(posted July 3rd, 2008)

Cash for Federation Nation Anglers & State Programs…

Toyota Trucks Bonus Bucks - a special program to benefit BASS Federation Nation members and their states programs. Bonus Bucks is bass fishing’s only tow-vehicle contingency program, and it provides the opportunity for anglers to earn extra cash for pulling their boat with the best tow-vehicles on the road, the Toyota Tundra & Sequoia. 

 Benefits for Federation Nation Anglers:

  • Free Toyota Trucks clothing package to each angler registered for the program.
  • $500 to each registered state team member. (Current state team members, who qualified in 2007, and are registered for program are also eligible for this bonus.) 
  • $1,000 to each registered State Qualifier to fish the National Championship.
  • $5,000 to the highest placing registered angler at the National Championship -  November 3-8, Milford Lake, Junction City, KS.
  • $2,500 to the second highest placing registered angler at the National Championship - November 3-8, Milford Lake, Junction City, KS.

Matching Funds for Federation Nation State Programs:

These funds are paid direct to state programs, based on above mentioned individual angler performances. 

  • $250 to each state for each registered state seam member.
  • $500 to each state for registered state qualifier to fish the National Championship.
  • $2,500 to the state whose angler is the highest placing registered angler at the National Championship - November 3-8, Milford Lake, Junction City, KS.
  • $1,250 to the state whose angler is the second highest placing registered angler at the National Championship - November 3-8, Milford Lake, Junction City, KS.

To learn more about this exciting contingency program go to www.toyotafishing.com or contact us direct.  

Contact Us:
Toyota Trucks Bonus Bucks Program
bonusbucks@dynamicsponsorships.com
Kendell Callaway or Lance Peck
Ph# (918) 742-6424
Bassmaster Elite Series ‘River Rumble’ Relocated to Tennessee’s Old Hickory Lake

(posted June 12th, 2008)

Recent unsafe conditions on the Mississippi River have prompted BASS to relocate the Bassmaster Elite Series’ River Rumble presented by Longhorn, set for June 26-29 and originally scheduled in Fort Madison, Iowa, to Old Hickory Lake and Hendersonville, Tenn.  The new event, renamed to the Tennessee Triumph presented by Longhorn, will mark the eighth Elite event of the season and will take place on the previously scheduled dates.

Old Hickory, which BASS has visited seven times in its 40-year history, will also host the third event of the 2008 Women’s Bassmaster Tour presented by Academy Sports & Outdoors, set for June 19-21.  The following week, the Elite Series pros will tackle the spacious reservoir.  Tournament waters will also include Cheatham Lake, located just below Old Hickory Dam.  The tournament waters are immediately off-limits to Elite Series pros until the official practice period, June 23-25.  Co-anglers must observe BASS rules as previously outlined for Elite Series events.

Daily tournament launches and weigh-ins will take place at Sanders Ferry Park in Hendersonville.  Launches will begin at 6 a.m. CT and weigh-ins will start at 2:30 p.m. CT.

“Our first priority is the safety of all those involved with BASS events,” said Tom Ricks, general manager and vice president of BASS.  “We appreciate the flexibility of both Fort Madison and Hendersonville and we look forward to hosting events at both locations in the near future.  Our thoughts and prayers are with those in Iowa who have been affected by the recent floods.”

In addition to the top prize of $100,000, pros will be competing for points in the season-long Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings, which will award $250,000 to the winner and determine the majority of the 2009 Bassmaster Classic qualifying berths.

Tournament coverage from the Tennessee Triumph will air on Saturday, July 5, at 9 a.m. ET on ESPN2. As always, live, streaming video of the weigh-ins and real-time leaderboards can be accessed on www.Bassmaster.com. On the final day of competition, www.Bassmaster.com will provide updates throughout the day and preview the weigh-in with Hooked Up hosted by Tommy Sanders and ESPN2 Outdoors personality Mark Zona.

