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Fishing Industry Offers Enthusiastic Support

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. --(FishNLand.com)- The Professional Outdoor Media Association’s (POMA) Fishing Industry Outreach Program is focused on bolstering the relationship between the fishing industry and outdoor journalists. POMA’s efforts are being recognized and supported by the fishing community.

POMA Chairman Chris Chaffin spent several days networking with fishing industry executives at the recent American Sportfishing Association (ASA) Sportfishing Summit. Chaffin provided industry executives with information on POMA’s Fishing Industry Outreach Program and discussed ways POMA, ASA, which is a POMA Corporate Partner member, and industry leaders can work together to achieve mutually beneficial goals.

Chaffin also participated in the ASA’s Communications Committee meetings during which several suggestions on how POMA and ASA might work together were discussed.

“POMA’s program has drawn attention among industry executives,” Chaffin acknowledged, “But, POMA was most encouraged by the opportunity to determine what it can do to make its program even more valuable to the fishing industry.”

“ASA has been a long-standing member of POMA. We look forward to partnering with the organization to ensure the fishing story is told fairly and accurately and to ensure the future of this American Heritage sport.”

POMA’s Fishing Industry Outreach Committee, led by Kurt Beckstrom of North American Fisherman magazine, is also actively working on projects to bring more fishing industry media and industry professionals into the organization and to promote increased POMA member participation at ASA’s ICAST Show.

POMA is also the only outdoor journalists organization to show its support of the industry through ASA membership.

About:
The American Sportfishing Association is the sportfishing industry’s trade association, committed to looking out for the interests of the entire sportfishing community. Sportfishing Summit Report

About:
The Professional Outdoor Media Association is a group of individual communicators and Corporate Partners who believe in, defend, support and promote the heritage of hunting, fishing, shooting and traditional outdoor sports through writing, photography and other means. By doing so, members hope to educate the general public about these sports and encourage more participation in them. The organization serves the membership by helping members grow professionally, improve their skills, better their working environments and enhance their businesses.

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Alabama’s Chris Payne Keeps Lead through Day Two of Bassmaster Southern Open on Wheeler Lake

DECATUR, Ala. –(FishNLand.com)- Day One leader Chris Payne of West Blocton, Ala., maintained his lead Friday on Wheeler Lake, bringing 15 pounds, 12 ounces to the scales for a two-day total of 34 pounds, 4 ounces. Payne managed to hold off a hard-charging Elite Series pro Mark Menendez of Paducah, Ky., who is more than 3 pounds back with 31 pounds, 1 ounce.

A short rainstorm delayed the start of Day Two by almost an hour, forcing anglers to think on their feet and find the fish all over again. More rain was in the forecast for Saturday’s conclusion of the second stop on the 2009 Bassmaster Southern Open circuit.

Payne realized at the start of Day Two that he need to change gears on the fly if he wanted to maintain a solid lead heading into the final day of competition.

“The clouds pushed the fish shallow, and I started beating the bank,” said Payne, who works at a local moving company. “I was following guys who were using spinnerbaits and decided to toss something similar, but different.”

Payne’s “similar” bait was a Chatterbait, and it produced a 6-pound, 10-ounce largemouth from a tree top. The lunker turned out to be the big bass of Day Two.

“I’ve never caught a fish out of a tree before,” he said. “Everyone gets a limit here, but you need a solid kicker fish to put you over the top. When I got that fish, I felt total elation.”

Payne said he was concerned about lock-jawed, over-pressured bass for Day Three, adding that he was more concerned about the stiff competition. With an Elite pro at his heels in the standings, he had reason to be wary.

Menendez was on a slightly different pattern; he was tossing a Strike King Series 6 crankbait in Sexy Shad about 25 minutes from the launch site. Menendez’s pattern was brought about when he adjusted to the conditions Day Two presented.

“The fish are in kind of a funky mood,” he said. “They’re moving a lot now with the weather, and you have to follow them. If they go deep, you need to adjust.”

Mark McCaig of Oxford, Ala., moved up to third with a two-day total of 28 pounds, 0 ounces. Rounding out the top five were James Charlesworth of Saint Cloud, Fla., in fourth with 28-4, and Chad Hall of Dora, Ala., in fifth place with 26-7.

On the co-angler side, Clarence Pinkerton of Grant, Ala., took the lead with 15 pound, 14 ounces, bringing his two-day total to 25 pounds, 10 ounces; five pounds ahead of second-place Donald Scott of Tupelo, Miss. Scott has 20 pounds, 10 ounces, while Jeff Sullivan of Frostproof, Fla., is in third with 20 pounds, 5 ounces.

