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JIM
DOSS 43 PORTSMOUTH RD. GALLIPOLIS, OH 45631 Phone:740-446-9810 Fax: 740-446-9819 Email: Jim Doss |
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President’s Message |
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Another year
has started and another Open Meeting has come and gone. Karl Guegold,
OBF Vice President, arranged another great meeting. He did all the work
setting up the sponsors, the motel and the Winner Dinner. Thanks Karl
for starting us off right
for the year. For those of
you that attended I want to thank you and for those of you, for what
ever reason, that did not attend you missed a really great time. According to
Sue Devaughn, OBF Secretary, we had 43 clubs and 160 members attend the
Open meeting. While probably not a record it was still a super
attendance. The club that had the most members in attendance was the
Gallipolis Bass Busters with a total of 10 members. We did set a
record in the amount of money we gave away at the meeting. We had the
50/50 raffle drawings in which we had 20 drawings for $50 each and two
$500 drawings for a combined total of $2000. We also had a $500
attendance drawing in which the member had to be present with all of his
dues paid up to win. Randy Conrad, who belongs to Coschocton County
Bassmasters, name was drawn but was not in attendance so we had no
attendance winner. As always we
had a great line up of speakers. The Division of Wildlife led the
program and presented the tournament data that they have received from
our clubs and talked about the fishing regulations and black bass closed
season on There will
be an open house on I will
present testimony in favor of the proposal at this time and would like
to see as many Federation members as possible from the I accepted a
plaque from the Other
speakers at the meeting included Doug Clifford, OBF Youth Director,
David Simmons the FLW/TBF
Programs Manager and Kevin Wells an OBF member and 2007 BFL Co-Angler
Champion. We had
almost $4,500 in various items to auction off so members got some real
bargains as none went close to their actual price. We had an almost
equal amount of raffle items to give away also. We had a
host of boat dealers and vendors there. I won’t name them here as they
are already listed on our web site but I want to say thank you to all of
them because without their help and contributions the Open Meeting would
not be possible. Another
successful event was the The Winner
Dinner was a huge success and the meal was great. Although we didn’t
have live entertainment this year we recognized all the club Achievement
Award Winners, the 2007 and 2008 State Team members as well as the
Junior Team members. Cool Running Bass Club was 1st Place
Chapter of the Year, Team Extreme was 1st Place Outstanding
Overall Junior Chapter, North Coast Black Bass Anglers Association was 1st
Place Community Service and 1st Place Youth and Portage Lakes
Bassmasters won 1st Place Conservation. The most
prestigious award we gave was the Award for Man of the Year. This went
to Bob Flowers from Trophy Bassmasters. Bob has been in the Ohio Bass
Federation since before the beginning, served as Regional Director for
many years, is our Web Master and has made coffee at most of our state
tournaments. Several
items were approved at the February 1st Board Meeting. The
board voted to have the 50/50 Raffle again in 2008 starting as soon as
Dan Mullins could get the tickets printed and out to the Regional
Directors. This raises money for a payout at your Regional tournament as
well as gives money back to those that buy tickets. All tickets will be
drawn at the 2009 Open
Meeting. Each Region is given an
initial 50 tickets to sell so if you haven’t gotten yours yet contact
your Regional Director. This could be up to $500 or more for your Region
depending on how the other Regions sell their tickets. This year the
Regions will receive: Reg. 1- $280, Reg. 2- $360, Reg. 3- $550, Reg. 4-
$320, Reg. 5- $500 and Reg. 6- $650. This is based on how many tickets
were sold in each Region. If each Region sold their 50 tickets then they
would each receive $500. Since we
raised the tournament entry fees and cut expenses the board was also
able to give each Region $400 as a tournament payout. The board voted to
have this paid out at $200 first place, $100 for 2nd, $50 for
3rd and $50 for big bass.
