Bass Unlimited sets records at 6th annual banquet held April 10
By DONALD GERVAIS Lakecaster Correspondent

New records were set at the 6th Annual Bass Unlimited Toledo Bend Lake Association Banquet held April 10 at Cypress Bend Marina. More than $100,000 was raised by the group in the various fund raising activities to support the purpose of the group, to keep Toledo Bend Lake a first class fishery and to provide service to the community.

"This year's fund raising exceed are goals," said TBLA president Jack Vermiere. "We set new marks in the boat raffle, open auction, and silent auction. The sponsors and community members came through. All the banquet tickets were sold and even the standing-room-only tickets went too."

Each year an original art work is designated by Bass Unlimited to be the annual poster. This year's art work was done by Judy Wong, the reigning Women's Bass Tournament (WBT) champion. Wong is a lake resident, TBLA member, full time fishing guide as well as an accomplished artist. The original artwork is auctioned and 250 numbered prints are signed by the artist. Wong's painting was sold to Danny Fontenot for $5,000 at the unveiling held March 3. Wong was invited to the White House by President Bush to congratulate her for winning the WBT championship and on March 24 she presented the President #9 of the poster.

Wong was unable to attend the event due to a tournament on the same day however her influence was felt as all remaining posters were sold. In addition, several of Wong's autographed series rods, made by American Rodsmith, and reels were part of the auction items at the finale and fetched $700. Among the major sponsors acknowledged at the banquet by Bass Unlimited was Bob Brown, president of American Rodsmith.

"This is the first year to help and it won't be the last," said Brown as he accepted one of Wong's posters on stage.

In years past the biggest single fund raiser item for the year has been a Tracker Aluminum boat and motor package that is raffled at the finale. This year the group chose a fiberglass boat, a Nitro 750 dual console bass boat, powered by a 90 hp Mercury outboard, valued at over $18,000. Floyd Gonzales of DeQueen, Ark. was the winner of the boat raffle.

"We sold $8,000 more of boat raffle tickets this year," said Vermiere. "Over 100,000 man-hours were spent by volunteers. Last year's boat winner volunteered and really helped sell raffle tickets at the Bass Pro Shop in Bossier City."

Tracker Marine in Bossier City not only furnished the raffle boat but also provided a similar boat on several occasions so the group could conduct raffle sales at multiple sites simultaneously. Raffle ticket sales were held at the Bass Pro Shop in Bossier City as well as around several areas locally, including Brookshire's in Many and Hemphill and Toledo Town Tackle.

"It was our pleasure to provide Bass Unlimited any help we can," said Bossier City Tracker Boat Sales manager Mark Glenn, who was on hand at the banquet. "I enjoy working with the group and helping them in their worthy causes."

Local businesses, organizations and individuals contributed a record number of items for auction and raffle with a value exceeding $75,000, according to Jerry Lehman, a TBLA board member. Items included art work, fishing equipment, guide trips, restaurant meals, and various handicraft items. An unexpected donation was made two weeks prior to the banquet.

A special draw was made for the TV, a must-be-present to win. The winner of the $5,000 item was Gloria Thompson.

36 items were live auctioned at the banquet by Kevin McDonald, a professional auctioneer. No item was more hotly contested than the wild game and fish dinner for 12 by Chef John Folse at Wildwood Resort. The fierce bidding war escalated to the point that McDonald left the stage and joined the pair of bidders near their table.

In the end Judy and Conrad Cathy, also sponsors of this year's poster, whose bid was the highest of all items at $5,000, claimed the dinner package to a roar of applause by those in attendance.

Six shotguns, donated by Nichols, Inc., each with the Bass Unlimited logo, were among the other auction items. LSU championship art and items were other popular contested items.

Bass Unlimited used the banquet to show several of their projects this past year. One was the donation of a travel trailer donated to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) education program. In January the group donated a closed container trailer to the LDWF. Measuring 12 x 6 feet, the plain single axle trailer was accepted and then brought to James Kemp of Kemp's Speedway Designs in Mendon, La for graphics. The colorfully wrapped trailer sports the logos of LDWF, TBLA and a graphic of a young girl fishing.

"Every 5th grader in the state of Louisiana receives a class put on by the LWDF," said Todd Buffington, a biologist at the Mendon station who conducts education programs throughout the state. "This is one of two trailers that is used to go to sites all across the state. It will be well used for the mobile clinics."

"Not only will the children of Sabine Parish benefit from this donation," said Angela Capello, LWDF Aquatic Education supervisor. "Thousands of children throughout the state will benefit from Bass Unlimited donation."

Another project of the Bass Unlimited, the Lunker Program, was shown as four of this year's award winners were guests to the banquet. Last year, 50 anglers received replicas of their fish, each over ten pounds and released live back to the lake. This year the number is expected to beat last year's record. Already 44 fish have been entered into the program and will receive their replica mounts at the McDonald Big Bass Splash to be held June 20-22.

Other projects of Bass Unlimited include: bass restocking, LDWF barge habitat, lighting at several of the lake's bridges for night fishing, and support of children's' outdoor education initiatives.

The TBLA has 300 members and are headed by an executive board. Phil Medine is the 1st VP and was the cocoordinator for this year's banquet.

Linda Boren and JoAnn Cason, TBLA members and artists of past year posters framed a set of the six posters for the auction, which fetched $550. The 2007 and 2008 posters were all sold according to Ben and Myra Cason, poster coordinators, but a limited supply of other posters remain and can be found online at the TBLA site:

Membership for the TBLA is not limited to lake area residents or local businesses. For information about the group visit their homepage at: http://www.toledobend. com/tbla/

Donald Gervais is a Journalism graduate of NSU and outdoor writer who covers fishing tournament at Toledo Bend and Lake Sam Rayburn. His stories appear in print on The LakeCaster, The Jasper Newsboy and online at: http://www.thelakecaster.com/