WOW!  That’s what comes to mind when I think of the week of the FLW Forrest Wood CUP Championship, and the National Guard Junior World Championship in Hot Springs Arkansas.

It was HOT. The weather was around 100 degrees every day with high humidity and Great Hospitality.  The people of Hot Springs were so very friendly and were glad we were there!  The venue was superb. A great convention center and an arena that was over flowing with people every day!

Of course, there were president and youth director meetings that were held during the day.  Some of the topics that were covered included the Reel Kids casting program and the introduction of a great looking new target for us to use starting in January! Also, some new programs were discussed and shown to us and we expect them to be implemented in the next few months and in the first quarter next year.   These is a new youth Membership Program and an exciting new Student Angler Association that will touch thousands of Middle Schools throughout the country!  I will get the details to you as time goes on, but the Youth Program including the Youth Clubs are thriving and growing by leaps and bounds! It’s no wonder, we have an excellent leader in Mark Gintert and with the support from FLW and the National Guard -- the sky is the limit!

As for the Tournaments…. There were two that went on during the week: one for the 70 Junior State Champions that came from across the country to compete on Lake Hamilton, and the other tournament had the best adult anglers in the country aiming for the fishing world’s first 1 million dollar first place pay out. That happened to Scott Suggs from Arkansas who bested the likes of George Cochran, Larry Nixon, Jay Yelas, Anthony Gagliardi, Mark Davis and many others, including 3 anglers from the TBF. In total, there were 81 anglers fishing in the nation’s first 2 million dollar tournament.  Over flowing crowds came to see the weigh-ins every day for both tournaments. All 70 youth anglers came on stage after their weigh-in on Saturday before the crowds, and the final youth weigh-in day was right on stage before nearly 15 thousand people!  All televised on the internet live and you can see the event in September on FSN!

Full Standings

Of course, we had two wonderful anglers in the tournament from Wisconsin . Danny Roth in the younger age division and Melanie Holtman in the older age group. On Saturday, Hank Parker and TBF President Robert Cartlidge did the weigh-in for the kids. Each pro and the two youth anglers came on stage and were interviewed by Hank as their fish were weighed in. Danny Roth found it tough as did most of the kids fishing and didn’t catch a keeper fish, but had a great time and is hoping to come back next year.  Melanie Holtman, caught two keepers, and reportedly had a couple keeper “strikes” according to her pro.  She placed third for the Northern Division. Her pro said she had enough quality bites to actually win the tournament, but it just wasn’t to be. Sometimes you need that one more fish to make the difference.  Melanie was very excited and was honored to represent Wisconsin . Both kids thought the event was awesome!

Danny Roth and Melanie Holtman

Our Youth Director, Todd Holtman, was there in a dual role. One, he attended the Youth Director meetings each day for our federation, helped the TBF and FLW Staff with the kids, and roamed the floor of the Great outdoor show that was also held to talk to sponsors for support for our state federation. He did that while also being there as the dad of one of the contenders. He attended all those meetings with the kids as well, including the National Guard Pizza party Saturday Night. What a night! They had the kids, the parents, the youth directors all involved with various games and activities for hours. The noise level in the hotel ballroom was deafening.  He was chosen along with some other youth directors to participate in a game. Little did they know it was a game to see what the kids to do to make the perfect human sundae (see picture in the Bass News magazine)!  Bananas, chocolate, whip cream, nuts, cherries and everything you use to make a sundae was used. It was quite a site! And a lot of fun! The Judging of the best human sundae was done by Hank Parker and Jimmy Houston!

Everyone there had a great time throughout the week. The sponsors stepped up and made this a week to remember for the kids and their families. The FLW Staff were so supportive as always. It’s great to be partnered with such a great family oriented organization.

I came away from the week exhausted. But, I came away filled with the warmth and support that comes with being a part of a great family in fishing. When TBF partnered with the FLW and the National Guard it was the beginning of an era of positive growth for all of us. We have great new opportunities for the Youth, and for the Adult Members in the TBF. We all belong to a group of people that is family orientated, with eyes on the future.

Now is the perfect time to get a friend to join your adult club and get them out on the water.  We have never before seen such opportunities waiting for all of us with so much sponsor support.  Now is also the time to have your club start a Junior club and get some kids involved.  It’s easy and doesn’t take a lot of time and YOU can make a difference in a youngster’s life. We have 5 Junior clubs in our State Federation; we can for sure double that easy for next year.

I want to say I was proud of the families and especially Melanie and Dan for representing our state so well during the week.  It is a testament to our members that each and every time we go to a National event whether it’s the National Guard Junior Tournament, The Federation National ChampionshipTournament, the Northern Divisional, The BassFan Weekend Warrior Championship or the FLW Forrest Wood CUP, our state anglers, and their families ALWAYS represent us so well.   Thanks.