NEWSLETTER
April 8, 2006
Hi Rodbenders-
I know you have all been waiting patiently for a newsletter for over a month, so here it comes.
We have our first club tournament of the year under our belts now, looking back at a very cold start (26 degrees at takeoff) on Bull Shoals on the 25th of March. At take off time, we had 15 boats signed up, and 10 of them were still lined up on the ramp, due to some traffic congestion and disagreements over the proper way to plow a new road next to the existing one. But eventually we did get started and found that the fish were as slow as the traffic. No full bags were weighed, but almost every boat weighed fish. The top boat ( stop me if you have heard this one) was Keith Williams and MikeLong with a total of 4 keepers weighing 6 lbs 1.5 oz. We had a tie for second place between the Anderson X 2 boat and the Wayne Dick/ Tom White boat, each of which brought in 5 lbs 14 oz of fish. Wayne did have some consolation, though, because his big bass entrant beat Joe Andersons by one half ounce. Wayne’s 3lb 1/2 ounce winner is also the early leader in the Big Bass of the Year, which currently will pay $180. The 4th place for the March tournament also ended in a tie between the combo of Hillemann/Clasen and Boswell/Marchesi, with 5 lbs 2 oz each.
For those of you who have not been able to attend club functions lately, we are still B.A.S.S. club aligned with the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation, due to the outcome of the statewide vote which took place at the Directors meeting in early March. The actual vote at the directors meeting was 21-16 in favor of going to FLW/The Bass Federation, but the State Federations rules require a 2/3 majority to accomplish such a change, so the proposal failed and we are still B.A.S.S., at least for this year.
The club voted in March to revise the club tournament trail regarding the last two tournaments before the State Tournament. We now will fish Table Rock Lake on the 14th of October and we will go to Lake of the Ozarks at Runaway II on the 16th of September. This change was precipitated by the club rule that says we will fish the State Tournament Lake for the last club tournament before the State Tournament.
For those of you who haven’t had an opportunity to look at it yet, check out the club website at www.stlrodbenders.com. It is a terrific site well designed and constructed by Wayne Dick and Mike Morie. It will accurately update all club news and events, so you won’t have to wait a month for a newsletter from the secretary in order to know what is going on.
There is attached a listing of all those club members who have provided their phone numbers for contact. If I don’t have your number, or it is not correctly listed, please let me know. I have also attached the current State Team and AOY standings, although it is still very early in the year for either of those.
The next club meeting will take place on the 13th , 6PM at Yesterdays. Be there to sign up for the Lake of the Ozarks Tournament the following week, out of Sundance at the ½ mile marker. See you on the lake.