2021 DISTRICT 19 NATIONAL SEMI FINAL MONTANA AND IDAHO

District 19 TBF Semi-Final     September 25-26, 2021

The event ran quite smoothly beginning with the Friday Evening registration and banquet.  We had an awesome pulled pork, salads and baked bean dinner, lots of food!  Following dinner, we went over a few rules and safety issues.  After this we got into the pairings.  Basically, following the provided paper work everything went great with no issues.

The morning boat safety check and take off went well.  There was some concern of morning fog so we had a short window to get every one checked through and launched, same thing for day two.  Weigh-ins went very well with everyone accounted for and no late arrivals.  We only had one fish die during the entire event.

Fishing was under blue bird skies with little or no wind and no rain however there was an algae bloom going on which may have affected the fishing as the bite was a little slow and the weights were running about 5 lbs. below average.  The winning boater, Randy Siemens of Kalispell, did manage to squeeze out over 15 lbs. each day.  Big fish was a Smallmouth of just under 6 lbs.

The home state team took the majority of the plaques with 8 of them to Idaho’s 2.  This was refreshing as this was reversed last year when we fished on Idaho’s home water and they will more than likely beat us next year, however we plan to make them work for it!

From the Left: Karl Okerman 4th Boater, J.D. Woods 5th Co-angler and standing in for Jim Conlin 5th Boater, Randy Siemens 1st Boater overall, Jason Crone 3rd Boater, Tim Johnston 2nd Boater, Hunter Dahnke Top MT and 2nd overall Co-Angler, and Mark Hilyer 3rd Co-Angler

MT Top boater – Randy Siemens, left and MT Top co-angler – Hunter Dahnke, right

 

 

 

 

2021 Idaho Semi-final team

Ranger Federation Bonus winner-Justin Soppe

ID-CoAngler-Guy Blahus

ID Boater-Jason Fuller

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to help from Randy, Karen and Katie we pulled off another excellent event. CLICK HERE for full results.

Don Collins
President: The Montana Bass Federation
www.mttbf.com

2021 DISTRICT 8 NATIONAL SEMIFINAL SOUTH DAKOTA AND NEBRASKA

Nebraska Boater Jordan Hirt smashed day 1 with an impressive 21-09 big bag of the event and having a good Day 2 weight of 15-15. The 2 days weight sealed the victory and with nearly a 2 pound lead over second place. Weighing in at 37-08 secured Jordan a spot at the 2022 Federation National Championship.

 

Second, third and fourth place boaters all went to South Dakota giving the state bragging rights for a year with the State Pride award.

Second place boater was Chad Schwan with 36-01 with the 2 days weight. Chad also had a great first day of 19-02. That also landed Chad a spot to the FNC as top boater from South Dakota.

 

Third place boater was Justin Heidinger with 35-10. Justin had been competing as a Non-boater in previous years and swapping ends of the boat he gave the anglers a run for their money.

Fourth place boater representing South Dakota and helping secure the State Pride award weighing in 31-15 was Rocky Lamascolo. And a Veteran Nebraska Angler Kent Priel took fifth place with 31-05.

Co-Angler top honors and a shot to the Federation National Championship goes to Nebraska Co-Angler Scott Blaesi with a whopping 25-00 total 2 day weight. The Nebraska Co-Anglers showed up and showed out taking the top 4 spots on the non-boater side.

Nebraska Co-Angler Michael Hansen comes in second place with 23-06. Third Place goes to Mark Moorman with 21-04 and fourth place goes to Leon Gehrig with 17-14. Great job Nebraska!

Fifth place goes to South Dakota Co-Angler, Adam Hutmacher with 15-13 taking top spot as a Non-boater representing South Dakota at the 2022 FNC.

 

Thanks to all of the anglers who qualified and fished the District 8 National Semi finals good luck and we hope to see you all next season. CLICK HERE to see all photos from this event. CLICK HERE for full results.

