In what now seems to be the rule rather than the exception after every HBC event, picking the VTO who shot the most and best film footage during the events is becoming as difficult as winning the HBC events themselves.

After viewing nearly a hundred hours of outstanding footage shot by HBC-4 VTOs, Shea McIntee and his staff at Endless Fun Productions have proclaimed Joe Duran of Gridley, CA. as the winner of the HBC-4 VTO Video Award, for which he will receive a brand new Humminbird color sonar unit courtesy of The Trolling Motor Doctor.

“You would think that because of the horrible fishing at HBC-4, selecting the video award winner would be easy,” said an exhausted McIntee. “But these VTOs actually shot some of the best HBC footage to date. The interaction between the Anglers and the VTOs captured on film is priceless and made picking the winner extremely difficult. We finally narrowed it down to two VTOs who both had some great footage of their Anglers and actually had to use a stopwatch to determine who shot the most footage to break the tie. When all was said and done, Joe had shot slightly more footage than did runner up Jason Wood of Sonora, CA.” McIntee concluded.

Even though Duran’s Angler partner Robert Mansor of La Grange, CA., did not weigh in a keeper bass at HBC-4, Duran did film Mansor catching a keeper that he threw back, believing that it was not worth weighing in. Little did Mansor know that the fish he threw back would have landed him in the Top-10 at HBC-4 and would have guaranteed him priority entry status into HBC-5.

Jason Wood, who was paired with HBC-4 champion Kent Brown, also had some great footage, including that of Brown catching his 3.83 pound - $10,000 winning bass. And though Duran edged Wood out for the VTO Video Award, Jason didn’t walk away empty handed, as he received a brand new Dobyns swimbait rod valued at $240 for being paired with the winning Angler.

Other VTOs who submitted some great footage of their respective Anglers were Loren Hayes of Turlock, CA, who was paired with Angler Dwayne Stiles; Noe Garcia of Palmdale, CA, who was paired with Angler Jerry Ballesteros; and Jamie Faulconer of Saugus, CA, who was paired with Angler Chris Costello. Each of these VTOs, including Wood, will receive a special prize courtesy of Huddleston Deluxe.

The HBC wishes to again extend a huge thank you to all of the VTOs who participated in HBC-4, especially to those who filmed their Anglers during the event.