Week of January 4, 2010

• BASS announced the elimination of the WBT.

• Cheryl posed the announcement on the Texas Fishing Forum and sent out several text messages.

• Sheroma Southwest (A marketing and production company) contacted Cheryl on an unrelated manner and they were informed of the WBT news.

• On Tuesday, Sheroma Southwest contacts Cheryl asking lots of questions about the tour and expressing an interest in starting a new tour for the ladies.

• Mark Howard of JC Outdoors contacts Cheryl through the Texas Fishing Forum expressing an interest in starting up a trail for the ladies.

• Cheryl develops and sends out a survey request to as many ladies as possible on a limited email list.

• Secret and Cheryl talk on the phone and similar things are happening to her in Kentucky.

• Fish Bait Radio Show airs a show for the WBT. Dave Kilby, Maryland offers his help in any way

• Survey responses already starting to come in. Approximately 50 within the first week.

• Conversations with Patti Campbell, Leslie Lively, Matt Herron, Darrell Lyons, Scott Gordon, Lisa Craig, Judith Hart, Al Tilise, Pat Seamons, Mary Sheroma, Frank Pillsbury, Mark Howard, Jake Davis, Mike SImpson, Kim McGuffey, Babara Potts, Meta Burrell, Robin Babb, Sheri Glasgow and Terry Kneedler concerning the survey and potential trail development.

• Matt Hearon contacts Dave Mansue of the PAA and provides Cheryl with contact information.

• Plans set in motion to offer at least one tournament in 2010 with the possibility of one or two more. Primary purpose is to get everyone together to map out our future after weighing all of the options.

• after Fish Bait radio show and survey results discover a good amount of anglers in Northeast region that cannot make 20-28 hour trips to compete.

Week of January 11, 2010

• Sportsmen's Edge offers equipment and registration services free of charge to get it going .

• Moors Resort offers free run of resort including meeting rooms and accommodations for out of town staff

• Lynn Wilson offers to be tournament director for the year at no charge get us on our way.

• Search for dates that will match Secret and Cheryl's schedules for a tournament that will also allow ample planning time and not conflict with Opens, Weekend Series or events at The Moors. Dates of May 5-8, 2010 selected. Could not do June with Elites out of Paris Landing. Pro $650 and Co-Angler $350.  Lila Bass contacts Secret and is brought up to speed and is in agreement.

• Call to Dave Mansue of the PAA to ask questions and see if PAA might be interested in starting a women's division. He shared some of the positives that had come from the PAA and some of the areas that required more work. He said he would mention to the PAA board or directors our call, but felt like the preference would be for the ladies to simply join and fish with the PAA. (Not as a separate division.) Dave said it would be critical to get a title sponsor.

• Liz Sanders sends Cheryl the most recent WBT contact list. Lila Bass offers to help with handling the emails.

• Cheryl sets up a section on her webpage to use for information the tournament until the ladies meet and decide the direction in which they wish to go.

• LLC  account through the Sportsmen's Edge will be used to handle entry fees. 3% charge on each credit card transaction has to be covered as well as unexpected expenses.

• Secret begins working on the payouts based upon a 50 boat field and through conversations with Lynn, Tony, Tammy , Kelli, Cheryl and others sets aside $50 per entry to cover potential expenses including polygraph fees.

• Goal set to have quality cash payouts for 1 in every 4 entries in both divisions.

• Reservations and registrations are prepared and first reservations and entries are made.

• Jarod of The Bass Holes, interviews Secret and posts a great article at www.bassholes.com

• Kevin Rush of Pro Reel Service extends his support and offers six free cleanings of any service ($120 total value) as give-a-ways at the tournament.

• Second show on Fish Bait Radio to air related to proposed tour.

• Cheryl and Secret on outdoor radio shows with Darla Bardelli, Arizona

• Thomas Phillips of Lone Star Outdoor Magazine calls and interviews Cheryl about the elimination of the WBT and what the women are planning on doing.

• Emails and surveys are pouring in. Up to 80 by end of the week..

• Lori Masters contacts Cheryl will help contact potential sponsors that she knows. She will be helping compile the survey responses. Cheryl removes the names on the surveys and numbers them since the ladies were not asked if their names could be shared.

• Rod Baker calls and has already getting dates and locations in line wanting to start in March. Because of the time frame and girls spending money and their vacation time to other tours we can not field a tournament soon. Together we agree on a May date. We also have so many potential sponsors asking we did not want to cut any of those out.

