Our New State Champions !!!

 Left: Ethan Peterson 11-14     Right: Corey Rambough 15-18 

                         Congratulations

IBFN Junior State Championship

            July brought about one of the premier junior events of the year. On Friday the 23^rd of July we had 15 competitors and 8 boaters arrive at Sugarloaf State Park on the beautiful Cascade Lake shoreline !!

            Saturday morning everyone rolled out of the sack around 5am and met at the boat ramp. A quick talk about the rules and we drew boaters and competitors to match up for the weekend, loaded tackle and drinks and the official practice day was under way !!!

            Practice day allowed the boaters and competitors to fish together and locate the prime spots for tournament day. It also allowed time for some friendships to start. When it came time for the stories from the day OH MY GOSH !!!

            While  the sausages & dogs were BBQin’ the stories flowed. I heard the age old “ We didn’t really find many fish” to “they were all 12in. fish.” The typical tales known to seasoned veterans flowed like these young people told them for years !!!

            And the waters parted …. From the splash down as competitors threw themselves into the lake for a cool off from the day !!!  Rumor had it (although I didn’t witness it) that card games broke out on several occasions with big stakes.

            By 10pm the boaters & competitors were stacked on the boats putting together their final plans and tying on the secret baits for the next day!

            4am came pretty early the next morning… I am certain it was a night of great anticipation. I overheard several of the boaters talking. The competitive excitement may (or may not) have pushed a couple of friendly side bets on their kids winning !!!

            Before we knew it was 3pm Sunday afternoon and weigh-in was under way. With a crowd gathered and or State Youth Director calling the weights, it was impressive to see what our competitors had accomplished !!!

            A 3.59lb Largemouth was weighed in for big fish by Dillon Edes. Now That’s impressive !!!

            Corey Rambough pulled off an 8lb – 4 fish limit for a win in the 15-18 age group, while not to be out done, Ethan Peterson showed off a 9.5lb – 4 fish limit to repeat a win in the 11-14 age group.

             A HUGE thank you to all of the boaters that took time out of their lives to enjoy sharing with our future leaders in this great sport !!!

 Rory Clinton, 1^st place boater 11-14

                                    & big fish

 Mark Clark.    1^st place boater 15-18

Troy Meckert               Dan Cook        

Gary Abshire               Jim Wells

Earl Wells              Miles Messersmith

            (I have heard rumor that they are all going to return next year to take Rory & Mark down !!!)

        Thanks to Jon Edes for all his support with photography, blast off boat, sponsors for the meal, and more !!!

        Also, to our State Conservation Director, Doug Mann for hiss assistance !!!

        And our State President, Steve Spickelmier, as always he is there to support our youth program also !!!

        ** Proud Sponsors **

American Morthwest Outdoors – 4 rods, 4 reels, 10 bags of tackle, and 2 boats to use

Falls Brand Meats--Suasages/Dogs

Window Welders-- $100 dollars for prizes and $ 200-Food

TML Service Experts--Cabelas gift cards

EMI Filtration—Trophies

 All contestants will recieve a free Commemorative DVD. It is  available for $10.00 donation to anyone else that would like one.

E-mail ibfnyouth@yahoo.com for DVD

  **************************

           Curtis Reno

 Another Great Story

     After a guy gets past all of the championship hype one of the great stories of this championship is Curtis Reno. This young man is 18 years old coming to us from Hayden, Id. He has shown what junior tournament fishing can do !!!

     Curtis has always been in love with fishing and tournament bass fishing won his heart. He, at 18 yrs old, has put together the money to buy his own pickup and Boat to fuel his passion !!

    That is amazing....

    However the icing on the cake is ... to see him load a tent, food, cooking utinsels, and drive 5 hours by himself to a lake he had never fished and spend a week camped out to win a tournament ... That, my friends, is a true fisherman !!! ( Not to mention a great young man )

      Curtis, to you and your parents, my hats off to you !!!

      I hope some day you can beat the socks off of me in a tournament !!!

 Sincerely,

 Chris R.

IBFN State youth Director