The five District Wildlife Office locations across the state are:
Central Ohio
Southeast Ohio Northwest Ohio
Southwest Ohio
Northeast Ohio |
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2008 Dues Increase The board does not arbitrally raise dues or pass any decision without considering the best interests of the Ohio Bass Federation. The board always seeks input from all Club Presidents and Members through their two Regional Directors at Regional meetings. The increase in dues started last fall when the Treasurer, Jack Miller, presented to the board the bad news that we were in financial difficulty and it would only get substantially worse in 2008 to the point that we would be unable to conduct business unless we made some drastic changes. Jack also talked about this to the membership at the Open Meeting last January. The dues pays for the cost of “doing business”. Board expenses (phone, mileage, postage etc) one issue of Buckeye Bass before Open Meeting, (we cut from 4 to 1), Annual Open Meeting, some of the Winner Dinner Free meals for Award winning clubs; Junior and Senior State Team free meals, Plaques for the Awards program, Conservation and Youth programs, bonding insurance policy, insurance on the release boats, state officers attending national meetings. Regional meeting expenses as well as travel expenses. There has not been a dues increase since the mid 1990’s and that was only a slight increase. Had it not been for the boat raffles a dues increase would have been a necessity at least 5 years ago. At that time we still had money in savings from earlier boat raffles and before that was gone we got Skeeter boats two years in a row to raffle off. That kept us going even though profit wasn’t near as great as the Ranger boat raffles or the first truck raffle. On top of that our membership dropped from a high of 1800 members to 1200 last year which was a big financial loss. The board knew that the dues increase had to be enough to cover the loss of a raffle boat as well as the substantial loss of members. The board voted in substantial cuts last fall. Travel expenses were cut by 15 cents per mile. Suspend donations to all except the most critical and reduce those to the barest minimum. Reduce to a minimum the staff needed to run state tournaments. Any use of the release boat by any group other than the Federation must be paid for at a rate of .20 mile over the amount paid out by the Federation. No reimbursement for youth families over what we receive from TBF. The board also considered reducing the Regions from 6 to 4 as a cost saving measure but decided against this type of action as we felt it would impose travel hardships on the members to attend Regional meetings and could cause a further membership loss. The Regional Tournament
entry fees cover all expenses associated with running the
Regionals. It is also combined with part of the entry fee money from
both SQT’s to pay the expenses for the tournament staff that runs the
SQT’s and the Championship; there is 100% pay back of the entry fees at
the Championship; patches, plaques; coffee, donuts, pop, water and ice;
the expenses and some uniform items for the State Team that fishes the
Northern Divisional; expense money for our two contestants that fish the
Federation National Championship and expenses if one or both qualify for
the BFL All American or the FLW Championship. Cash and/or merchandise prizes given at Regional Tournaments in the past came out of profit from our raffle boat ( Ranger boats and Chevy trucks in the past) and the last two we raffled off were Skeeter boats. For the last 2 or 3 years we gave $1000 to each Region from these raffles as prize money to be given away at the Regional Tournaments. With a short fall of over $4,000 last year in the tournament fund and no raffle boat we had to do away with this money as well as raise tournament entry fees. This information is listed in detail on our web site; click on Board members and then on Presidents message to view the complete information on tournament payouts. I hope this answers any questions raised. If anyone
wants to see how complex our program is and how business is conducted
then attend one of our board meetings. The dates are listed on our web
site on Calendar of Events. We meet at the Division of Wildlife District
1 Office, |
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Entire Report in printer friendly PDF format 46kb PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE |
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I have had numerous inquires asking why there is no payout at the Regional level this year since we had payouts up to this season. I am going to explain the reason for this, lay out the payouts for both SQT’s and Championship and show the 2007 Tournament Income versus the 2006 Tournament Expenses and also present a split the pot raffle ticket option to raise money for Regional Tournaments which was proposed by Dan Mullins, Region 6 Director and approved by the board. In previous years we had either a raffle boat or truck that brought in extra money to the treasury. From that money the board gave each Region a certain amount to be used as prize money. The Regions not only got money but the clubs could earn money, .50, from each ticket sold. The boats in the last few years were actually a gift from a previous sponsor so almost all the money from the raffle tickets that were sold was profit. Needless to say quite a few clubs didn’t want to sell any tickets and others didn’t work too hard at it either so the minority carried the majority and not a lot of money was generated. The 2006 Tournament season had a loss of $4,594.14. Although this was the largest loss we had sustained the Federation has been able to cope with some loss because in the past we had the raffle fund to bail us out. The Board raised the tournament entry fees this year to help cope with losses. There were also a lot of complaints about the previous SQT format. The entry forms were too complicated and the members didn’t like traveling all the way across the state to fish an SQT. The board made changes after soliciting advice from members through their Regions. They made a North and a South SQT with 3 Regions in each which put the SQT lakes in the members home area and reduced the driving time and they also simplified the entry form. The Ohio Bass Federation has always had a tournament payout that is less at the bottom and increases as it goes up. Although 1st place at the Championship pays the most the State Team Total Payout is the largest. In 2006 the 13 State Team members collected over $1,217 each in money and merchandise. This comes to a total of $15,824.33 Everyone says they are fishing to make the State Team so that is where we place the most money. Kevin Wells, a member of the 2006 State Team, won $1,000 at the Federation National Championship and qualified as the Northern Division non-boater to fish at the BFL All American in Louisville,KY. He was the winning non–boater at the tournament and collected $70,000 plus $1,500 in big bass awards. Kevin is the second highest money winner from the Federation ranks. Bryan Kerchal is first by winning the 1994 Bass Masters Classic. Go to the links listed here to view the SQT and Championship pay out schedule and the comparison chart between the 2007 income verses the 2006 expense to see how all the tournament entry fees are spent. |
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50/50
Split the Pot Raffle to support pay outs at regional tournaments. |
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2008 Ohio Bass Federation Regional Tournaments 50/50 Split the Pot Raffle 300 tickets to be sold at $20 each = $6,000 Pay back $3,000 to drawing winners. Pay back $3,000 as Regional Tournament prize money. Regions will receive prize money based on number of tickets sold in Region. Each Region will receive 50 tickets to sell by October 1st, 2007. For each ticket sold the Region will get $10 to be used for 2008 Regional Tournament prize money. Any tickets not sold by October 1st must be made available to the other Regions that have sold all of their tickets. All tickets and money must be turned in by the November board meeting. Examples: Region 1 sells 40 tickets so they have $400 for prize money and turn in 10 tickets. Region 2 sells 50 tickets so they have $500 for prize money. Region 3 sells 50 tickets so they have $500 for prize money. Region 4 sells 40 tickets so they have $400 for prize money and turn in 10 tickets. Region 5 sells 60 tickets so they have $600 for prize money. Region 6 sells 60 tickets so they have $600 for prize money. Each ticket stub will be placed in a bin for drawing and will be in for every drawing. There will be 42 prizes and each person will have 42 chances to win so each person could win multiple times. 20 tickets will be drawn for $50 each at the December Board Meeting. 20 tickets for $50 each will be drawn at different times during the 2008 Open Meeting. 2 tickets will be drawn
for $500 each at the end of the Open Meeting. |
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OPEN MEETING ATTENDANCE To increase attendance at the Open Meeting the Board approved a $500 cash prize. The names of all Federation Members on state roster at time of Open Meeting will be eligible for the drawing, by computer, for the $500 prize. The Federation Member must be present to win.
