Mr and Mrs Bass Club of Austin

The first meeting of the New Year was held on Tuesday,January 3,2012,at the IHOP on Highway 183 and Duval. Eleven teams gathered to wish each other a Happy New Year and to start the business of fun bass fishing for 2012. Teams present were: Brown,Connell,Davis, Gold,Martinez,Parish,Pederzani,Sanchez, Summers,Trevino and Wacker.

President Joe Connell welcomed everyone and announced the birthdays for the month: Himself on January 12 and Rosemarie Trevino on January 27. We also wished a Happy Anniversary to Donna and Jim Tyree who celebrated on January 1.

Treasurer Rosemarie Trevino reported on the financial status of the club and reminded members that the annual club dues of $30.00 per couple are due now. Members must pay by the February meeting to be eligible to fish in the February club tournament.

Tournament Director Jesse Sanchez announced the winners of the December 17 LBJ tournament and Rosemarie distributed the awards. Club members chose the times to fish the January 21 tournament on Lake Bastrop and they are 7:00 am to 4:00 pm. The weigh-in will be held at the North Shore ramp. Jesse held a discussion regarding this tournament. He first passed around some photos of fish measured on a “Check-it” stick and suggested that members do not fish solo for this Paper-Photo tournament as the wiggling fish will be difficult to keep still on the measuring ruler and be photographed at the same time. A lengthy discussion was held by members regarding taking photos,a time and date stamp on the camera,integrity issues and the number of fish that could be brought to the weigh-in. The final results regarding this tournament are: Jesse will send email to all members the evening before this tournament and tell them what object needs to be in the photograph along with their fish Teams will measure fish on their own ruler (preferably a “Check-it Stick”) and take a photograph. No tail pinching. Teams may bring in one fish over the slot (14 inches to 21 inches) per person. Big Bass awards will only be given out to fish over the slot. If no Big Bass is brought in for either Men or Women,then the award money will be distributed among the First, Second and Third (if applicable) place winners in this tournament. Fish to be considered for Big Bass (Women’s and Men’s) must be brought to the weigh-in. All fish,even those over the slot,must be recorded on the weigh-in paper. Teams were given a paper to record their results and this must be completed and submitted when the weigh-in begins. The photographs of the first three place winners will be examined.

The February tournament will be held on Saturday,February 11 on Lake Fayette and the times and weigh-in location will be chosen at the February 7 club meeting. When this lake was initially chosen,members voted to have it held as a “lake rules” tournament. A discussion was held about this and we may possibly change it to another Paper-Photo tournament pending the weigh-in procedures at the Bastrop tournament.

Old Business: Members were reminded about the club party which will be held at The UT Club on Saturday,January 7 from 6:00 pm to around 9:00-10:00 pm. Each member should bring a wrapped gift,new,approximately $20.00 in value,related in some way to Bass Fishing or what we do as a club and something that either a man or a woman would enjoy We will have 25 members and guests present Members were reminded that the two Constitution and Policy changes voted in last month are now in effect:

Constitution, Section I, Membership, #3: A member may fish a club tournament alone but a team may only fish with a guest twice in a given year (being January through December of said year). Only club members are eligible for the Big Bass of the Year award. Policies, Section II, Tournaments, #8: The Tournament Director will measure fish at his or her discretion. A .25-pound deduction will be assessed PER dead fish at the weigh-in. It will be up to our Tournament Director to determine if a fish is dead.

The Spring Two-Day tournament will be held on March 17 and 18 at Lake Falcon and reservations are being held for our club in Brenda Davis’ name. Sunbridge Motel in Zapata is the motel and their phone number is 956-765-1221. These rooms will be held until January 10.

New Business: TABC was discussed and members voiced some opinions about participating in the organization and sending a team to the annual tournament. Dues are to be paid on April 15 and we should know around that time when and where the tournament will be held so voting about this will be held in April.

