HBC-4 Winner Kent Brown(photo by Ron Cervenka)

It was bound to happen sooner or later; a Heavyweight Bass Classic event being won with anything but a heavyweight bass. But even the biggest of skeptics never saw this one coming.

HBC-4, held at Lake Don Pedro on Friday, March 13, 2009, was billed as being the event that would blow away Don Osborne’s HBC-1 record winning big bass weight of 10.52 pounds. In fact, if the contest had been held on Thursday, March 12th instead of Friday the 13th, this would have happened. But instead, the ten and a half pound bass caught by trophy bass expert Butch Brown of Castaic, CA the day before HBC-4 will only be remembered as Butch’s 29th bass over ten pounds in 2009.

Anglers and VTOs await blast-off for HBC-4

Brown did win HBC-4, but it was the other Brown in the 50-angler field who won it – Kent Brown of Roseville, CA, and if Kent Brown ever suffered from friggatriskaidekaphobia (the fear of Friday the 13th) in the past, he most certainly doesn’t anymore. With a bass weighing a mere 3.83 pounds, Brown topped a field of the best trophy bass anglers in the West to walk away with the $10,000 winner-takes-all check and the coveted HBC-4 Champion belt that comes with it.

“If you would have told me that HBC-4 would be won with a three pound bass, I would have told you that you were crazy,” said an excited Brown. “Some of biggest names in trophy bass fishing were in this thing and any one of them could have caught a double-digit fish. This is truly unbelievable.”

Brown, who is a professional tournament angler and host of Ultimate Bass Radio, told the large audience that he caught his winning fish on a six-inch Osprey Tournament Top Hook Talon swimbait in the light rainbow trout color. “I was fishing in the back of a cut that had warmed up in the afternoon and I threw to a submerged tree. An eight-pounder came out of the tree and swirled on my bait but didn’t eat it. I threw back in there and got hammered. I set the hook and thought that it was the eight-pounder, but as I reeled it in, I could see that it was a much smaller fish. Never in my wildest dream did I think that it would be the winning fish,” added Brown.

Brown caught his winning fish on a six-inch Osprey Tournament Top Hook Talon swimbait in the light rainbow trout color.

Just how tough was the fishing at Lake Don Pedro for HBC-4? Of the 50 anglers entered in the contest, only ten of them brought a fish to the scales. It was reported that several anglers caught and released two and three pound fish believing that it would take a double-digit fish to win the tournament and the $10,000 prize.

“If you would have told me that HBC-4 would be won with a three pound bass, I would have told you that you were crazy.” – Kent Brown (Photo by Scott Harvey)

As with any tournament, there are always heartbreaks and HBC-4 was no exception. Local guide and trophy bass specialist Danny Gillespie of nearby Sonora, CA had a five-pounder jump out of his net as he was bringing it on board and several other anglers hooked and lost big fish. You can bet that these anglers now suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia.

Butch Brown caught this beautiful ten and a half pound Lake Don Pedro largemouth bass on a Shasta colored eight-inch Huddleston Deluxe swimbait while pre-fishing for HBC-4

In spite of the brutal fishing, it was very evident that all of the participants had an enjoyable time at HBC-4, especially the Volunteer Tournament Officials (VTOs). “I had a blast out there today,” said VTO Walter Cardoza of San Jose, CA. “I drew Butch Brown and I can’t even begin to tell you how much I learned from him. He took the time to explain everything to me. It was great spending the day with Butch and I can’t wait for HBC-5!” added Cardoza.

Finishing in second place at HBC-4 was Kyle Rasmussen of Angels Camp, CA with a bass weighing 3.25 pounds. Like Brown and the others, Rasmussen was absolutely stunned that HBC-4 was won with a fish weighing less than four pounds. Third place went to Dwayne Stiles of Ventura, CA with a 2.51 pound bass. Finishing in fourth place was Butch Brown with a 2.43 pounder, and fifth place went to Cesar Gonzalez or Reedley, CA with a 2.14 pound bass.

Although Kent Brown walked away with $10,000 for his victory, he missed out on an additional $600 by not entering the $50 Gas Money Option. This made Kyle Rasmussen’s day, as he was entered in the Gas Money Option and gladly accepted the $600. Butch Brown and Chris Vanclef of Mountain View, CA also picked up $360 and $240 respectively in Gas Money Option winnings. On the VTO side, Randy Sheppard of Jamestown, CA won $370 in the $20 Lucky Dog Option by randomly drawing Kent Brown’s name out of a hat prior to the event. Bruce Wallace of Sonora, CA collected $220 for drawing Kyle Rasmussen’s name, and Jason Wood, also from Sonora, picked up $150 for drawing Jerry Ballesteros’ name.

Kent Brown with his highly coveted HBC Champion’s belt.
(Photo by Scott Harvey)

The HBC wishes to extend a huge thank you to all of the VTOs who participated in HBC-4. Without the VTOs, there would be no HBC. Thanks also to Dave Jigour and the rest of the great staff at Lake Don Pedro Recreation Area, and to Dave Wood and his staff at Lake Don Pedro Marina.

An extra special thank you goes to the great sponsors of HBC-4. They are: Huddleston Deluxe, Roboworm, Dobyns Rods, Sure Life Laboratories, Endless Fun Productions, The Trolling Motor Doctor, CaliforniaFishingForums.com, Ventura Sign-A-Rama, Ardent Reels, and Peregrine 250 boat cleaning products.