Around the TBF Youth Newsletter – December 2009

This week I had the great opportunity to visit Maryville Middle School in Maryville Tennessee. They are the first Student Angler Federation school club that we have in the state of Tennessee and boy have they got it right!

This school is almost a picture postcard of what we envisioned when we set out to build the SAF across the country. Mr. David Clark and his 28 student anglers have set up this club in near perfect fashion and they are off and running in the Volunteer state!

At almost every meeting they have a speaker come talk to their club about fishing or something related to fishing. This week besides myself,  they had WBT pro angler Heather Broom speak  to the group about her experiences as a female angler on the Women’s Pro Tour and what it takes to land a successful sponsorship deal.

To date they have also had a club tournament and we’re planning some things with them for the upcoming FLW Tour/ TBF National Championship events.

 Keep an eye on this club in the future as I’m sure Mr. Clark and his group are “Going Places” through fishing!!!

We also have two additional schools in East Tennessee on board. The Oliver Springs High School under the direction of Ms. Rice and a program at Farragut High School are all up and underway.

Since they have three schools within that state underway we’ll be assisting them in organizing their first SAF State tournament this spring!

On another note the end of the year has quickly come upon us and it’s time to get all of your rosters and dues for the 2010 season in. Remember that if you’re interested in applying for the State Youth Merchandise Package you have three requirements.

The first is to fill out an application which is available in our Youth Downloads section of our web site. The second is to get all of your youth club rosters in by 12/31 and the third is to get all of your clubs dues in by 12/31.

Please note that we have held the Premium Youth membership cost at $25 for this year which makes that membership an even greater value than before!

An exciting new feature is also available for 2010, this year you can select to receive your FLW magazine electronically!! There are two great reasons for doing this. The first is that it is very good for the environment when we don’t have to use natural resources to manufacture the magazine and then dispose of it when we are finished.

The second is that the FLW has agreed to increase our membership rebate for those who choose the electronic version as it saves them the additional manufacturing cost. Since it is saving them money they are sharing the savings with the TBF.

It’s that very rebate money that helps the TBF fund our Youth, Conservation, and National Fishing Events so please choose the electronic option if possible!

Please have a great Holiday Season and don’t forget to take a kid fishing today!

Mark Gintert

Tennessee 2010 Habitat Projects

The Tennessee Bass Federation plans to make 2010 a banner year for habitat projects. In addition to our usual upland work, the 2010 emphasis will be on main stream reservoirs with three large projects planned across the state.

The Standing Tree Project (as described in the TBF proposed project list) will be implemented on Kentucky Lake in West Tennessee, Chickamauga Lake in Middle Tennessee, and a yet undetermined lake in East Tennessee. The intent of our proposed project is to install on each of the three lakes one thousand trees per site near a primary black bass spawning area. These project sites were selected from suggested GPS coordinates provided by local anglers concerned with improving angling on their respective impoundments. Additionally, Standing Tree Project leaders will provide local participating groups with assistance and guidance on the proper way to install trees to best create additional nursery habitat.

The Tennessee Bass Federation’s proposed 2010 Habitat Projects will provide additional aquatic habitat, bolster the aging reservoirs, and improve black bass recruitment in the state of Tennessee.

Carl Guffey

Tennessee TBF State

Conservation Director

Collegiate Bass Fishing a Growing Sport

(Nov. 02, 2009 – Alexandria, VA.)… In college athletics, football and basketball reign supreme in televised competition. However, there’s a new sport in town that has begun to crown champions on a field of play far removed from the grid iron or field house – collegiate bass fishing. The sport’s governing body, the Association of College Anglers (ACA), has announced its 2010 tournament season has now grown to five televised events. The schedule includes the fifth annual BoatU.S. Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship, which returns to Texas’ Lake Lewisville May 24-28, 2010.

“Four years ago when we started supporting the championship, there were about 40 schools with organized clubs and no sanctioning body,” said BoatU.S. Angler Director Mike Pellerin. “Once this sport starting gaining critical television coverage, its popularity has soared. Today, there are over 200 clubs, with the ACA leading the effort to grow bass fishing at the collegiate level. We have also now witnessed the first college in the nation – Bethel University in McKenzie, Tennessee – to officially classify their fishing team an ’athletic sport,’ putting it on par with other team sports for recruitment and athletic scholarships. We hope that trend continues.”

