BASS members need to read this

[Coley]

Shows what a rat, Ray Scott really is.

http://www.bassfan.com/news_article.asp?id=1539

Coley

[Skeeter]

I agree Coley. But hell, why should Ray Scott really care? He already has enough of our money to live his life out. What is the TBF?

Skeeter

[chirmy]

You can/should read his letter on BASS's website along with Ruck's first and second.

What is sad is that I literally feel forced to renew my now unwanted membership with BASS because of the federation's marriage to BASS. They pull there Opens out of the West and blame it on Money. I wonder how much money they will lose if they lose the federation. I know I can account for 15.00 or is it 20.00 plus 29.95 for membership annually.

[Elken]

TBF = The BASS Federation Inc.

BassFan.com has most of the letters that have gone back and forth between BASS and the Federation, plus the one talking to Irwin Jacobs of Ranger/FLW about their offer to the Federation.

[WidowMaker]

TBF = The Bass Federation.

Why should Ray Scott care?

Maybe a better question would be why is he involved in the dispute and to what extent is the involvement?

Ray Scott is not "stepping in" to solve any problem other than to clear himself of possible legal problems. Scott made a business decision to sell BASS to ESPN under a legal binding business contract. This contract most likely includes clauses requiring Ray Scott to mediate possible future conflicts between BASS and the rank and file membership. Failure for Scott not to provide valid proof he made an attempt to resolve disputes could mean lawsuit for a breach of contract on the behalf of Scott.

So you have to remember that now when Ray Scott speaks he is doing so on the behalf of ESPN. When he speaks of "saving the sport" of bass fishing he is not speaking of the sport from the perspective of the average fisherman. He is speaking of saving ESPN's biased vision of what they think bass fishing should be in the years to come.

When BASS was first organized the impression was often given that each individual member was part owner of the organization. It may not have actually been in writing but thats the impression that Ray Scott often conveyed to the common angler. When he sold it he took

that perceived ownership of BASS away from the common angler and gave it to an impersonal corporate entity.

[chirmy]

Here is TBF inc's website http://www.bassfederation.com/ , until recently I did not know who they were as well.

Another thing to look at is, is the federation the only thing the new and improved ESPN/BASS have changed or made decisions that help/hurt anglers? Dumping the Western Opens hurt a lot of anglers and their individual sponsorships in my opinion. Also will the Open championship be a true "championship" in 06/07.

By the way, I have some issues with FLW as well.

[Tally]

What is Jacob's relationship with Ranger Boats?

I also was surprised that Forrest Wood was involved in these meeting, obviously Hopper does not not control as much as I thought.

Tally

[D.J.]

I feel the same about how it feels like we are forced to pay for an unwanted membership. The guys out here(west coast) are stuck since they jerked the Opens from us. I just hope we can get more big tournaments out here, wich is really my main concern. I just don't see how BASS can feel that they are doing the right thing here.

[onlybass]

This is a prime example of the pot calling the kettle black.There is likely to be no winner and the only loser will be the individual club member.The Federation has taken BASS to tasks on other subjects before and then do the same thing to their members ie sponsor clothing.Now the Fed is courting FLW, who has the most stringent sponsor display regs.The Federation complains that BASS does not communicate well.I get more info via "open letters" in Bassmaster Mag or Bass Times(BASS publications) and it is more timely.It took TBF over 2 weeks to update the site during this current spat.This is how I elected the Fab Five and empowered TBF,and hired the TBF honcho.My club elected a club president.Club presidents elect 2 regional directors(several regions).Regional directors and state board members elect state fed president and officers,yet the state president appoints state board members.The state presidents elected the Fab Five and empowered and hired TBF.So the claim by TBF and Federation to be my voice is a bit skewed.The only ballot that I cast is at the club level.We never have a vote where all members of the state federation votes are counted.It works about like Congess and just as poorly.Another hot button is BASS throwing the Fab Five out.At least BASS stated publically and quickly why.FLW would have done the same thing(ask Jeff Coble) and not elaborated at all.Yet the Federation is looking at FLW as a partner?

There are less than 50,000 Federation Members,yet BASS sells 110,000 subscriptions to Bass Times which is the magazine for the Federation Angler.BASS sells 504,000 subs to Bassmaster Magazine.The Federation is coming up short on numbers and it is a fair question-why?Then BASS may want to realize that there are about 30,000,000 licensed anglers in the U.S.

This is a power play by Federation Presidents,TBF,BASS and FLW.I hope the federation members take the power back to themselves,away from all of the above.They could do this via their dollars,letters to sponsors and "utilizing" ramps during the "weekend events".

[Skeeter]

Coble was an interesting example of how corporations control the sport. What happened to him was ashame. But he stuck to his guns. He is definitely an up front person with excellent ideas. But as you have seen, he isn't fishing.

Skeeter