Meeting called to order at 7:30 P.M.

There was a moment of silence for a member who recently passed on, Karl Kaprelian of Boston Bass. Karl’s the son of Alan Kaprelian. Cards can be sent to the Kaprelian family at 13 Birch St. Arlington Ma 02174.

Roll Call: Missing were Bass Masters of New England, Cajun, Totem Pole, East Coast.

Treasures Report: Bob read his report and listed all the bills. Motion by Green Water, seconded by Boston to accept Bobs report and pay all the bills. Motion passed.

There was a motion by Berkshire, seconded by City Bass that Mike Tamburello pay back $490.54 owed to the Federation before the fish-offs or not be allowed to fish the fish-offs and be subject to suspension if not paid. Motion passed.

Tournament Report: Ernie reported that there were 24 boats at Otis Res. John Magliano reported that there were 38 boats at Winni. All those who fished the trails and want to know if they made the TOC for ether trail should call Ernie for the Instate Trail at 508-222-5477 or John Magliano for the New England Trail at 508-562-9331.

Tournament Committee: There was a motion by Green Water seconded by Boston that in 1998 the club 8 man team lists must be in by August 1st. Motion tabled till the September meeting. Make sure you bring back the vote.

The following is a list of things your should be aware of for the fish-offs.

1. There will be a mandatory meeting of all boaters and non-boaters Friday night at 6:30 at Silver Sands. Anyone not attending must have there license and insurance paper there with some one from your club.

2. Lunker fee of $10, $5 per day will be collected Friday night.

3. There will be no nets allowed in the boats. Livewell or others.

4. Life Jackets must be worn at all times when the gas motor is running.

5. Official rules will be passed out Friday night.

6. Workers list will be passed out Friday night. Every club must have a worker at the fish-offs or you will not be allowed to fish the 1998 fish-offs.

7. All clubs that sent extra non-boaters must pay the gas fee $20 per day at registration Friday night.

The Tournament Committee announced that there will only be 1 trail for 1998 combined 2 instate and 2 out of state tournaments the tournament fee will be $125 including lunker and launch fees. The sites and dates will be as follows.

April 19 Team Benefit (site to be announced)

May 17th at Webester Lake

June 21st at South Wattuppa

July 19th at Winnisquam

August 16th at Winnipasuaki

TOC October 4th at Mashpee

State Fish-offs September 12 and 13 at Candlewood Lake in Connecticut. Back up site will be Champlain at Ti.

Big Bas Tournament will be October 18th (site to be announced)

Conservation Report: Dean was on vacation he will get any important info to Paul for the Newsletter. Mike Keane reported that we may be losing Squam ramp starting in October. More will follow on this. Mike will have a list of the other organizations 1998 schedules at the September meeting. He will be accepting club Tournament lists shortly after the September meeting.

Scholarship Report: No Report.

Travel Guide Report: Bill needs club write ups. Please have them for him at the next couple of meetings.

Newsletters: Paul needs articles ASAP. The following clubs write ups are due at the September meeting. East Side, Fall River, Green Water, Mass Bass Buddies, Mass Bass Busters. At the October meeting these clubs must have their write ups. Mass Masters, Metro West, Mystic Valley, North East, Norumbega, Plymouth Rock. November meeting due are The River Rats, Rod Jockeys, South Shore, Taunton Bass Masters, Totem Pole, Tri County. December due are Tri Valley, Wachusett, Watch City, Wild Side, Worc County, Worc Bass, Yankee.

Banquet Report: Tickets will be at the September meeting. From all the reports from the clubs the banquet will be sold out, 169 tickets gone!! Lets hope that everyone does come and we will have a great time. Tickets are $20 per person. Make checks payable to the Mass Bass Federation.

Old Business: The clubs voted for the 1998 fish-off site and the vote was 1.Candlewood 2.Champlain Ti 3.Champlain Mallets Bay. There were no bylaws passed in.

Motion by Buzzard Luck, seconded by Green Water to use Net Mariner as our Web administrator. Motion passed.

Nominations for Officers

President Vice President

Jim Marino Ernie Anelunde

Treasurer Secretary

Dean Percival Joe McKinnon

Roger Winn

Conservation/Nat Res Officer Youth

Dean Percival Wayne Ellis

Tournament Committee

Joe McKinnon, Joe Arsenault, Tiny LaFontaine, Mike Keane, Roger Winn, Ernie Anelunde, Fred St. Louis, Keith Kline, Al Cappachetti, Art Ring, Keith Knight, Louie Bernardo, Mark Donovan, John P Magliano, Ray Lentine, John Crookes.

More nominations will follow next month.

Man of the Year nominations.

Jim Marino, Bill Breach, Ernie Anelunde

More next month.

Meeting Adjourned at 9:30 P.M.

Green Water are looking for Non Boaters contact Keith Kline at 508-481-1754

Don’t forget bylaws and nominations are due.

FOR PRESIDENT ( VOTE FOR ONLY ONE )

JIM MARINO ____

JOHNNY NEE ____

FOR VICE PRESIDENT (VOTE FOR ONLY ONE )

ERNIE ANELUNDE ____

CRAIG COMJEAN ____

JOHN M MAGLIANO ____

____________________________________________________________

TREASURER

DEAN PERCIVAL UNOPPOSED

SECRETARY

JOE MCKINNON UNOPPOSED

YOUTH DIRECTOR

WAYNE ELLIS UNOPPOSED

CONSERVATION \ NATURAL RESOURCE OFFICER

DEAN PERCIVAL UNOPPOSED

Secretary’s Report: Motion by Rod Jockeys, seconded by Taunton to waive the reading of the minutes and accept as written. Motion passed.

Environmental Report: Dean’s report will appear in the next newsletter. Dean challenged all the clubs for 1998 to adopt a ramp and clean it up as his club is for next year.

The Officers of the Mass Bass Federation would like to wish all the members a happy and safe holiday season.

Don’t forget to visit the Federation web site at

Meeting called to order at 7:35 P.M.

