Semi-Annual Report to the

Nations Capitol Bass Federation

NCBF Conference Minutes – All Members

July 21, 2002

Location: The Nations Capitol Bass Federation meeting was held at the Montgomery County Training Academy. The meeting facilities are located at the corner of 10025 Darnestown Road and Route 28 N. in Rockville, Maryland.

Call To Order: The scheduled 10: o’clock meeting was called to order at 10:15 AM.

Roll Call: Alan Mullis, Larry Yates, Keith Wright, Chuck Walker, Bob Walsh, Jim Borum, Bing Bengton, Mike Dice, Greg Dice, Chuck Hartzman, Kevin Miller, Joan Bianco, Larry Dodd, and Scott Peterson.

Treasurer’s Report: Keith Wright reported the majority of NCBF’s income was from sponsors and dues. Projected expenses include tournament payouts, banners, and the youth programs.

OLD BUSINESS

Conservation: Ken Penrod continues to ask that ANY suspicious activity that draws your attention on the waterways you fish, be reported to his phone or to any NCBF board member. Get as much information as possible, i.e., location, time, who and what, and call 301-937-0010.

Legal Requirements: The NCBF has received the approved documents from the District of Columbia incorporating the NCBF as a non-profit corporation. NCBF has received our Federal Identification Number. Our logo will be registered with the U.S. Patient Office.

Standing of the Contingency Charter: The President, Alan Mullis, has forwarded the 2002 semi-annual report to Al Smith, the Federation Director for B.A.S.S. This requirement is spelled out in the NCBF’s Mission Statement. We are confident we have met the goals we have set except in the area of increasing our D.C. membership. Brian Lancaster confirmed this after talking to Al Smith at the Jr. Invitational in Delaware. Al expressed concern that we are going to burn ourselves out with the amount of work the membership has taken on. Based on our reports to him, Al thinks we could have made Federation of the Year if we were a Federation. Soon we hope, soon.

Tournament Trail: The second tournament was launched on June 30, 2002 at 6:00 AM from Anacostia Park in Washington, D.C. The pairings were held at Galyan's on Friday June 21, 2002 at 7:00 PM. The park opened at 5:00 AM. Those that have missed a tournament, please remember you need two to qualify for the 2003-state team. The tournament standing(s) are posted on www.fishncbf.com. For those of us who can’t make the two out of three tournaments, you can sign up for the next one on October 13, 2002. Cash is available, if you are good enough.

Web Site: It is important to visit the NCBF web-site because it contains current events and future programs. The Secretary will mail info to all members without e-mail access. In addition, our line of clothing and decals will be posted with pictures and prices. The NCBF web-site will soon be linked on B.A.S.S. web-site so that others can find us.

Membership: There was general discussions concerning the need to increase our membership, particularly with the requirement we has placed on the NCBF. That requirement is a commitment to bring in District of Columbia residents into the NCBF. NCBF pamphlets and bulletins have been placed into three major Federal Agencies located in the District of Columbia. Other NCBF members have placed those bulletins at D.C. fishing license outlets. Our banner will hang at all of our events. B.A.S.S is testing target zip code marketing and is working on placing our recruitment pamphlets in the District of Columbia codes. The results of the tests will determine whether the NCBF will target those D.C. residents with a fishing license. The NCBF will pay all expenses B.A.S.S. incurs. 

Anacostia Ramp: In order to have a tournament using the National Park Service ramp, Alan and Kevin spent many hours on the phone and an entire day meeting with the representatives of the Department of Interiors National Park Service (owner of the Park and shore line) and the D.C. Harbor Patrol (Police). The Park Service required the NCBF to provide water, sodas and a first aide station at the weigh-in site. In addition, we posted a $1000 bond with them for any damage we created. Prior to this, the Harbor Patrol had reservations about the possible damage to the Anacostia River shoreline and the three (3) yacht club boat marinas. It was agreed we could run test trips from the ramp to the mouth of the Potomac River so that the Harbor Patrol could witness if there was a threat to the marinas.

John Sission, Rich Cottone, Alan Mullis, Kevin Miller, and Mark Leone used their boats in full speed runs down the Anacostia. The Harbor Police stated they would lift the "no-wake zone" for our tournaments, but would not put it in writing. The NCBF tournament committee decided we would have a "partial no wake zone" meaning "no wake" past the marinas. This worked well for the tournament. It reduced to run time down from ½ hour to 10 minutes from ramp to the Potomac. The same format will be used on the October 13, 2002 tournament.

The NCBF youth division kids are being trained during our tournaments to run all aspects of a tournament, to include computers, blast off, check in, weigh-in slips, holding tank operations, care of fish after weigh-in, and giving instructions to fisherman. They will train other kids to do this in an ongoing program.

Youth: Debbie Muth our Youth Director reported several programs to involve the youth in the District of Columbia. She continues to work with D. C Fisheries and Wildlife department on the Youth Aquatic Education Program. She has involved the youth division in the Anacostia Cleanup project on April 20th. The kids will run a NCBF family weekend campout on July 27th and 28th. The Police Boys and Girls will spend the day with us on the 27th and return home that day.

The D.C. government youth director, Silvia Whitworth, is assisting Debbie Muth in the organization of the Police Boys and Girls fishing clubs. We have one club registered at this time and nine more packages are on the way to B.A.S.S. Ms. Whitworth has put Debbie in touch with other youth organizations.

PVA: Thanks to all that changed their plans at the last minute to be they’re to support the DEL/MD PVA. The NCBF placed well with four members cashing checks. Mark Leone (NCBF) and his partner won the two-day tournament. We received a letter from the PVA thanking us for our help and asking us to think about helping next year.

 

 

 

NEW BUSINESS

Remaining Projects: September 7th and 8th, the NCBF will host a sports show and fishing seminar.

Our planned Oxon Cove cleanup scheduled for September 22nd has been changed to a 2nd cleanup on the Anacostia River. Kevin has recommended this change because the barge we used to haul the trash will not be able to get close enough to the area to allow the safe transfer of trash. The Cove is very shallow and subject to the tides. There are no roads to the area.

 

On October 5th, the Federation youth will host senior citizens on a day of fishing and request adult help. Please call Debbie to signup at 301-934-1129 or via email gigimuth@msn.com.

 

Elections: The executive board will begin the process of getting ballots ready for the election of the 2003 executive board. All members are eligible to vote and or serve as a board member. Be alert for the notices.

 

Fundraiser: The Federation will post a "for sale" ad on the NCBF website listing a Lowrance Depth Finder, Model-----------. The asking price will be $750. Please contact Alan Mullis for more details at 301-349-2081 or auctioneer@erols.com.

Mercury Motors: Any NCBF member requiring a new boat motor, please call Alan. The Federation can offer 15% off the dealer’s cost, through Mercury. The size of the engine you need does not matter in this promotion.

 

Washington Boat Show: Alan has sent in paperwork applying for a free space for a booth on the floor of the convention. The free space request is because we are a non-profit. Alan has discussed other options with Brian Lancaster.

 

Tournament Trailer: Greg Dice has put the Federation in contact with the owner of an enclosed trailer for Federation. Alan and Keith Wright will inspect it and make the purchase if it is suitable.

 

 

 

Adjourned: The meeting was adjourned at 12:30 PM.