CELEBRATION, Fla. - BASS announced today that the inaugural Triton Boats BASS Club World Championship will take place Oct. 11-13 on the Red River out of Shreveport/Bossier City, La. One team of anglers from a BASS Federation Nation club will earn six fully rigged Triton Boats valued at $250,000 and worldwide bragging rights at the championship event.
"We have experienced positive feedback regarding the team format," said Don Corkran, director of the BASS Federation Nation. "We feel it provides another competition venue for our Federation Nation members and we look forward to a fantastic championship."
The 60 six-person teams, each of which represents a BASS Federation Nation club, qualified by competing in several team-format tournaments at state and regional levels.
The 360 anglers will converge Oct. 8 in host cities Shreveport and Bossier City for practice on the Red River. The three-day competition begins Oct. 11. The site was announced today in Sandusky, Ohio, at the final regional qualifying event.
SCHOLAR SUPPORT
Outdoor-eyewear maker Costa Del Mar and BASS are teaming up again to help fund the studies of future natural resource professionals with the 2007-2008 Costa Del Mar/BASS Conservation Scholarship Program.
Six $2,000 awards will be made to undergraduates. One $5,000 scholarship will be awarded annually to a post-graduate student.
"BASS and Costa Del Mar offer the scholarship program because it is absolutely critical that our natural resources are managed by professionals who can effectively meet the challenges our resources will face in the future," said Chris Horton, BASS director of conservation.
To be eligible for a scholarship, a student must be seeking a degree in the natural resources field. An applicant must be a BASS member and must belong to the BASS Federation Nation or have an immediate family member who belongs to the BASS Federation Nation.
WRAP RAFFLE
Bassmaster pro Keith Phillips of Alabama hopes $100,000 will be raised for his favorite charity when it raffles off his wrapped boat in October.
Last month Phillips' wrap, which supports Outdoors Without Limits, won the 2007 Hottest Rig Running contest and a $10,000 grand prize. By giving $100 to the nonprofit foundation, a donor will receive one chance to win Phillips' boat. His wrap got the most votes of BASS members and fishing fans, who submitted their picks online.
His Triton/Mercury rig is wrapped with a colorful design that incorporates two slogans, "Share The Feelin' " and "A Life-Changing Experience." On the windshield is a portrait of Destin Ware, a physically challenged child Phillips met while volunteering at one of the Outdoors Without Limits events.
The foundation provides all-expenses-paid, guided outdoor experiences for physically challenged people.
"I've seen the smiles on these people's faces," he said. "It's just like they (Outdoors Without Limits organizers) say at an event: 'For three days, nobody here is disabled.' "
ON PARADE
In late July, 21 kids in Syracuse, N.Y., got a glimpse of what it's like to be a celebrity pro angler.
Before the Bassmaster Memorial, the members of the youth group of a BASS Federation Nation club rode with Bassmaster pros in a parade through Central Square in Syracuse.
The Good Ole Boys Junior Bassmasters youth group is an offshoot of a 22-year-old BASS Federation Nation club, Good Ole Boys Bassmasters of Central New York State.
The club organized three tournaments this year for the kids, including a qualifying event for the Junior Bassmaster World Championship set for February 2008 on Lake Keowee in South Carolina.
A HEARTBREAKER
Jared Lintner welcomed his third child into the world July 30, less than 24 hours after he finished the final round of the Bassmaster Memorial in Syracuse, N.Y.
Keri Lintner gave birth to a healthy boy, Jayden Dane Lintner, at 4:12 p.m. on the Monday that her bass pro husband traveled back home to Arroyo Grande, Calif.
"The way the flight was originally scheduled, I was supposed to be in town by 3:30," Lintner lamented. "I would have been there (for the birth), but my plane was delayed. It pretty much broke my heart. My family is the most important thing to me."
After being home for less than five days, Lintner boarded a plane. He was bound for the Potomac River in Maryland for the 10th of 11 Elite season events.
While he misses the time with his family, Lintner, 33, can take some consolation in his consistency this year on the circuit. His best finish recently was sixth at the Bassmaster Memorial, and he is in third place in the Bassmaster Angler of the Year race.