Gun Control Propaganda Fails To Come True

Not long ago the gun banners were crowing that gun deaths now outnumbered traffic accident deaths for the first time, proving guns should be banned. They ignored a lot of facts like that gun deaths are mostly suicides and car deaths had recently dropped due to higher cost of gas, and gun deaths were on a long term downward trend. They used this change to push their gun ban agenda.

Their gun control propaganda fails to come true just a few months later.

Some rational folks predicted that car deaths would increase again if gas prices dropped and people drove more. A news article in the Griffin Daily News on page A-7 on Friday, February 19 proved them right. The headline: “2015 Motor vehicle deaths increased by largest percent in 50 years.”

Do you think the gun control folks will admit to this change? I won’t hold my breath.

In Georgia one of the biggest gun controversies this legislative session has been making it legal to for citizens in our state with a “Georgia Firearms License” to carry their gun on college campuses. Campuses are a free fire zone, also known as a gun free zone, right now.

There have been many robberies on college campuses, especially Georgia State. The new law would allow people like me, who have gone through a fingerprint background check and have no criminal history or mental problems and are 21 years old or older, to carry their legal gun on campus.

Those against it come up with all kinds of weird excuse why it would be dangerous. They claim youth should not be able to carry guns, ignoring the fact the law only applies to those over 21. And they say college students are not mature enough to carry a gun, totally missing the fact that many 18 year olds are in the military and carry dreaded “assault” weapons daily.

When I was in college a long time ago I had my Marlin 30-30 lever action assault weapon in my dorm room from the time I started at 18 years old. It never shot anyone. I know times have changed, but gun free college campuses do nothing but keep law-abiding students from protecting themselves.

Anyone thinking the current law keeps thugs from carrying a gun on campus ignore the armed robberies regularly in the news. And they ignore the fact that some states already allow students to carry guns and there has never been a problem caused by them.

What Are Missouri Paddlefish and When Does Season Open?

Missouri Paddlefish Season Opens March 15

Editor’s Note: Here’s an interesting look at a sport many of us have never tried, but it’s apparently one of the few ways to harvest the giant “spoonbills” that populate many of our big Midwestern rivers and lakes.

MDC makes paddlefish snagging possible through annual stockings of fingerlings.

tagging a mature paddlefish

Missouri DOC biologists tag a mature paddlefish. Thousands of fingerlings are stocked in larger state lakes and rivers each year. (Credit MDOC)

Missouri’s annual spring paddlefish snagging season is a popular pastime for thousands of anglers. The state’s major paddlefish snagging waters include Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake, and Table Rock Lake with the season running March 15 through April 30. The season for the Mississippi River is March 15 through May 15 with a fall season of Sept. 15 through Dec. 15.

Also known as “spoonbills” because of the shape of their snouts, paddlefish take seven or eight years to grow to legal size. The fish feed on plankton and other microscopic prey. These filter feeders therefore do not take bait from hooks and must be snagged using large hooks that catch in the mouth, gills or other areas of their bodies.

The success of paddlefish snagging is dependent on weather conditions, primarily water temperature and flow.

“The best snagging conditions occur when water temperature reaches 50 to 55 degrees and there is an increase in water flow,” MDC Fisheries Management Biologist Trish Yasger said. “This prompts them to move upstream to spawn. We don’t usually see a lot of big fish being caught on opening day. Harvest early in the season is typically dominated by local fish and small males with the occasional large female. As water temperature and flow increase, you will start seeing more of the larger females.”

Stocking Efforts

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) makes paddlefish snagging possible in the Show-Me State through annual stocking of up to 38,000 fingerlings raised at Blind Pony Hatchery near Sweet Springs. The fingerlings are released into Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake and Table Rock Lake, plus the Black River. The annual stocking is necessary because dams and other barriers to spawning areas have eliminated sustainable natural reproduction in the lakes.

“Without annual stocking by MDC staff, this popular pastime and food source would go away,” said Yasger. “And we need help from snaggers to learn more about and to better manage this popular game fish.”

Yasger added that MDC released an especially large number of fingerlings into Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake, and Table Rock Lake in 2008. The more than 164,000 fingerlings released are now eight years old and should start providing good numbers of fish for snaggers to harvest.

Snag A Tag – Get A Reward

MDC is beginning its second year in a five-year tagging project to help monitor paddlefish numbers and improve species management. Department staff are placing metal jaw tags on up to 6,000 paddlefish netted in Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake, and Table Rock Lake and up to 1,000 netted from the Mississippi River. Yasger encourages all snaggers to help out by reporting tagged paddlefish and to NOT remove tags from undersized paddlefish.