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January 2, 2007
Presidents Message |
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Open Meeting: Robert Cartlidge, President of The Bass Federation, TBF will be the main speaker at the Open Meeting. Others will be the Division of Wildlife, U.S. Sportsmans Alliance and Doug Clifford, Youth Director. There will be a Fishing class for Junior members as well as a question and answer period for members to the Board of Directors. There will be Minn Kota trolling motors and battery chargers as well as Lowrance depth finders for raffle and auction items. The Board of Directors made the following decisions at the last Board meeting Due to publishing costs there will only be one issue of Buckeye Bass for 2007. Major change in tournament format for 2007. All Regional tournaments will be 2 day events with clubs sending as many two man teams as they are eligible for (by roster count). Regions 2-3-4 will send their Regional Qualifiers to a Northern Qualifier (SQT1). Regions 1-5-6 will send their Regional Qualifiers to a Southern Qualifier (SQT2). The Qualifier will rotate Regions within it’s area. You may fish a maximum of three Regionals if you belong to a club within that Region but you can only fish in one Qualifying Tournament. The total number of contenders that will advance from each Regional Tournament will be determined by a percentage from the total number of Regional entries. Each Qualifier will have a maximum of 75 boaters and 75 non-boaters. 123 contenders total combined from both Qualifiers will advance to the Ohio Bass Federation Championship. From here the top 12 contenders will be invited to be on the OBF State Team. Contenders 13 through 15 will be invited to be alternates. The Tournament Director will pick all tournament locations. The dates will remain the same but locations will probably change. All tournaments will be 2 day events except the Ohio Tournament of Champions which will be a one day event. SQT 1- North: Lake Erie, Black River, August 11-12, 2007 SQT 2- South: Rocky Fork Lake, Marina Ramp, August 18-19, 2007 Ohio Bass Federation Championship: Lake Erie, Sandusky Ramp, October 6-7, 2007 Ohio Tournament of Champions: Ohio River, White Oak Ramp: June 16, 2007
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Presidents Message |
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A lot of events have transpired since the summer issue of Buckeye Bass. The Northern Division State Champions Tournament July 15th was moved from Delaware Lake to Alum Creek due to flooded conditions on Delaware. The qualifiers for the 2006 BassFan Weekend Warriors Championship were John Jonjezierski and Joshua Kolodzaike from Michigan. The tournament was supposed to be held in September of 2006 but it has been moved to May of 2007 due to dangerously low water drought conditions in the Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX area. Dean Wainscott from Wisconsin and Charles Carroll from Ohio are the two qualifiers for the September 2007 Championship. Our two Junior contenders for 2006, Eddie Levin and Matt Andersen, competed at the National Guard Junior World Championship in conjunction with the FLW Forrest L. Wood Championship on July 31, 2006. The Junior tournament was held at Gadsden, AL on Neely Henry Lake. Even though our Juniors didn’t finish in the winners circle they were still winners just by advancing this far. All junior participants received a huge amount of gifts from the sponsors. SQT 1 was held on Mosquito Lake September 12-13 and SQT 2 was held on Indian Lake September 19-20 and both had nice weather with fairly descent catches of fish. The Northern Divisional Tournament was held September 9- 15 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The weather was cold, rainy and very windy during practice but the weather finally moderated for the tournament. Wisconsin has a no cull law so when a limit of 5 fish is caught the fisherman has to quit fishing. There were quite a number of boats that came in by noon each day because both fisherman had their limit. Wisconsin was the overall winner. They were leading after the first day and never looked back after that. They are already practicing for the 2007 Divisional which will be held on Lake Erie at Sandusky, Ohio. They have predicted to do the same thing in 2007 that they did at the 2006 tournament. Ohio finished in 5th place and will be sending Jeff Melsop as the boater and Kevin Wells as the non-boater to the 2007 TBF Federation National Championship April 16-22, 2007 with the location to be announced at a later date. The Ohio Bass Federation Championship was held September 30 – October 1 on Grand Lake StMarys. It was weather change time and at weigh-in on Saturday a huge storm came through with blinding rain and tent moving wind. It only lasted about 30 minutes but really played havoc with the weigh-in. Sunday was no rain and clear with a slight breeze. Due to the unstable weather conditions and an alge bloom there was not a lot of fish caught for the tournament. The 12 men and one alternate invited to be on the 2007 Ohio State Team are: Tom Brandenburg, Inland Bass Club; Scott Brandenburg, Inland Bass Club; Louie Kunkle, Portage Lakes BM; Brad Moore, Coshocton Co BM; Dana Ludwig, Wyandot BM; Roger Bryant, Dumb Basser BC; Gary Baker, Inland BC; Frank Picha, Cool Running BC; Richard Didonato, Muskingum Lakes; Greg Doane, Portage Lakes BM; Donald Meachem, Five Star BM; Jeff Muntz, Seneca BM and Judd Rarey, Trophy BM. They will be competing September 9-14, 2007 on Lake Erie at Sandusky, Ohio. Make plans now to attend at least one if not all 3 days of the weigh-in. Lets show those other states a crowd that they won’t believe. Tom Brandenburg was the tournament winner and received the Castrol Maximum Performer Award which was a $500 Wal-Mart gift card. Ranger Cup has paid out $4500 this year. We had qualifiers at Regions 1,2 4 and 6, the Ohio Tournament of Champions, both SQT’s and two at the Ohio Bass Federation Championship. Three of the winnings paid extra because of a Yamaha Motor being used. Start making plans now to attend the Open Meeting January 27, 2007 and the Winner Dinner afterward. Tickets will be offered at a later date.
