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Angler Profiles


    
Meet co-angler Stacy Zhelesnik of Hoboken, New Jersey

"Rising Stars"
Junior Angler Profiles
Coming Soon!

 


Click on map above to go directly 
to the WBT home page on
 Bassmaster.com

2008 Official WBT Rules

2008 Women's Bassmaster Tour
Competition Dates
# 1 - April 10-12 - Complete

Lake Lewisville - Texas

Pro-Angler results
Co-Angler results

# 2 - May 22-24

Lake Neely Henry - Gadsden, Ala
Coosa Landing
200 Lake St.
Gadsden, Al 35901
Registration - Wednesday, May 21 
3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.  
Briefing - 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Meet and Greet - 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Academy Sports & Outdoors
601 George Wallace Dr.
Gadsden, Al 35903
256.439.6260

# 3 - June 19-21
Old Hickory Lake - Gallatin, Tenn
Sanders Ferry Park
100 Sanders Ferry Rd.
Hendersonville, TN 37075
Registration and Briefing
Academy Sports & Outdoors
2350 Gallatin Pike N. Recreation
Madison, TN 37115
615.855.6900

# 4 - September 18-20
Clarks Hill Lake - Evans, Georgia
Wildwood Park Ramp
6212 Holloway Rd.
Appling, GA 30802
Registration and Briefing
Academy Sports & Outdoors
4210 Washington Rd.
Evans, GA 42044
706.210.6100


2008 Championship
October 23-25
Lake Hamilton - Hot Springs, Ark
A.G.F.C. Hulsey Hatchery Access
350 Fish Rd.
Hot Springs, AR. 71931

Registration and Briefing -  TBA

American Bass Anglers
Lady Anglers
Profiles and Statistics
click here



YAKIMA BAIT COMPANY








 

The More iFish, the More iFish, the More iFish!
by Linda Berry



Many people in my hometown of Madison, North Carolina and neighboring communities know that iFish. My daughter says that I am a “celebrity” so to speak to those who know me and to those who have read about me in local and area newspapers. I am the only female angler from my hometown that tournament bass fishes on a national level. I am frequently called “the fishing lady” as friends and strangers alike always want to know how well I did in my last tournament and where will I be fishing the next one. Every summer, their favorite question for me is “Is it too hot to fish?” I usually reply with a sheepish grin: “Not early in the morning or late in the evening”! Most of these people know that when I am not working I am at a pond or lake or preparing for my next tournament. They know that iFish!

It has taken me years to build my “fishing” reputation. I had to prove to many that I was serious and dedicated to the sport, including some family members. I have been schooled along the way by many male anglers, but my husband is the one who gave me “the bass fishing fever”. Some of those male anglers I fished with had a wife or girlfriend. I had to earn their trust as well. After all, I was spending a whole day on a boat with their husband or boyfriend. My husband has always been supportive of my efforts and if there was any jealousy, it was because I was out fishing some days while he was working! In many of the bass tournaments I fished, I was often the only female in a field of 200 or more anglers. I built up my fishing reputation through hard work, dedication, persistence and patience one tournament at a time.

Recently, my tournament sponsor Angie Michaels, CEO of FISHHER (fishing gear design for the female angler), sent me a couple of “lucky lavender” tee shirts with iFish printed boldly on the front. Every time I wear one out in public, those two little words will catch someone’s eye and they will come up to me and say, “iFish too”! Thus, a conversation about fishing is born. This happened recently at a local restaurant. I met a waitress who loves to saltwater fish and she spends whatever vacation time she can muster to go to Florida where she has a friend with a charter boat who takes her out deep-sea fishing. She didn’t know me and I had never met her before, but those two words on the front of my shirt gave us a connection to a sport that we both are passionate about. It doesn’t matter that she is a saltwater angler and that I am a freshwater angler. We both love to fish!

Although tournament bass fishing is my choice, I do like to fish for other species of fish. I grew up fishing with my mother and siblings. We fished for whatever was biting that day. It was my husband who taught me that you could select the species of fish you wanted to catch. Bass fishing is my favorite, but I also like to go catfishing. If I lived at the coast, I would probably be on a pier at every opportunity to see what I could catch. I have always wanted to go deep-sea fishing but my fear of water and inability to swim would definitely interfere with my ability to enjoy a day of fishing on the ocean no matter how large the boat or how calm the water.