Roll call: Absent were Taunton River, Hampton County and Yankee Bass Masters.

Secretary’s Report: Motion by Norumbega seconded by Tri Valley to accept and wave the reading of the minutes. Motion passed.

Treasures Report: Bob handed out and read his 1997 proposed budget. Motion by Greenwater, seconded by Cajun Club to accept it. Motion passed. Motion by Norumbega seconded Mass Bass Buddies to pay all outstanding bills. Motion passed.

Youth Report: The 1997 Casting Kids finals will be held on March 16 between 12 and 3 P.M. at USA Marine. Contact Ernie Anelunde at 508-222-5477 for details. The Youth raffle tickets are out, they must be returned at the March meeting.

Scholarship Report: Bob Jones reported that the cut off date for this year will be April 1st. All members of the Federation and their immediate family attending their first year of college are eligible. You can call Bob at 508-562-3421 to get an application. Last year the Federation gave out two $500 scholarships, Bob is hoping to exceed that this year and it looks like he will.

Travel Guide: Bill Breach received the last check for ads in the Travel Guide. Again this year the Travel Guide paid for itself. Good job Bill!

Tournament Report: The date and the location for the Out of State trail has changed. The new date will be October 4th and 5th, the site will be announced. The Instate trail date will be October 5th. The site will remain Bartons Cove. The Questionnaire will be out shortly, please take the time to fill it out and send it back right away.

Conserve/Natural Resource Report: See Deans report attached to minutes. Mike Keane reminded everybody to send in their permits and to make sure you send in your Creel Census.

Newsletter Report: Due date for articles for the next newsletter will be February 22nd. If you have any articles or advertisements contact Paul right away so it can get into the newsletter.

New Business: The Big Bass Tournament will be run by the 1997 Regional Team. Motion by Greenwater, seconded by Mass Masters to allow clubs to get the Federation mailing list on a case by case basis to be voted every time you need it. Motion failed 5 to 25.

Old Business: Jim Marino thanked the following for their work at the Worcester show. Tri Valley, Bear Hill, Greenwater Wizards, Joe McKinnon, Mark Burgess and John Bosselmen. Jim also wanted to thank all those who worked the Boston Show he did not have a list of names at the time. Motion by Greenwater and seconded by Worcester County to repay three people who had to pay to get into and work the Worcester Show $7.00 each. Motion passed.

Banquet report: Bob Parker was absent so a report will be due next month. Jim Marino spoke on the banquet. He said it was embarrassing that only about 35 federation members attended the banquet. Only three members of the 1996 Regional Team attended. Jim is looking into changing the date, site and food for the next banquet. Jim is talking about possibly having it in November. He is looking for volunteers to help run this banquet. At the meeting, Jim also thanked Mike Keane for all the work he has performed for the federation in the last year. Mike did not get any recognition at the banquet and Jim wanted to express his thanks.

Meeting adjourned at 9:30 P.M.

Northeast Bass Anglers will be running their annual Fish for D.A.R.E. Tournament Saturday April 19th at Congamong Lake.

Jim Marino announced that there will be a Special Federation meeting open to all members of the Federation on March 16th at 1 P.M. to discuss the reason that our Regional Team continues to finish at the bottom of the Eastern Division.

There will be a Regional Team meeting the night of the March meeting at 6:00 P.M.

Meeting called to order at 7:30 P.M.

Roll call: Absent were Beast Masters, Hampton County, Worcester Bass.

Secretary’s Report: Motion by Norumbega, seconded by Eastside to accept and wave the reading of the minutes. Motion passed.

Treasures Report: Bob did not have a report, he will have a full report next month. Motion by Greenwater, seconded by Massmasters to pay all outstanding bills. Motion passed.

Youth Report: There will be two more Casting Kids contests. Worcester County will be holding one at USA Marine on route 20 in Worcester February 22 between 10 A.M. and 1 P.M. and Berkshire County will be holding one at the Berkshire County Mall February 8th between 12 and 5 P.M. City Bass and Massmasters will be setting dates for two other contests. Look for the dates to come. The youth Raffle tickets will be out at the February meeting. The drawing will be held at the March meeting. Please sell them!!!!!

Scholarship Report: Bob Jones reported that the cut off date for this year will be April 1st. All members of the Federation and their immediate family are eligible. You can call Bob at 508-562-3421 to get an application. Last year the Federation gave out two $500 scholarships, Bob is hoping to exceed that this year and it looks like he will.

Travel Guide: The Travel guide is out. As usual Bill and his wife did a fantastic job. Bill thanked Bob Parker for the excellent work he did this year.

Tournament Report: The Tournament Committee is in the process of putting out a Questionnaire. It will be mailed directly to each member. Please fill this out and send it back to the address on the form. This is important to you the Federation angler. We want your opinion individually not as a club, we realize that clubs vote as a block, but we need the individuals opinion. The cut off date is March 15th so mail it back promptly.

Conserve/Natural Resource Report: Dean told the Directors that if they are having any problems with Mashpee to call him at 508-366-2030. Dean also reported that the report on the CCC will be forth coming. Dean told the Directors that the new graphics for the shows are in and will be in the booth for the Boston show. Mike Keane reported that Point Breeze is waving the $50 fee for clubs under 15 boats. Mike also reported that Cove Marina is willing to host tournaments on Webster for $10 per boat. The Phone number is 508-943-5024 ask for Ed Bernier. The Barehill launch will be charging $15 to launch starting Memorial Day weekend.

News Letter Report: Paul reported that the news letter will be out the last week of January. If you are not receiving your copy please let Paul Know.

New Business: Dues are due by the February meeting along with the $25 donation to the benefit.

Old Business: Johnny Nee told the Directors that the CCC is still alive and is Currently trying to get the Attorney Generals Office to look into the Question 1 vote. Questions of false advertising have arouse. He also reported that the CCC is looking into hiring a paid Lobbyist. They will be asking for donations from all the Sportsmen groups.

Meeting adjourned at 9:00 P.M.