The ACA reports that nearly 40 more schools are currently in the process of organizing a sanctioned team. The ACA was formed through an affiliation with the BoatU.S. Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship and other sponsors. The organization has been made possible by a joint effort among The Bass Federation Inc. (TBF), Careco Multimedia, and a host of supporting companies. The ACA is a “federation” under the TBF umbrella, having its own board of directors, by-laws, and benefits.

The 2010 ACA schedule now includes five televised events produced by Careco Multimedia which will air on the Versus network next year (check your local listings):

Stephen F. Austin State University Bucketmouth Bass Tournament: December 18 and 19 on Sam Rayburn Lake, TX. This event draws many anglers from colder climates.

Arkansas Tech University Invitational: March 25 and 26 at Lake Dardanelle, AR. This is a popular Spring Break tournament.

Southern Collegiate Bass Fishing Series Championship: April 2 and 3 on Wheeler Lake, AL. Hosted by the Auburn University Bass Sports Club, this is the largest regional bass fishing series in the nation.

Fifth Annual BoatU.S. Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship: May 24-28 on Lake Lewisville, TX. The largest and most prestigious college bass fishing event of all.

Collegiate Bass Fishing Open: June 21-25 on Kentucky Lake, TN. Hosted by Paris/Henry County, Tennessee, this is a new event that uses an innovative “team” format, where everyone gets in on the action.

The ACA sanctions additional non-televised collegiate bass fishing tournaments as well. For more information on all of the tournaments, information on how to start a club, or join the ACA, go to the CollegiateBassChampionship website.

About BoatU.S. Angler:

BoatUSAngler.com , a membership program from the nation’s largest association of recreational boaters, offers services and helps protect the interests of boat-owning anglers.

About Careco Multimedia:

Careco Multimedia, Inc., owns and produces one of the best lineups of instructional outdoor television programming on air today, including Americana Outdoors, Fisherman’s Handbook, Yamaha Whitetail Diaries, Chronicles of the Hunt, Hunter’s Handbook, Fishing Texas, Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship, and Hunting Texas.

TBF Conservation News

Last week I had the great opportunity to attend the Florida Bass Federation State Tournament and I saw a rather unique weigh-in procedure that I thought went very well especially from a conservation standpoint.

As the anglers returned to the launch site and passed by the check–in dock there was a long rope that stretched from the check in dock to the pier where the weigh-in was being held. Each boat could then kill there engines and take their place in line along the rope. They then pulled their boat along the rope until it was their turn to take their fish onto the stage. Both anglers stepped off the boat with their catch while a volunteer from the FBF stepped onto their boat and moved the boat along to a waiting platform at the end of the pier.

The great thing about this setup was that there was no waiting in line with their catch and there was no need for pre-scale water tanks. The angler went right from their boat to the scales. The fish were weighed and carried directly to the release tank where they were refreshed and returned to the St. Johns River. This entire process took only a couple of minutes and the fish looked to be in excellent condition upon release.

Once they were through thanking their sponsors and telling about the day’s activities the anglers then made a short walk back to the opposite end of the pier where the volunteer brought their boat around and met them. Both anglers got back on their boat and then headed to the ramp to pull their boats for preparation for the next day.

Now this sounds like a big production but it really went very smoothly with the excellent help of 5 or 6 well trained volunteers. I thought it was very inventive and completely minimized the time the fish were out of the live well.

Another key point that emerged this week was at the ASA Sport Fishing Summit.

This is a yearly event that brings together leaders from the industry to discuss the future of sport fishing.

A key speaker at this years event was Jane Lubchenco who is the under Secretary of Commerce for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrator (NOAA).

There has been some real discussion in the last few weeks over the lack of respect given to recreational fishing in the NOAA’s evaluation of Coastal and Great Lakes usage. There has been a lot of discussion over whether fishing of all types (commercial and recreational) would be curtailed or even banned from some of these areas.

Ms. Lubchenco assured the group at the ASA Summit that the recreational fishing community has been heard and that their interests would be taken in consideration before any regulation of these waters would be enacted.

Obviously this was welcome news for everyone in the sport fishing community as there has been some genuine concern about the NOAA’s lack of concern for the recreational sport fishing.

We’ll keep a close eye on the actions of this group moving forward and hope that they live up to their comments.

Mark Gintert