HUB CITY BASSMASTERS

Monthly Newsletter

“LONG CASTS AND SHORT STRIKES”

MARCH 2010

MARCH CLUB MEETING – 6 PM FRIDAY THE 5TH – AZTECAS

    WOW what a fantastic turn out for our February meeting.  Members, wives, kids.. So Cool. I think I counted almost 30 people there if not a few more. It really made me feel good; it’s what we are about, family, friends and the love of our great sport of Bass Fishing. Let’s keep it up.  Door prize winners for February meeting: Shane Denmon - Bagley’s DT-16 in Helsinki Shad, Shawn Oder – Terminator spinner Bait and Jay Smith – 330 yds of Sufix 10lb Deep Cranking line. Again, thanks to Ron Whitman for donating these prizes. We will continue to have these door prizes for quite some time as Ron’s donation was very generous.

    Please help me welcome aboard to the best Bass Club in Northwest Florida our two newest members: Toney Bigot and Ryan Simmons. Great having you with us guys and we look forward to many, many good times together.     

    If you have not had the chance to catch up on all your e-mails and was not able to attend the monthly meeting you may not have gotten the word that Michael Smith and his Dad will be taking over the duties of maintaining our club web site. For the past several years, Bob Miles has voluntarily given of his own personal time to maintain the site. It is and can be a very time consuming effort I can only imagine. Bob has done a remarkable job of keeping the site as current as possible given all of his other responsibilities and I think he was ready and really needed a break given how big and active the club has gotten. Michael’s Dad possesses a lot of computer skills and Michael better since he’s going to college, LOL. He seems to have no problem posting those big fish pictures on ultimate bass anyway. I sent out an e-mail asking all of you that do not have your picture on the member’s page to please e-mail one to Bob that you would like to have posted. He is trying to get everything updated and cleaned up prior to handing it over. There will be a learning curve involved on how the site is run and updated so please be patient. Once Michael and his Dad get a feel good feeling, I intend to send out a survey form to ask for input from the membership on what they would like to see on the web site and what information they would like to be able to get off the web site. Like the club, the web site should be for the members.  This will not be an overnight accomplishment but it is my first step in reducing the amount of time Michael has to pre-fish for our club tournaments. LOL,LOL,LOL.. Work with me on this. LOL

    GUYS: As most of you all know, our own Wink Pennington relocated from Crestview to Panama City last year. Wink has been fishing with the club since before it was organized and official and has graciously provided the club with the use of his house on the dead lakes for many years for all of our White City tournaments saving all of us guys hundreds of dollars in hotel expenses and travel. He has also been very active in all of our club events to include our kids fishing derby and casting kid’s events. Due to his relocation, Wink has asked to be able to fish with the club as a guest when he is able throughout the year. Our tournament By-laws state that after (2) tournaments, a guest can only fish for the optional big fish award. “Provided special circumstances exist, exceptions to this rule can be voted on and approved by club members on a case by case basis”. This request has been discussed amongst the club officers and we consider this a special circumstance. In fact so much so that I will ask for and nominate Wink as an “Honorary Life Member” of the Hub City Bass Masters with no dues required at our next monthly meeting. There will be a vote.

    Even before the 2010 Pro Guide was published for Bass Master, I had read an article on the hardship and sorrow that Gerald Swindle went through over the loss of his brother a couple of years ago. The G-man as he is known, took those hardships and memories and mounted a tremendous come back last year to his Pro career. One of the tributes that were brought out in both articles was that he left the port side aerator of his live well running because his brother always insisted in putting his fish in that side even if they were fishing a team tournament. The article that I read earlier stated that this practice turned into Gerald and many of the other pro’s leaving the port side lid of their live wells open from launch until take off in memory of the G-man’s brother.  As a tribute to Ron Whitman’s little brother, “JASON WHITMAN”, I will leave the port side lid of my live well open from launch until take off at every tournament we fish in 2010. Feel free to follow suit if you wish.

    We discussed (did not vote) about obtaining club decals for boats and trucks and having the initial fee paid for by the club and then having the treasure sell them back to members as they need them to help recover the cost. New joining members will get there first decal free upon paying their membership. Roy Barbour who designed the decal has agreed to send me the print to reduce initial set up fees. I will take it to Okaloosa sign and get a price on a bulk order of say 50 and then pass that info to you and hopefully we will vote on it next meeting.

    Yet another reminder: Casting Kids March 27^th 2010 from 10:00 till 2PM at Bass Pro Shops in Destin. This will be a joint effort with Twin Cities Bass Club. A big turn out on our part would be sweet and very rewarding. Bring the kid’s; let the wife shop for you something cool. Wear your club shirts and let the community know who we are and what we are all about.

    To go along with the last paragraph, GUYS, we need to start now about figuring out what we are going to do at the annual Spanish Trail Kids fishing Derby. I have not been contacted by anyone on this yet but I am to understand that we support this event and have for the past several years by helping and sponsoring with fishing equipment for the young-un’s. I believe we also talked a little bit about trying to sell hamburgers and hot dogs as a fund raiser for us this year. Needless to say, if this is what we are going to do then we need to start planning. We will need cooks and bakers, score keepers and baiters, and a whole lot of other HELP. If you are sponsored by bait or tackle manufacture and can help with prizes, we’ll need that also. GREG, can you give me some input on this???

    AND, AND I do believe that we have to perform a community service this year to keep us current and in good keeping with the Federation Nation obligation. I am looking for input on this one from what has been done in the past and exactly what our obligations are to fulfill this requirement.