Prize Drawing: Lesli Brown brought in some great prizes. Team Martinez now holds the “Steal Token” for the February meeting.

Our President, Lesli Brown, kicked off our last meeting of the year by announcing our upcoming birthdays:  Judy Anderson on the 6^th, Sugein Sanchez on the 7^th and Leslie Kilough on the 11^th.  With no anniversaries to talk about, Lesli quickly reviewed our financial report in our treasurer’s absence.

Jesse, our Tournament Director, was next to talk and recognized the Lake Amistad 2-Day tournament winners.  Our club members all agreed on having our December 17^th tournament run from 7am to 3pm and we will use our usual weigh in site at the Yacht club.  Our February tournament will be held on the 11th at Lake Fayette using lake rules.

The club members discussed possible constitution and policy changes which will be voted on at our December meeting.  We agreed to a 4 oz dead fish penalty.  As suggested by Mr. Summer, the wording is based on TABC’s policy:  A .25-pound deduction will be assessed PER dead fish at the weigh-in. It will be up to our Tournament Director to determine if a fish is dead.  The club members also agreed to try a paper tournament with photos.  The tournament director will determine an “indicator” to be place next to each fish that is caught to validate that the photo was from the day of the tournament.  The “indicator” will be an object that everyone has on their boat.  Our tournament director will also get a conversion chart which he will share at our next meeting that will tell us what the weight of a fish is based on its length.  At the weigh in, our tournament director will verify the photos of our 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place teams.

Our Holiday party will be held on January 7^th at the UT Club at 6pm.  If you cannot pay the $77 per couple today, please bring your money to the LBJ tournament.  As a reminder, the club will pay for our Sponsors and our lifetime member, Donna Heinemann to come to the Holiday party.  Everyone needs to bring a gift valued at $20.00 that is a unisex gift for our White Elephant event.  The gifts are not gag gifts, but rather something nice that you would want for yourself.

We almost didn’t have our prize drawing because we were short on tickets, but the crew at IHOP came through for us and gave us tickets.  Our club members brought an array of items for the drawing and it was a big success.  The club was able to raise $200 for the Capital Area Food Bank.

On Tuesday November 1^st, club members returned to the IHOP restaurant on 183 and Duval Road to go over a very packed agenda.  Our President, Lesli Brown, kicked us off by announcing our upcoming birthdays:  Monica Wacker on the 19^th, Jesse Sanchez on the 20^th and Jesse Martinez on the 21^st.  With no anniversaries to talk about, we quickly turned to our treasurer Rosemarie Trevino for our financial report update.

Our Tournament Director, Jesse Sanchez, was given the floor next and started by announcing our Lake Austin Winners.  Team Pederzani (3^rd place), Team Gold (2^nd place) and our Winners the Wackers all shared how they caught them and what lure the fish were biting on.  Karl and Monica used a june bug Yamamoto worm to catch their limit.   Club members voted on the tournament times for our two-day tournament this month and decided on fishing from 6am to 4pm on the 12^th and from 6am to 2pm on the 13^th.  The weigh in is at Diablo East.  Our December tournament is on the 17^th at Lake LBJ.  Our January tournament will be held on the 21^st at Lake Bastrop and after much discussion, it was decided that it would be a paper tournament with digital camera photos.

The club members discussed possible constitution and policy changes which will be voted on at our December meeting.  A dead fish penalty, correcting the verbiage associated with fishing with a guest, and determining how to incorporate the option to hold paper tournaments were all topics that resulted in lengthy yet thorough discussions where members voiced their opinions and spoke freely.  It was determined that the Assistant Tournament Director role did not have to be voted on as a formal position.

Everyone needs to bring something for our December prize drawing to be given to charity.  The group discussed choosing a food bank to give the funds raised and Leslie Brown motioned that we also bring 2 canned food items per team to donate in addition to the funds raised.  The club supported her notion after discussing the need associated with the food banks during the holidays.