The following are the dates for the Federation clubs Ice Derby’s.

February 9th at Fort Meadow pond in Marlboro is the Green Water Wizards Extravaganza. Call Jack Wisuri at 508-568-0575 for details.

February 16th at Lake Winnecunnet is Tri-County’s annual ice derby to benefit the Tri-County Junior Bassmasters. Call Paul LeBlanc at 508-966-0792 for details.

Massmasters is also have several on the same day contact Joe Arsenault for details at 508-422-8247.

1. Your club roster must be up to date.

2. Your club must have all its dues money paid up to date for all your members.

3. You must have your Youth or Environmental project done and listed with either Dean Percival or Ernie Anelunde.

4. Your 8 man Team List must be filled out completely, plus a check for $50 per man must be in John’s hands by August 11th.

All of the above may be in one envelope and sent to John Magliano at 11 Lakeshore Drive Hudson Ma 01749

Please send your 8-man team list on the form supplied last month.

Meeting called to order at 7:30 P.M.

Roll Call: Missing were City Bass, Mystic valley, Rod Jockeys, Totem Pole, Worcester Bass, East Coast, Mass Bass Busters.

The winners of this year Mass Bass Scholarships were announced. They were Mike Leeds, Christen Ahern and Mat Kline. Their letters to the Federation will be printed in the next newsletter.

Secretaries Report: Motion by Norumbega, seconded by Cajun to wave the reading of the minutes and accept the minutes as written. Motion passed.

Treasures Report: Bob read his report and listed all bills. Motion by Cajun, seconded by Eastside to accept Bobs report and pay all bills. Motion passed.

Tournament Report: None as there was no Tournaments.

Tournament Committee: The following is a list of possible sites for the 1998 Fish-offs. All directors are required to bring your clubs vote back to the August meeting. We will narrow it to three and then vote for the final site.

Candlewood

Champlain at Ticonderoga

Sebago

Hudson River

Champlain at Mallets Bay

Memphimagog in Vermont

Conservation/Natural Resource Officer: Dean handed out his report.

Youth Report: The Federation Youth Tournaments is August 10th at Webster Lake. The tournament hours will be 7:00 to 12:00. Donations are needed. The ramp fee will be $5. Ernie needs all the boaters he can get to assure enough rides for the kids. Registration forms were given to all Directors.

Scholarship Report: See letters in Newsletter.

Travel Guide: The new ad information is out. We need more advertising for this years Travel Guide so lets all get to work. If you need to talk to Bill or need information on possible ads call Bill at 508-285-7815. Make sure you leave your name, number and time of call and Bill will get back to you as so as possible. 1998 will be our Twenty Fifth year so please help us make this Travel Guide the best one yet. We all know Bill will work hard on it but its up to us not him to make this a special Travel Guide. Lets all get to work on this and make it happen.

Newsletter Report: The newsletters were handed out to the Directors. Paul was not at the meeting but he needs more articles. At the August meeting the following clubs articles and pictures are due Cajun, Charles River, Chelmsford, City Bass, Classic Bass and East Coast. At the September meeting the following clubs articles and pictures are due. East Side, Fall River, Green Water, Hampton County, Mass Bass Buddies and Mass Bass Busters.

Banquet Report: All Directors are required to bring back a head count to the August meeting on how many people from your club that will be attending this years Banquet. We will be having the following menu.

Antipasto

Chicken Soup

Macaroni and Meat Balls

(all you can eat)

Roast Beef and Boneless stuffed Breast of chicken

Roasted, Whipped or Baked Potato

Green Bean and Carrots

Italian Bread or Rolls

Ice Cream with Strawberries

Coffee

The price for tickets will be $20 per person. Don’t forget the date November 29th at the Riverside Gun Club in Hudson. This will be a great Party so be there.

Old Business: Path ways to Fishing is set for the Worcester show. People will be needed to help so be ready to volunteer when the time comes. This will be a great tool for the Federation to reach the public especially the kids. Don Shipani came to the meeting and talked to the Directors about the Federation starting a Web site. There are a lot of advantages to the Federation getting a web site such as instant Tournament results, club listings for people who are looking for a club to join. It will be really good for our sponsors because we will be able to put links to their sites on our site. There is a lot of advantages for us to have a web site so we will be discussing this further.

New Business: Media One would like to send a camera crew to the fish-offs on Winni. Motion by Wild Side, seconded by Barehill to have the Federation pick up the cost of 6 people from Media One. Motion passed. Motion by Boston Bass, seconded by The River Rats to take the money for the cost of the Media One people from the left over Casting Kids money. Motion passed.

President Jim Marino read a letter from Don Corkran to Tri County informing the Federation that Tri County is the National winner for BASS Federation Outstanding Achievement Award. Congratulations go out to Tri County. Job well done.

Meeting adjourned at 9:30 P.M.

There will be a Tournament Committee meeting at 6:00 before the August meeting.

There will be a Regional Team meeting at 6:00 before the August meeting.

Don’t forget your vote for the 1998 fish-off site and your head count for the banquet for the next meeting.

Meeting called to order at 7:30 P.M.

Roll Call: Absent were Ancient Mariners, Bass Masters of New England, Blackstone, Charles River, Mystic Valley, Rod Jockeys.

Secretaries Report: Motion by Norumbega, seconded by Worcester Bass to wave the reading of the minutes. Motion passed.

Treasures Report: Bob read the May and June reports listed the bills and gave an adjustment in the budget. Motion by Norumbega seconded by Metro West to accept Bobs reports and correction to the budgets and pay all bills. Motion passed.

Tournament Report: The In and out of State Trails held their tournaments the weekend of June 15th. The full report will follow next month. The next tournaments will be on July 20th the In State at South Watuppa and the New England Trail will be at Winnisquam. The Big Bass entries are due at the July meeting don’t miss the cut off.