“We will send a special ‘I caught a Missouri paddlefish!’ t-shirt to each snagger who returns or reports their first tag on a legal-sized fish,” Yasger explained. “All returned and reported tags will be placed into an annual drawing for cash prizes with a grand prize of $500.”

Tags or photos of tags from harvested paddlefish must be submitted for rewards. Snaggers must include the following information with each tag:

Date caught
Location of catch including reservoir or river, mile marker, and county
Tag number
Fish length from eye to fork of the tail
Snagger’s name and complete address

Report tags by calling MDC at 573-579-6825 with the information, or mail the information with the flattened tag to: Missouri Department of Conservation, 3815 East Jackson Blvd., Jackson, MO 63755. Learn more about the tagging project from MDC online at http://on.mo.gov/1VA1E6B.

Report Transmitters

MDC biologists are also implanting ultrasonic transmitters in adult paddlefish at Truman Lake, Lake of the Ozarks, Table Rock Lake, and the Mississippi River to track their movements and gain other important information. MDC asks that all snaggers who harvest fish with a transmitter to report it by calling 573-579-6825 or by e-mailing Trish Yasger at Trish.Yasger@mdc.mo.gov. It is important to return transmitters so they can be implanted in other fish.

Help smaller fish survive

Yasger reminds snaggers to help undersized snagged fish survive to grow larger.

“Do not land paddlefish with gaffs. This can fatally injure sublegal fish. Use large landing nets,” she said. “Remove hooks carefully and get sublegal fish back into the water as quickly as possible. Wet your hands before handling fish and avoid excessive handling. Do not pass them around for photos and hold fish firmly to avoid dropping them. Never put fingers in the gills or eyes.”

Regulation Requirements

Paddlefish snagging

The state’s major paddlefish snagging waters include Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake, and Table Rock Lake with the season running March 15 through April 30. The season for the Mississippi River is March 15 through May 15 with a fall season of Sept. 15 through Dec. 15.

Unless exempt, anglers must have a current fishing permit to snag or to operate a boat for snaggers. The daily limit is two paddlefish and snaggers must stop snagging after obtaining the daily limit on Lake of the Ozarks and Truman Lake and their tributaries, and the Osage River below Bagnell Dam. The minimum legal body length for paddlefish at Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake, Table Rock Lake, and their tributaries is 34 inches, measured from the eye to the fork of the tail. The minimum legal body length is 24 inches on the Osage River below Bagnell Dam and in other Missouri waters. All paddlefish under the legal minimum length must be returned to the water unharmed immediately after being caught.

The Wildlife Code of Missouri requires the head, tail, and skin to remain attached to all paddlefish while on the water so paddlefish should not be cleaned until off of the water. Also, extracted paddlefish eggs may not be possessed while on waters of the state or adjacent banks and may not be transported. Paddlefish eggs may not be bought, sold or offered for sale. Additionally, paddlefish or their parts, including eggs, may not be used for bait.

Learn more about Missouri’s official aquatic animal, regulations, snagging reports, and more at http://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/fishing/species/paddlefish.

A Bad Tournament Day Gets Worse

I hate it when a bad fishing day gets worse, like it did for me last Sunday when a bad tournament day gets worse near the end.. In the Spalding County Sportsman Club tournament at West Point 14 members and guests fished for eight hours to land 41 keepers weighing about 75 pounds. There were three five-fish limits and one person didn’t have a keeper. There were 14 largemouth and the rest were spotted bass.

Jay Gerson won with five weighing 8.78 pounds, Sam Smith was second with two at 8.52 pounds and his 5.64 pound largemouth was big fish, third was Raymond English with five weighing 7.54 pounds and Kwong Yu placed fourth with three at 7.32 pounds.

Jordan McDonald fished with me and I caught a keeper spot on one of my first few casts with a DT 6 crankbait, then Jordan caught three keepers on a Shadrap in the first hour. We thought it was going to be a good day but we fished a lot of places and patterns for the next six hours and I got one keeper spot on a Carolina rigged Baby Brush Hog.

With an hour left to fish I pitched a jig and pig to a shallow brush top and felt a thump. When I set the hook there was a big flash in the water as the bass headed to deeper water. I yelled for the net and Jordan grabbed it. Then the bass jumped and threw my jig ten feet into the air.

That broke me down. I hate losing fish, much less a big one like that. Jordan said he thought it was bigger than Sam’s fish and I think it was close. So a tough day got much tougher and disappointing at that point.

