – Assistant Tournament Director – Northern California Events

Julie Smith – Assistant Statistician – Northern California Events

John Huddleston – Fish Management Coordinator

Shea McIntee – Video Productions Supervisor