Tournament Committee Report: The club 8 man team rosters are due in to John Magliano on August 11 th. If you do not have it in on that date your team will not go to the fish offs. Cost for this years fish off will be $50 per person. This will cover the ramp fee. Lunker will be separate and will be collected at the team meeting the night before. Your money for your team must sent in with your 8 man team roster. Your roster must include 2 alternates with all information on the form filled out any missing information means your club will not fish so fill out the form correctly and get it in on time. All money for your club boaters must be taken care of within your club the rate will be $20 so have the non boaters in your club pay the boaters in your club. You must include your Youth or Environmental activity on the 8 man team form. Please verify that all members of your 8 man team have an up to date B.A.S.S. membership. It must not expire before October 1997. We will be verifying these with B.A.S.S. The Tournament Committee wants all clubs to bring to the July meeting their clubs suggestion for the 1998 fish off site. The site must be able to hold 160 boats and have accommodations for 300 people at a reasonable distance away.

Conservation/Natural Resource Officer: PETA is now attacking us from our children, it has been reported that they are going to the schools in the southern states and asking the kids not to fish during the summer because it hurts the fish. Dean will have more next month. Mike Keane

reported that any clubs holding a tournament on Mashpee make sure you do not blast off till 7:00. If you start 2 minutes early you will never be given a permit for Mashpee again. This has already happened to one Federation club.

Youth Report: Don’t forget the Youth Tournament at Webster Lake. Ernie needs donations and boats to take the kids out.

Scholarship Report: Bob plans to have the 3 applicants at the July meeting. Dean Percival will bring a camera for the pictures.

Travel Guide: Bill will have a meeting at 6:00 before the July meeting for anyone interested in helping for this years Travel Guide. Please show up this is important to all of us. I hear a lot of complaints about the way things have gone in the past. I hope I see all of the people with the complaints at this meeting to help with the Travel Guide. Do some work for the Federation, don’t just blow hot air.

Newsletter Report: Paul needs write ups for all the Trail Tournaments. Don’t forget to put in your club write ups and pictures. Make sure you get the banners for your pictures. Don’t forget to bring them back at the next Federation meeting. The following clubs must have your write ups in at the next meeting. Also listed are the clubs for the next two months reports. Due at the July meeting are Berkshire, Blackstone, Boston, Bristol County, Buzzards Luck and Cape Cod. Due at the August meeting are Cajun, Charles River, Chelmsford, City Bass, Classic Bass and East Coast.

Banquet Report: After a poll of the Directors it was decided that the wives will be able to attend the banquet. Don’t forget that this year the banquet will be held in November. The price should be $20 with a fantastic meal catered by Mary’s Catering of Hudson. the banquet will be held at the Riverside Gun Club in Hudson. Start making plans to attend this years raffle and door prizes are going to be better than ever.

Old Business: The problem brought to the Federation by Norumbega was settled without the Directors getting involved. The vote for this years Federation benefit donation is the Mass Bass Scholarship Fund. There was a motion by Tri County, seconded by Worcester County to donate

the money left over from an uncashed donation check from three years ago to the second and third place vote getter of the benefit nominees, to be split 50/50. Motion passed. The Mass Aquatic Resource Education Program and The Handi

Kids will each be getting 50% of the money. All are worthy organizations for our money to go.

There was a motion by Boston Bass, seconded by Massmasters to pay the winners of the Hudson river tournament from last year the difference in the money they would have gotten had the disqualified team returned the money. This would be split to all money winners. Motion failed 3 to 23. Jim announced we are all set with the Pathway to Fishing which will be run at the Worcester show. We will be looking for volunteers to help run this show.

New Business: Motion by Cajun, seconded by South Shore for the Federation to look into a Web page. Motion passed. Several people will be looking into prices and location.

Meeting adjourned at 9:45 P.M.

Please send in your 8 man team rosters ASAP if they are already finalized.

There will be a meeting of the Regional Team at 6:00 before the July meeting.

50/50 winner was John Crookes $101.

Don’t forget you may start turning in bylaw changes in July, August and September. Remember you must have enough copies for every club and officers. Aprox 50 copies.

Club Name________________________________

#1Boater #1Non-Boater

Name Name

Phone Phone

Boat Type

Boat Size

Horse Power

#2Boater #2Non-Boater

Name Name

Phone Phone

Boat Type

Boat Size

Horse Power

#3Boater #3Non-Boater

Name Name

Phone Phone

Boat Type

Boat Size

Horse Power

#4Boater #4Non-Boater

Name Name

Phone Phone

Boat Type

Boat Size

Horse Power

Clubs may send non-boaters only or a bigger balance of non-boaters than boaters please indicate if you do. Please list boat information for any Non-Boaters who wish to take their boat if possible. These boaters will go into a drawing for any extra boaters spots.

Alternates

#1 Name #2 Name

Phone Phone

Called to order at 7:30 P.M.

Roll Call: All club present.

Secretary’s Report: Motion by Norumbega seconded by Wildside to wave the reading of the minutes. Motion passed.

Treasures Report: Bob read his report and listed all the bills. Motion by Taunton River, seconded by City Bass to accept Bob’s report and pay all bills. Motion passed.

Tournament Committee Report: Due to the problems with bulk mail, the questionnaire was slow getting to the members, so the dead line has been pushed back to the April meeting. Please let your members know this and tell them we need their response. We can not stress to you enough that this is your Federation and we want your opinions to help run it. Sending back this questionnaire is one way of letting us know what you the Federation members want. The big Bass Tournament will be held October 25th at Mashpee if a permit can be obtained. If not it will be held on Wequetuet. An application will be sent with your minutes, please list all the people entering this on the entry form. There will be several changes this year. 2 to 10 entries get you 1 boater and 1 non-boater, 11 to 20, 2 boaters and 2 non-boaters, 21 to 30, 3 boaters and 3 non-boaters. Single boaters can also qualify. You can also qualify from the Trail if you and your partner both enter and pay an extra $5 each you can qualify if you are the top team at the trail tournament with the largest lunker of the trail teams that entered the Big Bass Tournament. You and your partner both qualify as a boater and non-boater. See the application form enclosed with your minutes for details.