    Getting off to a new great start this year, Congrats to Jay Smith and Shawn Odor on their recent new boat purchases. Way to go guys. Shawn tells me his is Red, Shawn Jr. says Pink. You decide. I hope they give you all the enjoyment you expect of them and as always, BE SAFE..

    And speaking of being safe, the next couple of months have us covering a lot of territory in a somewhat short time span. Deer Point the 27^th and then with only one weekend of rest (unless you prefish) Lake Talquin the 13^th of March. Lots of time on the road and on the water. Hopefully the temperatures will start rising so, hydrate and double check your vehicle and trailer prior to getting on the road. Nobody wants to see anybody get hurt.

    I was surprised at the results I received from the first Federation Nation Qualifier at White City held on the 30^th of January. Especially the turn out numbers. Our guys that fished, (Bob, Michael, and Jeff) reported only 11 boaters and 7 non boaters. 1st place boater had 4 fish for 5.98 lbs. Michael scratched out one fish for a 3^rd place non boater finish. Over half the field went blank. Now that’s tough conditions. Congrats to Michael on his 3^rd place finish. I don’t know about you all, but I am so ready for spring and no rain.. And no more temps under 70.. LOL, LOL

    In case you may not have seen it inside the front cover of your Bass Times paper or are privileged to be in Tony Bigots address book, Mann’s Bait Company is offering the 1 minus series of crank bait for a low $3.99 EACH. Toney has contacted Mann’s (Sponsor) and he states that unlike what the offer at the bottom of the page says, (Offer expires 2/15/10), this is not true. The price will remain the same all year long. This is a .50 cent savings on each bait from last year’s price and we all know that in these times,, 50 cents is 50 cents.

    For all of you lucky enough to go to the Classic in Birmingham, I hope you had a great time. Especially if it was your first one

    I will publish the March and April tournament results next month due to the late March date and the need to get the word out on a timely basis.

*********************** DEER POINT**************************

   We will not be the only club at deer point the 27^th at high point landing. There is small parking access and should they not, (they are supposed to) have started the refill, launching may be a little slow. If the refill has not taken place, there will also be very limited places to tie up to. Help those launch that do not have a buddy so we will be ready at safe day light. Plan accordingly; you may want to arrive a little early..

It’s funny, my first time ever first out of the hole, but as always, no place to go…  LOL,LOL                                               

************************************************************

************NOTICE***********NOTICE************NOTICE**********************

     After further review, discussion and a vote. The majority of members present at the February meeting elected to change the May Tournament date (2 Day at Eufaula) to the 1^st and 2^nd of May vice the 8^th and 9^th due to Mothers day weekend. Please mark your calendars accordingly. 1 and 2 May ,,, Not 8 and 9 May..  Remember that there is a major tournament starting the following Monday so hotel rooms may be hard to come by. Make your reservations now if you intend to fish. I hear that there is no cabin space available already at Lake Point Marina.

*************************** THE SYSTEM WORKS *********************************

    If you have a room at Seminole Lodge reserved for the 2^nd Qualifier on the 20^th and don’t mind sharing, please get the word out. I am sure that we will have several members fishing this one. Don’t forget the pairings meeting will be the 19^th.

MARCH TOURNAMENTS

6^th -- 2nd Annual Hayley’s Angels Bass Tournament –Lake Talquin, Ingram’s (This is a benefit

           Tournament, for more info: info@hayleysangels.org or

           www.wix.com/hayleysangels/bassFishingtournament) 850-570-3960

            Winter Bass Trail – White City

            Media Bass Team – Florida North Division – Apalachicola River – End of road ramp

13^th – Hub City Bass Masters – Lake Talquin – Ingram’s Marina

           Media Bass Individual Southeast Division – Lake Eufaula –Lake Point Landing

           Seminole Bass Masters – Lake Seminole – Seminole Lodge

            Two Rivers Bass Trail – Lake Seminole – Booster Club Landing

14^th – ABA District 114, Lake Talquin

20^th – Federation Nation, 2^nd Qualifier, Lake Seminole, Seminole Lodge

21^st – Media Bass Team – Seminole Division – Lake Seminole – Big Jim’s Resort

27^th – Florida Bass Federation 2^nd Qualifier, Lake Seminole (2 Day Event)

           Bay County Bass Club, Deer Point, High Point Landing

28^th -- ABA District 114, Lake Seminole, Seminole Lodge

           Media Bass Team – Florida Panhandle Division – Lake Talquin, Ingram’s Marina

           C & R Bass Series – Seminole Division – Wingate’s Lunker Lodge

MOON PHASES FOR MARCH

New Moon -  3/15/2010 – 21:01                                   Full Moon – 3/30/2010 – 02:25

DEER POINT UPDATE – Guys I fished yesterday (20^th) and the water is a foot lower than it was two weeks ago. I could see no sign of refilling in progress. Most boat docks are completely out of the water. Launching is a little tricky. The berm built up from prop wash is about 8 to 10 inches deep and tie off space is very limited. I think what we are going to have to do is launch and take all boats out of the buoyed area. Those without partners are going to have to be shuffled out to their boats after parking their vehicle. Again, we won’t be the only club there so plan accordingly. Be extremely careful when running the wide open areas of the lake if it’s your first time. You can go from 6 to 8 foot of water to 1 foot in a moment. The majority of the bank structure in both creeks is out of the water. Grass is still plentiful. Make sure your prop is clear so you don’t burn up a motor or over heat. Warmest water I could find was 57. ----  6.5 hours on the water, I never got bit once. Which is not unusual for me, I was just saying.. LOL,LOL

Bass Wishes,

Jack