Washington and Oregon TBF organizations have successfully concluded the 2024 season with our season finale. The joint TBF National Semi Finals tournament between Washington and Oregon was held this past weekend on the mighty Columbia River at Clover Island in the Port of Kennewick, WA. Hosted this year by the Washington State Bass Federation with assistance from the Oregon TBF, the event was very well orchestrated, and many memories were made. The weekend started off with the mandatory registration meeting. Pizza was served as we discussed the rules and logistics of the weekend’s events. A few year-end awards were given out then partner pairings were given out. Each pair was dismissed to discuss a strategy for next morning.

Each morning the contestants were greeted with freshly made local coffee. Livewell inspections were swiftly done, and boaters were allowed to launch. The blast off staging area was cast in the orange glow of the morning sun as it just began to break the horizon. First day of the event gave everyone bluebird sky conditions and flat calm waters to enjoy. The fishing however seemed to suffer from these conditions. The contestants all struggled to locate the size and quantity of what they had seen in practice days.

The final day started off with the same spectacular sunrise as the contestants blasted off. The weather as predicted, changed and the wind started to blow. Being on a river system with high canyon walls this is always a concern for our people. Luckily the conditions never got extreme, and all were able to safely navigate the waters. The change in weather conditions paid off in the size and number of fish that were caught. Our top two Co-anglers both weighed in 20+ lbs bags including big fish for the event, a 6.98lb largemouth. Multiple big bags were brought to the scales as both the boaters and co-anglers battled it out to become the state champions. The awards were presented at the base of the lighthouse on Clover Island. The lighthouse overlooks the river and makes the perfect backdrop for photos of our winners and state champions. The excitement level in the Pacific Northwest is high and gaining momentum. Both states are already gearing up for an exciting 2025 season and next year’s national semi-finals event.

VASSALBORO, ME – Maine Hosted the District 17 2024 TBF National Semi-Finals on China Lake. The first weekend of Fall in Maine met anglers with a brisk, overcast and windy weekend.  Maine boater, Nick Deering weighed in a monster 26.04lbs on day one to take the lead. Weighing in 17.20 on Day 2, he was able to pull off the wire-to-wire win with a two-day total of 43.24lbs. New Hampshire boater Matt Thoin placed second with 34.70lbs. Both anglers won top honors in their state qualifying for the TBF National Championship.

Maine Co-Angler Toby Cross wins with a two-day total of 24.51lbs. He just narrowly beat out New Hampshire Co-Angler Jeremy Arnold (24.10lbs) Both will earn a spot at the TBF National Championship for being the top angler in their state.

Nick Deering and Toby Cross

Matt Thoin and Jeremy Arnold

The Massachusetts Bass Federation and the Vermont Bass Federation held the TBF District 16 National Semi-Final at Lake Champlain in Port Henry, New York. The weather was awesome. The lake was almost flat calm which allowed anglers to run all the way to the Inland Sea on Northern Champlain. There were some great bags of bass weighed on both days. There were 14 boats, 28 anglers, and everyone caught fish. The lake showed some of its great largemouth and smallmouth bass on both days with multiple 19 LB bags weighed in both days. Congratulations to Vermont’s Scott Green and Charlie Ferrell for moving on to the TBF Nationals.  MBF could not be prouder of our two entries to the TBF Nationals.  Both won the District Championship for Boater Jacob Swanson and Co-Angler Mark Consolini. Jacob came up through our Youth program and is on the University of Montevallo College Fishing Team. Congratulations to all that competed! This was a great group of anglers and made my job so easy!  See you at the 2025 NSF!

The TBF District 9 MN-WI National Semi-finals was held on Le Homme Dieu Chain this past weekend. Twenty-seven boats from Minnesota and Wisconsin participated in this two-day event. Day one saw Eric Ritter from MN in 1st place with 17.55lbs. Weights were tight through 5th place held by Martin Terveer with 15.20lbs. Top WI finisher for day one was Adam Eisele in 7th place with 14.52lbs. Our Co-anglers on Day one saw WI’s, Brant Stahulak in 1st place with 15.37lbs and top MN finisher in 6th place was Greg Poetz with 12.42lbs.

Day two 1st place finisher and over-all District Champion was Martin Terveer with day 2 weight of 16.36lbs. His two-day total was 31.56lbs. Day 1 WI Co-angler leader Brant Stahulak followed up on day two with 10.25lbs to finish in 1st place with a total weight of 25.62lbs. MN’s Robert Beaman finished in 4th place with a two-day total of 23.63lbs.

Congratulations to MN Boater, Martin Terveer and WI Boater, Mike Puterbaugh and MN Co-angler, Robert Beaman and WI Co-angler Brant Stahulak as you have earned a berth into the 2025 TBF National Championship.