Conservation/Natural Resource Officer Report: Dean suggested not joining with the Mass Sportsmen’s Council on hiring a lobbyist to fight further bill proposed by Pro Paws and other anti Sportsmen organizations. Motion by Blackstone seconded by South Shore to table any motion on this till next month and invite Ann Hebbard and Mike Yancino to the April meeting to talk and give us their opinion on why we need a Lobbyist. Motion passed 23 to 6. Mike Keane reported that Cove Marina will not be able to host tournaments on Webster Lake, so you will have to deal with either Point Breeze or Memorial Beach. Also Mike gave two different places to stay at Candlewood. The names and phone numbers are The Seagull at 203-743-3855 and The Best Western at 203-744-3200.

Youth Report: The Casting Kids finals were held at Marine USA and the winners were Chris Wormald of Marshfield 10 years old and Shawn Koch of Sheldon VT 13 years old. Both will be traveling to Shrieveport to compete in the B.A.S.S. Casting Kids Championship at the B.A.S.S. Nationals in April. Jim Marino told the Directors that he had received a check for $1000 to cover their travel from B.A.S.S.

Scholarship Report: Bob Jones is waiting for applications. If any one needs one you can call Bob at 508-562-3421 to get an applications. The dead line is May 1st. I hope all the directors are passing on this information to their members because it is very expensive to send a child to college and every little bit helps. Please make sure you tell your members that this fund is there for their possible use.

Travel Guide: Bill Breach gave the two Trail Directors merchandise to pass out at the trail tournaments. Bill also suggested the following motion. Motion by Tri County, seconded by Boston Bass that $200 dollars be taken out of the Travel Guide expense fund to purchase more tackle for the Trail tackle packs. Motion passed.

Newsletter Report: Paul was home sick so there was no report.

Banquet Report: Bob Parker gave his report on the past banquet. Jim Marino asked for a few more volunteers for the Banquet Committee. Currently there is only Jim, Joe McKinnon and Dave Sullivan. Jim would like to see more people on the Committee. Jim is looking at November 22 or 29th as possible date. Any one interested should contact Jim.

Old Business: Jim thanked Northeast and the Cajun club for working the Springfield show.

New Business: There were two new clubs introduced Mass Bass Busters and Active Bassmasters. Another Watch City will be on board next month. There was talk of the Federation possibly looking into a release boat to be used on the larger bodies of water and the fish-offs.

There was one suggestion for a Benifituary for the Federation benefit donations, it is Mass Aquatic Resource Education Program, nominated by Norumbega. John Crookes said he will have more information on this organization next month. John is also looking into also collecting old rods and reels to donate to the Mass AREP. Bring any other suggestions to next months meeting.

The Youth drawing was held and the winners are as follows.

1st Boston Bass Club

2nd D. Carrigan from North Hampton MA.

3rd Jay Meye from Brattleboro VT.

4th Bob Malone from Waltham Ma.

Meeting adjourned at 9:30 P.M.

At the next Directors meeting I will ask all clubs at roll call if they have a closed membership or if they are looking for members please be prepared with an answer.

50/50 $134 was won by Ed Kosial of Northeast.

Meeting called to order at 7:35 P.M.

Roll Call: Missing were Berkshire, North East and South Shore.

Secretaries Report: Motion by Norumbega, seconded by Wildside to accept the minutes and wave the reading of the minutes. Motion passed.

Treasures Report: Bobs was not at the meeting but did have a report at the meeting. Motion by Bare Hill, seconded by Active Bass to wave the reading of the report till next month and pay all outstanding bills.

Tournament Committee Report: None. There will be a Tournament Committee meeting at 6:00 P.M. before the next Federation meeting on June 17th. All Committee member are requested to attend.

Tournament Report: There were 56 boats at the benefit tournament on Webester Lake. I was not given a copy of the results so all I can tell you is that some one from Beast Masters won the Tournament. The first Trail Tournaments were held May 18th at Long Pond and Candlewood. Both were a success. The Instate fishermen on Long Pond found fishing tough, there were 45 teams and there were no limits. The winners caught the most fish with 5. The New England Trail was at Candlewood Lake in Connecticut. The fishing there was fantastic with 27 teams catching 7 limits with a total weight of 686.58 pounds. Most of the anglers had never been to Candlewood before and could not believe the amount of quality fish in the lake. Most compared it to Winni and some said it was better because there is always good Largemouth to be found. I am sure we will be going back to this great fishery. The results of the top 10 for each Trail Tournament is included with your minutes. The next Trail Tournaments will be June 15th with the Instate Trail going to Congamong and the New England Trail going to the Connecticut River at Sportsmen’s Marine. John Magliano wanted to thank Roger Arsenault for the superb job he did at Candlewood working by himself.

Conservation Report: There was no report as Dean is moving his business and was unable to make the meeting. Dean will have a report next month. Mike Keane reported that you can still use the Science Center ramp on Route 113 at Squam Lake.

Youth Report: Ernie wanted to remind everyone that the Youth Tournament is August 10th at Webester Lake. The ramp fee will be $5. Boats are needed.

Scholarship Report: Bob Jones reported that there were three applicants for this years scholarship. Bob is hoping we can raise enough money for all three. Bob and his committee are currently screening the applicants. He should have the names next month.

Travel Guide: Bill gave a report on the B.A.S.S. National which he attended. Bill now has insight as to what our sponsors want from us in return for their product. Unfortunately Mike Tamburello did not fair well at this years Nationals. Bad weather and high water messed up his patterns and he was unable to get many bites. We are still proud of Mike because it takes a giant effort to get to the Nationals and Mike put a lot of time into prefishing at a great expense to himself. Good job Mike!!

