FEDERATION

FATGUY · Post by **FATGUY** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 8:40 am

i'm really confused . we are starting the delta federation tourneys next month .. how is all this bass/flw going to effect us .. sometimes i read this and i think it means now i have to pay an extra membership fee?? our club already paid the bass fees.. any change for this season ??i'm so confused . what actual changes will we see this season that affects the majority of us ??.bob

sTony · Post by **sTony** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 8:47 am

A few months ago all bass clubs were asked not to send their memberships to BASS but to the state federation secretary/treasurer. This was discussed here many times and all clubs were supposed to be notified. There is a conference call schdeuled for tonight and we'll be discussing how to manage the situation for clubs that sent there memberships to BASS. As of the last federation meetings, FLW membership is required to compete in all Federation tournaments. Being a member of a properly affiliated club is also a requirement and if you club isn't FLW affiliated and you still want to compete in Federation tournaments then joining a low cost ghost club is always an option.

sTony

Ron C · Post by **Ron C** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:07 am

...that your club paid went dircetly to TBF, Inc (via the California Federation), so your are good to go as far as your National Federation dues goes. However, according to what Brian D. posted last night (see the below link), you need to become a member of FLW ($25) before February 1st (you can do it on-line with a credit card: https://www.flwoutdoors.com/membership/simple.cfm

With your membership into FLW comes a subscription to FLW Outdoors magazine which, in my opinion, is a lot better than BASSMASTER magazine because they write about (and care about) the West. Also, FLW Outdoors magazine will soon have a section dedicated entirely to the Federation. This is something that BASS NEVER did for us.

http://westernbass.com/forum/viewtopic. ... 1244e8b0a6

Hardshell · Post by **Hardshell** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:28 am

Is the State Federation Web page being worked on? I can get the Intro page to load but when I try to enter the main page I get nothing. I'm getting ready to go to Havasu and need to get an enrty form so I can send it in before I leave. Or, should I wait till after tonights conferance call to try again?

Hardshell-Jailer

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:49 am

Good to hear I can put my FLW membership to good use. I had to sign up as a FLW Member to fish the Stren Series and I plan on fishing the Federation tournaments as well.

BTW I think it would be a good idea to post this information on http://www.calforniabass.org so that there isn't as much confusion.

Thanks sTony.

FATGUY · Post by **FATGUY** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 11:22 am

so with all the politics of this the little guy ( me) gets screwed again ... our club sent in bass fees like last november.. now i have to pay a flw fee and a fee to join a ghost club ??????? isn't this great ...bob

sTony · Post by **sTony** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 11:58 am

If you feel you're getting screwed there's likely nothing anyone can do to change your mind about it. It wasn't until mid November that our federation president had his membership revoked and that all this came to light. It's also likely that the timing was intentional on BASS's part to muck things up and confuse club memberships about what to do. For the first time ever BASS put on an all out blitz to get club memberships dues in by December. That was never the case before.

Looking back over the history of these federation posts you, Bob, have asked more questions then just about anyone on the situation and the things have been explained as best we can over and over again. If you are still confused about what has happened and what has transpired I'd have to believe its because you want to be confused about the matter. You now have a choice about how to proceed and it's solely up to you to figure out what to do. I've already told you that the Federation board meets tonight and that there will be a lot for us to discuss, figure out and vote on. I'd ask that you sit tight and let us come up with our game plan moving forward before you act.

As I've stated many times before, all federation tournaments are going on as normal. All clubs are free to contact us for updates on the matters that we've been working on tirelessly since this whole thing popped just a few short months ago. Hey, meetings and presentations just happened this month and no one knew for sure how to answer a lot of questions. Other State Federations are still undecided about wht to do and that's all being worked out right now.

Your patience is requested.

sTony

FATGUY · Post by **FATGUY** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 12:31 pm

wow getting personal now ??? hhmm. if i'm confused because i want to be then i know two others i must also be confuseing .. (spell) hope to find out soon if i have to join flw and a ghost club to be able to fish on the 12th.. keep working and thanks for keeping us posted.. i guess i'll stop asking questions.. thanks agaim bob

sTony · Post by **sTony** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 3:20 pm

Anyway you want to look at it the only thing that's changed is who your club and its membership is affiliating with. In the past clubs were signed on with BASS and all their members were required to be BASS members. Now the club needs to be signed on with FLW and all its members need to have a valid FLW membership also.

We have tried to get the message out that a move was likely coming soon. It just didn't set well with us that our elected president was kicked out of BASS, that our clubs bylaws were rescinded and that BASS has largely moved away from any ties to the west coast. We've talked about this openly for several weeks.

Gary Bradford has worked tirelessly to get things worked out for our state federation. I've tried to pass on as much information as I possibly can.

If I've offended you it was not my intention. But I gotta wonder what about this you're confused about. And if you're confused about it you might want to get on touch with either me or anyone on the Federation Board of Directors and we'll try to update you on everything.

Honestly we didn't know what was happening to us when Gary had his membership revoked and two weeks or so later every club was getting notices from BASS that they HAD to have their memberships in by Dec 31. We didn't bring this upon ourselves and we've been a reactionary mode trying to make the best of the situation we possibly can. I think you'll find after reviewing everything the the Federation is sitting in a rather healthy position if it's club membership trusts us and follow our lead.

sTony

Barry Stanley · Post by **Barry Stanley** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 4:18 pm

Hey Tony, I live in New Mexico and we are one of those fence sitters. Can't seem to make a decision. I monitor this site because it is always up on things of importance such as this BASS/FED/FLW controversy. My club also paid dues to MA BASS because of the intimmidating letter BASS sent about how unpaid dues would affect FED participation at the National. I tried to convince them that by delaying until January, we would have a better picture of what the FED would look like. I have read all the posts here, on BASSFAN, and FLW but to my knowledge, no one has approached the issue of dual affilliation at least through this year. I have not read where this would violate any agreemnts made so far. After reading the comparsions of both plans, it could be fun to fish one, the other or both. Neither has much in place out West to benefit either plan. Just my $.02 but what is your thoughts on the dual issue?

Barry

Barry · Post by **Barry** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 5:13 pm

I won't say I'm confused but as a Club president I feel the Fed membership has been left out of the fray. The only people who have contacted us throughout this whole mess is BASS. I try to keep up with the goings on by monitoring this site, FLW Outdoors and the hard to use but ever exsistant Bassmaster site. My take on it was to remain with BASS for this year and yes, it was the easy out. When the smoke settles, tempers cool and all the plans are on the table we, as a club, will review them and make a decision based on the facts. Just my .02. I am off to Havasu, hopeful of catching one of the 437 largemouth located there. Good luck to all...... Barry

wkshuey · Post by **wkshuey** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 7:57 pm

sTony,

I don't know if you have been notified about the discount that FLW is offering to all TBF members, when joining FLW, so here it is.

ALL TBF members will receive a 25% discount, off of the original cost of a FLW membership. If you get a 2 or 3 year membership, which already is at a reduced rate, you still get the 25% discount off of this reduced rate. If you are joining by phone, just tell them you are a TBF member. If you are using their website to join, all you need do is use the promotional code FEDERATION.

This information came to me directly from FLW. I don't recall BASS ever giving us a discount for being a federation member.

Pa. Federation State Treasurer
Wayne Shuey