Our Holiday party will be held on January 7^th at the UT Club at 6pm.  The cost will be $77 per couple and we must have at least 10 to 12 couples in order to be able to use the UT Club venue.  The club will use the funds in the treasury to pay for our Sponsors to come to the Holiday party.  Larry asked if we could also use money from the treasury to pay for our lifetime member Mrs. Heinemann to attend the holiday party.  The club members agreed and Brenda will invite Donna to attend.

Nominations for 2012 officers began and ended successfully.  Rosemarie suggested that officers serve for 2 year terms and several members of the club thought it was a good suggestion.  It will be a subject that will need further consideration at our December meeting.  Our 2012 Officers are President- Joe Connell, Vice President- Lesli Brown, Treasurer- Rosemarie, Secretary- Marilyn/Brenda, Tournament Director- Jesse Sanchez, and Photographer- Sugein Sanchez.

Our Meeting was held on October 4^th at Red Lobster.  Ten teams were represented and they were Team Parish, Davis, Brown, Sanchez, Connell, Summers, Martinez, Wacker, Trevino and Pederzani.  Our President, Lesli Brown, was out sick so Brent Parish led the meeting on her behalf.  A very Happy Birthday to Larry Pederzani on the 14^th and Jane Bingle on the 28^th.  Celebrating an Anniversary are Robert & Lesli Brown on the 11^th & Allen & Josie Logan on the 25^th!  We also had a very special attendee at our meeting, Donna Heinmann, a Club Lifetime Member and she came bearing gifts!

Financial Report

Rose Marie presented our Financial Report.  She pointed out that the “Live Well Fund” that we had started earlier in the year was not very successful and had only yielded $8.50 so far.  The group agreed to stop taking donations and just apply that money towards our Club treasury totals.

Tournament News

• Our Tournament Director, Jesse Sanchez, announced our Inks Lake Tournament Winners and Rosemarie handed out the checks.  Our top three teams (Connell, Summers & Parish), told what they used to catch their fish and at what depths.
• We voted on our October 22^nd Lake Austin tournament  times and decided on 7am to 3pm with the weigh in at the 360 bridge.  As a reminder, our two day tournament will be held on November 12^th & 13^th.  Our Tournament Director has received the permit now allowing us to conduct our weigh in at Diablo East.  The Club voted to have our December Tournament on the 17^th at Lake LBJ.
• Jesse recognized Larry Pederzani and Gail Pederzani for running the weigh in last week at Inks Lake in Team Sanchez’s absence.

Old Business

• TABC- MMBC finished in 19^th place out of 28 teams.  Special recognition goes out to Team Summers for their involvement and hard work with TABC and to Jerry Gold for all the help that he provided to keep  fish alive.  Robert informed us that the experience was great overall despite the lack of volunteers at the event this year.  The dinners were good and the raffle prizes were great.  Traffic jams were caused due to livewell checks conducted at the same place where boats were launching from.  The boats were required to come back after they launched (to the same place) to have their livewells inspected.  Next times- Don’t stay at Executive Inn because the parking was a nightmare and they do not allow for late check-outs.  All the teams that attended agreed that the fishing on Lake Falcon was great and Larry went on to suggest that we consider it for our Spring Two Day Tournament.  This sparked a lot of interest from our team members and Robert Brown will have Lesli Brown call and check on lodging availability for early February or mid-March so that we can discuss at our November meeting.
• Jesse recognized Pete for stepping in and doing everything for him since he was dealing with a bad eye infection.  Robert Brown recognized Foundation Auto for having donated $400 toward TABC.  We need to remember to invite him to our holiday party this year as a way to show our appreciation.