We fished for the rest of the time left and I got a keeper largemouth, again on the DT 6, and Jordan caught three more keeper spots on his Shadrap. He culled down to five and had 6.74 pounds for fifth place. My three at 5.57 pounds put me in eighth place.

The water was about 50 degrees and heavily stained. Many people caught fish in shallow water. The cold weather last week will probably slow things down, and the lake rose three feet and got even more stained from the rain last week.

Everywhere we went there were a lot of people trolling for crappie. We counted 12 boats near the second shoal marker in Whitewater Creek. On the depthfinder there were schools of crappie everywhere out over the deeper water in the cannels, and a lot of baitfish there, too.

If you want to fill up your freezer, head to West Point with some Hal Flies and troll them along the channel edges. Most of the crappie were down about ten feet deep. If you have a good depthfinder you can see the fish and know how deep to run your baits. If not troll different depths until the fish show you how deep they are feeding.

What Is Giant Salvinia?

A Weed Over Troubled Water

Editor’s Note: As we wind up National Invasive Species Awareness Week, here’s a look at one of the worst, the giant salvinia that is creating problems across much of the south these days.
from The Fishing Wire
endangers fishing and boating waters and destroys habitat for aquatic plants and animals.

Craig Springer, USFWS

Giant Salvinia chokes waters

The plant’s scientific name is your first clue that it is something that you do not want. Botanists know it as Salvinia molesta. It’s commonly known as giant salvinia. Native to South America, the floating fern made its way to the United States via the ornamental plant industry. It’s pretty, but the beauty belies serious economic and ecological harm that usually follow when it is accidentally or purposely released into the wild.

John Naugle would know. He’s a fisheries biological technician at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) Arizona Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office, in Parker, Arizona. Naugle is fully immersed in controlling the spread of the nasty plant from a waterway of great importance to the regional economy of Arizona and California. Giant salvinia showed up in the United States in 1995, and four years later it had a hold in the Palo Verde Irrigation District Drain that parallels the Colorado River. The irrigation drain delivers water downstream for agriculture. Since 2004, it has fallen on Naugle and colleagues to put a staunch on the spread.

He’s pretty much “Mr. Salvinia.” As long as the weather is conducive for plant growth, Naugle is out combatting the plant in the waterway. “For seven months of the year, I am on the water up to seven hours a day,” said Naugle. “It’s survey and treat, survey and treat—it’s a near-continuous effort.” That treatment is spraying an herbicide that knocks back the mats of the lime-green floating fern.

“Knock back” is often the best that can be done, according to the Service’s Southwest Region invasive species biologist, Dr. David Britton. Britton says that complete eradication of giant salvinia is nearly impossible given how the plant survives.

“It’s remarkable,” said Britton, “you can break off a tiny piece of plant and it will start a new population.” Britton notes that the plant easily gets carried by boats unintentionally, underscoring the need to be careful and inspect watercraft and trailers. “It grows fast, too, and will quickly cover the water surface, shading out all light.”

Giant Salvinia up close

The plant’s dangerous growth habitat is spoken in its scientific name. The floating plant does best in slow-moving canals, backwaters or ponds. It can double the amount of surface area it covers in a week’s time and create a deep carpet—a shroud three feet thick. That’s troublesome for boating, fishing, waterfowl hunting, not to mention the value of private property associated with infested waters.

Then there’s water delivery associated with public works, part of the reason Naugle performs his labor. Downstream of Palo Verde Irrigation District Drain are dams and water intake structures. Giant salvinia has accumulated and clogged structures in the past. But not so much anymore; Naugle has been successful at controlling the plant. He continues to keep a watch out, and herbicidal treatments are fewer and fewer because of his diligence.

“Once giant salvinia gets established,” says Britton, “it will likely never be eradicated entirely. Prevention is the first measure—and it’s cheaper than what it takes to control the plant.” To learn more, visit www.fws.gov/southwest

Missouri’s March 1 Trout Opener

Remedy for Fishing Fever is Missouri’s March 1 Trout Opener

Today’s feature comes to us from the Missouri Department of Conservation.
from The Fishing Wire

Thousands of anglers flock to trout parks around the state for opening day of catch-and-keep trout fishing.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – As the wintery season winds down, anglers throughout the Show-Me State are beginning to show some signs of trout fever. Symptoms include: tying flies, putting new fishing line on reels, checking waders for holes, and practicing casting. Most anglers who get trout fever get rid of it by doing one thing—visiting one of Missouri’s four trout parks to participate in the catch-and-keep trout season.