• Rod is in the process of buying a weigh in trailer out of his pocket. He asks that at some point he recoup the expense and the trailer become the tours.

• Secret talked to Sheila @ Academy. She says 2010 is out, they still have $ invested to BASS that was supposed to be for the women. Get 2011 plans together and they would take it before the board.

• We had several requests to get PAA involved, they are headquartered in my home town. Talked to Jamie and she sent me to Chad.

• Lila Bass takes over the survey compilation due to Lori's computer crashing.

• Media blitz considerations: How do we get publicity from local media sources? Discussions and arrangements to do a food drive for the local food bank and donations of old jerseys to the Special Olympics members in the area. 35 total kids

• Information needs to be gathered on an EXIDE battery program where they pay people to recycle old batteries and the money could go to local charities.

• Proposed that we do something like this at any future events to give back to the community and in return we draw more local support and spectators.

Week of January 18, 2010

• Jim Payne of Stay'nCharge calls and wants to help support the tournament with a $500 donation. He also feels he can bring on some additional similar donations for May. Is interested in helping further, depending on our decisions in May.

• Jarod emails Cheryl the new Stay'nCharge logo. Secret and Cheryl agree to post sponsors logos once checks have been received or once their service donation has been demonstrated.

• More emails and surveys coming arriving daily.

• Begin checking in on TV time. Contact made with Stacy Zhelesnik.

• Contact information on Bill Wilcox obtained.

• Secret had heard that the possibility of getting involved with women's tour had been discussed and voted down by PAA, so I did not see any reason to go farther.

• Cheryl contacts Triton about Triton Gold Sanction and fills out papers to send in to complete the process.

• Multiple phone calls and return calls to multiple ladies along with email replies.

• Cheryl requests BASS WBT contact file. Not available due to privacy laws.

• Secret has payout set up and Cheryl  posts to web page.

• Multiple updates to web page as information is finalized.

• Rod has been talking with various locations to determine their interest in hosting a women's tournament. Most locations that the WBT previously fished are interested as well as some additional locations.

• Fish Bait radio has additional shows with US Anglers Choice sending out surveys. They are interested in starting a women's tournament trail in 2011.

• IFBBA announces an interim women's trail with plans for multiple divisions across the country in 2011. Plans to announce a major sponsor at the Bassmaster Classic.

• Talk with Bill Wilcox (Honey Hole Outdoors TV Show). He does 52 - 30 minute shows each year on Regional Channels; Fox SW, Channel 27. No reruns. Costs based upon air time, station and time of day. His camera man costs $1500 per day- turnkey as long as travels are within 200 miles. Beyond that Bill pays his expenses. Bill also provides him with all consumables related to the filming process. Total approximate cost for the year is $150,000. Bill sells commercial time to cover all costs.

• Cheryl begins to pull together initial potential rules for the tournament and possible trail taking into consideration as much as possible from the surveys and only having one official tournament on the calendar. This is sent to Secret for Lynn Wilson to look over and continue work toward a set of rules for May.

• Talked with Stacy Zhelesnik and they will put together a high energy clip to send out to TV stations starting one month prior to event in Kentucky. Plans are to make this available to all ladies who might want to send to their local TV outlets as well.

• Lonny McGuffey will MC the tournament.

• Conversations with Robin Babb. She provided me with contact information on Gary Bean. Gary helped get the PAA started.

• Cheryl contacted Gary Bean. He discussed pros and cons of running your own organization including income/ revenue, fundamental structure including Bylaws, rules and enforcement, sponsorship. Emphasized that controlling our own destiny would come at a cost in time for those working to obtain and maintain sponsorships, securing events, media coverage... Critical to identify our areas of expertise within the whole group of ladies and tap into those. Build bylaws with protection as the key element; in other words build them in anticipation of problems to there is a means of dealing with a problem before it occurs and not having to create a rule after the fact. Clearly identify how and who is responsible for enforcement. Suggested a committee or board of directors that even if we do not form our own trail will have a negotiating voice in decisions and promotions. When seeking corporate sponsorships, do so with non-endemic sponsors and ask for $250,000 and up. Large companies would rather spend their advertising dollars by writing 3 to 5 checks instead of 300-500 checks. Consider a promoter to help with tasks. We must determine as a collective group what is the right direction; who are 8-10 ladies who will be able to act as board or directors that are willing to represent the whole and remove their own personal motives to the back burner (remove themselves emotionally as much as possible), and also have good listening skills.  Define who we are and what we collectively want to do that is in the best interest of the whole. Everyone must continually make sure you are not hunting for your own personal motives. "Check self at the door!" If everyone goes in hunting for their own individual gain failure is certain. This must be a "WE" proposition.