New Business

• Allen Summers provided us with a couple of very important facts about boating.  He informed us that if you’re using a Type 2 life vest (the small ones with the CO2 canisters) you are still required by law to wear a full life vest.   Also he gave us some things to remember about passing boats on the water and who has the right of way when.
• Marilyn reminded us that we need to start thinking of who we want to nominate for office in 2012.  Are we going to want to conduct our December raffle for charity and what charity.  Our constitution needs to be updated to include some of the rule changes that we made this year.  We also need to start thinking about where we want to have our Holiday Party.  The UT Club is still an option.
• Brenda informed us that several members have brought to her attention the desire to return to IHOP for our meetings.  IHOP never knew that we we’re going to use their room anymore.  They still have the room reserved for us every 1^st Tuesday of the month so we can return.  The Club members voted and the majority ruled to return and have our November meeting back at the IHOP at 183 & Duval.
• Robert Brown let us know that October 15^th is “Take a Soldier Fishing” day on Lake Belton.  Robert will email us all the website and encourages us to participate if we can because it is such a good cause.

The meeting wrapped up with a wonderful raffle conducted by Team Parish.

The teams came together on the day after the Labor Day Holiday on September 6^th, 2011 at the Red Lobster off of Hwy 183 & Anderson Lane.

Our President, Lesli Brown, began our meeting by wishing a Happy Anniversary to Luther & Alice Lentz on the 19^th.  Glenda Summers brought a delicious dessert for everyone to celebrate Allen’s homecoming.  Adios Mexico- we’re glad to have him back for good!

Rosemarie Trevino, our treasurer, reviewed our financial report with us.

Jesse Sanchez, our Tournament Director, announced the winners of our Lake LBJ Tournament while Rosemarie distributed the checks.  Each of our winners told us what lures they used as well as what depths they were fishing.  The Club voted on times for the September Tournament to be held at Inks Lake on Saturday, October 1^st from 7am to 3pm.  The weigh-in will be at the State Park.  Members also agreed on Lake Austin for our October 22^nd Tournament.  Jesse informed the group that he submitted for our permit for our November Two Day Tournament at Lake Amistad allowing us to conduct our weigh-in at Diablo East.

TABC- Our Parish/Killough team will not be able to go to the tournament on September 24^th & 25^th.  We need a team to step up in order for us to have adequate representation at the tournament.  Larry expressed concern and felt that this happens very often.  At the beginning of the year everyone agrees to be a part of TABC and wants to be eligible to attend, but once the tournament date nears, we are struggling to find teams who will fish it.  Several members discussed their availability and interest in participating and our four teams will consist of:  Lesli Brown & Robert Brown, Larry Pederzani & Allen Logan, Jesse Sanchez & Pete Trevino and Allen & Glenda Summers.   Lesli Brown took down each of participant’s shirt sizes to provide to TABC.

So far we have one returning TABC sponsor, Foundation Auto, located off of McNeil & HWY 183.  They have agreed to pay our entry fee.  Jesse Sanchez is still working to try to achieve sponsorship from his company.

Marilyn & Joe reminded everyone that they are our club photographers and requested that weigh-ins do not begin before they arrive.  Teams- please go to the weigh in together so that after your fish have been weighed in, you can have your picture taken together.

Leslie & Brent conducted the raffle and the Davis Team had the steal token.

Present at our July Meeting and earning attendance points were Team Summers, Team Parish/Killough, Team Gold, Team Pederzani, Team Trevino, Team Wacker, Team Martinez, Team Connell, Team Davis, Team Tyree, and Team Brown.

Our President called the meeting to order and began by wishing Karl Wacker a Happy Birthday on the 1^st and Donna Tyree on the 8^th.Larry & Gail Pederzani celebrated an Anniversary on the 4^th.

Lesli Brown then turned it over to our Treasurer, Rosemarie Trevino, who provided us the financial report.

The Trevino’s are willing to hand their magnetic car signs over to anyone willing to use them.  Rose also mentioned that she had business cards to possibly tack up on business cork boards.

Our Assistant Tournament Director Brent Parrish announced the winners of our Stillhouse Tournament while Rose distributed the checks.  The Club voted on times for the July 23^rd Lake Austin Tournament to be 10pm Saturday night to 10am on Sunday morning.  The weigh-in will be at the 360 bridge.  Times for our August 13^th LBJ Tournament will be decided at our August meeting.  Larry Pederzani made a motion that we wait to see what the weather is like for the September tournament and the club members agreed.