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“PRESIDENTS MESSAGE” |
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The First Ohio State
Champions Tournament is over and we have 4 winners that will compete at the
Northern Division State Champions Tournament. It will be held July 15th
at Delaware Lake and will go out of the Marina Ramp. The contenders from Ohio
are; 1st place, 10.16 lbs. Gary Thomas from Gahana Bassmasters, 2nd
place, 8.81 lbs. Paul Amstutz from Kokosing Valley Bass Club, 3rd
place, 8.32 lbs. Chris Adkins from North Central Ohio Bassmasters, 4th
place, 8.26 lbs. Charles Carroll from St Marys Bassmasters and 5th
place 7.73 lbs. was Norm Brakeman from Wyandot Bassmasters. Judd Rarey from Trophy Bassmasters with 7.19 lbs. was the Ranger Cup winner.The 4 contenders from Ohio will fish against 4 each from Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and possibly Michigan. The number 1 and number 2 man from each state will fish against each other for the two boater spots for 2006. The 2006 BassFan Tournament will be September 17 and 18 in Dallas, Texas with the lake to be announced at a later date. The number 3 and 4 man from each state will fish against each other for the two spots in 2007. The Junior Angler World Championship will be held in conjunction with the FLW Forrest L. Wood Cup Tournament in Birmingham, Alabama. The Tournament, including the junior portion, will run from July 31 through August 6th. Ohio’s contenders qualified at the Junior State Championship on Delaware Lake June 18, 2005. They are Eddie Levin of the S.S. Minnows Jr. Bassmasters in the 11-14 age group and Matt Andersen of the Fayette County Bassmasters in the 15-18 age group. Now for another important topic that effects every fisherman in Ohio through catch quotas and dollars wasted from your license fees and Sport Restoration monies. A Chance to End Commercial Fishing on Lake Erie With the recent
introduction of House Bill 609 by State Representative Jim McGregor,
the sportsmen and women of Ohio have an opportunity of a lifetime to put an
end to commercial fishing in Ohio waters of Lake Erie. Recent felony
convictions of Lake Erie commercial netters for tons of illegally harvested
yellow perch clearly show that present laws are inadequate to regulate the
commercial fishing industry. The handful of commercially-licensed netters on
Lake Erie are stealing YOUR fish, wasting YOUR license dollars for extra ODNR
law enforcement, and putting the health of YOUR Lake Erie fish populations at
risk. Now is the time for Ohio sport anglers to voice our support for the
bill that is in the Ohio General Assembly to eliminate the netters from Lake
Erie. Contact info: Speaker of the House Jon
Husted President of the Senate
Bill Harris Sam Speck, ODNR Director Steve Gray, Div. of
Wildlife Chief
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Presidents Message |
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In all the articles that I have written for the Web Page and Buckeye Bass I have never once said anything or related anything derogatory about the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation or its leadership. They have had at least two articles on their web site about how the Ohio Bass Federation is spreading rumors and false allegations about the Nation. There is nothing on our web site nor in Buckeye Bass relating to this. I have talked to all my Regional Directors and none have said that they are saying anything about the Nation. ???? The only time I’ve heard the term UGLY STEP-SISTER used was by their President??? PARINORIA DUH. They talk about the club dues refund being a leadership issue. The Ohio Bass Federation Board of Directors set a deadline for dues to be refunded and sent out letters to all the clubs to that effect. A few clubs asked for a refund after the deadline and I presented this to the Board at our April meeting. Myself and several other members argued strongly for the Board to approve the refund because we felt it was the right thing to do but majority rules and the majority of the Board voted to not refund the money. The Board set a deadline and followed through with what they had set. Looks to me like sound leadership when you do what you say you will do. There is still nothing in this article that is derogatory or false. Jim Doss, President |
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“PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE” By Jim Doss |