“Our community was extremely excited to host a Bassmaster Elite Series event and we look forward to working with BASS on future events,” said Jim Noll, tournament coordinator for the Fort Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau.  “We are disappointed we won’t be able to host the event this year but absolutely agree that safety is the top priority with conditions like these.”

Co-anglers interested in registering for the event can visit Bassmaster.com or call 1-877-BASS-USA.  For event details, click here.  Registration will be at Sanders Ferry Park on Wednesday, June 25, beginning at 4 p.m. CT.   

Fans can click here for activities surrounding the event.

The local sponsor of the Tennessee Triumph is the Sumner County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

For more information, contact BASS Communications at (407) 566-2208 or visit Bassmaster.com. Visit ESPNMediaZone.com for ESPN’s latest releases, schedules and other news, plus photos, video, audio clips and more.

Location and Field
Tennessee Triumph presented by Longhorn
Hendersonville, Tenn.
June 26-29, 2008

Field
107 pros, 107 co-anglers
Cut to top-50 pros and co-anglers after Day 2
Cut to top 12 pro anglers after Day 3

Launch/Weigh-in
 Sanders Ferry Park
100 Sanders Ferry Park Road
Hendersonville, Tenn.





(posted March 6th, 2008)
OPTIMA Batteries is having a unique promotion for B.A.S.S. members only.  We call it the $20 Lure, in which B.A.S.S. members with a valid member ID number get a $20 rebate on purchases of OPTIMA batteries. OPTIMA is even throwing in free shipping on all online purchases of BlueTop marine batteries.  Visit http://www.optimabatteries.com/bass/ for details.  

This promotion has been extended to run through August 31st, 2008.


2009 Weekend Series Schedule Ready to Preview
(posted June 10th, 2008)

American Bass Anglers would like to invite you to participate in a preview of our scheduling for the 2009 Bassmaster Weekend season.  As you may know American Bass Anglers operates the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series and each year we schedule upwards of 125 events nationwide.  To minimize the impact on your State’s Federation Nation qualifying events we would like to work closely with you to avoid as many conflicts as possible.

 

To insure conflicts are minimized we are making the 2009 Bassmaster Weekend Series preliminary schedules are now available for you to preview.  To view the schedules we ask that you create a log-in which will allow you to view the current proposed schedules.

 

Also, I want to provide you contact information for each of our Tournament Managers in the field.  This will enable you to contact them as need to discuss any scheduling issues you would like to see addressed.

 

While there is no way we can completely miss everyone it is our goal to reduce as many conflicts as possible. We believe that giving you early access to the BWS schedule will help the process greatly and provide more attendance at both venues.

 

To sign up for access to the 2009 schedule go to: http://www.abaproam.com/FedSignUp.php

 

To access the schedule go to: http://www.abaproam.com/FedLogin.php

 

American Bass Anglers Contact Information

 

Tournament Managers:

Southern: Lisa Talmadge (256) 230-5633 email: ltalmadge@americanbassanglers.com

 

Southeast: Mike Whatley (256) 230-5632 email: mwhatley@americanbassanglers.com

 

South Central: Porter Trimble (256) 230-5628 email: ptrimble@americanbassanglers.com

 

Midwest: Mike Wells (270) 929-2705 email: mwells@americanbassanglers.com

 

Northeast: Gary Conner 256-230-5627 email: gconner@americanbassanglers.com

 

National Tournament Manager

Darrell Barker (888) 203-6222 email: dbarker@americanbassanglers.com

 

President

Morris Sheehan (888) 203-6222 email: msheehan@americanbassangler.com

If we can be of any assistance to you please contact us anytime!!

 
Thanks,
David Hagood
American Bass Anglers, Inc
Office (888) 203-6222
Fax (256) 233-2295


BCWC Pairings

 (posted May 29th, 2008)
Please see below and help us get the word out to your teams.  This is a team event, not a buddy tournament and as Jon indicates below we will continue this method of pairing for the remainder of the year.  If you desire a change for next year, we will discuss at the next Presidents' Conference.