3 TBF Clubs Earn Conservation Grants From Bass Fishing Hall Of Fame

Congratulations to  Southern Colorado Junior Bass Club, SW Iowa Fishing Team, and Tri-County Bass Anglers of Indiana and THANK YOU ALL for your hard work on Conservation.!

 

 

PRESS RELEASE – CONTACT INFORMATION:

Bass Fishing Hall of Fame, Barbara Bowman

501-541-6660, bbowman@bassfishinghof.com

 RELEASE DATE: 8/9/2021

Bass Fishing Hall of Fame Makes Four Conservation Grants

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – August 9, 2021 – For the second consecutive year, the Board of Directors of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame announces that the Hall has awarded four conservation grants to contribute to its mission of celebrating, promoting and preserving the sport of bass fishing. The recipients were selected through a highly competitive process, and they represent a diverse group of deserving projects.

“We are once again thrilled to be able to contribute to these worthy projects that should provide immediate impacts,” said Bass Fishing Hall of Fame President John Mazurkiewicz. “Habitat restoration and management, and other conservation efforts, are the lifeblood of our sport and are critical to bass fishing’s future. These grants are all going to worthy recipients for the benefit of the wider community.”

The four grantees are as follows:

  • Southwest Iowa Fishing Team (Iowa Bass Federation) – The SWIFT Conservation Fish Habitat Project will place artificial fish habitat structures in lakes and ponds throughout southwest Iowa, utilizing materials that will benefit biodiversity without decomposing or otherwise negatively impacting the fisheries.
  • Spring Bassmasters & Southern Colorado Junior Bass Club (Colorado Bass Federation) – Youth volunteers will create structures of chain, twine, cables and weight to sink approximately 100 cottonwood trees in the Valco ponds, adding much-needed fish habitat.
  • Tri-County Bass Anglers (Indiana Bass Federation) – Youth volunteers will employ a habitat enhancement plan created by the Indiana DNR in Patoka Lake, utilizing Pennsylvania porcupine cribs, pallets, black bass nesting structures and Hoosier cubes.
  • Chattanooga Bass Association (TN) – The Association will build a release boat to redistribute tournament-caught fish throughout Lake Chickamauga, with help from TWRA, the Tennessee Aquarium, Chattanooga Tourism, Fish Dayton, and the Tennessee Department of Tourism.

“These represent a truly inspirational slate of bass anglers’ volunteer efforts,” said Board member Gene Gilliland, Conservation Director for B.A.S.S. “Once again, we wanted to make sure that sweat equity was incentivized and rewarded.” Gilliland and Board member Casey Shedd with AFTCO spearheaded the BFHOF conservation grant selection process.

The Bass Fishing Hall of Fame will hold its annual induction dinner on Thursday, September 30, 2021, at the Wonders of Wildlife Museum and Aquarium in Springfield, Mo. There will also be a concurrent auction, starting on September 27 through noon on October 1. The proceeds assist the Board in hosting the dinner and other recognition events each year, along with funding its conservation grants and other worthy endeavors benefiting the sport of bass fishing. Generous donors from all walks of the fishing and outdoors industries have already donated numerous products and experiences, many of them one-of-a-kind items that cannot be purchased elsewhere at any price. For information on induction dinner tables and tickets, visit https://www.bassfishinghof.com/2021-banquet – or call (501) 541-6660.

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About the BFHOF — The Bass Fishing Hall of Fame is a nonprofit organization led by a volunteer board of directors and is dedicated to celebrating, promoting and preserving the sport of bass fishing. Since 2017, the Hall’s inductees and memorabilia representing the history of bass fishing is showcased in Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife Museum and Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri, where it has rapidly become a popular destination.

For more information about the Hall, its mission, and to become a supporting member,

visit www.BassFishingHOF.com,

or contact BFHOF executive director Barbara Bowman at bbowman@bassfishinghof.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2021 Junior World Championship Heads To Quad Cities, Il on the Mississippi River – July 28-30, 2021

PONCA CITY, OKLA. (3/30/2021) – The Bass Federation Inc. (TBF) announced today that the 2021 TBF Junior World Championship (JWC) is about to kick off this week July 28-30 on the Mississippi River in the Quad Cities bi-state regional destination in Illinois and Iowa.

The 2021 JWC includes a two-person team format and three days of competition, launching from Rapids City, Illinois. The TBF Junior program includes all anglers 8th grade and under at the time they qualified through their home state’s Junior program. 40 of the top Junior angler teams from across the nation will attend and compete for their share of well over $15,000 in scholarships and event prizes.

Historically, the Junior World Championship (JWC) is held in conjunction with the Federation’s Annual State Leadership Conference which once again will also be hosted with the JWC in the Quad Cities.

The Annual TBF State Leadership Conference invites 49 TBF affiliated state federations in the US and Canada to send state official(s) to attend meetings on fishing, youth and conservation items, strategic planning, educational sessions, how to operate their local & state events safely in the era of COVID-19 as well as annual elections of TBF national directors.

There is no better way to socially distance than by going fishing. Regardless, event officials noted extra safety steps will be taken for both events. Federation officials have worked with health experts across the nation to develop COVID-19 compliant conference, weigh-in, meetings, and other safety measures that will be used during all our events for as long as needed. TBF officials noted these safety measures will help keep participants and communities safe while still doing their part to help the economy, people, and businesses in our country get back to work.

“The relationship that Visit Quad Cities and our regional destination has with The Bass Federation is extremely important, said Dave Herrell, President, and CEO, Visit Quad Cities. “Hosting the 2021 TBF Junior World Championship and activating our world-renowned Mississippi River is a huge win for the QC. Not only do we have the privilege to serve as host of the Championship, but also the Annual State Leadership Conference which brings TBF affiliated state federations from all over the country and Canada for meetings and discussion topics such as fishing, youth, and conservation, and much more. This will be a multi-day event opportunity and we are thrilled about July on the river.”

“The Quad Cities is the perfect fit for these events,” TBF President and CEO Robert Cartlidge said. “The Quad Cities are centrally located in the U.S. for our travelers from every state and there are lots of things in the area for the families to see and do.  There should be plenty of fish to be caught by these young championship anglers because with input from the DNR we have chosen pools on the Mississippi River that are doing well. We are excited as it should be a fun event.”

Many of today’s top pro anglers started in the TBF Junior program.  A few examples are; Jacob Wheeler (IN) fished the 2006 JWC; Shane Lehew (NC) won the 2007 JWC, and 2017 Forrest Wood Cup winner Justin Atkins (MS) in the 2008 JWC.  More recently, the 2020 TBF Federation National Champion Living The Dream angler Lance Freeman (KY) started out by fishing the TBF Kentucky Junior program.

About Visit Quad Cities – Founded in 1990, Visit Quad Cities is the official Destination Management and Marketing Organization (DMMO) for the region.  Visit Quad Cities is a private 501(c)(6) non-profit engine charged with driving economic opportunity through tourism, building our authentic brand, telling & selling the Quad Cities story, and enhancing Quad Citizens’ quality of life and quality of place. For more information, visit us online at visitquadcities.com and connect with us on social media.

About The Bass Federation – The Bass Federation Inc., (TBF) is a member of the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. TBF is owned by those we serve and is dedicated to the sport of fishing. The Federation is the largest and oldest, organized grassroots fishing, youth, and conservation organization there is. TBF, our affiliated state federations, and their member clubs conduct more than 20,000 events each year and have provided a foundation for the entire bass fishing industry for nearly 50 years. TBF founded the Student Angler Federation and the National High School Fishing program in 2007 to promote clean family fun and education through fishing. Visit bassfederation.com or highschoolfishing.org and “LIKE US” on Facebook.

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