TABC- The tournament will be on September 24^th & 25^th.

Next meeting club members are asked to bring any information regarding lodging, lake availability, etc.  A few lakes suggested by our members were Lake O.H. Ivey and Amistad.

Leslie conducted the raffle and the Connell’s used the steal token against the Trevino’s.

Special Thanks to the Parrish/Killough Team for stepping in for Team Sanchez while they were out of town.  Leslie, you took great notes!

Our June Mr. & Mrs. Bass Club of Austin Meeting was held at the Red Lobster off of Hwy 183.  Teams present were Brown, Connell, Davis, Martinez, Parish-Killough, Sanchez, Trevino, Wacker, Summers, Tyrees and Welcome Back Pederzani’s.

President Lesli Brown opened the meeting by extending Happy Birthday wishes to Glenda on the 12^th and Allen on the 28^th!!!  Celebrating Anniversaries this month are the Connell’s on the 2^nd and the Davis’s on the 4^th!!

Rosemarie Trevino, our treasurer, presented the monthly financial report.

Our May Choke Canyon winners were announced and presented their awards by our Tournament Director, Jesse Sanchez.  Jesse also brought to the Club’s attention the need for big bass patches.  Our talented anglers have been bringing in some big fish and we need to make sure that we have enough patches to award their triumphs.  Larry provided the club a contact and an order was placed while in our meeting with our Treasurer’s help.

Club Members voted on our June Lake Stillhouse Tournament times to run from 6am to noon and the weigh-in site will be at Riversbend on the 11^th.  We voted on an August Tournament date to be the 13^th at Lake LBJ.

The team discussed the progress of recruiting new members and discussed having someone reach out to the Dudley & Bob Radio Show to see about getting a plug in.  Jesse and Robert agreed to call them.

TABC- It will be at Lake Falcon this year.  Our President, Lesli Brown will reach out to Sunbridge for Lodging.  She also received an email regarding the opportunity to earn the entry to the State Tournament for Free for the club.  It would require that we sell raffle tickets and if we sold the most of any club then we would not have to pay the entry fee.  Club members discussed it amongst themselves and no interest was shown in selling the tickets as a club.

Leslie Killough conducted the monthly prize drawing and the Wackers/Martinez’s table seemed to have the most luck of all.  The sounds of “Winner, winner, chicken dinner” kept coming out of Karl & Jesse’s mouth with every number that was called.  Several club members including your own club secretary tried sitting at their table in hopes of stealing some of their luck.  The Trevino’s stole from the Connell’s who now hold the steal token.

Club Members gathered at the Red Lobster on 183 on May 3, 2011 and enjoyed the plentiful “cheesy biscuits”.  Teams present were Brown, Connell, Davis, Martinez, Parish-Killough, Sanchez, Trevino, Wacker, Summers, and Tyrees.

President Lesli Brown opened the meeting by extending Happy Birthday wishes to our Lifetime Member Donna Heinemann on the 25^th!!!  Celebrating Anniversaries this month are the Trevino’s on the 5^th and the Wacker’s on the 21^st!!!

Treasurer Rosemarie Trevino presented the monthly financial report.  She also mentioned that we had a total of 4 sets of magnetic signs – two were bought with money from the club and two were donated.  Should we buy more?  The group agreed to hold off on purchasing any more signs until we determine if they’re paying off by bringing in new members.

Tournament Director, Jesse Sanchez announced the winners of our April Lake Travis Tournament and presented the awards.

Club Members voted on our May Choke Canyon Tournament times to run from 6:30am to 3:00 pm and the weigh-in site will be at South Shore.  Jesse has submitted for the permit, but is still waiting to hear back.  Our July Tournament will be held on the 23^rd at Lake Austin.  Jesse recognized Brent for his help as Assistant Tournament Director and for all of the support that he has provided at the past few weigh-ins.