Week of January 25, 2010

• Calls and work continues.

• Secret and Lynn drive to Triton headquarters to visit with Bernie House. Wasn't too interested until I told him our #1 agenda was to get the media coverage. He says they have been cut back so far that they have zero advertisement in print. Tell me you are putting out quarterly magazine and tv time, we will talk. He said I want to see what happens in KY. He said he would also be sending rain suits, life jackets, shirts, hats for KY tournament.

• Dave Kilby has agreed to head up a tour in Northeast region that will be affiliated to national tour.

• Dave Kilby is sending $ to KY tourn. from little guy sponsors that are wanting in on ground floor of something with big potential. These guys could not get in to BASS.

• Juanita calls says Toledo Bend wants us there. Adding this contact to Rod Baker to check out, along with several others that are interested. Cheryl contacts Jim Binns who was the President of the Chamber of Commerce. They are willing to pay us to come there for a tournament. Rod Baker will follow up with details.

• Secret gets call from Sam Karnes he says he has fortune 500 company interest in title sponsor but we need to be with PAA cause they are reputable established organization. Was not told whom this 500 company was. Conference call set up that fails to take place.

• Secret contacts Sam to follow up, but conversation is short, subsequent attempts made with no contact.

• Cheryl, Secret and Kathy Magers exchange multiple emails with leads on title sponsors.

• Rod continues to look for a trailer. He thought he found one, but Mark Howard had already purchased it.

• Cheryl contacts Versus, Outdoor Channel ... concerning air time and the costs. Biggest problem is getting them to respond.

• Cheryl and Secret agree that more information needs to be getting out to the ladies, but email is not optimum. Short video to post online through web page, You Tube and Facebook. Timeline to do and post is February 12, 2010.

• Secret talked to our bass caddies about being cooks for our meal and that would reduce our costs.

Week of February 1, 2010

• Secret, Lynn and Cheryl have been discussing items to consider for a 2011 tour. Items included are possible options for participation from as many ladies as we can while maintaining a national tour. Awards being considered are: Rookie of the year; pro and co-angler, Angler of the Year; pro and co-angler. A separate division in the northeast run by US Anglers Choice will be a part of the 2011 trail with a 20% berth into the national championship. This is to accommodate the large number of anglers who would fish but due to travels have not in the past. The plans are for a  fully paid championship if funds from sponsors make this possible. For the Classic or Championship 20-25% of  each division will qualify. To fill the remaining spots (Minimum of 25 boats for full field) there will be wildcard berths from each division. Championship or Classic to be held spring of the following year. Nothing is set in stone. These are items to consider and help with discussions in May.

• Plans are in the works for a kick-off tournament in the fall.

• Cheryl visits with Louie Zhelesnik about the media blitz and filming. Lots of questions related to what we need the programs to do. 30 minutes or an hour. Editing is expensive. ID the elements of the show: intro, launch, on the water, check-in, weigh-in interview, closing. Memory card cost $600 each, but biggest problem is hard drive space. Checking on costs. Louie will get wireless mics to get video on the water. May have to rent a couple. First day on Kentucky he will wire up 3-5 ladies. Day two the top 3-5 will be wired up unless they would prefer not to be. Louie and Stacy will educate ladies on how to be on camera. Dead air time does not sell. More planning and Louie will get back to Cheryl. Media blitz video clips will be ready to go out April 1, 2010.

• Rod has been checking on website costs and programs that will allow us to do web casts of the weigh-ins and will also be about to house video clips of the tournament footage and other short snippets until TV coverage is set up and that will run even once TV coverage is set.

• Marshall County Tourism is considering giving $500.00-1200.00 depending on the number of boats we have in KY.

• Cheryl talks with Jim Payne of Stay'n Charge again and Jim is working to bring in some other companies to support the Kentucky tournament.

