TBN State of the Union
Dear Texas BASS Nation members,
As your new State President I have a few updates on what has been happening. This year we as a board of directors made changes to the format and how the state championship will be run and thank you guys for your great response. We are so proud of all you guys and the way you have come together as clubs in support of your regions and the state.
The State Championship will be taking place from April 29th through May 1st at Sam Rayburn. This year we have 224 anglers signed up which is double previous years. All the clubs and Regions have done a great job getting registrations to me in plenty of time. And, it’s not too late to sign up if you are still on the fence. We as a board want to make this a great event and want all of you to have fun. We have food being catered, we will be issuing plaques to the top seven teams, we will also be issuing plaques to the top seven boaters and non-boaters in the field.
We will have lots of free giveaways, we will be selling T-shirts this year for all the anglers that would like to have one and we ask each club to bring their raffle prizes as you have in past years. We will also have Carhartt donating discount cards for the anglers that want to purchase apparel at a much lower cost. I wear their shorts and I know we are fast approaching the hot mouths but don’t forget the winter clothing. Yamaha has come on line in a big way. For those of you running Yamaha, I have a list of things you can purchase through your state president for your outboard motor. Mercury as always has supported us again this year with a free prop give away. I have purchase a couple of more that will be going up on silent auction starting at the purchase price. We have cases of oil and many other things.
I personally want to thank all of you for your support of myself and the board of directors. We also want to welcome some new staff members, Nathan Byerly – Youth Director, Dave Terre – Conservation Director, Brent Stafford our IT Director is also our new Texas Bassmaster Team Trail Director, Charles Harkless, a former President, has come online with our team as the new Sponsorship Director. We also have plans in the works for a Kayak Director along with a new series. We will keep you posted on that.
While all of you are at the State Championship, please let us know if we are doing anything right. If we are doing anything wrong, let us know that as well and I promise you will receive an answer back.
I look forward to serving you guys for the next two years and thank you again for all your support.
Randy Fleeman
President
Texas BASS Nation
Texas BASS Nation vs. COVID-19
Texas B.A.S.S. Nation,
Over the past couple of months our way of life has been turned upside down to say the least. This Covid-19 pandemic has thrown up road blocks in our daily tasks such as work, going to stores, going to restaurants and even having tournaments. To combat this pandemic National, State and Local governments put in place mandates that required the Texas B.A.S.S. Nation to shut down all affiliated events until the mandates are lifted.
Effective on May 1, 2020 most of the more restrictive mandates were lifted both Nationally and by the Texas Governor. With this news and an email from B.A.S.S. we were given the green light to resume scheduled events as long as we comply with the mandates still in effect. The Region directors will ensure that all clubs are advised of the special guidelines that will be in place at events so we comply with Governor Abbott’s Executive Order (https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-issues-executive-order-to-expand-openings-of-certain-businesses-and-activities). We, the Texas B.A.S.S. Nation, will comply with these orders and in doing so implement special guidelines that will be followed at each event until the mandates are lifted and our anglers are no longer at risk of contracting this virus. Failure to comply is not an option.
Several events were postponed/canceled during March and April. Most of these events have been re-scheduled. Some will not be re-scheduled. Each Region director will try to get as many events in as possible for the 2020 season but they may need to reduce the number of qualifying events and make special exceptions in the Region qualifying requirements.
The TBTT trail will be reduced this season to two qualifying events. The Conroe TBTT was held back in February but the March and April events had to be cancelled. The final qualifier will be held on June 20, 2020 at Possum Kingdom Lake as scheduled. Modifications have been made in the rules. Any team that fished the Conroe event or fishes the Possum Kingdom event will qualify for the TBTT Championship. The TBTT Championship date has been changed to September 12-13, 2020 on Lake Limestone due to issues with support from the local community. For 2020 there will not be a Team of the Year Award and the “Alternate” option will not be in effect.
Myself and the staff of the Texas B.A.S.S. Nation want to thank all members in advance for helping with our quest to salvage the 2020 season.
Sincerely,
David Glezman
TBN President