THE LATEST NEWS
Faircloth Wins Deer Lease Money
No surprise, just like so many other pro bass anglers who seem to think as much about whitetail deer as they do largemouth and smallmouth, Todd Faircloth’s thoughts turned quickly to his hunting lease moments after learning he’d won $3,500 in bonus money from Toyota and LEER following his Bassmaster Elite Series victory on Lake St. Clair. read more…
Jack Link’s Major League Fishing Filming in La Crosse, Wisconsin
La Crosse, Wis. – (September 2, 2015) – “Jack Link’s Major League Fishing” – considered the most popular competitive fishing television show ever – is filming its General Tire Summit Cup this week in the Mississippi river city of La Crosse, Wisconsin.
The General Tire Summit Cup, which is the 12th Major League Fishing production, will showcase 30 of the world’s top competitive anglers. For the first time since Major League Fishing’s anglers gathered at Lake Amistad in 2011, the competitors are on “familiar” water.
“We’ve changed course slightly for this event by going to a place that our anglers know. We did this for a couple of reasons. First, La Crosse is a fantastic, scenic, welcoming community that offers everything our event could possibly want. Second, even though our anglers have been to La Crosse, they’re not used to competing here at this time of year,” said Major League Fishing Commissioner Don Rucks.
During the first three days of competition, the anglers competed on the Mississippi River, and Rucks said the fishing has been outstanding.
“The Mississippi, like most bodies of water, has times of the year where the fishing is better than at other times. We’ve hit a productive time, and our television shows will reflect that,” Rucks said. “I’m always amazed at how our anglers can get out on the water with no practice and simply figure out how to catch fish.”
The La Crosse-based “Jack Link’s Major League Fishing” television episodes will initially air during the first quarter of 2016. The shows will receive almost 70 hours of airtime on Outdoor Channel, America’s Leader in Outdoor TV.
Major League Fishing is a partnership involving the world’s top anglers and Outdoor Channel. The league’s innovative, made-for-television events utilize a format that allows anglers to weigh all the “scorable” bass that they catch. Bass are immediately weighed after they are caught, then are released back into the water. Anglers know where they rank in the standings at all times via real-time leader boards in their boats. The competitors are not allowed to practice or to solicit or receive information before events.
The 30 competing anglers include the following 21 from Major League Fishing’s Cup Series: Tommy Biffle, Denny Brauer, Mark Davis, Boyd Duckett, Brent Ehrler, Edwin Evers, Shaw Grigsby, Greg Hackney, Timmy Horton, Alton Jones, Gary Klein, Bobby Lane, Jeff Kriet, Aaron Martens, Mike McClelland, Ish Monroe, Takahiro Omori, Jason Quinn, Dean Rojas, Skeet Reese and Kevin VanDam. Nine additional anglers from the Major League Fishing Selects series qualified for the event. They are: Brent Chapman, Jason Christie, Ott DeFoe, Todd Faircloth, Andy Montgomery, Brandon Palaniuk, Scott Suggs, James Watson and Jacob Wheeler.
About Jack Link’s
About JACK LINK’S BEEF JERKY – Feed Your Wild SideTM Headquartered in Minong, Wis., Jack Link’s is the leader in the meat snack category and fastest-growing meat snack manufacturer worldwide. The Jack Link’s brand represents a heritage of quality and consumer trust. Well known for its iconic Messin’ With SasquatchTM advertising campaign, Jack Link’s offers more than 100 premium meat snack products at retail outlets in more than 40 countries. Check out JackLinks.com for more information on the brand.
About General Tire
For 99 years General Tire has offered a complete quality line of ultra-high performance, passenger, light truck, off-road and commercial tires to meet all your needs. General Tire is a proud supporter of Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series, Best in the Desert Racing Series, Major League Fishing, Chili Bowl, Pro-Pulling, Late-Model Dirt Series, Drag Boat Series, World Cup of Softball, American Sprint Car Series, FreestyleMx.com Tour, Zero One Odyssey, and Spec Tire of Trophylite and JeepSpeed. Team GT supports off-road and short course teams including Mikey Childress, CJ Hutchins, Doug Fortin, Harley Letner, Jim Riley, Justin Lofton, Macrae Glass, Randy Merritt, Ray Griffith, Steve Alexander, Steve La Roza, Ryan Beat, Carl Renezeder, Robby Woods and Camburg Racing.