• Various ladies contact Secret and Cheryl about a conference call they have been asked to take part in with members of the PAA board of directors. Neither were aware of this conference call, but both participated. PAA is now showing interest and would like to survey the ladies to see if they would be interested in having a division and fishing a different lake than the men with weigh-in on the same stage. PAA board of directors mentioned a possibly considering reducing the PAA membership dues from $400 per year to $200 or so for the ladies. Asked the ladies who were in on the call to consider being on a committee for the women. These ladies need to be willing to do the leg work on most aspects of the development of any tournaments. Conference call lasted more than an hour, so check with one of the following for more details. Juanita Robinson, Emily Shaffer, Tonya Cruiser , Patti Campbell, Jan Heavener, Secret York, Sandy Karns, Lisa Sternard, Debbie Pegolli, Marsha Gibson, Linda Gessner, Kim Strapp, and Sam Karns, PAA- Chad Morgan Thowlert, Dave Mansue, Danny. My apologies for the spelling.

• Secret had five calls this day from ladies saying they would rather put forth efforts to develop our own tour. (After PAA conference call).

• Cheryl and Patti Campbell are meeting next Wednesday to work on sponsor contacts and presentations.

Week of February 8, 2010

• "I keep a prayer in my heart for women’s fishing – asking Jesus to guide you, Secret and all those who are helping you to find success. That you might show the world women shouldn’t be suppressed or ignored in any sport, especially fishing, the world’s most beloved and timeless sport of all.  There ARE people called "Angel Investors" – wealthy groups of friends who step up to support those trying to benefit others. Since most are charitable, they may at first assume your cause isn’t since money is involved. They may not be as eager to grant you an audience but eventually, they might. I’ve always imagined a very wealthy woman (or man----) “out there” who would recognize our needs and the lack of respect we’ve gotten in the past. She would see how we benefit  minority groups (women from various ethnic backgrounds and countries,) and say “I’m behind you 100%.”  We’ve always needed greater exposure like a TV show and a small magazine in order to land the “big sponsors” like Mary Kay, Dove, JC Penneys, etc. With these, we could make impressive profits and fund the angel investor’s other target groups. Call it payback. We’re a passionate group with much to contribute to other women. Be confident in telling our story in public – you never know when a real angel investor hears it. You just never know. You have to believe – and it will happen. Keep pushing!  My prayers are with all of you - Kathy Magers

• Patti and Cheryl met to work on list of potential sponsors and sponsor packages.

• Martha Goodfellow writes about the importance of a women's circuit and posts it on her web page. www.GoodFishin.weebly.com

• Multiple ladies now have links on their web and Facebook pages about the tournament in Kentucky!

• Bill Thompson comes on board to help us with the Kentucky tournament and to grow a future tour!

• Dave Kilby of US Anglers Choice begins looking into a kick-off tournament in the fall for ladies in the northeast.

• Fliers being developed to have available at The Classic as ladies are there supporting Pam! Electronic copies will be available and posted on the web for anyone interested in using them.

Week of February 15, 2010

• BassCat was contacted and Jan Heavener will take care of documents for the Kentucky tournament to qualify BassCat owners for the Quest Program! Gary Gould is the contact at BassCat that we talked to and he was very helpful.

• Survey now available electronically. Any lady who has not already taken part in the survey may now do so online through Survey Monkey.

• Made a one day trip to the Classic in Birmingham to get the word out about the tournament and the purposes of the meetings. Found that a lot of ladies are not getting the emails. This is probably due to their email settings for mass emails. Please allow mass emails from cherylbowden1212@tx.rr.com or lilabass@lilabass.com. Please pass this on to any lady you know and send them to this site for more information.

• Numerous ladies and booths volunteered to hand out flyers for the event. Lots of excitement and contacts.

• Brief visits with the PAA with no new information.

• Lots of ladies expressing interest in forming our own organization.

• Louie Zhelesnik has been working on details related to the video footage elements for Kentucky as well as the video clips for the media release in preparation for the event.

• Outlines for Roundtable discussions being developed so that everyone has a say in an organized manner during the meetings associated with the Kentucky tournament.

Week of February 22, 2010

• Talked to Secret concerning running the credit cards and the new laws. Tammy is having to work overtime to get the cards to go through. From what we can gather, it is partly due to the charge being out of your normal spending area. Since the time stamp for entries does not get logged until the card is successfully processed, please consider sending a check or money order.

• We have a tournament waiver and release, but we have a lawyer preview it before making it available.

• "Do not let the future be held hostage by the past." Neal Maxwell

• We have co-anglers who have signed up for the tournament who are looking for an open back seat during practice. If you are a pro and have a back seat open and you are open to someone practicing with you, please contact Secret or Cheryl. We will help make the connections.

