APPROVED MINUTES FROM MBF EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING 20 JULY 2006

I. MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING: Unanimous approval with no corrections.

II. MEETING LOCATION: Bass Pro Shops–Arundel Mills Mall, Called to order 7:00 PM

III. 2006 BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Executive Board Members as follows:  President – Roger Trageser, 1st Vice President – Bill Bennett, 2nd Vice President – Not present, Treasurer – Not present, Secretary – Rich Welden, Membership Committee Chair – Jim Horn.  Update Editor/Webmaster – Brent Nelson; Others in attendance, WR Dir – Gunner Beale, SR Director - Denis Schanberger, CR Director – Not present, NR Director – Not present, Scholarship Committee/Youth Director – Not present, Conservation – Scott Sewell, Sponsorship – Dick Brown. 

IV. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Glenn Pittman.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Brian was not present so the treasurer’s report will be provided in a later addendum to these minutes.

 V. COMMITTEE REPORTS: 

 1. Membership: (Jim Horn) The MBF membership gained two new members since last month’s report.  Jim asked about the pricing/payment due date of the adds on the MBF Directory to expedite his company’s payment of the add.    

 2. Youth: (Roger for Randy & Jim Kline) Youth Invitational: Feedback from participants of the MBF’s Youth Invitational tx held on the Potomac on 18 June was outstanding.  The youth team from Virginia took top honors, with Maryland ’s team coming in a VERY CLOSE second (by ounces).  Again, MBF volunteer boat captains contributed to the tx’s success.  Virginia has agreed to host the tx next year.   

- Jr.Mr. Bass/Jr SQT:  As a reminder, the Youth Jr. Mr. Bass tx will be held at Smallwood on 26 August 2006.  Volunteer are needed (Boat captains).  Also, the Youth Jr. SQT tx will also be held at Smallwood on 16 September 2006.  Boat captains are also needed for this tx.  Come on out and support the MBF youth!  Contact Randy Dotson or Jim Kline if you are interested in volunteering.

- Donation received:  Once again, CTHX Engineered Repair Services has stepped up to the plate by donating $1000.00 to the MBF Youth program.  Jim Horn presented a check from his employer to Roger to benefit the MBF youth.  Roger will present a thank you letter to CTHX for their contribution to the future of the sport of bass fishing.  

3. Scholarship: (Roger for Jim Kline): To date four applications have been received.  Deadline for application submission is (postmarked by) 31 July 2006.  Contact Jim Kline or Roger Trageser for more information. 

4. Conservation: (Scott Sewell) Scott ordered 10 reef balls from the boy scouts but is still awaiting the final billing price.  Scott will also be applying for a conservation grant to offset the expense of the habitat structures and other conservation projects he is planning.

- Wheelabrator:  Scott reported that the MD DNR delivered about 2000 bass fry to the tanks at Wheelabrator.  He has since checked up on the fry and reports that they are healthy and growing.   Roger Trageser suggested putting some of the reef balls in the tank in an effort to getting the fry accustomed to structure.  Scott will introduce some of the habitat structures to the project in the near future. 

- Highway construction project:  Acting on behalf of the MBF, Scott wrote a letter of opposition to the Transportation Department of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments over future plans to connect MD route 210 to MD route 301 which will add three lanes across Mattawoman creek.  Scott received a thank you from Bonnie Bick (a local environment activist who has championed numerous causes to protect Mattawoman)for his support.

- B.A.S.S./CSF tx:  The BASS/Congressional Sportman’s Foundation tx went very well thanks to the volunteer efforts of the following people:  Roger Trageser, Rich and Megan Welden, Scott Sewell, Dick Brown and Chris Huffman.  Because of the outstanding support of volunteers from the MBF, BASS’ Conservation Director donated $1000.00 to the MBF’s conservation program. 

