2012 High School Fishing World Finals Returns to Lake Dardanelle

Registration Opens March 1

Ponca City, Okla. – Feb. 17, 2012  High School anglers near and far will unite in Russellville, Arkansas and Lake Dardanelle State Park, July 15-21, 2012 for the pinnacle event of high school bass fishing, the 2012 High School Fishing World Finals. Registration opens online at highschoolfishing.org on March 1.

Last year, over 600 attendees made up of high school anglers, family members and sponsors enjoyed the opening ceremonies to kick off a week-long family vacation with tens of thousands of dollars in scholarship prizes on the line.

“Russellville is extremely excited to host this tournament for the third year, and looking forward to another group of young people that love to fish,” Russellville Tourism Director, Christie Graham, stated.  “Russellville hosts many tournaments each year, but enjoys getting to invest in young people’s lives that have a passion for the outdoor world of fishing. We are excited to see what growth this year will bring.” Continue reading

Cranberry Country Bassmasters – Wisconsin Holds Kids Casting Event

Our club held its first Kids Casting event of the year at Freeze Fest in Tomah, WI. It was the second Freeze Fest ever so it was new to the area. It is going to be an annual event from now on so we should see more participation every year. This year’s event was won by a brother and sister. We almost didn’t hold the event because of our lack of paperwork, targets and no fishing rods. Our club bought 3 rods and reels and copied a few entry forms. Luckily we found 2 targets in our club trailer that we could use. We would like to hold another event this summer but will need more rods and targets. Hopefully, our club can raise some money to buy some equipment for our event. Following are the winners of this competition:

Kole Cherrier
Age 12
Birth Date- March 20, 1999
Score – 120

Keagan Cherrier
Age 9
Birth Date – March 18, 2002
Score – 70

Pat Loendorf
Secretary/ Cranberry Country Bassmasters

TBF DREAM TEAM RALLY – GETTING BACK TO OUR ROOTS IN A BIG WAY!

Ponca City, Okla. (Feb 7, 2012) — The Bass Federation announced today the formation of an entirely new, groundbreaking, TEAM tournament trail covering all of North America, TBF’s Dream Team Tournament Rallies. Dream Team Rallies are all about giving anglers what they want, fun and fishing, and they all culminate at the 2013 TBF Dream Team National Championship Rally!

TBF Dream Team Rallies are designed to fill a void not only in the federation, but also the fishing industry to give anglers exactly what they’ve been craving.  Fun events close to home without lots of hassle, paperwork or overhead, all of your choosing; fish with who you want, when you want, where you want.  Rally events will boast integrity and reasonable entry fees to win BIG prizes.  Events backed by the power of the federation and a large national prize pool with a real chance to advance directly to big time “dream” vacation events with big time “dream” payouts!

“Tens of thousands of loyal federation members, like-minded grassroots anglers, and bass club folks that just want to fish, are at the front of the pack fighting for clean water and their home lakes, taking kids fishing, and buying products to keep this sport going. They have no desire to fish state qualifiers or go “Pro,”” TBF President, Robert Cartlidge, stated. “They are our backbone, driving our industry forward. There has never been a “one size fits all” program for them until now.  A TBF Dream Team Rally is tailored for what members want, adding great value to their membership,” Cartlidge continued.  “Traditionally, the focus has been on state teams, divisional championships, and advancing to the biggest events in professional fishing, like the BFL All-American and the Forrest Wood Cup. These are great benefits and still a very big part of what we do. They are dream opportunities in and of themselves. But, there are a lot of very good anglers out there with roots, ties and jobs preventing lots of travel who want to fish and have fun. So, we built a program custom tailored to these anglers with very little work for the club, little travel and low costs to advance, but very BIG rewards.” Continue reading

UPDATE: Attempts to Ban Lead Fishing Tackle Increase – Your Help is Needed More Than Ever

New Efforts to Ban Lead in Fishing Tackle Demonstrate the Need for a Legislative Solution

Last November, 43,000 anglers like you helped to defeat an attempt to ban lead in fishing tackle nationwide when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied a petition to ban lead in fishing tackle under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Despite the EPA’s ruling, this issue is not yet fully resolved. The petitioners have filed a law suit against the EPA’s decision and submitted a similar new petition to the agency that could still result in a ban on lead fishing tackle nationwide.

KeepAmericaFishing™ is once again asking anglers to oppose this unjustified petition and to rally behind legislation that will put an end to these unwarranted attacks on recreational fishing once and for all. Continue reading