The Arizona Bass Federation board of executives said initially that they would be happy if 20 or so boats came out. The 1st annual AZ Bass Federation, Family Fun Derby turned out nearly 60 boats. They offered a ton of prizes, free food and good times on the lake!
We were commissioned to capture footage to use for a promotional video to use in their future marketing endeavors. After what turned out to be a crazy morning, we showed up hopped out of the truck and thankfully able to get some footage of all the boats launching. Which actually turned out better than I anticipated. After getting the footage of the launch, we were able to get all situated, get in the boat and go about the objective.
I was initially supposed to go with two of the board members and they were gracious enough to take some of the anglers who didn’t have a boat out, ensuring they had the opportunity to participate. Which, in my eyes was pretty impressive. One of the gentlemen found a couple of the anglers who happened to be having some boat trouble at the dock and unable to get their motor fired up. Without hesitating, he offered to take those folks out on his boat and were treated to quite the story.
The boat owner was from Minnesota and ended up in Arizona after years of serving our country. He mentioned that in being away for so long his boat suffered out in the elements and being on disability, he was slowly getting her back into shape. They tried a few times to get it fired up and ultimately, had an awesome time, with a good guy, fishing on a really nice boat.
We came out there with multiple, large SD cards, which were cleaned entirely prior to the trip. Before they were done giving away the raffle prizes, we had no more space to even snap a picture. Everything was full, and that was a first. Needless to say, we captured so much footage of the AZ Bass Federation’s first annual Family Fun Derby.
The goal was to highlight the Family Fun Derby, the turnout, the participants, obviously the winners and just some of the process and culture of their organization. I have been around the fishing community for longer than I’d care to admit and this seems to be a great group of folks, who enjoy having a good time.
We ended up completing three videos with the footage we had of the Family Fun Derby, we tried to minimize the redundant clips, and liked how they turned out. We set out with a mission in mind and do to simple adversity, had to adapt to maximize the benefits of the current situation. And are thankful for it.
Completely randomly, we headed back to the dock about mid-way through the day and as we were pulling up, I noticed a bald eagle dropping out of the sky as if it was going to catch a fish. I told my friend to quietly motor his way towards the eagle who was on the shore now. We made our way towards him and got maybe within 150-200 yards before he took flight and went on about our business. That is the second time in my life I seen an eagle flying in Arizona and both times, it leaves me speechless with goosebumps. Just amazing.
This was an awesome project, grateful to be involved and thankful to have the opportunity to work with a great group of people. If you’re even considering fishing competitively and maybe don’t know how to get involved, the Arizona Bass Federation has a variety of options catering to the true beginner as well as the seasoned, expert angler.