Tuesday, March 1, marks the opening of catch-and-keep trout fishing at Bennett Spring State Park near Lebanon, Montauk State Park near Licking, Roaring River State Park near Cassville, and Maramec Spring Park near St. James.

“This year’s trout opener should be good and comparable to previous years,” said MDC Fisheries Unit Chief Bruce Drecktrah.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) operates trout hatcheries at all four parks. To help predict angler turnout on opening day, hatchery staff rely on permit records going back more than 70 years. Montauk, Bennett Spring, and Roaring River hatchery staff expect crowds of about 2,000 anglers at each location and Maramec Spring staff are planning for a crowd of about 1,500. Based on these predictions, hatchery staff will stock three trout per expected angler on opening day for a total of more than 22,500 fish averaging around a foot in length. The hatcheries will also stock a mix of “lunkers” ranging in three to 10 pounds.

Trout Season Outlook

Due to the heavy rain and record-breaking flood that took place this past December, MDC crews have been inspecting flood damage and evaluating the impact these floods may have on hatcheries, fish production and fish numbers.

“We have plenty of fish for this year’s trout season,” said MDC Fisheries Division Chief Brian Canaday. “But due to the heavy rains and flooding our trout stocking will be slightly reduced throughout the season. We will stock approximately two fish per trout tag sold at each trout park instead of our usual 2.25.”

Canaday added that MDC staff will continue to evaluate hatchery fish inventories, stocking plans, and make adjustments throughout the season as appropriate.

Permits

It’s important to know anglers need a daily trout tag to fish in Missouri’s trout parks. Daily trout tags can only be purchased at each of the four trout parks. Missouri residents 16 through 64 need a fishing permit in addition to the daily tag. Nonresidents 16 and older also need a fishing permit.

Economic Outlook

Trout hatcheries are just one way that conservation pays in Missouri. MDC stocks more than 800,000 trout annually at the state’s four trout parks and approximately 1.5 million annually statewide. Trout anglers’ spend more than $100 million each year in the Show-Me-State, which generates more than $180 million in business activity, supports more than 2,300 jobs and creates more than $70 million dollars in wages. About 30 percent of Missouri trout anglers come from other states, so a substantial portion of trout fishing expenditures is “new money” for the state’s economy.

March 1 marks the opening day of catch-and-keep season at Missouri trout parks, including Montauk State Park pictured. MDC expects thousands of anglers for opening day and will stock more than 22,000 trout for it.
For more information on trout fishing in Missouri, visit https://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/fishing/where-fish/trout-areas.

REMINDER TO TROUT ANGLERS: To prevent the spread of the invasive alga called didymo or “rock snot,” the use of shoes, boots or waders with porous soles of felt, matted or woven fibrous material is prohibited at all trout parks, trout streams, Lake Taneycomo, and buffer areas. Go online for more information to http://on.mo.gov/1V6qc6W.

Baked Striper with Bacon and Onions

I don’t cook many stripers and hybrids. They have a line of dark red, oily meat along their sides and it has a very strong fishy flavor. I would much rather eat a spotted bass or crappie. And when I try to cut out that dark meat as many suggest I just make a mess of the filet.

I do have one good recipe for those strong tasting fish. I took one of the filets and put it in a baking pan, covered it with slices of bacon and onion, covered it with tinfoil and baked it for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Then I took the tin foil off and put it under the broiler for five minutes to brown it some.

How To Cook Baked Striper with Bacon and Onions

Its very simple. A filet from a three to five pound striper or hybrid is what I like. I spray a baking dish with no stick spray and lay the filet in it. I then completely cover the filet with strips of bacon. Top that with onion slices about a quarter inch thick, cover and bake. Delicious!

Cooking it that way removes the strong flavor and it is good. I usually cook potatoes au gratin and broccoli to go with it and it makes an excellent meal.

The weather is getting nice and everyone will be fishing a lot in the next few weeks. I hope you can be a good, consistent fisherman rather than a luck fisherman like me. And if fishing gives you lemons, not the fish you are after, make lemonade by cooking them in a new and different way.

Fishing Lake Oconee for A Magazine Article and A West Point Tournament

Last Friday I went to Oconee to get information for my March Georgia Outdoor News article. Ethan Thomas, a student and fishing team member at Georgia College in Milledgeville, took me to show me his patterns and baits and ten spots to catch March bass on Oconee.