Newsletter: Paul handed out the newsletters to the Directors. The next newsletter dead line is June 17th. The following clubs must have there reports along with pictures taken in front of our sponsors banners at the June meeting or before. Active Bass, Ancient Mariners, Assabet Valley, Barehill, Bass Masters of New England and Beast Masters. The following clubs will be required to have their reports in at the July meeting Berkshire, Blackstone, Boston Bass, Bristol County, Buzzards Luck and Cape Cod. All clubs should pick up the sponsor banners at the Directors meeting, if you don’t contact John Magliano to get a banner. Remember your articles should mention our sponsors and the pictures should be taken in front of their banner. This is important to our Federation, this is the way we get product for the Youth, Benefits, banquet and Regional Team. We need your cooperation in getting this done right. Lets get to work and see if we can get more than they can imagine. Don’t forget to return the banners so the next clubs can pick them up.

Banquet Report: A full report will be coming next month.

Old Business: There are four nominations for the Benifituary for our donation. The Mass Bass Scholarship Fund, Mass Aquatic Resource Education Program, The Handi Kids and Beacon of Hope. We will be voting at the June Directors meeting. The Director from Norumbega asked the Federation to step in to settle the dispute over moneys not returned to their club as promised by former members of their club who left without returning the total treasuries of the club. This matter was brought up last month. Motion by Greenwater, seconded by City Bass that Ralph Schiavone, Al Tocci and Dave Kiltie be sent a registered letter to be at the June Federation meeting to answer to charges of embezzling Norumbega Bass club funds. Payment of moneys owed before the June meeting will end this matter. Failure to appear at the June meeting will result in you no longer being a member of good standing of the Mass Bass Federation. Motion passed. Secretary will send letter to each person plus copy to Presidents of Norumbega and Totem Pole which is their new club. Copy also to be sent to President Jim Marino.

New Business: At the Candlewood Trail Tournament a member of Northeast was on the water during the tournament. This will result in a 1 year suspension from all Federation events from May 18th 1997 to May 18th 1998. This person was informed of the consequences of going on the water and choose to fish and take the suspension. His name was not available at the meeting but will be at the June Directors meeting. This is an unfortunate incident and one that is avoidable. Each Director should make sure every member of their club knows the rules about being on the water on the same day as a Federation event or during any shut off. Your members should also be given a copy of the Federation rules, tournament events and dates. There seems to be a question on paid entries, this matter was tabled till the June meeting. There also was a question about paying the people who moved up after the disqualification on the Hudson River tournament last year. This matter was left unresolved there was some discussion but no resolution.

Meeting adjourned at 9:35 P.M.

There will be a Tournament Committee meeting at 6:00 before the June meeting. Please attend!!!!

Meeting called to order at 7:30 P.M.

Roll Call: Missing were Greenwater Wizards, Taunton River, South Shore.

Secretaries Report: Motion by Norumbega seconded by Tri Valley to wave the reading of the minutes. Motion passed.

Treasures Report: Bob Perkins read his report and listed all the outstanding bills. Motion by Eastside seconded by Barehill to accept Bobs report and pay all bills. Motion passed.

Tournament Report: The 1997 Trails are about to kick off the season May 18th with the Out of State Trail starting at Candlewood Lake in Connecticut and the Instate at Long Pond Lakeville. John Magliano wants to remind everyone to bring their insurance papers to the first tournament. No insurance paper and you will not be allowed to fish. The response from the Questionnaire put out by the Tournament committee was very disappointing. Only 125 were returned out of 713 mailed. We realize that some people did not get their questionnaires but its hard to believe that 590 did not receive them. The Directors were given a copy of the results of the 125 that were returned. All Out of State tournament fishermen should take note that the TOC has been moved to the Conn river in Hinsdale N.H. and the dates will be October 4th and 5th. The Instate trail TOC will be October 5th.

Conservation/Natural Resource Officer: It was reported that PETA was at Walden pond on April 15th blocking people from fishing, more to follow on this.

Travel Guide: Bill reported that not much is going on at this time but would like to remind everyone that he could use articles for the up coming Travel guide. Clubs should start to submit their club write-ups. All write ups that are turned in now can be changed at any time up to the dead line for the Travel guide.

Newsletter Report: The next newsletter will be going to print at the end of April. Paul asked for more articles he has very little to work with to put out a quality newsletter. President Jim Marino told the Directors that our sponsors like Lowrance and Rubbermaid have a new system for giving out sponsor product. They want to see what we do for them over the course of the year and will give us product accordingly. Lowrance rated us a 2 with the scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest. What the sponsors want to see is pictures in our newsletters along with articles. These pictures should have our sponsors banners shown in them. A motion was made by Tri County seconded by Barehill that all clubs are required to submit to the newsletter 1 article per year with pictures. Clubs will be divided into 6 groups alphabetically and shall be assigned an issue. Motion passed unanimously!!! More articles can be submitted if you want and will be welcome. Contact the trail Directors to see about getting the Federation sponsor banners for your club pictures. A motion was made by Tri County seconded by Massmasters to stop mailing the newsletter and have it given to the Directors at the monthly meeting. Motion passed.

Banquet Committee: The date for this years banquet will be November 29th at the Riverside Gun club. The dinner will be a 5 course meal served by Mary’s Catering. The dinner will include Antipasto, Chicken soup, Macaroni and Meatballs, Roast Beef and Boneless stuffed Roasted Chicken Breast, Mashed Potatoes and 2 veggies, Italian bread, rolls, ice-cream and coffee. President Jim Marino is trying to get the price as low as possible. It should be lower than last year. Jim already has several large door prizes and Bill Breach will be working on more at the Nationals.

Old Business: There was another nomination for Benifituary for our benefit donation. Tri County nominated The Handi Kids of West Bridgewater. The other nominee is Mass Aquatic Resource Education Program. John Crookes brought information for every Director to the meeting so make sure your director discusses it with your club it is a worth while organization for you to do you Youth project for. Don’t forget to bring your nominations to next months meeting, the cut off is the May meeting.

New Business: Motion by Buzzards Luck seconded by Wildside to set the Associate membership fee at $40. Motion passed. All Associate members must come before the Board of Directors to obtain an Associate membership. This membership only allows the Associate member to fish the Trails, but they can not qualify for the TOC and have no other membership privileges. The Director for Norumbega asked the Federation to help settle a dispute between 3 previous member regarding items that belong to the club. After some mediation between Jim Marino and the parties involved the matter was settled without the Directors getting involved. Jim will monitor the situation.

