Hello All,
There has been so little activity on the Bass Tournament Forum so eventhough only a few of you are ABA members I thought I’d post our latest newsletter. I’m also hoping to reach the few members who visit this site for whom I have no email.
First of all, I’ll be at a few shows this winter. This weekend (Jan 14-16) I’ll have a booth at the tackle show in Cedar Rapids at Hawkeye Downs. I’ll be promoting ABA as well as selling a large assortment of tackle from our sponsor Strictly Bass Lures and a few other items. Jan 28-30 I should make the Bedford Sales show in Morris, IL for at least one day. Feb 11-13 it is likely I will be back at another show at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids. Then Feb 17-20th I will spend a good deal of time at the QCCA show in Rock Island, IL. Here I will be assisting both, the local Triton Dealer, Davenport Marine and working for one of the stores who will be stocking our products. The final show I’m considering is the “Swap Meet” in Des Moines on Feb 25-27th. If you make any of the shows stop by and say hello, especially those of you I’ve not yet met.
Several of you have come to appreciate the spinnerbaits, jigs, and buzzbaits from our sponsor Strictly Bass Lures. I happy to announce these will be available locally this year. In Cedar Rapids, Five Season’s Bait will be stocking them and have some available at shows. These will also be available at one of the better tackle store in the Quad City area which at this time I’m not able to release. The largest selection is probably still at Bedford Sales in Morris, IL. I will be working on other stores as well and I usually have several styles with me at any tournament if you need something. This year Strictly Bass is coming out with some great new stuff. They have their own line of rods now I’m hearing a lot of good things about them. Recently, SB Prostaff and ABA member Ed Guice used them along with the SB crankbait, Shakie Shad, to take 3rd place at the Everstart regional on Okeechobee. Also new this year is an innovative swim jig which should be out in February. This looks like a jig but has two small spinners attached. Take a look at it in the February issue of Bassin’. The last new product has created a great deal of stir when I’ve shown it. It is called Stick Jacket and is a nylon cover for the rods which has several advantages over other covers. This is not made by SB but they will be acting as a distributor for this area. I’ll have several of these at the show this weekend.
Some of you already know that I’ve started another district in addition to district 73. This year we will have the tournaments on pools 11, 12, and 13 as we did last year and the new district will have tournaments on 18 and 19. For now these are all listed on the district webpage. While this may be too far south for some of you it does increase the ABA opportunities in this region. Also, just a reminder about the IL district #46 which will be running on pools 16 and 17. Very few of you cross over to other districts but remember points from any district count in your national standings.
Please consider attending the National Championship this year if you qualify. This will surely be the largest tournament you have ever competed in. We will have close to 600 anglers as we did this past year with the total prizes in the $350,000 area. The 2005 National is on the Red River at Shreveport, LA. I’m sure us “River Rats” could do well. Heck even Big Bass pays out around $5600 per day! That means you’re always one cast away from a big check.
The American Bass Anglers has been experiencing a phenomenal growth rate for the last few years. We are now bigger than FLW, BFL, Everstart, and BASS combined. We will run around 960 tournaments this season in 40 states from 110 districts. We have you to thank for this and judging by the membership trends this isn’t slowing down at all. This goes to show we are doing something right. In addition to the ABA sponsor programs, the Skeeter Bass Fan Army has chosen to add some of their own and you don’t have to have a Skeeter to participate. The details of their programs are still coming together but watch the BassFan website for details.
OK that about wraps it up. The final thing I wanted to say is the new 2005 flyers are here. I could sure use some help getting these out. If you can help distribute some please let me know and I’ll send you a stack. These should be available at the shows and most area tackle stores but I’m not familiar with every store so I may miss some. Also, talk us up to your friends. Word of mouth is best form of advertisement. I will again be offering to pay your Big Bass entry if you bring in someone new.
Give me a call if you want more specifics on anything I mentioned. Oh, I almost forgot. I may attend a winter ABA tournament on Lake of the Ozarks on Jan 22 if the weather looks decent. If you have cabin-fever and want to go please give me a shout.