Brent brought up the idea of taking part of the money used to buy raffle items and setting it aside for the benefit of the Club. For example, it can be used towards a donation made at the end of the year to a charity, to pay for TABC dues or expenses, or to buy things like signs or any other expenses that may come up.  After much discussion, it was decided that we are going to keep things the way they are, but we will be setting up a donation jar for club members to put donations into.  Rosemarie will keep those funds separate from the all other Club money.

Pete discussed the parades and how much fun was had by all.  He felt that the exposure at the parades has helped get the word out that we exist, but we have not seen much success from it.  The Club discussed different ideas on how to recruit new members.  President Lesli Brown is looking into posting on a Bass Fishing Forum in order to look for new recruits.  Alan suggested that we submit tournament results along with photos to TABC to have them included in their publications.  (Brent requested that Alan get him the info on who to send that to.)  Marilyn brought up the possibility of posting an article in the newspaper “Community Section” and include meeting times and dates to see if that sparks interest.  Alan suggested having a kids casting event and Brenda suggested a “take a kid fishing” event.  Robert Brown suggested going on a Radio Talk Show and discussing our club on the air.  Many ideas arose, but most required a lot of time and a great deal of planning.  The group decided to keep looking for opportunities to get our name out.

The Club voted and agreed to return for some “cheesy biscuits” next month.  We will continue meeting at Red Lobster on 183 until something better comes along.

Leslie Killough conducted the monthly prize drawing and the Trevino’s still hold the Steal Token.

After finding out that the room at Pappadeaux Restaurant was not available, our President Lesli Brown arranged for the club to meet at it’s nearby sister property, Pappasitos Restaurant. Teams present were Brown, Connell, Davis, Martinez, Parish-Killough, Sanchez, Trevino, Wacker, Summers, and Tyrees.

President Lesli Brown opened the meeting by extending Happy Birthday wishes to Pete Trevino on the 3^rd and Jim Tyree on the 30^th, Pat Gold on the 22^nd, and Brenda Davis on the 29^th, she also announced that her .

Treasurer Rosemarie Trevino presented the monthly financial report.  She also requested that going forward, you have your tournament entry fee at the weigh-in.  Bring your fish to the scale and your cash to the treasurer.

Tournament Director, Jesse Sanchez announced the winners of the March O.H. Ivie tournament and presented the awards.

Club Members voted to on our April Lake Travis Tournament to run from 6:30am to 3:00 pm and the weigh-in site will be at Arkansas Bend.  Our June Tournament will be held on the 11^th at Lake Stillhouse.

Rosemarie brought in the magnetic signs and passed them out to the members of the club that do the most driving.  The signs look very sharp and should attract new members.  There are 6 signs of which the Browns, Trevinos and Tyrees all donated a set.

Pete reminded everyone to be at the Parade by 11:30 am.  Pete will try to find some candy or something to toss at the kids in the crowd.  He will take his bubble machine to see if it proves to attract attention without causing any problems with kids trying to chase the bubbles onto the street.  Pete will have Club Business Cards to hand out to any spectators that are interested in our club.  Sugein & Leslie informed the club that they ordered 2 banners to use in addition to the magnetic signs.  Hoping to get them by the first parade, but for sure they will arrive in time for the one on the 15^th.

After much deliberation, the club members took a vote and decided to give the Red Lobster on Hwy 183 a try in May.  Although Pappasitos has great food and service for a reasonable price, their separate room is located by a bar and it was quite loud for those who had to speak.

Prize Drawing: Leslie Killough conducted the monthly prize drawing and Jim stole some lures from the Trevinos leaving them with the power of the Steal Token.

Members gathered at the Pappadeaux Restaurant off of I35 & HWY 290 on March 1^st for our monthly meeting.  Teams present were Brown, Connell, Davis, Martinez, Parish-Killough, Sanchez, Trevino, Wacker, Summers, and even the Tyrees made it.