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A lot has happened since the first of the year. We have left B.A.S.S. and affiliated with two great organizations, FLW Outdoors and BassFan.com, that are willing to work with us. Things are looking up. To date there are 40 states on board with TBF and 15,000 members. We have a new TBF/FLW state logo and will have patches and decals before long. The Junior program is going full blast with a Jr. Angler World Championship Tournament for 2006 already scheduled and Ohio will be sending two Juniors. It will be held in Birmingham, Alabama July 31-August 3rd in conjunction with the FLW Forrest Wood Cup which runs from August 2nd thru the 6th. The kids casting program is progressing and will be called Casting for Education. The big spring shows are over but once the newly designed targets are out the Youth Directors will be able to hold contests to see how the targets and rules are accepted. They will then meet in Birmingham at the FLW Cup to discuss any changes that need to be made. Companies directly involved with the Youth Programs are Walmart, Kellogg’s, Boy Scouts of America and the ARMY National Guard. Benefits for OHIO BASS FEDERATION Members are:
· State Team will fish a Divisional in September at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. · The top 2 from each state at Divisional will fish the $100,000 TBF Federation National Championship. · The top 2 from each Division at the National Championship will advance, expenses paid, to the BFL All American ($1 million payout) · The top 2 Federation Anglers from TBF Federation National Championship will advance to FLW Forrest Wood Cup (First place $500,000 plus contingencies) · There will be a path to the BassFan Weekend Warrior Championship , currently Titled Sponsored by Skeeter. Last years tournament paid $20,000 1st place and last place paid $590. This is provided at no cost and there are no BassFan dues. There will be 12 slots, 6 boater and 6 non-boater, 2 from each Division. 4. We will continue to have most of the sponsors that TBF is working with now and they pay each state for magazine advertisement as well as web space with cashor merchandise. 5. We will have category exclusives with some FLW Sponsors and they are; Walmart, Ranger Boats, Yamaha, Evinrude, Army National Guard, Kellogg’s, BP, Castrol, Fuji Film, Land O’ Lakes, M&M, Mars, Snickers, Pedigree and Chevrolet. We can work with companies outside of these categories. 6. TBF will provide $1 per member ($250 minimum) in Ohio to fund youth in our state. There will also be $1 per member (minimum $250) for Conservation. 7. We have added an extra tournament called the Ohio Tournament of Champions and each club can send two members. We will qualify a boater and a non- boater to advance to a one day qualifier to be held at the Divisional each year. However since it is just beginning we must qualify 4 people this year. It will be held in June. This is a qualifier for the BassFan Weekend Warrior Championship. 8. Ohio has the honor this year of hosting the first Divisional qualifier for the BassFan Championship. It will be in July and will be held on Delaware Lake. 9. I received a certified letter from B.A.S.S. informing me that we had CastingKids information on our web site in violation of trade mark infringement. It stated that this information must be removed immediately and a written response must be sent to B.A.S.S. indicating compliance by close of business on March 31, 2006 or B.A.S.S. would be forced to take appropriate action. All information on web page relating to CastingKids was removed. No letter will sent however. 10. I have been in contact with Bob Kostrzewa, Florida Federation President, who has made our patches in the past and he is ready to start having the new patches made. 100 must be ordered each time and they will be around $1.95 each same as before. This will include shipping and they will have a heat seal backing which means they can be ironed on as well as sewed on. The only drawback to the patches is the size. They will be 3-1/4” high by 5-3/4 “ long. He is also having vinyl decals made but they are expensive. He will sell them to the states at no profit to him for $3 to $3.50 each. 11. We lost 5 members off the State Team to the Nation. They were Todd Neu, Yankee BM; Butch Shearer, Miami Valley BM; Shawn Kellough, Ross Co BM; Joel Staudter, Miami Valley BM and Bryan McNeal of Catch Em BM. They were immediately replaced with qualifying members from the Indian Lake Classic. 12. TBF is working on sponsorship with MinnKota to replace the MotorGuide sponsorship.