Week of March 1, 2010

• As we draw closer to the event in May, we want to provide as many people as possible with a chance to have a voice. If you have questions or want to provide input we encourage you to contact any of the ladies listed here. These ladies have agreed to act as group leaders in our roundtable discussions in Kentucky. Monica Altman, Robin Babb, Lila Bass, Cheryl Buelow, Patti Campbell, Susan Gregory, Jan Heavener, Pam Martin-Wells, Robin McFarlane, Debbie Pegoli, Sharon Rushton, Emily Shaffer, Susan Wild, and Stacy Zhelesnik. (edited 4-26-10)

• The ladies listed above will be taking portions of our contact list and will begin personally contacting as many ladies as possible within the next few weeks. We want to try and get input from as many people as possible.

Week of March 8, 2010

• Lila Bass has contacted Skeeter and we can now offer Skeeter Real Money to those ladies who run the Skeeter Boats!

• Ray Barga of R. Barga and Company are our Big Bass Sponsors for the tournament!

Week of March 15, 2010

• CASTAWAY Rods and Necessity Jigs have come on board as tournament sponsors. Many thanks to Steven Wells, Lynn Wilson and Lila Bass for making contact and continuing to follow-up with Castaway.

• CASTAWAY will be donating some rods and providing a discount on products.

• Necessity Jigs will be putting together tackle packages to give away, as well as having a display for ladies to purchase additional items if they so choose.

• A local television station in Paducah will be airing our promotional video clip from the release date in early April until the end of the tournament.

• Phone calls and follow-ups to requests are continuing to be made.

• The tournament rules and release waivers are almost done and should be available by the first of next week.

• We have been trying to reach all boat manufacturers requesting that they sanction the tournament with their contingency programs. If any ladies have contacts to help in the process, please contact us or contact them directly.

• Two more sponsors added today. Captain Dave's Bass Buster Guide Service and Todali Tackle came on board this weekend! Captain Dave included a mention of our tournament early on in his weekly fishing report. "Click here" to see a copy of his posting.

• The tournament rules were posted and we will have participants sign waivers and releases on location during Wednesdays events. Minors ages 16 and up must have a notarized release form. A notary will be on-site at no charge to take care of this detail. If a minor is traveling with someone other than a parent or legal guardian and needs to get the notary done in advance, please contact Cheryl for details.

• Chuck Smick has just written an article about the event and has submitted it to several regional outlets for print. As we learn which groups agree to publish, we will post that information so you can check it out for yourself.  You may "click here" for a look at that article. If any lady has a local outlet that would be willing to publish it, please do so, but make sure Chuck gets credit for his copyrighted article. Chuck will be riding along with one of the ladies during one of the practice days and doing interviews.

• Kenny Darrell of the Murray Ledger and Times and is connected to the National Turkey Federation will be donating items for the tournament as well as riding along with one of the ladies during practice. He will be covering and writing about the event.

• WestKentuckyLED is coming on as a sponsor. They are a new company who specializes in Blue Water Lighting. Deb Warner will be fishing with us and said they will be giving away a standard Blue Water Lighting system including install at the tournament. West LED is also interested in supporting a future tour.

• There have been questions on the entry form about the serial numbers being listed. This is for verification on contingency programs if the company offering the program needs verification from us. You may choose not to include that on the entry form.

Week of March 22, 2010

• Article by Chuck Smick published in "The Chattanooga". Check it our for yourself. http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_171643.asp

• The Paducah Sun contacted Secret today and they will be running some articles on the tournament.

• North Texas Marine is donating 1-2 boxes of floating key chains to use for boat numbers.

• Nite Owl Media Productions is putting the final touches on a commercial / tournament announcement this week. We will be posting it on You Tube as well as airing it on television news stations. If you have a local station you can get to air it, please let us know and we will provide a copy to that outlet. This is the same company that will be filming and editing our tournament.

• Work is continuing and we are on target for the Media Release for the May tournament. Louie and Stacy are working on the commercial and a write-up is in the works as well.

• We are working on several presentations for May. If you have any photos and or stories related to the history of women in fishing and or kids fishing, please contact me as soon as possible.

