Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
Tuesday, September 30, 2025
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(Provided by the IBF)
St. Joe Valley Bass Masters - IBF Club of the Year
For the second year in a row, the Indiana Bass Federation has named South Bend’s St. Joe Valley Bass Masters the IBF Club of the Year as well as the Community Service award winner.
IBF president Kelly Hook said he thought the 40th annual youth tournament held at Potato Creek State Park that had around 200 kids participating, their participation in the Crime Night Out conducted by the St Joseph County Sheriff Department, and their charity tournament held at Diamond Lake were things the judging committee considered.
Potato Creek Bass Club - IBF Youth Award
Potato Creek Bass Club, also from the South Bend/Mishawaka area, received the IBF Youth Award. The club donated $1000 to the IBF Youth Tournament Trail that helped reduce the cost to the participants, ages 11 to 17. They also provided financial assistance to a family to help with expense while their son was at Riley Hospital in Indianapolis, a donation to the Riley Foundation, and also assisting other individuals.
MARCO Bass Masters of Plymouth was also recognized for their 2015 charity tournament held on Lake Maxinkuckee to benefit the Boys and Girls Club and the Marshall County Council on Aging.
The IBF also awarded Kayla Borlon of Plymouth and David O’Neil , Wynona Lake, with $300 scholarships. Burton is the granddaughter of Mike Goins, Bremen, IN, who is a member of both the Potato Creek Bass Club and the Best 5 Bass Club of Mishawaka. She is studying elementary education at Indiana University of South Bend.
David is the son of Dan O’Neil, a member of the Northern Bass Anglers. He plans to study law enforcement at Grace College this fall. The IBF also announced at the meeting that they have expanded the scholarship program to include to two anglers fishing in the IBF Youth Tournament Trail and any member of the IBF that are 25 years old or younger are now eligible.
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(Provided by Solar Bat)
Solar Bat Offers Cash to Grassroots Tournament WinnersSolar Bat Sunglasses' 2016 fishing tournament "Bat Bucks" reward program is offering grassroots tournament anglers a chance to win extra cash.
"Bat Bucks is for any tournament fisherman but is directly aimed at the grassroots fisherman," said owner Gary Nesty. "We make sunglasses for all fishermen so Solar Bat wanted to create a tournament rewards program for all tournament anglers, regardless of fish species."
All you have to do is purchase a pair of Solar Bat Logo or Signature Series sunglasses and register before winning a tournament. Tournament winners' results must be posted on the circuit's website.
Visit www.batbucks.com to register and get more details. You also can see the entire Solar Bat Sunglass line at www.solarbat.com.
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(Provided by Michigan DNR)
Michigan Now Requires Bass Tournaments to Register
Michigan Now Requires Bass Tournaments to Register - Photo courtesy R & B Bass Circuit
The Michigan DNR reminds those planning or organizing a bass fishing tournament in 2016 that all tournaments must be registered with the DNR.
In October 2015 the DNR's Natural Resources Commission issued Fisheries Order 215.15A (www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/FO-215_502574_7.pdf)requiring all bass fishing tournaments held in 2016 and thereafter to be registered online using the Michigan Fishing Tournament Information System. This requirement is for bass tournaments only and those that occur at both DNR and non-DNR-owned boat launches.
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Have a single tournament or a circuit scheduled for 2016 in the Michiana area?
Tell us about it. We’ll add it to our new and improved “Events” Calendar where anglers and sportsmen can find things to do in northern Indiana and southern Michigan.
We welcome all tournaments that are open to the public and fished within northern Indiana and southern Michigan.
Once again, the calendar, found on every page of our website, will be “powered” by Lake Drive Marine of Coldwater, Mich. and this year will be managed by Michiana angler Jeremy Bunnell, a friend of Michiana Outdoors News.
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(Provided by B.A.S.S.)
2016 Elite Schedule
The fan-favorite BASSfest will be held June 8-12 at Lake Texoma on the Oklahoma-Texas border, and the season finale, the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship, will take place at Minnesota's Mille Lacs Lake.
"Similar to the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro, the Bassmaster Elite Series tournaments have become extremely popular "happenings" for bass fishing fans. By taking our fishing festivals to Lake Texoma and Mille Lacs, we will expose the sport to new fan bases," said B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin. "And, our Elite Series anglers are sure to enjoy the new challenges these lakes present."
In addition, officials of the world's largest fishing organization revealed a new tournament for 2016: the Bassmaster Classic Bracket tournament, to be held on the Niagara River out of Buffalo, N.Y., July 19-22.
In that event, the Top 8 finishers in Elite No. 7 on Cayuga Lake, New York, will go head-to-head in a bracket format tournament that will pay $50,000 in cash - in addition to the prize money they will have earned at Cayuga - and award a guaranteed spot in the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing, the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic.
The Classic Bracket will be streamed live on Bassmaster.com and will feature - for the first time ever in Bassmaster competition - catch-weigh-release scoring. That is, competitors will have their catches weighed instantly on the water by judges, and the bass will be released back into the water at the spots where they were caught. Only the heaviest five bass per angler will be counted.
Lake Texoma, an 89,000-acre impoundment of the Red River, was the site of the 1979 Bassmaster Classic won by Hank Parker, now a popular television fishing show host, in September of that year, and it was the venue for Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens in 2007 and 2010. It has not hosted an Elite event, however.