5. Update Editor/Webmaster: (Brent): The Update is ready to be sent to the publisher.  In this latest issue, the first two MBF tx trail txs are mentioned, the Youth National tx/CK, Mr. Bass tx and SQT and Butch Ward’s memorial tx, along with MBF conservation initiatives are also credited.  Roger asked Brent to contact HBP and ensure that only 856 issues (covering the MBF membership) with an additional fifty copies be run off in an effort to save the MBF some additional funds.  Brent was asked to ensure that the steps necessary to join a state federation and federation club are made available on the webpage.  Brent asked that the MBF EB members canvas the membership for bass fishing pictures that show action (catching/netting/landing a bass, releasing a fish, a good hook set, etc). He needs pictures like this for the cover of the Updates.  Brent has asked for a volunteer to assist him with mediation of the MBF message board during times when he is out of the area.  Roger Trageser volunteered.

6. Tx Report:  (Roger for Jamie) Jamie Coyle came in first place in the boater category at the MBF’s third tx trail event held on the Nanticoke River .  Dick Brown mastered the field of co-anglers by taking first place in that category.  Good job gentlemen!

- Pairing procedures:  There was considerable discussion over the on-the-spot pairing procedures that took place during this event caused by last minute dropouts in both the boater and co-angler categories.  In an effort to eliminate conjecture and establish a standard, set procedure for assigning co-anglers and boaters during last minute drop outs, the MBF Tournament committee has taken this action item and added it to their working list of “recommendations for change” to the MBF tx policy/guidelines and rules.  The 1st VP and tx committee have been formulating recommendations on ways to enhance the MBF tx process and guidelines.  The committee will present their recommendations to the Executive Board at a future meeting for consideration/vote.    

VI. OLD BUSINESS: (State team apparel): Has been ordered and will consist of a jacket, two shirts and a sweatshirt.  The MBF is working on getting Skeeter/Yamaha to provide an additional tournament shirt to all the State

team members.  Roger will be attending a B.A.S.S. function in Charlotte NC next weekend and asked if anyone had any questions for Roger to present.  Several members asked Roger to have B.A.S.S. provide any new updates on the rules/procedures for their six-man federation club championship tx.  Considerable discussion over this topic continues to raise questions on team/club makeup, substitution of club members, tournament event(s) to select the club(s), etc.  Several recommendations were provided for a tx to select the club(s).  Roger will ask for clear guidelines while at the meeting and report his finding to the tx committee upon his return.  The tx committee will then be tasked with establishing recommendations on how to proceed to select MD’s club(s) for the championship event.  

- Mid Atlantic Championship/ELITE 50 txs:  Roger needs volunteers to assist with the Mid Atlantic event, which will be held in Maryland (Smallwood) in September.  Also, for the upcoming BASS ELITE-50 event (10-13 August) camera boats for Sunday are still needed as well as volunteers (10) to assist with weigh in each day.  Camera boat volunteers will be paid by BASS/ESPN for their services but must have a “big” and “fast” boat to be able to host camera operators and to keep up with the pros during their boat runs.  Contact Roger if you’re interested in volunteering. 

- Denis handed out a sheet of tx rules/guidelines where his comments/recommendations for change were identified.  Members will look over his proposal and combine it with the tx committee findings/recommendations when presented.    

VII. NEW BUSINESS: (Roger). Skeeter/Yamaha contract:  Roger and Dick Brown attended a meeting with Skeeter rep Joe Horvath (two weeks ago) and were provided a draft Skeeter/yamaha contract for 2007.  Roger emailed the contract out to EB members for them to evaluate.  Discussion and explanation over two areas of the contract led to positive response from each EB member and in-turn, A MOTION was made to accept the contract as it was presented.  Six EB members voted unanimously to accept the contract.

- BPS/CK September events:  Roger was contacted by Allen Ellis at BPS asking if the MBF could manage two casting kids events at BPS in September.  The tentative dates were identified as 2 and 23 September.  Roger will pass this request to Randy Dotson and Jim Kline for action, but in the meantime Region directors were asked to contact their membership for assistance.  Contact Randy Dotson if you can volunteer.         

VIII. REGION REPORTS:  Southern: Next mtng (24 July) at Arby’s, Central: NTR, Western: NTR, Northern: NTR.

IX   MOTION TO CLOSE: A motion was made to adjourn, seconded and the meeting was called to a close at 8:38 PM. Next meeting will be held 17 August, 2006 at the BPS Conference room.