Kaiden Dinning and Owen Boesiger are both natives of Redding, Calif., and students at nearby Simpson University, where they are members of the school’s bass fishing team. They had the distinct opportunity to spend several days in the Springfield, Mo., area in September. Among the highlights of their trip was visiting the manufacturing facilities of Bass Cat Boats and Vexus Boats in north-central Arkansas. They also attended the annual induction banquet for the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame, which welcomed three new members in the Class of 2025. Dinning and Boesiger were kind enough to pass along this brief recap of their memorable trip to the Midwest: 

We both attend Simpson University. Simpson is known as one of the few funded college fishing programs in the West. Neither of us had ever fished anything other than our great local lakes like Shasta, which is known for its great spotted bass fishing, and Trinity Lake, which features both northern strain largemouth and smallmouth. 

This trip across the country, an opportunity of a lifetime, started in Sacramento, where we departed from our home lands. Unsure of what to expect when we landed in Springfield, we started our trip at the original Bass Pro Shops store, which was truly an incredible experience. Capping off our first day in Missouri, we went bowling and met some of the great ambassadors of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame at our hotel.

The second day was truly incredible, touring two of the top boat builders in the industry. Bass Cat is a true staple in the industry with their experience and technicality. Our tour of their facility was led by the great Rick Pierce. This was the first time either of us had been to any sort of boat manufacturer so it was a great learning experience for the both of us. A short trip down the road, we met with Ryan Patterson, Hunter Baird and Keith Daffron, President of Vexus boats. The new Vexus facility was remarkable and it was great to see such an advanced way of building boats. To end the night, we connected with Hall of Fame board president John Mazurkiewicz, who was very hospitable from the start and introduced us to some bass fishing industry legends. 

The following day, we toured the Wonders of Wildlife Museum and Aquarium at Bass Pro Shops in Springfield. It was voted the best aquarium in America over the past 5 years. Going into the tour, we didn’t really know what to expect. Between the vast amount of water and wildlife, it topped our expectations astronomically. After our tour ended, we made our way to the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame museum space. In there we both met a handful of legends and got to watch some great people get inducted. Finishing off what was already a once-in-a-lifetime experience, we got to indulge in some food and listen to some great stories from the inductees and some of the living hall of fame members. To make this even more memorable, we were both lucky enough to win a raffle bucket including some great tackle and fishing accessories. 

To conclude our short but amazing trip to this part of the U.S., we had the opportunity to fish the renowned Table Rock Lake with some very highly touted college anglers from Missouri State University in Springfield. Fishing was tough but good times were still had.

Leaving Missouri was sad but we are happy to know that we got our names out there for the west coast. We met tons of great people and made a lifetime of good memories. We hope to attend this event for years to come as it was an amazing experience.

To learn more about the Simpson University fishing team, visit https://simpsonredhawks.com/sports/bass-fishing.