The Georgia College fishing team is ranked first in the nation right now by the Cabela’s School of the Year Rankings. Ethan lives on Oconee and fishes it a lot. He showed me some good places to fish on a cold day but we had a tough time catching much until late afternoon when the sun started warming the water.

At about 3:00 PM Ethan caught a keeper on one side of a dock and I got a four pounder on the other side. In the next hour or so Ethan caught five or six keepers while I tried to get another bite. The sun warming the water back in the coves definitely helped make the fish bite better late in the day.

There were a lot of fishermen out trying to catch crappie. They were trolling and drift fishing out on the creek channels and around standing timber. This is a great time to fill up your freezer with good eating crappie on most of our area lakes like Oconee, Sinclair, Jackson and West Point.

– Saturday morning I was excited to head to West Point Tournament for the Potato Creek Bassmasters tournament. I had a good feeling about catching fish based on my luck this year. Unfortunately, I proved it has been luck, that I am not a good fisherman. A good fisherman is consistent, a luck fisherman goes from catching to not catching like I did.

In the tournament JJ Crompton had 8.16 for first, Jack “Zero” Ridgeway had 7.33 for second and Raymond English placed third with 7.20 and had a nice 6.15 pound largemouth for big fish. I think I was the only one of the 14 fisherman without a keeper!

The day was the kind of day I most hate this time of year. A strong cold front came through, giving us bluebird skies and strong winds. I may have let the weather mess up my mind but I tried to concentrate on catching fish, not how tough it was.

After fishing shallow for an hour I went to a rocky bluff bank where I can usually catch at least a keeper spot this time of year, but never got a bite. For the next three hours I fished shallow and deep without a bite.

In a creek mouth with standing timber in 35 feet of water I could see scattered fish in it on my depthfinder. A few years ago I landed a five pound largemouth there in January and caught a keeper spot the next day in a tournament.

I jigged a spoon in the timber and got one bite. The fish fought good but I was disappointed when it came to the top and I saw a five pound striper. I invited I home for dinner and spent the next two hours jigging there, thinking that stripers and black bass like I was after ate the same thing so there should be something I could weigh in. But I never got another bite.

I finished out the day hitting several places that should be good this time of year but never got a bite. I heard the fish were caught shallow and there were several nice three pound plus largemouth and spots brought in, including Raymond’s big one. Most of the fisherman said they got only one to three bites all day. I fished several good shallow areas but no luck.

Some days are just like that.

–

Bassmasters Classic

A Few Thoughts on the Bassmasters Classic

By Frank Sargeant, Editor
from The Fishing Wire

The “Alabama Mafia” again looks to make its presence felt in the 2016 Bassmaster Classic, to be fishing March 4-6 at Grand Lake northeast of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Aaron Martens

Aaron Martens, Angler of the Year in 2015, is likely to be among the favorites to win the 2016 Bassmaster Classic at Grand Lake, Oklahoma, March 4-6. (Photo Credit B.A.S.S.)

With nine Classic contenders, more than any other state, Alabama is living up to its name as the tournament bass fishing capitol of the nation–perhaps not surprisingly since B.A.S.S. was born here in Montgomery, and has returned its headquarters to Birmingham after a brief flirtation with Florida.

Aaron Martens, a Californian now living near Leeds, Ala., is likely to rank near the top of the 54-man Classic field; he’s the reigning Angler of the Year (AOY), and has consistently proven himself one of the best in the world over the last several years on the Bassmaster Elite Series Tour.

Also at the top of his game is Justin Lucas, now a Guntersville resident, who finished 2nd in this year’s AOY race. Another young gun who may do well is Auburn grad Jordan Lee of Vinemont, who finished 9th in the AOY in just his third season of Elite competition.

Other Alabama anglers who made the Classic cut are Matt Herren of Ashville, Greg Vinson of Wetumpka, Chris Lane of Guntersville, Randy Howell of Springville, Russ Lane of Prattville, and tackle-maker Boyd Duckett, also now of Guntersville.

Edwin Evers

Edwin Evers lives virtually on the shores of Grand Lake, and will know it better than any other angler in the field—a likely factor in success if the bite is tough. (Photo Credit B.A.S.S.)

One name conspicuously absent, to the misfortune of the weigh-in crowds, is funny-man Gerald Swindle of Warrior. Win or lose, Swindle is always a crowd favorite who can draw a laugh, but he did not make the Classic cut this year.