Meeting adjourned at 9:00 P.M.

There will be a Tournament Committee meeting Friday night April 25th at the Gun club. All members are requested to attend to discuss the upcoming Trail tournaments. Both Tournament Directors are asked to attend.

Don’t forget you can get your minutes over the internet, all you need to do is give me an Email address and you can get the minutes as soon as I finish typing. You can Email me at massbass@gis.net to send me your Email address.

Al Cappy Jr. is having a 50% off sale on all G-Loomis blanks in stock while they last. This includes IMX, IM6 and all graphite. Give Al a call at 508-851-2951 or see him at the next Federation meeting. Al does some of the best costume rod work and repair work around, make sure you check it out.

Meeting called to order at 7:35 P.M. by President Jim Marino.

Roll Call: Missing were Ancient Mariners, Assabet Valley, Bass Masters Of New England, East Coast and Rod Jockeys.

Secretaries Report: Motion by Norumbega, seconded by Barehill to accept and wave the reading of the minutes. Motion passed.

Treasurers Report: Bob read his report and listed all out standing bills. Motion by Bristol, seconded by Taunton to accept Bobs report and pay all bills. Motion passed.

Tournament Report: The Tournament of Champion reports were read for both trails. On the Out of State trail Al Cappy and Mike Gough top the field at Winni to claim first place. On the Instate trail Ed Krause and Steve Carty won the Tournament of Champions on the Connecticut River at Bartons Cove. Congratulations to both teams.

Regional Team Report: Ed Gerossie of Yankee Bassmasters took first place on the team at Kerr Resivour in the Eastern Division Regionals. Ed will now move on to the B.A.S.S. National Championship in April. The Team finished 9th out of 14 teams. There was some discussion on how to improve the teams chances in the future, no plan was formulated yet but 1998’s team has already started to meet to try to improve their chances. They have announced they will be looking to raise extra money for travel seeing that the 98 Regionals are being held at Winni and the team will be practicing alot more than ever before. The Team will be holding 2 Benefit Tournaments and a raffle is being planned.

Environmental: Dean reported that the Squam Lake ramp will not be closing but will be being monitored for problems. The ramp at Lee Mills on Winni will be closing to tournaments. There will be more on this later. The land fill fight is on again at Webster Lake. Apparently a Judge ruled in favor of the land fill so the fight is on. There is a parade scheduled for November 1st in Webster. Contact Bob Parker for details at 508-234-7771. Don’t forget to get your club Tournament schedules in to Mike Keane. Mikes address is 130 Milk St. Fitchburg Ma. 01420.

Scholarship Report: None.

Travel Guide: Its that time of the year again and Bill is looking for your club write ups, articles and advertising. Lets not make Bill beg, lets try to get things in on time and try to get more than Bill can handle and surprise him. All kidding aside this is our 25th Anniversary and we should make every effort to make this our best Travel Guide yet. I hope your clubs have submitted their articles to the Newsletter because these articles will be appearing in the Travel Guide as well. Lets all get to work and make this a good one. Please make sure articles submitted are not hand written.

Newsletter Report: Paul handed out copies of the newsletter to the Directors. The next newsletter will go to print around November 7th so get your articles in. Please do not send in hand written articles have them typed if possible. Clubs with articles due for November are The River Rats, Rod Jockeys, South Shore, Taunton Bassmasters, Totem Pole, Tri County. December due are Tri Valley, Wachusett, Watch City, Worcester County, Worcester Bass and Yankee.

Banquet Report: Tickets are going like hot cakes, as of the end of the meeting there were only 40 of 170 tickets remaining. You can ether call Joe McKinnon at 617-647-5288 to reserve your tickets or wait till the November meeting and take a chance there are tickets left. This will be a good time don’t miss it.

Web Site Report: Jim Marino reported that he and Joe had met with Net Mariner to work out the final details and all that is left is to sign a contract and we will be started towards being on line. Jim reported that the cost would be $1000 to set up 10 pages, $250 logo design and $19.95 a month for the use of the server. Jim is hope Don can have some thing done for the banquet for us to see.

Old Business: Jim read a thank you note from Handi Kids for our donation. Jim talked about the up coming shows at Worcester, Boston and Springfield. For Worcester the Path Ways to Fishing is all set we need bodies to man this. North East volunteered to run the Springfield show again, so all we need is someone to step up and run the Boston show and more volunteers for Worcester. There was a motion by Barehill, seconded by Metro West to get the Federation pictures taken at the Tournaments and Benefits put on video from Play it Again video company. Cost would not exceed $300. Motion passed. This video will be at the banquet and the shows. The ballots were passed out and the Directors voted for the Officers, Tournament Committee, By-laws and The Man of the Year. Results are listed below.

New Business: None.

Meeting adjourned at 10:00 P.M.

President Jim Marino

Vice President John M. Magliano

Tournament Committee

Tiny LaFontaine

Joe McKinnon

Joe Arsenault

Alan Kaprelian

Ernie Anelunde

Fred St Louis

Keith Kline

Al Cappy

Keith Knight

Louie Bernardo

Mark Donovan

John P. Magliano

Brian Rook

Scott Gordan

By-law’s

The following passed #1,2,3,4,6,7 and 8 #5 failed to pass.

The results of the Man of the Year Vote will be announced at the banquet.

Thank You to all who ran for office this year, your being involved is important to the success of the Federation.

Meeting called to order at 7:35 P.M.

There was a moment of silence for Karl Kaprelian.

Roll Call: Absent were Ancient Mariners, Cape Cod and East Coast.

Secretaries Report: Motion by Norumbega seconded by Boston to accept and wave the reading of the minutes. Motion passed.

Treasures Report: Bob read his report and listed all bills. Motion by Greenwater, seconded by Yankee to accept Bobs report and pay all bills. Motion passed.

