The Bass Federation (TBF) held its National Semi Finals Championship this past weekend, November 16-17 on the St. John’s River, Palatka, Florida, just barely six weeks after Hurricane Helene swept through Florida, Georgia and others parts of the Southeast, leaving destruction of epic proportion in its path. Bass Fisherman from Georgia and Florida didn’t let the destruction from Hurricane Helene dampen their charge to advance to and competed in the Championship.

Three days of practice started on Wednesday, November 13.   Practice for the competitors proved to be challenging with sunny weather and 10-20 mph winds varying from the South to the NNE.

Anglers from both states blasted off from the Palatka City Ramp with weigh-in starting at 3:00 p.m. both days. Weather conditions on the first day of the event showed a huge improvement over the practice days. There was a light breeze on the river and schooling fish were located on several of the shell beds.

Day 1 results had Michael Deen of the Georgia’s Okefenokee Bass Anglers leading on the Boaters side with five (5) bass weighing 21.81 pounds.  Larry Atkins of the Augusta Bass Club lead the Co-Anglers with five (5) bass weighing 13.30 pounds.  Florida’s Boater, Jesse Tacoronte lead with five (5) bass weighing 16.5 pounds and Florida’s Co-Angler, Josh Williams lead with five (5) bass weighing 10.15 pounds.   Patrick Brown of the Georgia’s Bulloch Bass Club caught Big Fish weighing 5.13 pounds.

Day 2 results had Boater Michael Deen of the Georgia’s Okefenokee Bass Anglers coming in with five (5) bass weighing 14.69 pounds and Co-Angler Danny Rawlings from the Georgia’s Lowndes County Bass Masters weighing in four (4) bass totaling 7.78 pounds.  For Florida, Boater Doug White had five (5) bass weighing 17.17 pounds and Co-Angler Josh Williams had five (5) bass weighing 16.68 pounds.   Florida’s Doug White caught Big Fish for Day 2 weighing 5.35 pounds.

Overall winners for the 2024 District 1 TBF FL-GA National Semi Finals were Georgia’s Boater Michael Deen with 36.50 pounds and Florida’s Boater, Doug White with 29.98 pounds.  Larry Atkins was Georgia’s leading Co-Angler with 13.30 pounds and Josh Williams Florida’s leading Co-Angler with 26.83 pounds.  Florida’s Doug White captured Big Fish for the tournament weighing in at 5.35 pounds.

A total of 188 bass were weighed in with a combined weight of 447.93 pounds.

The top Boater and Co-Angler from each state advances to The Bass Federation National Championship in 2025, where they will test their skills by competing against the winners of the other forty-eight states.  Date and location of the 2025 The Bass Federation (TBF) National Championship TBA.

California Bass Federation hosted 2024 NSF at Lake Millerton Oct 5/6.  Twenty-five anglers and 25 Co anglers fished to represent their State at the Federation Nation Championship in 2025.    Congratulations goes out to Tim Wells for winning the overall event.  Tim has been fishing the federation for years and this will be his first FNC.  Congratulations also to Andy Morita, he won the Co Anglers and also his first time to the FNC.  California this year had 2 high school anglers qualified for the NSF through a high school championship sponsored by California.  Collin Constantino and Brayden Baker took a 2^nd and fifth place.  They fished and won the California Qualifier on the Delta in April 2024.  Brandon Morton and Hunter Hilburn will advance as well representing Arizona.  Tim caught his bigger fish in 4 to 6 feet of water on walking top water bait and small swimbaits, all his filler fish were caught on 5 in worm from 25 to 40 feet deep.  Congratulations to everyone who fished.

High winds caused a move of launch sites which disappointed and aggravated the 192 anglers due to a Small Craft advisory. For safety reasons the launch site was moved from The Selfridge ramp on Anchor Bay to the ramp at Algonac on the North Channel. Despite the change, good weights were brought to the scales.

Overall winner, Jeff Claar of Indiana, had 18 pounds on Saturday and won with 35.21 pounds. Jonathon Fabiszak (Indiana) had 19.13 pounds on Sunday which gave him a total of 31.86 to edge out 3^rd place finisher, Kevin New, also of Indiana. The three of them qualified for the TBF National Championship.

Ryan Winstead finished 5^th with 30.78 pounds and will represent Illinois at the National Championship. On the Co-Angler side Brad Waller of Illinois took home top honors with 24.35 pounds. Second went to Tim Stillions with 22.10 pounds, Kevin Days claims 3^rd with 21.10 pounds and 4^th was Chad Reed with 20.48 pounds. Second through 4^th were Indiana anglers. Bryce Kalen (Indiana), who finished 4^th was the Ranger Cup winner.

Of the 460 bass weighed in 284 were smallmouth. A total of 859 bass were brought to the scales with a total weight of 2,051.91 pounds. Average weight was 2.39 pounds but a 6-pound largemouth was weighed in on Sunday.

Delaware Co-Angler Darrin Toth Sr. won region 13 TBF Semi-finals with an impressive overall weight of 24.68 lbs.

First place boater and Ranger Cup qualifier Mike Morris of Delaware weighed in with 24.20 lbs.

Boater Jonathan Lang from Maryland weighed in an impressive 21.61 lbs.

Co-Angler Chris Lang from Maryland, Jonathan’s brother, weighed in 21.42 lbs.

Nations’s Capital boater Jason Wiseman weighed in 22.07 lbs.

Co-Angler Martin Blanchet weighed in 21.27 lbs.

A total of 463 bass were caught during the tournament. There was excellent fish care by the participants, resulting in only three deceased.