The fourth annual Kurt Dove’s Pro Bass Youth Camp took place on Lake Amistad in Del Rio, Texas recently. For 5 days, 24 youth anglers between the ages of 11 and 18 honed their bass fishing skills and learned from professional anglers and guides through one-on-one instruction and on-the-water lessons.
Kurt Dove, who has guided professionally for over a decade and is currently competing in his 6th season on the Bassmaster Elite Series, first conceptualized the camp during a guide trip with his friend Chase Kemp, who runs the Donald R. Kemp Youth Hunting Club in Las Cruses, N.M.
“I played a lot of basketball and really had a passion for the sport when I was growing up,” explained Dove. “I remember getting really pumped up about going to basketball camp for a week every summer.Over the years of guiding and fishing tournaments, I realized that there was a whole group of kids out there who had a huge passion for bass fishing, but there really wasn’t a ‘summer camp’ experience for them to be a part of.
“I thought that it would be really cool to create a week-long camp that was a nonstop bass fishing bonanza that really entrenched kids in the sport of bass fishing and gave them knowledge so that they could go out and have more fun catching bass.”
In addition to Dove, the list of instructors this year included Denny Brauer, Keith Combs, Cliff Crochet, Harold Allen and Dave Mansue, along with several top guides in the region.
“What amazes me most is how much better all the campers have gotten as a whole from the first year (2012) to this year,” Brauer said. “All the campers are incredibly appreciative, and it’s just a high-class group of kids and people involved. It’s refreshing to work with kids who are serious about fishing and really want to improve and excel.”
For more about the camp, visit www.ProBassCamp.com.