Two Oklahoma anglers loom large in the field this year because Grand Lake is virtually their home water: Edwin Evers lives at Talala, close enough to hit the lake with a long cast, and Jason Christie lives at Park Hill, a short drive south. The last couple of years, home-lake familiarity has been a key factor, with S.C. native Casey Ashley winning at Hartwell in 2015 and Randy Howell winning at Guntersville in 2014. Cliff Pace of Petal, Miss., was the winning angler at Grand Lake in 2013, but he’s not in the Classic field this year. The event is being held a week later than it was last time at Grand, and anglers are hopeful they’ll get a break compared to the freezing temperatures and high winds they battled on the last visit.

The Tulsa Classic in 2013 recorded the second highest attendance in history, with more than 106,850 fans visiting one or more of the Classic venues. Total purse will be more than $1 million, with the winner receiving $300,000. The Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo provides an added attraction at the event in downtown Tulsa, with hundreds of boat, motor and tackle manufacturers displaying their new-for-2016 gear to the public for the first time.

For details on the event, visit www.bassmaster.com.

Trying To Learn To Hunt Wild Hogs

They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but I am excited and having fun trying to learn to hunt wild hogs hunting and trapping them. Although I have hunted for about sixty years and have been hog hunting one time with some guys with dogs in South Georgia, trying to figure it out on my own is very new.

For example, I now know hog and deer tracks are very similar. Although I grew up on a farm with hogs and saw their tracks many times, that was a very long time ago and there were no deer around to leave tracks to compare to the hog tracks.

Learning about hog habits, food sources, bedding preferences and movements has been interesting. They definitely behave in different ways. And trying to figure out how to trap them leads to all kinds of possible traps and how and where to build them.

I am getting more exercise than in many years from walking creek bottoms and hillsides looking for signs. My goal is to get some wild hogs for meat but the process has been fun so far!

–

What Is Collegiate Bass Fishing?

Collegiate Bass Fishing is on a Roll

By Frank Sargeant, Editor
from The Fishing Wire

Colllege teams

Collegiate bass fishing may never approach the interest levels generated by college football, but there’s evidence that competitive angling is following the footsteps of other popular NCAA sports as more and more colleges around the southeast add tournament fishing teams to their rosters, and a few even offer scholarships to attract young anglers who have already proven their skills competing at the high school level.

The Bassmaster College Series Southern Regional, fished this past week at Lake Martin in central Alabama, drew an amazing field of 225 boats, one of the largest fields at any level ever attracted by a B.A.S.S. event, and by far the largest college event.

“The College Series tournaments have seen growth each year,” said Hank Weldon, senior manager of the college, high school and youth tournament series at B.A.S.S., which is headquartered in Birmingham. “But this year’s field is more than 80 percent higher than the 124-boat field we had at last year’s Southern Regional. This surpassed any of our expectations and is a clear indication of how desirable the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series is.”

Most of the young anglers competing in the college events got their start in high-school level competitions, which are also booming around the nation. B.A.S.S. coordinated high school events are now available in every state except North Dakota, and there’s even a team in South Africa. (For information on starting a high school bass fishing club, contact the Alabama state director, Darrel High at highdar@aubrun.edu, 334-707-7355. Full information on high school events nationwide is available at http://www.bassmaster.com/high-school .)

The high school events have become a bit of a proving ground for young anglers, just as high school ball sports are for NCAA competition. B.A.S.S. has set up an All-American program that honors the top young anglers not only for their success in competition, but also for their character, leadership, and maintaining solid grades–a 2.5 average on a 4-point scale is required. Nominations are accepted from coaches, school administrators and parents, with the open period this year continuing through Feb. 15.

College team

Dave Precht, Editor in Chief of Bassmaster Magazine and Vice President of Publications for B.A.S.S., said there was a pent up desire for a college level circuit.

“Once a few states made it a team sport and high schools started offering fishing clubs, it grew itself naturally into college teams,” said Precht. “It’s a great opportunity for young men and women to get out in the outdoors with people of their own age and compete in a sport they can follow their whole lives, and just like in athletics, a select few will make it on to the ranks of the pros.”

He said several former All American high school competitors have quickly advanced through the college and regional tournament circuits to become members of the Elite Tour, generally recognized as the NFL of bass fishing, where a few of the most successful anglers earn six-figure incomes.

“Bringing these young people in is also good for the industry,” says Precht. “It results in boat and tackle sales, and for the ones that go on to the pro level, they become great spokesmen for their sponsors. They’re well educated, well-spoken and some of them have marketing or business degrees that let them step right into the industry.”

For more information on the College Series, visit Bassmaster at http://www.bassmaster.com/college

About Fishing

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