The All American Anglers from Killeen, Texas, differ from most bass clubs in how lakes are chosen and fished. Annually, we pick 13 lakes (one monthly/one backup) from as far west as O.H. Ivy reservoir, east to Toledo Bend, south to Falcon, and north as far as North Fork.
Our monthly lake is known to the membership once it's drawn at the Tuesday meeting before a Saturday tournament. The lake is drawn from a container that contains all 13 lakes chosen for that year and can only be fished once until 12 have been drawn throughout the months.
We intend to get back to the basics of fishing instead of relying on community holes and information from local lakes fished all the time or having some members pre-fish every day before the remainder of the club has an opportunity. Most club members rarely get the chance to pre-fish, so this has been good for the club to even out the field. And it will make the members do their homework first and learn from it!
This format has proven challenging, competitive, and more fun than one would think. Half of our members are military or retired military, which brings good diversity to the group. We can discuss and apply different methods and techniques from different areas of the U.S.
Although we have members that fish competitively on other trails, and some are pro company staffers, we maintain a very friendly club without any "I'm a pro" attitudes.
In the beginning, all of the members just started going to eat a good meal after the tournament, it became a habit, and within months, the club voted into the by-laws that we continue this tradition of fellowship.
We are a BASS Federation Club and fall under the North Central region. We support several events throughout the year, including youth programs, Fishing for Freedom, local boat dealers, and the Texas PVA tournaments.
Reprinted with permission from