Yes, I just said that I can’t swim and I am afraid of water! So how is it that I can launch and load a boat by myself and fish all day (many times iFish alone) on a big lake? I guess I put a lot of trust in my life jacket and a lot of faith in my guardian “fishing” angel, not to mention my mother looking down from above to guide and protect me! I inherited my fear of water from my mother, but unlike my mother I chose to not let that fear keep me from doing something I love. She was happy fishing from the bank of a pond or lake. The first time I watched a TV show with women anglers driving their own bass boats and competing in bass tournaments, I knew I wanted to be a part of the excitement. That meant facing my fear of water. My mother was never comfortable with me fishing out of a boat, but she would always ask about my tournaments. I envy the mothers and daughters who tournament fish together. What a special bond they must have!

Sometimes I ask myself, “Why do iFish”? This is especially true on days when I “can’t buy a bite” and vow that I am going to give all my tackle away! Tournament fishing is an expensive hobby. I could take the work and expense out of it and just fish on occasion at a local pond or lake. Nothing wrong with that… many people choose to fish that way and I do that myself, on occasion. I just know that when I set foot on a bass boat at day break on tournament days and observe dozens of other boats floating around with their running lights reflecting like Christmas decorations on the water and watch the shadowy figures of other competitors making last minute adjustments to their tackle and boat as they wish each other a good and safe day of fishing, it is one of the most exhilarating feelings I have ever experienced. Listening to the Star Spangled Banner being sung while watching our country’s flag hang silently in the mist of dawn’s early light, always brings tears to my eyes as I am forever reminded how lucky I am to be alive and able to enjoy the many freedoms that others can only dream about. 

iFish! That’s what I do and will do as long as I can cast and reel. Because iFish, it doesn’t make me special. I respect all outdoor enthusiasts no matter what their sport of choice may be as long as they participate with honesty and integrity. Because iFish, it doesn’t make me different. According to a 2006 survey by the Recreational Fishing and Boating Foundation, I am one of over 34 million adults in the United States that fish. iFish because fishing makes me happy when little else in life can. The more iFish, the more I want to fish.

I know that someday my fishing days will end and I will pass my tackle down to my grandson in hopes that he will keep my angling legacy alive as I have done for my mother and other family members before her. It is like adding links to a chain and hoping that all the links remain strong and there are no breaks.

As I enter my “rockin" years” I will look forward to my grandson’s visits and the “fish stories” he has to share with me. I will never be alone. I will have all my fishing memories to keep me company and give me moments of peace as I remember the joy of competition, the beautiful lakes and rivers of America that I got to fish and the angling friends I made along the way.

Most of all, I will remember the fish…the ones that fought the hardest, the ones that leaped above the water’s surface to show their powerful acrobatic form, the biggest ones, the smallest ones and the “ones that got away”.

Without the fish, there would be no fishing!

 

 

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Women Anglers
In The News

 

Details of the up-coming 1st Annual Porter Wagoner Charity Fishing Tournament on Percy Priest Reservoir in Tennessee will be available soon. Several WBT anglers have been invited to fish the event, scheduled for June 3rd. Each angler will be sharing their boat with a country music star. The weigh-in will be at Bass Pro Shop in Nashville and a concert will follow. The tournament is part of  a week-long celebration of Fan Fare.



Congratulations to
Meta Burrell of Ft. Worth, Texas for her second place finish as a co-angler in the recent BASS Southern Open on Santee Cooper. She missed winning the co-angler division by 2 oz. Meta fishes the WBT as a pro-angler.

Other WBT pro anglers fishing the event were Lisa Johnson and Kat Ealey of Alabama and Pam Martin-Wells of Georgia.


WBT pro-angler Marcia Rubin of Ohio made the cut at the BASS Elite Series event on Clarks Hill Reservoir  and finished in 23rd place as a co-angler. The WBT will be fishing Clarks Hill in September.



May 26, 2008

In Memory Of...
A Memorial Day Tribute
by Linda Berry

Safe light is drawing near,
Boats are gathered all around.
Anglers stand, many shed tears,
For silence is the sound.

Our brothers and sisters
Look down from above
While we bow our heads
In memory of . . .

As heroes have fallen
More take up the fight.
Our country is defended
By day and by night.

For a war has no mercy
On family or friends
Or mothers and fathers,
Who want it to end.

As Old Glory is waving,
 Our anthem is sung.
It goes without saying,
We stand united as one.

We pray for our troops
To God up above,
And give thanks for our freedoms
In memory of . . .




National Safe Boating Week
May 17 - 23



 

Featured Products & Services


Visit Carolina Linda's Place
to order this shirt and view other merchandise....
Click Here

 

 

 

 

 


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