Tournament Directors Report: John reported things did not go well at the fish-offs at Winni. There was a lack of cooperation from the clubs getting their workers there to help. This needs to change in the future. John handed out the final standings for the fish-offs. Congratulation to all of those who made the top 12. John reported that Silver Sands gave us back half of the launch fees because of the marina ramp being blocked on Sunday. A special thanks was given to Bill Jenkins of Green Water Wizards for helping at the fish-offs Saturday morning and afternoon and Sunday morning and afternoon. More people like Bill are needed to make things work. Thanks Bill!! John Magliano reported there is a Black Velvet tournament on the Connecticut River in Hartford October 11th and 12th.

Tournament Committee Report: Due to reported low water conditions on the Connecticut River Hinsdale section the Tournament Committee has moved the Out of State Trail TOC to Winni out of Meredith.

Conservation\Natural Resource Officer: Dean gave a short report. Basically there is not much going on at this time. Mike Keane reported that the ramp on Squam Lake in the river will be closing October 1st for good. There is a ramp in the river on little Squam at Squam Bridge Boat slips and Launch. The fee is $10. Mike will be at the next meeting at 7:15 to accept your club tournament schedules for 1998. This will be done on a first come first serve basis.

Scholarship Report: No report.

Travel Guide Report: Well that time is here again and we are hearing the same thing we heard last year. Bill begging for your articles and club write-ups. It is not that hard to sit down and write something up about your club. It should take about 2 minutes at your club meeting to have the members of your clubs help. Please get these write-ups about your club in to Bill at the October meeting. As far as articles Bill should have approximately 35 of them with pictures in front of our sponsors banners if all the clubs lived up to their commitment. We will check and see how many clubs did this at the next meeting.

Newsletter Report: There was no newsletter this month because there was no write-ups from the trails or articles with pictures from the clubs. Sound familiar!!!! The following clubs articles are due at the October meeting. Mass Masters, Metro West, Mystic Valley, North East, Norumbega and Plymouth Rock. November due are The River Rats, Rod Jockeys, South Shore, Taunton Bass Masters, Totem Pole and Tri County. December due are Tri Valley, Wachusett, Watch City, Wildside, Worcester County, Worcester Bass and Yankee.

Banquet Report: Tickets are on sale and selling briskly. Make sure you send your money to the next Federation meeting for your tickets. Tickets are $20 per person. See Joe McKinnon for tickets.

Web Site Report: We voted in August to go with Net Mariner. We will be starting up our web site hopefully in the next month or so.

Old Business: The vote on the date for turning in your 8 man team lists was taken. The motion passed so in 1998 your 8 man team lists have to be by August 1st.

Elections and By-laws: There were 8 by-law changes put in. Copies were given to the Directors. Clubs not in attendance will be sent copies. For the officers positions the nominations were as follows.

For President - Jim Marino and Johnny Nee

For Vice President - Ernie Anelunde - John M Magliano - Craig Comjean

For Treasurer - Dean Percival unopposed

For Secretary - Joe McKinnon unopposed

Conserv\Natural Resource Officer Dean Percival unopposed

Youth Director - Wayne Ellis unopposed

Tournament Committee nominations ( elect 14 - only one from each mother club may be elected)

Name Mother Club

Joe McKinnon River Rats

Joe Arsenault Massmasters

Alan Kaprelian Boston Bass

Mike Keane Boston Bass

Ernie Anelunde Eastside

Fred St.Louis Fall River

Keith Kline Greenwater

Al Cappy Buzzards Luck

Keith Knight Bristol County

Louie Bernardo Taunton Bassmasters

Mark Donovan Tri County

John P Magliano Tri Valley

Ray Lentine Massmasters

John Crookes Norumbega

Brian Rook Active Bass

Scott Gordan Bare Hill

Hugh Worth Chelmsford

Jerry Earl Chelmsford

Pete Demoya Plymouth Rock

Curt Boisseau Cajun Club

Man of the Year Nominations (select one)

Ernie Anelunde for work as Youth Director and Instate Trail

Bill Breach for work as Travel Guide Editor

Jim Marino for work as President

Joe McKinnon for work as Secretary

Bob Perkins for work as Treasurer

New Business: Chapter of the Year books are due at the October meeting. There was a motion by Cajun, seconded by Buzzards Luck that in 1998 at the fish-offs there be an award for State Fish-off Champion. Motion passed. Motion by Wildside, seconded by Taunton To let the Executive Board decide when money from the fish-offs and banquet go into the treasury and on to the financial report. Motion passed.

Meeting adjourned at 10:30 P.M.

ERNIE ANELUNDE 34 PARKER ST ATTLEBORO MA 508-222-5477

ALAN KAPRELIAN 13 BURCH ST ARLINGTON MA 02174 617-648-3546

KEITH KLINE 44 SHORT ST MARLBORO MA 01752 508-481-1754

JOE MCKINNON 15A BOLTON ST WALTHAM MA 02154 617-647-5288

PAUL DAILIDA 42 BAY PATH RD CHARLTON MA 01507 508-248-3274

JOE ARSENAULT 14 MYRTLE AVE STERLING MA 01564 508-422-8247

STEVE HOLMES 97 HILLVIEW RD WESTWOOD MA 02090 617-320-9791

FRED ST. LOUIS 105 POND ST REHOBOTH MA 02769 508-252-3939

SHAUN SCOTT PO BOX 341 MANCHAUG MA 01526 508-476-2270

MARK DONOVAN 5 BROOKWOOD RD ATTLEBORO MA 02703 508-226-8087

WAYNE CARLSON PO BOX 4284 SHREWSBURY MA 01545 508-798-2142

SCOTT GORDON 23 TILTON ST FITCHBURG MA 01420 508-345-4917

DEAN PERCIVAL 396 GREEN ST NORTHBORO MA 01532 508-393-8505

TINY LAFONTAINE 29 NAPLES AVE WOBURN MA 01801 617-935-2480