• Robin Babb will be on the National Radio Network "Outdoors This Week with Alex Langer" this Sunday (March 28th) at 8:00 cst. They will be talking about the future of women's bass tournament fishing. You can hear this show on radio stations nationwide, as well as www.nationalradionetwork.com

• Legend Boats has come on board and will be providing our weigh bags for the event! Bill Thompson did a great job gets the credit for this accomplishment!

• Anne Woodcock of Armadillo Creative in England  has been posting items and announcements about our event to Ladies Fishing in the United Kingdom fishing Blog as well as their Facebook and Twitter accounts! Thanks for helping spread the word Anne! Here is the link: http://ladiesfishing.co.uk/2010/03/23/may-your-next-fish-be-the-fish-of-a-lifetime-cheryl-bowden/ . If you look at the bottom of the page you will see connections to several other posts!

Week of March 29, 2010

• While the diary updates have been few this week, lots of work has been taking place to prepare documents, presentations and details for the tournament in Kentucky and a foundation for a future tour. Follow the links below to the press release.

• http://www.ultimatebass.com/bass-fishing-news/industry-news/1611-paducah-womens-invitational-bass-tournament.html

• http://www.fishingworld.com/News/Read.php?ArtID=000027300

• http://www.prlog.org/10606413-paducah-kentucky-to-host-womens-invitational-bass-tournament.html

• Many thanks go out to Linda Berry, Kathy Magers and Sharon Rushton for their editing and taking the starting draft article and moving it to the form you now see! Great Job Ladies!!

• Our commercial is almost ready for release as well. We plan to post it on You Tube in the next few days. This same commercial will air in the Paducah, Kentucky area from release time until we complete our tournament!

• Registration set to close on April 14th and just over a month until we meet in Kentucky!

• Another site posts our press release: http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_172554.asp

• Promo video for the Kentucky Tournament posted on You Tube! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b7L-c295w0

Week of April 5, 2010

• What a week! SHE Outdoor Apparel has come on board with a cash donation! Audrey McQueen was instrumental in opening this door!

• Hugh McNaughten the host of Southern Woods & Waters outdoors show has invited us to be live on his show Thursday, April 29th for their live show from 8-9 PM. The show will air twice more over that weekend in more than 80,000 homes: Friday 2-3 PM and Sunday 8-9 PM! Secret York and Emily Shaffer will be there as our representatives. If you are in the Kentucky-Tennessee area and can watch the show, please do. For those of us not in the area go to Hugh's website to catch the action. http://southernwoodsandwaters.com/

• Phoenix Boats has joined in and sanctioned our tournament. Ladies who run Phoenix Boats have the opportunity to win extra money if they meet the criteria of the First Flight program! Robbie Hartline made this connection possible!

• Remember that the logos of all the sponsors who have web pages are hyperlinked so please go and check out their sites if you would like more information about them!

• With the added sponsors, Louie is going to go into our promotional video and update it with the recent additions. As soon as he has completed this, their will new link, so look for that new posting in the near future!

• Reminder of the April 14th registration deadline. We realize that this is the day before the Federal Tax filing deadline. The main reason for the deadline is to ensure a balanced field. We will gladly work with you, if you let us know. If you are a boater, please be get your entry in or call us with what is happening. We want everyone to fish!

• Sharon Rushton has posted our press release through two additional organizations. The Fishing Wire where it made the front page and The Outdoor Wire where it made the top of the list in the women's section! Many thanks Sharon!

Week of April 12, 2010

• You Tube video updated with latest sponsor recognition! Please check it out and share the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkSnhsTNkuA

• It is getting exciting as we are getting updates on entries. No complete list of numbers at this time. It is important for everyone, but especially the pros to get the registrations set. A balanced field is critical for the co-anglers, so pros need to continue to contacting us. It is taking a little more time with entries being mailed to help keep costs down.

Week of April 19, 2010

• At this time we have a balanced field. Co-Angler entries from this point forward must be accompanied by a pro entry in order to maintain the balanced field. Pro entries can be accepted without a co-angler link.

• If the field becomes unbalanced with more pros than co-anglers we have observers.

• If the field becomes unbalanced with more co-anglers, we will discuss possibilities on a case by case basis!

• Remember that next week Secret and Emily will be appearing on the Southern Woods and Waters Show with Hugh McNaugthen out of Nashville, Tennessee.

• Hugh McNaughten informed me today that the Tennessee legislature has passed legislation making fishing and hunting in Tennessee a constitutional right! They are the first state in the country to do so! Congratulations to them!

