The 2020 TBF District National Semi-Final was held on Roanoke River in Plymouth, NC on October 10th and 11th.

Plymouth NC, a small town founded in 1787 along the banks of the Roanoke river was the site of the 2020 District 2 TBF National Semi-final. The best anglers from North and South Carolina converged on this quiet town and brought the house down with the truly unbelievable numbers of fish caught in the literally thousands of miles of shoreline available to them in the Roanoke river, the Albemarle Sound and all of the adjoining northeastern rivers that connect to the sound. The open-air meeting on Friday was enjoyed by all with cool-dry air and low humidity, accompanied with fantastic BBQ plates from Hendricks BBQ in Plymouth NC. While the Roanoke is famous for its plentiful 4-6-pound bass, this weekend showcased the fantastic spawning’s of the last two years with everyone catching 10 to 13.9-inch fish at will. Reports from the fishermen were that everyone was whacking the fish with catches of 40 to 50+ bass a day. The trick was how to deal with a raging current from the Hurricane remnants of Delta which dumped inches of rain on the competitors and how to land the quality fish. The Buzz bait and Frog played key rolls in the first 2 hours of the day with flipping, spinnerbaits and the stick baits topping out the rest of the days fishing for most of the anglers.

David Neece was the top Boater for SC with 33.63 pounds anchored by a 7.02 kicker on day two which enabled him to squeak out 1^st place over fellow SC boater and 2^nd place finisher Preston Riker with 32.50 pounds.

Mark Lamb was the top boater for NC and 3^rd place finisher who made the infamous run out in the Albemarle sound both days to his honey hole to win top spot for the NC boaters. Marks day two 16.89-pound bag was anchored by a giant 7-pound 13 once kicker and puts Mark Lamb on his way to his 1^st TBF National Championship.

The Co-anglers struggled to put two days of keepers together however, they caught tons of fish to keep them on their toes. Robert Griswold – The North Carolina Federation President came from a huge day one deficit to take home the overall Co-Angler Championship with his day two bag of 13.42 anchored by his last minute kicker of 4.23 for a total of 14.75 pounds to overcome 2^nd place NC Co Stephen Lasher who had a two day total of 14.44 pounds.

South Carolina Co – Scott Peavy the 3^rd place co-angler will be representing SC as the top SC Co at the TBF National Championship with his two-day total of 14.08.

2020 TBF District 21 National Semi Finals for Colorado and New Mexico was held October 3 & 4 at Lake Pueblo, Colorado with 26 boaters and 26 co-anglers vying for the top spot in their respective divisions.  True to 2020, the Year of COVID, the weather changed significantly everyday prior to the tournament with daily temps varying 10 – 15 degrees and overnight lows just as much.  Cold fronts accompanied by overcast days had anglers grinding to maintain their patterns.

Only 4 limits of bass were brought to the scales that weekend.  Three by boaters, two of those were by the first place finishing boater, Sam Heckman. Sam Heckman, who finished 3^rd at the 2020 TBF Nationals and 2^nd in the 2015 TBF Nationals, will be making his 6^th trip for the 2021 TBF National Championship.

Scott Hoendervoogt won the Co-Angler division with a two day total of 10.52 lbs and will be making the same trip to the 2021 TBF National Championship.

Colorado wishes their anglers good luck knowing they will represent Colorado well.

The TBF District 17 National Semi-Final took place on Damariscotta Lake, September 26-27. While fishing was tough for some, Maine anglers prevailed and took the top 6 spots.

Mark Lodge took home first place with a two day total of 32.83. Mark punched his ticket to the TBF National championship on the Boaters side. Toby Cross of Maine also took home first place winning the Co-Angler side with a two day total of 26.65.

Ed Lapierre (7th) punches his ticket to the National Championship also, being the top boater from New Hampshire. Chris Perry (3rd) claims his spot at the National Championship as New Hampshire’s top Co-Angler.

The Ranger Cup Winner of this event is Nick Deering, Maine TBF president.

Texas and Louisiana Send Anglers to National Event
The Texas Bass Federation hosted the 2020 TBF National Semifinal District 5 event Sept 26 & 27 on
Sam Rayburn Lake. The local host was Jackson Hill Marina. The anglers were fishing for state bragging
rights, deeper payouts, trophies, and Ranger Cup contingencies plus coveted spots in the 2021 Federation National Championship.

A total of $7,200 with 120% payback will be awarded in cash and prizes. The top four boaters and co-anglers in the 20 boat field divvied up $5,000 in total cash payback, not including the $500 Ranger Cup
award and plaques and new jerseys. The new format pays back 100% of the entry fees, 75% to the top
20% of the field, 10% to the state federations and 15% to the TBF Federation National Championship.

With a 14” minimum size for bass, the weigh-in lines were short and the fishing was extremely tough. Eric Gilchrist from Louisiana did just enough to squeak out the overall win with a 2 day total of 7 fish weighing 19 lbs.

The Texas boater winner was Colt Farris with a 2 day total of 8 fish weighing 17.06 lbs.

On the Co-Angler side Mike Pace from Texas had a tough day 1 with just 1 keeper, however day 2 he
caught the only 5 fish limit on the co-angler side in the tournament with a 2 day total of 6 fish weighing
13.78 lbs. On the Louisiana side Joshua Moore ended up in 4th place, however wit was good enough for
the Louisiana Co-Angler win with 2 bass weighing 7.30 lbs. All 4 of these anglers will advance to the
2021 TBF National Championship next spring.

The highest finishing Ranger Cup qualified angler was Texas boater, Colt Farris. Even though Colt finished 2nd overall, he was the top Ranger Cup angler and will receive $500 Ranger Cup award.

The Louisiana Bass Federation will have the bragging rights for the the next year with 71.52 lbs. as compared to Texas with 61.75 lbs. The award is determined by adding the weights of the top four boaters and
co-anglers from each state selected prior to the event.

The National Semi-Final format rolled out in 2017 replacing the divisional events and state team lineups. TBF anglers can now advance to a close-to-home NSF event in one of two ways. Active state
clubs can advance their top two anglers, in addition, the top 10% of state event participation or a minimum of 12 anglers per state qualify, whichever is greater. The new format has been highly successful
with state participation and membership up across the nation.

The event also went well thanks to the Jackson Hill Marina, Texas Bass Federation that ran the event
and all the support from TBF’s sponsors; FLW, Ranger, Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s, Lowrance, Minnkota, Humminbird, Evinrude, Berkley, TH Marine and Power Pole.