The 2013 B.A.S.S. Nation Southern Divisional has begun on Douglas Lake in Eastern Tennessee. Follow all of the action, including live, daily, weigh-ins here.

Event information can be found here.

Photo: Tyler Reed (Bassmaster.com)

North Carolina
Back row: Randy Parker, Reggie Guffey, Brian Fritts, Roger Hoover, Jeremy Sabo, Dustin Hagwood. Center row: Randy Groves, Jeff Farrell, Shane Lineberger, Cory Leonard, Steve Hildebran, Scott Hamrick, Chuck Murray. Kneeling: Lenny Smathers, Rob Digh, Brock Colby Johnson, Ethan James Howard.

Location: Kerr Lake

Ramp: County Line Ramp

Times: 6:30 AM to 3:30 PM – (Be checked in and have your livewell checked at least 15 minutes prior to blast off).

Other: Tim Gardner will collect the entry fees in the absence of Randy Parker. Danny Hayes will check livewells.

Father-Son Teams On Top

Lake Gaston was the site of the first tournament of the Five County Bassmasters 2013 season. Water temperatures in the upper forties and low fifties made it difficult for all but one of the eight boat field to catch a limit of fish. The only team to accomplish that goal was the first place father and son team of Danny and Ryan Hayes. They caught a limit of five fish with a final weight of 11.48 pounds. Danny also caught the lunker which weighed in at 3.90 pounds. In second place with four fish that weighed 8.33 pounds was Joey and Wayne Worley. Both father and son teams credited crankbaits for the majority of their catch. Mike Brinchek and Tim Gardner finished third with 5.29 pounds.

Click for Full Results.

NCBFN member Jeff Farrell has agreed to run a new team trail focusing on Jordan, Harris and Falls Lakes. Lets support this trail. We will also be offering a summer/fall trail focusing on Kerr, Gaston, and a river. More to come on that.

Contact Jeff Farrell for an early boat number. Chuck Murray NCBFN Pres.

View the tournament trail information, including an entry form by clicking here.

March 8, 2013

Dear North Carolina BoatU.S. Member:

The North Carolina General Assembly is considering legislation that would significantly increase registration fees on recreational boats to raise revenue for coastal dredging projects. BoatU.S. is dedicated to preserving access to waterways but S.B. 58 places an unfair financial burden on recreational boaters while ignoring the responsibility of commercial fishing boats and for-hire charter fishing and headboats.

S.B. 58 will now go to the Senate Finance Committee and could be heard as early as Tuesday, March 12. Please contact your State Senator today and respectfully urge them to vote “No” on S.B. 58.
Here’s why:

• Boaters who solely boat on the state’s lakes and rivers will be paying for projects they will never use.
• The fee for a 20ft boat would jump 275% for a 3-year registration. For a 40ft boat, a 3-year registration will skyrocket 1025%!
• SB 58 would make the Tarheel State the most expensive state in which to register a boat of its coastal border states.

Please let your State Senator know that you oppose S.B. 58 as drafted and ask them to consider a more reasonable way to pay for dredging North Carolina’s coastal inlets and essential waterways.

Click here to take action

Thank you for being a BoatU.S. Member and for your consideration of this very important issue.

Sincerely Yours,
Margaret B. Podlich
President, BoatU.S

703-461-2878 x3201

Details regarding the 2013 Boys & Girls Club tournament event have been released. The event will take place on June 1st 2013.

$3000 to 1st Place and $2000 to 2nd Place guaranteed.

View and download a copy here.

Richard Wayne “Ricky” Ballance, Jr., 26, of Maple, NC died tragically in a boating accident in Currituck County. Born in Pasquotank, he was the son of Patricia White Ballance and the late Richard Wayne Ballance, Sr. and was the husband of Jennifer Parks Ballance. He worked for Lee Electrical Construction and was the owner of Cape Lookout Lures. He was a member of Sandy Creek Fishing Club in Louisburg, NC, the NC BASS Federation State Team, the NC Junior Simmental Beef Cattle Association, the NC State Bass Pack Club and the Nags Head Surf Fishing Club. He was a former member of the 4-H of Camden County and graduated from Northeastern High School where he played on the tennis team and later graduated from North Carolina State University Agriculture Institute.

Other survivors include his sister, Tori Russell and husband, Tommy and their children, Lainie, Tommy and McKenzie of Wilmington, NC; maternal grandparents, Donald R. “Tootsie” and Shirley White of Nixonton and paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Ballance of Maple; special family friend, Ken Winslow; and many more aunts, uncles and cousins who treasured him dearly. In addition to his father, he was preceded in death by his grandfather, Olie Ballance.

A memorial service will take place Friday, January 18, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. at Fountain of Life, 1107 Highway 17 South, Elizabeth City, NC with the Rev. Wayne Wood and Pastor Hans Hess officiating. Burial will be in West Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery. The family will receive friends Thursday evening at Twiford Memorial Chapel from 7:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m., following the service at the church and at other times at the residence. Memorial donations may be made to the Ricky Ballance Fund, Wesley United Methodist Church, 152 Alder Branch Rd., Shiloh, NC 27974. Twiford Memorial Chapel, 405 East Church Street, Elizabeth City, NC is assisting the Ballance family. Condolences may be expressed to the family at www.twifordfh.com.

USCG suspends search for missing man

CURRITUCK, N.C. (WAVY) – The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for a 23-year-old man overdue from a canoe trip in North Carolina.

According to the Coast Guard, watchstanders from Elizabeth City were looking for Ricky Balance of Coinjock. Balance’s family contacted watchstanders Sunday evening after he didn’t return from a trip in Coinjock Bay at 4 p.m.

“The Coast Guard issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast and launched aboard a 25-foot Response Boat-Small from Station Elizabeth City and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Elizabeth City Sunday,” the Coast Guard said in a release.

The Currituck Police Department, volunteers, family and friends of Balance were helping with the search. Stay with WAVY.com for more on this developing story.

http://www.fox43tv.com/dpps/news/north_carolina/coast-guard-search-for-rick-balance_5190977

Please keep Ricky and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

The final event for the 2012 Five County Bassmaster season took place on Shearon Harris reservoir. Randy Parker, with youth member Hunter Mizeur at his side, took the top spot in this final event to record his first win as a Five County member. Randy described his method of catch as “Junk Fishing”. “I caught them on crankbaits, a spoon, a shakey head, and an umbrella rig” said Parker. Unable to compete in several events midseason due to shoulder surgery, Parker rebounded solidly with this year-end win.

Taking the second spot was Tim Gardner and Jeff Narron. Gardner and Narron’s catch all came on deep diving crankbaits near secondary points that held large pods of baitfish. The duo caught several within the lake’s slot limit, but were unable to find any large fish above the 20” mark.

Rounding out the top five positions included third place, father-son tandem, “Chief” and Chris Chavez. Danny Hayes managed to claim the fourth position while Ed Collier and Josh Sutton took the fifth spot.

Claiming the title of Angler of the Year for the second time is Tim Gardner. Going into the final event, Gardner only had one angler that could ruin his shot at consecutive AOY titles. Alan Sudman needed to have a good showing and swing for the fences to take the title away from Gardner. With the large fish that are capable of being netted in this lake, Gardner knew anything was possible. Yet, after a long and nervous day, Gardner claimed his title after Sudman was unable to find the home run he was looking for.