Date:
As of now I have gotten the required permits from the department of fish and wildlife to hold a Bass Tournament on June 6th(attached documents). The previous date had already been postponed due to Covid-19 and at this point I'm prepared to postpone further if things don't settle down. The next date should we have to postpone would likely be scheduled for mid-October.
Location:
As for the location we are planning on fishing the Lower Owens River Valley which would include Buckley ponds, the canals, creeks, Diaz lake and the Owens river proper. I will personally invite 40 Anglers to participate in this upcoming event. The anglers that I have chosen are seasoned bass fisherman that are locals and adhere to the best practices of the sport and are strong advocates of the Largemouth Bass species. We absolutely abide and encourage catch and release. There will be no transfer of fish which I have discussed with game wardens, CDFW branch managers, chief biologist, and the fisheries chief. I'm taking this opportunity to advocate for the fish, environment, and the health of all fish in the valley.
Tournament format:
The tournament format is gonna be a game changer. We are adopting a new style of tournament that is new to the sport of competitive bass fishing. It will be conducted completely online and will follow the following format mantra: Catch, measure(photo), weigh(video) and release. Without sounding too confident this format will change the sport and how its conducted in the state of California and country overall. We are leading the way for the future of bass fishing at the local level.
Community involvement:
This is gonna be a local tournament that will look to encourage local business involvement as well as promote the local tourism industry. We have excellent feedback from Bishop Chamber, Sierra wave media, the local CDFW manager, numerous businesses, as well as a local populace that has been rather encouraging to this endeavor (i couldn't have imagined the amount of local interest this has captured).
At the moment its just a small tournament but I see this developing this into a full-fledged fishing festival. Frankly i don't know what is possible for the future of Eastern Sierra Bass Fishing but I know that my main focus is too get one tournament in the books and work from there. This will require the entire communities involvement, encouragement and participation. However, before I do that I need your help and your blessing to move forward with this event.
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