BASS Federation Happenings.....Your opinion?

[Heagster]

Steel City Members,

I'm not sure how closely you folks follow the inner circle of B.A.S.S., but recently ESPN and Bassmaster revoked the memberships of the five regional federation representatives.

These reps were placed in their positions by the state federations as intermediaries in dealing with B.A.S.S. directly.

Bassmaster stated that they will now be dealing with the stete federations directly.

This is a very hot topic and could have a direct effect on how this bass club does it's business.

Just curious about your opinion of this issue?

Heagster

[bass1cpr]

     I guess there's only a couple of us here. 
I've been following it and reading my e-mail. I've read Letters from Federation Members on Bassfan, I've visited other Federation State sites, and I visited the Illinois Federation Site. I didn't find anything on the subject of the $5.00 increase. 
      In the Open Letter to the Federation from Don Rucks VP/GM he gave a list of 15 benefits we receive for our participation as Federation members. Ok we already had those and we are aware of them.
     Now I'll still ask, how is the $5.00 going to be used. It's that simple. 
They have admitted they could have handled it better. (Yes threatning to not let Members fish in the Championship they had qualified for and already paid for)
     To now saying The original dues $15.00 can be sent in by Dec. 31 and the additional $5.00 can be held until Mar.31.
     It's not like they said we can wait until it's voted on, To see if it's approved.
     It seemed like they were saying by then you will have changed our bylaws and then send us your money. I get the drift that we don't have a choice.
     On the personel side I don't like that. Just doesn't seem friendly.

     As a board member the benefit of the club comes first. Insurance for the club would be the first item of concern.
     We've drawn a boundry line of where we'll send an 8-man team so that isn't much of an issue at this time.
     We still have a lot of Guys with interest in fishing to make that team and has been one of the goals for new members joining us.
      But it's not one of the main reasons for our existance.

      I'm always one of the first to say keep costs down. But I could go along with paying the $5.00 dollar increase and ride this out for another year to see how deep the water gets, and that would give us time to look at alternatives.
     Wright now there's nothing on anyone elses table. If the TBF Inc. has a plan it's a secret also. (with no History)
     Irwin Jacobs said He'd welcome Federation anglers with open arms to the FLW family. They already have a name I don't think they are using any more, (Operation Bass) Hmmm. But he said he wouldn't do anything to influence the break up of the Federation/Bass relationship.

     OK anybody else from our club have any thoughts?

[fishin fool]

   Our costs have risen drastically in the past year, so I do believe BASS and Ray in the claim that it is justified. However, I would like to see how the money is going to be spent. My question is, what changes could take place in our club because of this?

[Heagster]

Well, I obviously have an opinion on the issue, which is why I posted this topic in the first place.

I am not happy with B.A.S.S. right now. It really has nothing to do with the extra $5 in federation dues either.

I have had a relationship with B.A.S.S. as president of this club for 17-years. I chose Bassmaster to affiliate our club with because I felt it was an exciting organization with some worthwile advantages to offer us.

Ray Scott seemed to have the image and the direction that kept the organization rooted in the federation. Since he left there has been a gradual decrease in my connectivity with the federation and B.A.S.S..

I think the timing of this issue is suspect. The firing of the federation reps is just a corporate decision to eliminate the opposition. If the coporation feels that there are obstacles to progress, the best corporate thing to do is remove those obstacles as quickly and efficiently as possible.

This will be an interesting year for Steel City, the federation, and B.A.S.S.. As prsident of this club, I have to recommend that we continue with B.A.S.S. thru 2006. The liability insurance is certainly worth the extra $5 for the moment.

I anticipate even more sweeping changes within B.A.S.S. during the next 12-months. Without the federation reps in place, the corporation has a free hand to implement significant changes.

I ask the membership, especially our board members to follow these issues very closely. Maybe 1-year from now we will be facing the issue of exiting the federation and B.A.S.S..

There are several venues for following these issues;

www.UltimateBass.com

www.bassfan.com

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/index

http://www.ilbassfed.com/

Let's sit tight and absorb as much information as we can. The current changes will not effect Steel City much (in my opinion) in 2006.

We should keep this string of comments open and discuss as new issues develop.

Heagster

[bass1cpr]

     I'd say I'm pretty much in agreement with Larry. Ray was the good Ole' boy who made us feel embraced. ESPN is making us feel placed.

[bass1cpr]

     Received an Open Letter from the Illinois Bass Federation today. Very interesting reading, most of all it answeared a major question about insurance for the club and the Accidental Death, that we now have as federation members. I hope everyone reads it before our next meeting. I know this will be a hot topic for a while. It's certanly more information than ESPN/BASS has offered us.

[Heagster]

I plan to devote a significant portion of our upcoming meeting to discussing the B.A.S.S. / Federation / Steel City issue.

If you would like to learn more about the details of the issue at hand, this would be a good opportnity.

Heagster

[Heagster]

We had our informational session at last week's meeting.

I tried to fill everyone in on what I have learned to this point and got some insight from others.

The only conclusion that I can draw from our current situation is that we will continue to follow the happenings between B.A.S.S. and the national Federation.

There will be a huge state president's meeting with B.A.S.S. in January. The results of that meeting could determine what our course of actiuon will be.

I will devote as much of our meeting time to this issue as you would like.

Bottom line for us is the insurance issue. We must follow the course that maintains our liability insurance as is.

If you have comments, please air them in this venue or at an upcoming meeting.

Heagster