Tennessee Bass Federation

December Newsletter 2008

 

It’s hard to believe that 2008 has just about passed and we are looking at a new year in a few weeks.  2008 was an exciting year for the Tennessee Bass Federation in many ways.  We had our first Tennessee Bass Federation Champions Tournament and couldn’t be more pleased in the way the event was received.  The champion for the Western State Championship, Scott Tubbs fished against the Eastern State Champion, Donnie Cox for the official title of “ 2008 Tennessee Bass Federation State Champion.”  Both of these men represented what is good about the TBF.  They are good men, concerned about their families, they love to fish and compete, but they are also tremendous sportsmen.  We met in Murfreesboro on Thursday, October 30 where the anglers first learned about the location of the tournament.  They were allowed to spend a few hours on the water Thursday afternoon in order to learn the lay of the lake and to pre-fish a little.  The anglers then competed on Friday for eight hours with the eventual winner being Scott Tubbs from Savannah, TN.  Both anglers commented that they were excited to be able to fish the Champion’s Tournament, especially the very first one TBF has ever sponsored.  We would like to thank the following sponsors for their help in making this tournament a success: Castrol Outboard Motor Oil, Walmart, Frost Cutlery, Stealth 1 Battery Chargers, Navionics, All Pro Rods, Okuma Reels, Solar Bat Sunglasses, Plano Tackle Systems, Duncan’s Bags, TA Lure Retreivers, and the Tennessee Bass Federation.  We also would like to thank the two Tennessee Bass Federation State Directors who worked as observers during the tournament on Friday.  I can’t think of many things worse than sitting in a bass boat all day and not being able to make the first cast.  Both Alfred Lawless from Region II and Ricky England from Region III showed up at the Four Corners Marina with a big sack of food and soft drinks for a long day of watching someone else fish on Percy Priest Lake.  Thanks go out to each of them and the folks that showed up for the weigh in.  Both champions were honored at the 2008 State Meeting on Saturday, November 1.

 

State Meeting

 

Members from across the state met in Murfreesboro on Saturday, November 1, 2008 at the Clarion Inn.  Murfreesboro was chosen as a meeting site due to its’ geographical position in the state.  The meeting began at 8:00 a.m. and concluded at around noon.  During the meeting reports from the state secretary, Ken Head; state treasurer, Charles Mitchell; state youth director, Bruce Greig; and our state conservation director, Carl Guffey were presented.  The past year’s events were discussed along with a couple of rules and by laws proposals.  One change that passed by a huge majority was an increase in state dues from $7 to $10 per member.  This change comes after many, many years without an increase.  The increase to $10 will still leave Tennessee as one of the lowest three states in cost of membership in the United States.  The increase in funds will allow the federation to increase assistance to more programs in the future. 

 

State Officers

 

Members from across the state elected the following as Officers for 2009. 

President, Ron Riley

Vice President/Tournament Director, Ricky England

Secretary, Ken Head

Treasurer, Charles Mitchell

 

Ricky England will take over for long time Vice-President/Tournament Director Ed Bryant.  Ed decided to resign his position earlier this fall due to time constraints by his employment.  We want to thank Ed for his years of service and his dedication to the Tennessee Bass Federation members from east to west.  While we will miss Ed in the Vice-president’s position but he will return to the Board of Directors as an area director for Region II, Area 2.

 

State Directors

 

The following will serve our membership as directors for 2009. 

Region 1: Larry Dunlap, Jerry Jones, Terry Wolfe, Jim Holloway and Steve Smith

Region II: Carl Robertson, Ed Bryant, Alfred Lawless, David Daniel, and Howard Blaydes. 

Region III: Ricky England, Don Scott and Joe Turner

Region IV: Ron Poss, Keith Harmon, Michael Patterson and Carl Guffey

 

These gentlemen work hard for our federation and we certainly appreciate their efforts for the anglers in Tennessee. 

