Used boat for sale: Call David Wilder

Old bass boat will have to go with new Ranger in tow after co-angler wins Stren Northern event

LA PLATA, Md. – Looking for a good deal on a bass boat? Give David Wilder a call. At his home in Baltimore, there’s a 1998 Bass Cat that won’t get used much anymore.

For winning the Co-angler Division of the Stren Series Northern Division season opener on the Potomac River, Wilder took home a new Ranger 177TR. From the back of the boat he landed 43 pounds, 5 ounces of bass, giving him a 4-ounce win over second-place Kermit Crowder.

“I’m very pleased to move up to a Ranger,” Wilder said. “Especially now. It’s very tough to go out and buy a new boat. I work for myself, and right now they’re not beating down the door.”

Wilder is a self-employed painting contractor, who put on a good impression of a bass pro the past three days. He was 30th after day one when he landed 11 pounds, 11 ounces. But on day two he brought 19-9 to the scales and took the lead he wouldn’t give up.

Looking back on that unexpected turn of events, Wilder had this to say: “Anything is possible. It was a tough week, I stumbled a bit the first day and was thinking, `I’m not going to get `em.’ Then I busted a 20-pound bag. It worked out great.”

Wilder said he didn’t doubt he could make a comeback of this magnitude.

“I know my capabilities and what I can do on this river,” said Wilder, for whom the Potomac is home water. “I’m not taking anything away from the pros, they’ve taught me a lot of stuff, but I live here. When you have knowledge to use in the back of the boat, it will help you.”

Wilder has the knowledge of a pro and said he might fish from the front of the boat someday if the timing is right. Now he’s engaged to be married and saving every penny.

“I’d like to,” Wilder said when asked about turning pro. “It’s hard to say right now because of finances. But I can fish pro; I guarantee you that.”

And in the front of a new Ranger, he’ll surely look like a pro.