President Lesli Brown opened the meeting by extending Happy Birthday wishes to Gina Martinez and Cliff Davis both on the 11^th, Pat Gold on the 22^nd, and Brenda Davis on the 29^th, she also announced that her birthday was on the 15^th.  Happy Anniversary wishes to Pat & Jerry Gold today (March 1^st) and Glenda & Allen Summers will be celebrating theirs on the 31^st of March.

Treasurer Rosemarie Trevino presented the monthly financial report

Tournament Director, Jesse Sanchez announced the winners of the February tournament on Lake Belton and presented the awards.

Members chose the times for our 2-Day tournament on OH Ivie.  The tournament will begin at 7:00 am and end at 4:00 pm on Saturday March 26^th and run from 7:00am to 2:00 pm on the 27^th.  The weigh-in on both days will be at Elm Creek.  Members voted on our May tournament date to be Saturday the 21^st at Choke Canyon Lake.

Old Business:

All twelve teams have paid their annual dues as well as their TABC dues.  Thank you everyone!!!

Pete & Glenda updated us on the banners.  They are looking for a different vendor to make the banners because they were too expensive.  Sugein and Lesli agreed to be on a banner committee and will work on a way to make a very low cost banner for the front or back of our boats.  Pete handed out some details regarding the guidelines for participating in each of the two parades.  He will be submitting the paperwork required now that the members have confirmed that we will have 3-4 boats participating.

Brent looked into the availability of the domain www.mmbc.com and it is unavailable.

New Business:

• Members took a vote and decided that they will be eating at the restaurant on Saturday evening while at OH Ivie in stead of having a potluck dinner.
• Rosemarie found a vendor that can provide us magnetic signs for our trucks to use at the parade and in our everyday commutes.  Members voted and agreed to buy three sets of two.  Lesli’s friend is working on our logo design and will send it to Pete and Rosemarie to see if it can be done.
• Lesli Brown brought information for the club regarding the upcoming Bassin for Babies Tournament which benefits March of Dimes.  The tournament is on April 3^rd and the entry fee is $100 per team.  The entry fee gets participants a t-shirt and a bar-b-que lunch.  First prize winners receive $1500 and prizes are given for the top 5 finishers.  The big bass winner earns $500.  Lesli provided entry forms to those who were interested.
• Brenda brought up a concern regarding teams returning dead or distressed fish back into the lake.  According to Texas State Law, we are not to return them into the water and are subject to a substantial fine if we do.  After a very long and thorough discussion, the club members have decided to enhance the weigh-in procedures a bit to ensure that we are doing the right thing for the fish and for the integrity of the club.  For the next few tournaments, we will try this new procedure to see how it works as we expect it will eliminate all concerns.  Our tournament director, Jesse and our newly appointed assistant-director, Brent will weigh the fish and check to see if any look distressed or dead.  Any fish that look like they might not make it, will be put in Jesse’s livewell and the weighing-in will continue.  The owner of the fish must stay near to return the fish to the water or to find someone who will take the fish if it is deemed that the fish is/are not going to survive.  At the end of the weigh in, Jesse and Brent will check back on the fish in the livewell and make that call.  All members of the club agreed to respect and honor the judgement that the directors make.
• Donna let everyone know that the BassMaster Classic was scheduled for February 24^th – 26^th of the year 2012.  She advised that if anyone was interested in obtaining a hotel room, that they try to book them now to ensure availability and a good rate.  They found rooms for $144 per night in Shreveport.
• The club members took a vote and although there were some concerns regarding the cost and the size of the space, everyone agreed to have the April Bass Club meeting at Pappadeaux and determine at that time whether or not to continue.

Prize Drawing:

Leslie Killough conducted the monthly prize drawing where the Tyrees cleaned house.  The Tyrees won so many prizes that the Killough-Parish team exercised their right to steal and now Team Tyree holds the token.