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December 12, 2005 President’s Message to the Ohio Federation |
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Now for some background on the problem from my perspective. When ESPN bought BASS they had 49 Presidents to deal with at their meetings. Being Executives they weren’t accustom to dealing with that many good old boys that weren’t afraid to say what they thought any time they wanted to. It would be easier for BASS to deal with 5 instead of 49 so the Divisional Representatives were born at the request of ESPN. Also around this time, due to the farsighted vision of the Presidents and Division Reps, The Bass Federation, Inc. was formed. It was formed by the states and the State Federation Presidents to work for the Federation. Each state, 48 out of 49, owns one share of stock in the company and the State Federations own and control it. In other words TBF works for us at our direction. The Federation National dues ( $12 ) were set to finance the federation insurance ( $6 ) and the Divisional prize money ( $6 ). BASS later proposed a $3 increase to pay for the Federation National Championship and the Presidents voted on and approved this dues increase. BASS has always said they would not mandate anything to the Federations and we have always been given an accounting of where this money goes. On November 1, 2005 in an email from Gary Jones, Federation National Director, that due to rising business costs the federation dues would raise an extra $5 to $20. No discussion, no accounting and no vote by the Presidents. The Divisional Reps. suggested to the State Presidents that they collect the dues and hold them until our meeting with BASS in January in Florida. An email on November 18 from BASS General Manager Don Rucks states that he has revoked the membership of our Division Reps. as well as our TBF Representatives because of their suggestion about the dues. At least one was a life member. He also held hostage our National Federation Contender by stating that if the dues are not paid by December 31 then he cannot fish the National Championship Tournament. BASS later modified their stance by saying they would not interfere with the contender as long as his dues were paid. They also would not interfere with the CastingKids or the Junior World Championship contenders. Since this has taken place there have been meetings between our TBF and numerous sponsors as well as other tournament organizations.
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The Ohio Bass Chapter Federation Board of Directors met Friday night, December 9, 2005, until 12:30 A. M. to review our options and formulate a plan. The Board approved, on a roll call vote of 17 in favor with 2 abstaining, to support our Divisional Representatives and The Bass Federation, Inc. and that BASS had to reinstate those 7 members before anything else could take place. The Board gave me directions to use my discretion in reviewing all the options that are presented at the meetings in Florida and to support the one or ones that are best for the Ohio Bass Federation and the Federation as a whole. We also sent in dues to cover 60 members, a number that has been determined to be above the minimum number required for the state to be legal, to be certain that our Contender can fish the Federation National Tournament in Florida in January. The Federation Presidents will meet with all available sponsors as well as all other Organizational Representatives that wish to meet with us to present their proposals and this includes BASS, although BASS has already stated that they will not attend any meetings where TBF is included. More will be known after the meetings in Florida in January and I will get this information out as soon as possible after my return. Please if you have any questions contact your Regional Director or your Federation President not the TBF Representatives. They are swamped with calls and emails now and do not have the time to supply information to individuals from all over the country. Jim Doss, President Ohio Bass Chapter Federation
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