Bass Fishing - UltimateBass.com

Hello my name is Earnie Cella, but my friends just call me" PAPA". I would like to welcome you to this great site "ULTIMATE BASS".  I am married to a wonderful woman named Vicki who has put up with my passion for 36 years. I have three great children and 8 special grandchildren. I attended Louisiana Tech College (it was before it became an university), and I served in the United States Army during the Vietnam War.  I started fishing for the elusive and wonderful species we call Largemouth Bass in about 1956 when I was eight years old. My Papa took me to a little pond for bream fishing and I accidentally hooked a good sized Bass which promptly broke my line and Papa's pole, after I stopped crying I was "hooked" forever.

Home State: Louisiana
Home Lake: Caddo Lake, Oil City La.
Days on the water: 100 to 125 a year
Years Fishing Experience: 45+

I spent time bass fishing all through the late fifties and sixties mixing in high school and Baseball along the way. In 1967 something wonderful happened, they call it Toledo Bend! If I was hooked on bass fishing before now it obsessed me. I started fishing tournaments every chance I got including fishing a few Bassmasters events and met with moderate success managing to win a few and gain a little knowledge over the course of years. In 1971 I started guiding bass fishing trips out of Fisherman's Wharf on the North end of Toledo Bend . There I was fortunate enough to meet some legends of the bass fishing world, Larry Nixon and Tommy Martin, with whom I worked on and off for a couple of years. With the success those two have won I doubt they remember much about those days but I remember sharing a few beers and a few lies with them and it was worth remembering. Guiding bass fishing trips for a few years will allow you to pick up some good stories as some of the people you guide are stories in their selves. That is a tale I may have to sit down and write about someday. I still hold on to the memories and enjoy sharing with others, and heck, I still plan to make a few more. I fish a few open tournaments each year and fish in a bass fishing club. If you are on this site maybe you are looking for a little help or some advice or just want to talk bass fishing, if so you came to the right place cause WE TALK FISHIN' HERE!

Fished 3 BassMasters Tournaments in 73-74 finishing with a "Small" check in all three.
Won back to back KYKX Big Bass Classics in 74-75.
Won a team championship on the Red Man Tour in 76, and placed 2nd in 77 and 78. (had a good partner)
Won the only KRMD Bass Rodeo ever held in 77 .
Won the Arthritis foundation in 77 and 79 & finished 2nd in 78 to a guy named Homer Humphrey's ( he did not fish in 77 or 79 haha)
Finished off that part of my career in 80 with a couple of wins on the Red Man Tour.
Then I took off a few years to raise kids, Oh I kept bass fishing a little but did not have time for many Tournaments.  Started fishing tournaments again in 2002 and managed to win the local Louisiana Bass Hunters open along with my son Trey that year.  Trey and I also snuck in a few checks the last couple of years in open Tourney's on Caddo Lake.  Placed 2nd in 2003 in the same tourney with my son in law Robbie.

I hope you enjoy our site and come back often to see what is going on. We will try to keep abreast of what is going on locally in the bass fishing world and keep you informed, so feel free to check and ask questions, we have a pretty salty bunch to draw knowledge from and hope we can entertain you a little.

Associations:
Charter member Ultimate Bass.com
Member "ABA" Bass Trail
Member "TCTC" Bass club
B.A.S.S.
NWLBA

Remember to take your Kids "HAWG HAULIN'" and save some for seed!!!

Thanks,

Earnie (Papa) Cella