Pro anglers are vying for $45,000 cash and points toward a berth in the 2010 Bassmaster Classic on Lay Lake, set for Feb. 19-21 out of Birmingham. Complete Open division standings can be found at Bassmaster.com.

The winning co-angler of this event will receive a Triton/Mercury package worth $32,000.

Fans are invited to Saturday’s takeoff and weigh-in at Ingalls Harbor, 701 Market Street NW, Decatur. Anglers will launch their boats at 5:45 a.m. CT and the weigh-ins are scheduled to begin at 2:05 p.m. All activities are free and open to the public. The weigh-in for the second stop of the Southern Open circuit will be streamed live on Bassmaster.com, along with other unique content.

The final stop in the three-tournament Southern Open division is the Oct. 22-24 event on Santee Cooper Reservoir out of Manning, S.C.

For more information, contact BASS Communications at (407) 566-2208 or visit Bassmaster.com. Visit ESPNOutdoorsMedia.com for the latest new releases, photos and more.

The Decatur Morgan County Convention and Visitors Bureau is the tournament host.

Official Sponsors of the 2009 Bassmaster Opens: Toyota Trucks, Berkley, BOOYAH Baits, Evan Williams Bourbon, Mercury, OPTIMA Batteries, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Marine.

Supporting Sponsors of the 2009 Bassmaster Opens: Bass Pro Shops, Triton Boats.

About BASS

For more than 40 years, BASS has served as the authority on bass fishing. With its considerable multi-media platforms and expansive tournament trail, BASS is guided by its mission to serve all fishing fans. Through its industry-leading publications Bassmaster Magazine, BASS Times and Fishing Tackle Retailer and comprehensive Web properties in ESPN360.com, ESPN’s sports broadband network, Bassmaster.com, BASSInsider.com and ESPNOutdoors.com, the organization is committed to delivering content true to the lifestyle. Additionally, television programming on ESPN2 continues to provide relevant content – from tips and techniques to in-depth tournament coverage – to passionate audiences.

The organization oversees the prestigious Bassmaster tournament trail, which includes the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bassmaster Opens, Women’s Bassmaster Tour and the Bassmaster Classic, the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing. Through its grassroots network, the BASS Federation Nation, BASS sanctions more than 20,000 events annually.

BASS also offers an array of services to its more than 500,000 members while spearheading progressive, positive change on issues related to conservation and water access. The organization is headquartered in Celebration, Fla.

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Chat Live May 6 With Stetson Blaylock

Submit questions for the Lake Norman winner early!

Ste-(FishNLand.com)- In an ongoing effort to provide as much interaction between world-class anglers and fishing fans as possible, FLWOutdoors.com has announced the 27th installment of FLW Live Reel Chat. On Wednesday, May 6, at 2 p.m. Central time (3 p.m. EDT), visitors to FLWOutdoors.com will get a chance to correspond directly with Berkley pro Stetson Blaylock of Benton, Ark. – the 2009 Walmart FLW Tour winner at Lake Norman – in a special live chat-room format.

Coming off a Co-angler of the Year season in 2008, Blaylock, 21, has clearly made the adjustment to fishing as a pro. He recently became the youngest angler in history to win an FLW Tour event by outfishing many of the best bass pros in the game when the Tour visited Lake Norman in North Carolina for the National Guard Open.

With all his co-angler success and now making waves as a touring pro, Blaylock is approaching the $400,000 mark in earnings in FLW Outdoors events, where he has amassed five wins and 19 top-10s from both the front and back decks. Not only can this young gun provide fishing fans with professional insights about catching bass, he can offer a unique perspective on how to fish with pros and working your way up the ladder of competitive fishing.

How to participate in the FLW Live Reel Chat

FLW Live Reel ChatParticipation in FLW Live Reel Chat is simple. Beginning immediately, visitors to FLWOutdoors.com can log on and submit questions to the chat early in order to have the first chance at getting their questions answered. However, if that is not feasible, readers can also wait until the start of the live chat on May 6 and submit questions while the chat is ongoing.

During the chat, fishing fans will be able to pose questions directly to Blaylock about his most recent victory at Lake Norman, who his picks will be for the upcoming Tour event at Beaver Lake, what it’s like to compete on the FLW Tour or anything else that comes to mind.

In addition, bass-fishing fans who missed out on any of the previous FLW Live Reel Chats can view the archived transcripts by clicking here.

FLWOutdoors.com will offer the FLW Live Reel Chat format continually, with regularly scheduled chats occurring after the conclusion of major FLW Outdoors tournaments. Also, additional chats will be added throughout each month as anglers or celebrities become available.

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