Hunting Grumpus Maximus since 1993
Bass Evans’ earliest memories are gun-hunting with his father at the age of 12 at Downer’s family farm in the 90’s. Through his teenage years he did not have the opportunity to hunt, but the joy he had hunting with his father was internalized, and would reappear later on in life.
The fishing obsession began on the fateful morning of August 8th, 1993. While working a small pond in Pa with friends Steve and Dave, Bass took one last cast in front of the boat while Steve rowed. As Bullhead awaited on shore for his son’s return, he witnessed a life-changing catch. The mouth that erupted in front of the boat made Steve exclaim Holy Shit! for all to hear. Bass Evans was soon holding a 23 ½ inch giant bass, but more importantly, his life’s work was scheduled.
Bass always felt that the most memorable moments were bass above 5 lbs. He caught two other giant trophies (6-7 lbers) in his teens, (see 6 lb club) but then took a hiatus to study music. In his late twenties, he decided to return to big bass fishing, but this time, really study the enigma of the giant largemouth specifically.
Bass explored preliminary tactics in his teens with life-long friend Moppa Elliott at Beaver Lake and the stacked Mallard Pond. The duo would wake up dumb early every morning to work their local Factoryville farm ponds and hone their tactics and hook-sets. The delirium was strong, even back then.
In his 20’s, Bass took a few years to gun hunt with his now older father once again. It proved to be an incredible experience, as he bonded with his best friend as an adult. Bass was a jazz musician living in NYC at this time, and still did not have the chance to hunt consistently.
A few years later, and together with his heap-hunting partner, Chris “Daddy” Baker, he began experimenting with larger lures, salt water – like tactics, but more importantly, work areas where the larger fish live. The duo have also read and re-read very informative books by big-bass gurus Bill Siemental and the late Bill Murphy (Father Murphy.) The results have so far been successful, but more importantly, very promising.
2009 was a landmark year for Bass. He purchased a truck and a small rowboat, and for the first time was able to fish in a boat whenever he wanted. This enabled him to rack up more heaps then ever, educating him with each landing the habits of these incredible fish. Even the heartbreaking losses at the boat were an important part of his professional development. His backlog continues to grow, as does his portfolio of Heaps.
He has much work to do! During a big bass bonanza early in the spring of 2010 when Baker was absolutely destroying huge fish between 6-8 lbs, Bass’s life was changed forever when he was blessed with his first Large over 8 lbs, a landmark achievement that shattered his personal best and pushed the Heap Hunters into the coveted COLOSS category for the first time.
Above all of this, Bass’s ultimate goal is to break the Pennsylvania state record of 11 lbs, 3 ounces, which is his mantra and what he annunciates before every outing to his Father.
In his 40’s, Bass absolutely fell in love with archery hunting for big bucks. He moved to a rural spot in southern NY state with his very supportive spouse Jenna and was amazed that archery deer hunting serendipitously found him mid-life. His cousin Mike proved to be a great mentor, and was there when Bass harvested his first 7 point buck. While he hasn’t scored a buck worthy of the wall, he has improved each year and has been filling the freezer, with 10 deer down to date. He has also returned to the original family farm in Pa where it all began, in partnership with Evans 2, Buck Larue. He has fell in love with mobile hunting and has studied the concepts of Dan Infalt and others for over half a decade.
Bass Evans is convinced these Heaps exist, so why not slay them? Only by accepting many bite-less days and committing to the biggest of the microterus salmoides/odocoileus virginianus families, respectively, will the largest of the Heaps in turn make a commitment to his presentations.