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I hope you are all getting ready for another
great tournament season. First I’d like to introduce the 2006 Hawg Hawlers
Bass Club Officer Team. Greg Heinz is the President. This is Greg’s 14th
year as an officer. Ready to step in and take the reigns is the
Vice-President Pam Wakim. This season is Pam’s 3rd year as an officer. Lori
Luzynski returns as a 2006 officer in the Treasurers position. Dan Durbin,
that’s me, will fill the role of Secretary. This is my 7th year serving as
an officer. Last, but not least, is Bob Treadway. Bob is filling the
position of Tournament Chairman. This is Bob’s 8th year of service as an
officer. Charlie Beach will remain as the webmaster but will not return in
2006 as an officer.
Survey
We sent out a survey in November. The intent of the survey was to assess the
climate of the club, determine club preferences and to help us determine if
there needed to be any changes made. First let me say that all of the
comments on the survey were positive. It is clear to me that we have a great
club.
The survey requested that you reply with you favorite lake. First Place was
Lake of the Ozarks in the spring. The 2nd Tournament has been schedule d
April 1\2 at LOZ. 2nd place was Pomme De Terre in the spring. The 4th
tournament of the season is scheduled for May 20\21 at Pomme. There was a
tie for 3rd place between Tablerock in
the spring and Mark Twain in the summer. The 3rd tournament is scheduled for
April 22\23 at Tablerock. The 5th tournament has been scheduled for June
10\11 at Mark Twain. You spoke, we listened.
We asked you to tell us whether you would like to fish new lakes. The
response to this question was light and varied. Eight new lakes were listed
but none received enough votes to warrant us adding it to the list this
year.
We asked you to tell us your take off preferences. The vast majority prefers
to take off Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning during the cold times and
Saturday\Sunday morning during the warmer times. Our take off times in 2006
reflect that preference.
We asked about your preference with the Tournament Prize money split. It was
clear, from those members responding, that the club was split on this
subject. The 2006 Officer Team has developed a new payout schedule in
response to the survey.
We asked about 8 hour tournament days. The overwhelming resp onse
was at least as many as we had last year or more. We have scheduled 2 -- 8
hour tournament days this year. The first will be at Tablerock on Saturday,
April 22nd. This is also the date we have chosen for the annual Bar-B-Q. The
Bar-B-Q will be held Saturday evening. The second 8 hour day is scheduled at
LOZ Saturday, October 7th. We have also decided to have our Annual Chili
Supper on Saturday evening at LOZ during the October Tourney.
We also asked for suggestions on a number of subjects.
Website -- All comments regarding the web site were very positive.
Charlie has done a great job with the website.
Newsletter -- Most folks want the newsletter as fast as possible. We
will do our best to get the web site updated as soon as possible. Other
comments were requests to have the Newsletter mailed to them. I am more than
hap py
to print out the Newsletter from the website and mail it to you. In an
effort to keep administration costs down, the club officers recommend that
you access the web site for the newsletter. The main disadvantage of not
using the web site for the newsletter is that you will only get the small
thumbnail pictures in the printed copy. The tournament rules \ membership
form has a box at the bottom to indicate you want the newsletter via “snail
mail”.
Tournament & Tournament Rules -- There were a number of comments.
Some were comments regarding the weigh in procedures. The tournament rules
have been modified to reflect suggestions made in this area. Please be sure
to read and understand the tournament rules prior to signing the membership
form. Feel free to contact any of the officers for clarification of any
rule.
General Comments -- As I said earlier, the comments were all very
positive.
Other Club Business
You will probably notice that the membership dues were increased from $15 to
$20 this year. It was a difficult decision, but with insurance and
administration costs increasing every year we felt that we needed to address
it now. The $15 Membership fee had been in effect for 10 years.
There was some question last year regarding when the Life Jacket rule
actually comes into effect. Wording in the Tournament Rules has been
modified to address this issue. The Tournament Rules wording explains that
life jackets MUST be worn if ALL of the following conditions apply:
• The gasoline engine is running.
• The pre-tournament meeting has concluded. (note: in the event of a delayed
tournament start due to unsafe conditions the pre-tournament meeting will
also be delayed until conditions are safe for take off)
• Your boat is floating free. (i.e. not tied to a stationary object such as
a dock, tree, stump,…) (Note: YES, when you are at a lake where there is not
a dock and your boat is not tied to some other stationary structure, you are
therefore floating free and then you MUST wear your lifejacket if the
gasoline engine
 is
running)
Please be sure to read and understand the tournament rules prior to signing
the membership form. Feel free to contact any of the officers for
clarification of any rule.
Please make sure to check the sponsors’ page when making reservations for
lodging. Some resorts offer discounted rates to Hawg Hawlers members.
As a reminder, there is a requirement that the Tournament entry FEE be
RECEIVED by the Treasurer on the Wednesday prior to the Tournament BEFORE
5:00 PM otherwise the $10 penalty will apply. This requirement has been
established to provide ample time to prepare documentation for the
Tournament.
The Clearwater Tournament is scheduled for March 11 9:00 AM till 3:00 PM.
The Tournament will be held at Piedmont Park Marina. The Marina has agreed
to open specifically for the Tournament. They will have sandwiches and
drinks for our hungry group.
In closing, I am excited about the next tournament season. See you at
Clearwater in March.
Thanks,
Dan
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the 2005 members and
officers for their contributions over the past year. I would also like to
welcome the 2006 members to the club. We are starting this year off with a
bang. We have 29 years of experience in the 2006 officers, a great bunch of
people. We have some great ideas in store for the club, and hopefully
together with the members, we can and will make the Hawg Hawlers even bigger
and better. On behalf of all of the officers, I’d like to thank you for
putting your trust in us to manage the club. We will do our best to serve
you. If anyone has any questions, or comments, at any time during the year,
please contact one of the officers (emails listed on the
contact page).
Thanks.
Greg
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