Don Corkran
BASS/ESPN
Director, BASS Federation Nation
BASS/ESPN Outdoors
Office: 407-566-2075
Fax: 407-566-2072
Cell: 407-973-5971
Don.K.Corkran@bassmaster.com

After the first BCWC Regional held at Lake Amistad in Del Rio Texas, I asked Don to send a note to you all explaining how the pairings will work due to several teams misunderstanding how they would be paired and being blind sided when they got there. He did that. I just got back from the BCWC Southern Regional where I again spent a couple of hours having to explain the pairings and why they weren’t going to be administered as they thought. I know that Don sent that email out because most of the Tennessee group knew exactly how the pairings would work and said they were told by their President ahead of time.

I will not be at the next three BCWC Regionals (Northern, Mid Atlantic and Eastern) and I don’t want Chris Bowes and Deb Wilkinson to have to go through what I went through at the last two regionals so please explain the following to each team you are sending and make sure they understand before they get there. As always, anyone may certainly call me to discuss it.

Each team will be paired randomly within their own team. Each team sends in three (3) boaters and three (3) non boaters. Your three (3) boaters will be paired randomly with your three (3) non boaters. The pairings will randomly change each day. There are two (2) competition days and you will fish with a different member of your team each day.

This is how our system works, this is how we have done the previous regionals and we will continue to do it this way through the Championship.

Thanks and don’t hesitate to call me with questions,

Jon Stewart
BASS Federation Nation
Tournament Manager
407-566-2489 Office
407-557-0126 Cell
407-566-2510 Fax
jon.m.stewart@bassmaster.com

"We Help People Catch More Fish"



(posted May 30th, 2008)
B.A.S.S. Announces Site of
2008 Junior Bassmaster World Championship

 (posted May 9th, 2008)

May 8, 2008 - B.A.S.S. announced today that Onondaga Lake will serve as the competition waters for the 2008 Junior Bassmaster World Championship, set for Aug. 9-10. The 94 top youth competitors in the world, paired into two age divisions of 11-14 and 15-18, will square off for $23,000 in scholarship money, with the winners earning the distinction as the top youth anglers in the sport.

The competition will coincide with the season-ending Bassmaster Elite Series event on Oneida Lake, ensuring that each JWC competitor will fish with an Elite pro. Elite Series anglers who don’t make the Saturday cut will be randomly paired with JWC state qualifiers from each age division and the pairings will remain for Sunday. 

After pairings Friday night, the JWC competitors and their pros will take to Onondaga for a practice day Saturday, Aug. 9. The competition will kick off Sunday, Aug. 10, with the competitors weighing their catches on the Elite stage before the final-day weigh-in for the Elite Series. The JWC competitors will operate under standard B.A.S.S. rules.

“We applaud the Federation Nations across the country for their devotion to B.A.S.S.’ youth programs,” said Tom Ricks, Vice President and General Manager, B.A.S.S. “The mentoring of these youth anglers is central to the growth of the sport.  We know the JWC competitors will have a fantastic time on Onondaga.”

The Junior Bassmaster World Championship showcases the top youth anglers in the world and provides them the opportunity to fish competitively with B.A.S.S., which boasts the most visible tournament structure in the world. Last month, former JWC champion Bradley Roy, 17, qualified for the B.A.S.S. Federation National Championship, set for Kansas’ Milford Lake in November. 

“The Junior Bassmaster program has now matured and is revitalizing the sport with young adults,” said Stacy Twiggs, Senior Manager, B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Youth. “Introducing fishing to a new generation of anglers has always been important to B.A.S.S., and we’ve seen some great stories unfold through our youth programs.” 

In 2007, South Africa’s Jeffrey Toplis, 14, and Kentucky’s Kalem Tippett, 17, persevered through chilly temperatures and gusting winds on Alabama’s Logan Martin Lake to win the fourth annual Junior World Bassmaster Championship in their respective age divisions.

“We are honored to host such an important event as the Junior Bassmaster World Championship,” said John Rathbun, director of sports development for the Syracuse Convention & Visitor’s Bureau.  “We are excited to showcase a world-class fishery in Lake Onondaga.”