 

State Tournaments

 

In late September anglers met in Hardin County, Tennessee at Pickwick Lake for the annual Western State Tournament.  This year’s western state tournament was sponsored by Team Hardin and was hosted by Pickwick Landing State Park.  The facilities were great and the host communities responded well to our anglers.  The top 8 teams receiving prizes were:

1 PICKWICK BASSMASTERS

2 REELFOOT LAKE BASS CLUB

3 MEMPHIS BASS CATCHERS

4 TENNESSEE VALLEY BASS CLUB

5 TWO RIVERS BASS CLUB

6 PICKWICK BASS ANGLERS

7 ESTILL SPRINGS BASSMASTERS

8 HICKORY HILL BASS CLUB

 

The top 6 individuals that qualified for the 2009 Southern Divisional Team are:

1 SCOTT TUBBS, PICKWICK BASS ANGLERS

2 JON HARDIN, PICKWICK BASSMASTERS

3 Michael WOOLEY, MEMPHIS BASS CATCHERS

4 TOMMY WHITE, HIGH FOREST BASSMASTERS

5 BEN PARKER, REELFOOT LAKE BASS CLUB

6 TOMMY ZARTA, HICKORY HILL BASS CLUB.

 

During the second week in October, the Eastern State Tournament was held with Dayton and Rhea County serving as great hosts again for the second time in three years.  The top 7 teams receiving prizes were:

1 ODD FELLOWS BASSMASTERS

2 GRUNDY COUNTY BASS CLUB

3 HARRISON BASSMASTERS FED CLUB

4 CLAIBORNE COUNTY BASS

5 SMOKY MTN BASS ANGLERS

6 HAMILTON COUNTY BASS CLUB

7 HIWASSEE BASSMASTERS

 

The top 6 anglers from the east moving on to the Southern Divisional Tournament in South Carolina were:

1 DONNIE COX, CLAIBORNE COUNTY BASS

2 CHRIS GRANT, HARRISON BASSMASTERS FED CLUB

3 KEITH HARMON, CLAIBORNE COUNTY BASS

4 PHILLIP E DIETSCH, HAMILTON COUNTY BASS CLUB

5 CHARLES E NUNLEY, GRUNDY COUNTY BASS CLUB

6 JOHN J TALTON, CHATTANOOGA BASS CLUB

 

ROBERT KALDENBERG from the CLEVELAND BASSMASTERS will serve as the alternate for next year’s state team.

 

We look forward to the challenges of South Carolina’s Southern Divisional Tournament in 2009.  This team has an opportunity to continue Tennessee’s move up the competition ladder.  In 2007, the Tennessee team finished third and in 2008 we finished a strong second.  It just seems natural for this year’s team to follow their lead and finish first in South Carolina in June of 2009.  

 

Jr. State Tournament

 

During the first weekend in June junior anglers from across the state met in Dayton, TN to fish the waters of Chickamauga Lake.  The results were as follows:

11-14 Age Group

1 Derek Samples, East Tennessee Jr Bass Anglers

2 Caleb Luzader, Cleveland Junior Bass Club

3 John Garrett, Reelfoot Lake Jr Bass Club

 

15-18 Age Group

1 David Kaldenberg, Cleveland Junior Bass Club

2 Hunter Shumate, Reelfoot Lake Jr Bass Club

3 Mike Sosebee, Cleveland Junior Bass Club

 

Derek Samples and David Kaldenberg represented Tennessee at the 2008 National Guard Jr World Championship in Charlotte, NC.  Both of these young men represented us well and showed us what is great about our Tennessee Bass Federation Junior Program.  They have great, supportive parents and I look forward to seeing them walk across the stage in big tournaments in the years to come.  By the way, David’s dad will be a member of the 2009 Tennessee Bass Federation Southern Divisional Team.  Fishing ability seems to run in that family.

 

We hope everyone has a great holiday season!!!