©History of Kinni Bassmasters
Kinni Bassmasters was formed in 1976 with twelve members. One of the more notable founders was Orv “Doc” Grassl of Grassl’s Double OO bait fame, a fine medical doctor, bait maker and excellent fisherman. Many of the original members stayed active for several years.
The club started out as a loosely knit group of guys who liked to fish, and in early 1976 decided to become a formal part of BASS. That first year three tournaments were held, all on Bass Lake. The first was against New Richmond and Bay City. No legal bass were caught by Kinni. The second tournament only three members fished--two legal fish were boated. The third try at Bass Lake had seven members fishing--four fish were caught.
Club results for 1976:
1st place - Mike Warner - 33 1/4” (2 fish)
2nd place - John Eisele - 31” (2 fish)
3rd place - Ken Kraft - 16” (1 fish)
4th place - Bob Digman - 13 3/4” (1 fish)
In the beginning boats were scarce, and boats with live wells non existent. For this reason a point system was established based on the length of a fish.This point system and its modifications lasted for a good number of years. Today fish are measured and returned to the water immediately. Lengths are converted to weights based on a standard scale (DNR and other sources of average weight per length).Pure catch and release was begun out of necessity and continues to this day. We were trend setters!
Currently we have 13 members and fish 8 eight hour tournaments per summer, counting the results of six--two must be thrown out. All tournaments are in-club, we have not fished against other clubs in a good long while.
Current President - John Stoffel