• Emily Shaffer will be a guest on the Outdoors with Doug Markham Saturday, April 24. You may listen in from 5-7 AM on Super Talk 99.7 FM WTN Nashville. Cheryl will be a call in guest at 5:30. Follow the link to WTN, click on the "On the Air Now" button (right side of page), and download the FREE Silverlight Player plugin for your browser. http://www.997wtn.com/ 

• Emily did a great job on the radio show Saturday morning. You can go and listen to the tape of the program at Outdoors with Doug Markham.

• Lila Bass has secured Sure Life for the Kentucky tournament.

• Reminder to participants to bring 10 non-perishable food items for the local food bank and if you have an old jersey to give to the local Special Olympics kids.

Week of April 26, 2010

• 10 DAYS and Counting!

• Tournament Registration: All those currently registered have a secured spot in the tournament. Co-anglers who call to register from this point forward will be notified at the time of registration if spots are available.

• We have had several requests for a conference call during the Wednesday discussions. If anyone can provide us some guidance on the best way to arrange that type of connection, please contact Cheryl or Secret.

Week of May 3, 2010

• Tournament Week is finally here!

• YES the tournament is still taking place!

• RAIN! Yes there has been a lot of rain and Kentucky Lake is high but far from unfishable. Ladies are making thier way into the area and are getting out on the water to prefish.

• Detours getting here are frequently encountered due to high waters closing many roads in Tennessee and Mississipi.

• Practice for everyone has been outstanding. The rising waters are moving the fish up shallow and ladies are catching lots of fish each day weeding through the just short fish along the way to large sacks of keepers.

• At the meeting on Wednesday, there were approximately forty-five anglers present and a host of sponsors. Cheryl and Secret provided those present with many details that went beyond the postings in this diary along with introductions of the staff and expressions of great appreciation to all of the event sponsors.

• Lots of items were given away from all of the sponsors. Every lady in the meeting walked away with at least and in many cases two prizes in addition to the host of items the sponsors gave away at their sponsor tables as the ladies came in for registration.

• Just before lunch, the Moors Resort and Marina was officially notified that the US Coastguard had closed the lakes in response to the recent flooding in Tennessee and the fast approaching debris fields in both lakes. This is the first time in the history of Kentucky and Barkley lakes that the US Coastguard had taken such actions. The reported fine for any craft on the water was said to be $32,000.00 per craft.

• With this news, the Kentucky Lake tournament was officially cancelled and the ladies were refunded their entry fees.

• As the ladies stopped for the lunch prepared by Steven Wells along with the assistance of Rod Baker, the local sponsors, Lynn Wilson and Bill Thompson went to work on an alternate plan. When we returned from lunch to continue our meetings, we were informed that we would have the opportunity to fish on a private stocked lake on Thursday!

• All of the ladies who could met on Thursday morning and went in a caravan to the private lake. Each lady paid a $50 entry fee to this tournament. We had twelve boaters and fourteen co-anglers. Secret and Cheryl both fished with three to a boat. There were lots of limits caught in both divisions and four places in each were paid out. Robbie Hartline finished in first place on the boater side and Donna Newberry finished first on the co-angler side. The final standing will be posted as soon as I have time.

• As we continued the meetings the ladies present were asked to decide on accepting the offers outlined from other organizations or to form our own organization. We are now officially the Lady Bass Anglers Association! We are working on the details for the fall kick-off tournaments. Yes, I did say tournaments. Dave Kilby will be operating a Northeast Division for us in 2011. The northeast division will have its kickoff tournament in October on the Patomic River. More to come on that as we get details. Our kick-off tournament will September 16-18 on either Sam Rayburn, Texas or Lake Guntersville, Alabama.

• We will be filtering through all of the input from the meetings and putting together the tour tournament rules and other information. We will make this available as soon as possible.

• Several ladies have requested a copy of the roundtable discussion items. I will post those as well in the next few days as a link to a pdf document. We want input from interested ladies!

• In the next few weeks we will be setting up an association Facebook page to help get the word out. Once we have membership dues coming in to cover the cost of the web page, we will get that rolling as well. (We have not yet finalized the membership dues cost at this time.) I will also be changing the  postings on this web page in the near future to reflect the Lady Bass Anglers Association instead of the Women's Trail Invitation.

More to come!

Cheryl

Tournament Sponsors

Ray Barga

BASS BUSTER GUIDE SERVICE

Contingency Programs

New rules for 2010!

BassCat

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