About Jack Link’s Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing is a partnership of some of the world’s most talented, influential professional bass anglers and Outdoor Channel. For more information, visit www.majorleaguefishing.com. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
About Outdoor Channel
Outdoor Channel has been taking viewers across America and around the world on unparalleled adventures since 1993. Dedicated to the outdoor lifestyle and conservation, the independent cable network is a division of Outdoor Sportsman Group and provides a complete spectrum of riveting hunting, fishing, shooting and adventure entertainment. Outdoor Channel is received by nearly 40 million U.S. households – the largest outdoor TV footprint in the country – and is available in more than 50 countries internationally. Outdoor Channel can be viewed in HD and is accessible by broadband and mobile platforms. For program times and other information, visit www.outdoorchannel.com. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and download our iPhone and iPad app. #WhatGetsYouOutdoors
Cody Meyer Talks 5×3
FLW Tour pro Cody Meyer explains the meaning of 5X3 and why you need to join the nation.
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VanDam Stole the Stage to Express his Heart for Make-A Wish
If somehow you found yourself brushing your teeth next to Kevin VanDam, you can be certain he’d try to finish faster, and have his shining brighter than yours.
VanDam is a tenacious competitor. Which is what makes his heartfelt stealing of B.A.S.S. emcee Dave Mercer’s microphone to talk about his experiences with Make-A-Wish, moments after finishing a disheartening 63rd on his home lake, even more impressive.
In the wake of defeat and disappointment, VanDam brought the equivalent of a 25-pound bag of class and compassion to the stage following Day 2 of competition at the Plano Bassmaster Elite on Lake St. Clair.
He also brought 15-year-old Make-A-Wish recipient Max Venchus to the weigh-in platform, and introduced to him fans in attendance at St. Clair’s Metropark.
“You know the funny thing is, Make-A-Wish is supposed to be about the kids, and making them feel good, but every time I’ve participated in one, it always seems like its me that gets as much out of it as the kids,” VanDam told fans over the microphone.
Max Venchus is still taking treatments for leukemia, but wears a grin wider than the rear beam of VanDam’s Nitro boat, and fishes nearly everyday in ponds around his Chicago area home. No surprise, like KVD, he says shallow crankbaits are among his favorite lures of all time.
Backstage, VanDam, who is always tugged at for time and attention from media and sponsors, no matter how high or low his place on the leaderboard, continued to make Max top priority and reminisce about the day they spent on the water a while back.
“The waves are what I remember most,” grinned Max. “Yea, I’m not gonna lie, I took you to Traverse City because I really wanted you to have the chance to catch some big smallmouth – but the wind blew so hard that day it got kinda hairy,” remembers VanDam.
Max’s brother, and dad were also on the trip, and have since befriended VanDam with “Good Luck” texts prior to tournaments, and custom “KVD” signs and plaques from the family’s wood and cabinet shop.
“The signs Max’s dad made for me decorate each side of my tackle room – they’re really detailed and perfectly done – you ought to see them, they’re awesome,” said an obviously appreciative VanDam.
The Venchus family wasn’t the only Make-A-Wish family VanDam had as backstage guests at St. Clair. The Schmitt family was also on hand. And although their son Mitchell, a Make-A-Wish recipient who is now a healthy college student at Iowa State, was too busy with academics to be at St. Clair, well, they showed-up for the Bassmaster Elite without him, based purely on the friendship the whole family has formed with VanDam.
“My Make-A-Wish experiences have reminded me that while all of us are guilty of getting caught up thinking our own worlds are such a big deal – that there are families out there just trying to get through tomorrow amid these battles they’re facing,” says VanDam.
“And you know what … it always seems like these set backs happen to some of the greatest families I’ve ever met – maybe it’s because they’re strong enough to deal with it,” reflected VanDam at dinner later that night, surrounded by his bride, and two healthy twin sons eating the Twisted Rooster’s mac & cheese, now 18, but born extremely premature in 1997.
“I remember Make-A-Wish actually offering to buy Mitchell Schmitt a bass boat at the time, but he said he’d rather fish with Kevin,” remembers VanDam’s wife Sherry.
How could you blame him? Bass boats are just fiberglass. But VanDam is the greatest bass angler that’s ever lived – and he comes loaded with two livewells full of class, compassion, and lasting friendship.
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Andrew Hulbert Awarded 2015 Scholarship
HydroWave announced today that Andrew Hulbert of The University of Mississippi is the recipient of its 2015 Scholarship.
He will be receiving a $1,500.00 award to be applied to his ongoing college education. This award was given based on active membership in a high school or college fishing program, community leadership and academic excellence. “Choosing this years recipient was a difficult task. There we so many great kids that applied. At the end, Andrew stood out and let me tell you, he is an impressive kid.” Gene Eisenmann, Managing Partner HydroWave LLC. Andrew is a Biology Pre-Med student that has been consistently on the Deans List since 2013, an exceptional athlete, member of the Ole Miss Bass Fishing Team, a community service team leader and an organizer of the Bass Pro Shop’s Kid’s Fishing Weekend.
Congratulations to an all around great young man.
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