Downtown Bass Anglers of Durham Region

Hi guys: I would just like to recap the past couple of busy weeks that we have had and mention a few new things. First of all we had our club ice fishing day on Lake Scugog that went very well. It was a bright sunny day with a lot of laughs and good times. The six of us caught perch all day with a few nice walleye's to top it off. Al Russell did a great job getting us out to his huts and provied us with lots of holes, warm huts and some tips to catch the fish.

    I would like to thank everyone who turned out to our February meeting and put up with my  disorganization at times( I will get better at handling meetings) and for your valuable input on the tackle swap, tournament schedule and general information. I would like to thank Greg Roth and Christine Woodcock for speaking at the meeting on such short notice. I found it very informative and had a lot of members express their positive opinions about the glasses and your desire to help anglers to see better and to protect their eyes while on the water. Greg was kind enough to offer a discount on glasses to club members and also to possibility the test  glasses on the water before buying them. I personally will be looking at buying new glasses once the open water is here again.

    The tournament schedule is finalized and will be posted here on the website. Please remember that their is an early bird available if you are planning on fishing all the tournaments or if you are planning on fishing in 6 or more it is still beneficial.

    We are holding a tackle swap on February 28th at Iroquois Park for those interested in participating. We have about 6 tables rented so far and about 20 people expressing an interest in attending.   Pleaes spread the word to get more people out as buyers and sellers

    We had two more members re-sign up at the meeting and three other members re-sign up at the fishing show bringing our paid membership for 2010 up to 22 and we will continue to grow. Any past members who are thinking of signing up please do so at the March meeting as our numbers will give us strength to be able to provide you with a better club.

    The Spring Fishing and Boat show seemed very promising as we handed out over 70 flyer's about the club and over 50 flyer's for the Bass Talk event coming up on March 14th. I met a lot of new people, potential new members and also talked with Rosa Sharpe from Lures and Tours about having our club in their Kawartha booklets. I have also had discussions with Don Sheldrake about posting our club on his BassNation website to give us more exposure for our tournaments and upcoming events.

    Gagnon's has agree to be the main sponsor for the Bass Talk providing a rod and reel combo for our early bird prize as well as many other prizes for the raffles and auctions. Vendor's such as Edgepoint, Norries/Ecogear and others will be on hand to showcase their products and offer valuable discounts on merchandise. Mechandise will be available for pick-up at either Gagnon's or Hirk's depending on the vendor. Don't forget guys the earlybird deadline is February 28th if you want a good chance at winning a free rod and reel combo. I have confirmed that tickets are only available though myself or Dave Chong and as paid members of Downtown Bass we do receive a discount on the tickets. Lets spread the word about Bass Talk to help educate ourselves as anglers and raise valuable funds for Dave Chong's Catch a Dream in support of Big Brother's / Big Sister's and Dave Mercer's Casting for a cure.

    I will have order forms at the next meeting for anyone wishing to purchase tournament jersey's or T-shirts and I will also be looking into hoodies, hats and jackets for prices if anyone is interested.

    We have a great line-up of speakers coming this year with Mike and Mary Nabulsi from Bass Magnet lures in March, John Noel in April, Rob Webster in May, who is the tour angler of the year for Bass Nation. Rob is fishing the FLW All American Series Northern Division and th Bassmaster Tournament Trail Series Northern Open this year.

    Chris Johnston has expressed an interest in speaking at the club and I'm hopeful that he will be available for our June meeting. Rocky Crawford has also agreed to attend one of our meetings this fall as a speaker but I still have to confirm with him which month he will be available. I would like to have a speaker on boat winterizing and maintenance this fall and a speaker about ice-fishing in December.

    It has been a very busy 5 weeks and I will do my best to keep you all informed as to what is happening with the club and what may be coming up for the rest of the year. If you have any questions, ideas or comments please feel free to express them either through an e-mail, on the phone or at the next meeting. remember this is our club and everyone has a say in the direction that we take so please speak up.  

Wow, sounds like a busy spring. See you in March:cool: