Windy was the result followed by a hurracane and a couple of Texas size Tsumnami waves thrown in for good measure.MWA will post results soon.

How did what ???????? I know fish were caught because I limited out so I know there were fish to be had

Tim Wyatt and CM Wyatt won first place with 17.98 lbs. NSBA
I will post pictures on my site www.ladyangler.com as soon as I get the photos developed.

I will be glad to answer the questions on Lake Texoma being an Oklahoma Division and I will make no bones to call anyone who says the NSBA have changed the rules in mid stream as being 100% wrong. I have the facts to prove this statement, including copies of last years magazine with the schedule and results.

Lake Texoma has been an Oklahoma Division from its inception, through last year, and continuing this year as well. The NSBA divisions are by Lake. We do not split a lake according to its host. Last year the NSBA put on 2-tournaments out of High-port Marina and that is on the Texas side and they were still Oklahoma Divisional tournaments. It is up to the NSBA to determine what divisions we will establish and what lakes we will participate on. Member thoughts and desires are welcomed, but the decision is ours. We make this decision based on what is in the best interest of the NSBA and our relationship with both the sponsors and the fishermen.

Some of you have been so quick to judge and make your opinions and negatives well known. You say that you feel that the NSBA REGION-III is an Ugly cousin. You want the REGION-III to be treated like other regions, yet you also want to be treated different too. Well, you can not say you want to be treated like REGION-I and REGION-II in one respect and different in another. I am getting very tired of those of you who are so critical and negative. There is a difference in asking a question and in being negative about everything. For the question askers, feel free to ask and I will always try and answer them. For the naysayer, if you do not like the NSBA then simply do not participate.

As stated above, the NSBA has always identified Lake Texoma as an Oklahoma division and as such it would not matter which side of the lake a tournament was hosted. Likewise, it does not matter who the tournament host is, or where the tournament weigh-in is. If we ever decide to change this to a Texas Division, it would be a Texas division even if the OSA or TFF hosted the tournament. This is no different than what we have done, and are currently doing in REGION-I and REGION-II. For example, on the SC/GA border where the Appalachian Striper Club (a GA club) hosts a tournament on Lake Hartwell and the tournament is done in Hartwell Georgia yet the lake is a South Carolina Division. On Lake Thurmond, a tournament hosted by Striper Kings (a South Carolina Club) is still a Georgia Division. On the VA/NC border on Kerr Reservoir, a tournament hosted by the Tar Heel Striper Club (a NC club) is still a Virginia Division and on the GA/AL border on Weiss Lake, a tournament hosted by the Coosa Basin Striper Club (a GA club) is still an Alabama division.

The NSBA sets up its divisions by Lake and pays 100% of the expenses for the trophies for each division and state. Our divisions are set up to promote striped bass fishing and membership at both the club and NSBA level. There is no way we can afford to have a lake split and be 2-divisions.

Although the NSBA Divisional structure is not a question of what is fair for one club or another, those that do the hard work are rewarded by our divisional system setup. Here is how! I have been told that the OK folks do not like to come down and fish the Texoma Lake. Therefore, the TSA folks have the advantage of winning the Oklahoma State Championship over the OK folks. To qualify for the Oklahoma title, you have to fish at least 2-divisions in that state. Oklahoma has only 2-division, Lake Texoma and Skiatook. Therefore, the TX folks can fish both Texoma tournaments and then go up to one (or both) of the Skiatook tournaments and have a chance of taking the OK State Championship trophy back to Texas. Imagine the effect of this over the long term. Also, if the Texas Striper Association decides to payout 80% of the entry fees and keeps 20% for TSA business, all the Oklahoma folks that fish on Texoma are giving 20% of their money to TSA folks. Additionally, the NSBA has sent the TSA over $800 in door prizes for the TSA/NSBA trail since they were doing so many tournaments including the Texoma tournaments. Therefore, as I said above, all the hard work by the TSA is rewarded to TSA for hosting the Texoma Divisional Tournaments.

Again, thank you to those who have supported us in the past. I have personally invested a lot of time and money in this region. Concerning the emails because 75% of my time is spent traveling I can have some time before answering them. Still that is the best way to respond to the NSBA with your concerns.

Warren Turner
President, NSBA

Warren,
Calm down, your loosing it. What happened last year is not this year and should have no effect on this year and the TSA and the tournaments set up by the TSA. It sounds like your giving OSA, Lake Texoma so they can have enough divisions to give them status in Division III and in doing so are screwing the Texas tournament anglers. If OSA wants Texoma as a tournament lake, then they need to use it and invest in tournaments on Texoma. Texas does not want to fish Skitook and evidentally OSA does not want to fish Texoma. Your suggesting that the TSA members take the OK State title away from the OSA members, that's not right and definitly not something a Texan would do, we like our Okie friends.
It also sounds like you don't even like having a Division III. The door prizes you gave the TSA were given to you by the sponsors, so I don't think you are out any real money and 2 small plaques for each tournament isn't a big expense, what $30.00 a tournament.
I think if you would show more interest in working things out by having a division on Texoma for OSA, even if they don't hold a tournament and have a division for the TSA that they would appreciate and hold tournaments would be more practical for everyone, don't you. All it is to you is another division and a little more paper work. If OSA does not hold a tournament you won't have to furnish plaques, so you won't spend any money and everyone is happy. Think about how much Texas could possibly have in tournament turnout in the future and work to help that, not chew on everyone here because they don't understand why a Texas held tournament on Texoma is not a Texas tournament. I don't see Oklahoma anywhere in Texas or any OK signs at Lowes, never have, there on the other side of the lake where our Oklahoma friends are, we like Oklahoma and would fish a OSA tournament if they held it on Texoma, even if it was held on the OK side of the lake.
TexasTwister

Warren, I think that was a posting that you should have saved a draft of and then thought about the next day before sending.

Your words were not what we would expect from the President of any professional organization. At least, that's not what I expected to have read from you.

If your response to the personal email that I sent you is "don't participate if you don't like it", then I guess you just made my decision for me.

I guess the TSA could post and give the statistics.

But, just out of curosity, Randy, were there any teams at the Texoma tournament on 22 May from Oklahoma?

WoW!!!

I just tuned into this Topic and looks as though temperatures are rising. There is no reason to get upset. We at the TSA appreciate what the NSBA has done to promote the sport. The NSBA has also helped the TSA promote it's organization. We just think that the Texoma event should be ours as there is no involvement from the OK side. The OK or for that matter any state can attend if they wish and we will attend some of their events. We did have one Arkansas attendee at this last event, but no OSA folks as far as I could tell. Maybe if its too late to make the change for this year, this change should happen next year? Whatever we call it this year, lets not forget the fun of the sport.

MWA

I think the NSBA is a fine organization and has helped the TSA greatly. Sadly, I have not got to fish one tourney yet, since the TSA thing on CC a couple of years ago. In the infancy of anything, there are going to be some growing pains.

I am all for striper fishing getting some much deserved attention, but not negative attention. It will never be BASS, but heck why not give it a run.

I suggest we all get thru the growing pains and see what happens.

This is probably the last post I will have time to make on this topic. Hopefully I can explain myself better and all will understand my position.

First, concerning my post above, I am sorry if you feel that my addressing the facts in a straight forward manner is wrong, but I do not. This string of posts was twisting negatively like a Texas Twister due to some false information by some people. People who make it a habit to shoot from the hip and make quick comments. I addressed that false information directly and to the point and proved the poster wrong. I made a statement for the negative people to make up their own minds to participate or not, and made a comment to differentiate between the people with questions and the people that are continuously negative. Now I will say it again, if all you have to say is negative, if you are not part of the solution but just want to contribute to the twister, then it might be better for you to put your time and energy elsewhere. Neither the genuine positive and progressive people on this board, nor I have time for your continuous negative attitude. On the other hand, as I said above, if you have questions and want to point out your opinions, the email system is the better way to handle this. Again, this may be blunt and to the point for the negative people, but I must be so to give the others with questions and concerns their just time.

I have gotten two emails on this subject as of today and I responded to those people by going to my aol account which takes a long time. My NSBA business account is having problems and I cannot respond to emails from it. However, I can receive emails on it. I get close to 150 business emails a day and with traveling about 75% of my time, I spend into the late hours trying to get to all of them.

We are all adults here. If you have a question and I do not give you the answer you like, that is OK too! But, I will answer the questions as best I can and hope you understand the NSBA position. Here is the rational behind the divisional structure:

The NSBA does not care who the tournament host is when we make Divisional assignments. Nor is the location of the tournament weigh-in an NSBA concern. I am trying to explain that the NSBA has a regional layout that places Lakes as Divisions and the NSBA determines which state those divisions are assigned. This is an NSBA structure ands is of no importance to the TSA, the OSA, or the non-club member. This divisional structure is only important to the NSBA, our assignments for State titles and trophies, and for our members who are trying to win those titles and trophies. The TSA is free to have its own points system and use Texoma as a Texas tournament for TSA purposes.

It is surprising to me that my attempts to show that all regions are set up the same have caused such a problem. SC, GA, AL, VA, NC, LA, TX, and OK all have lakes that border the states. We spent over $9,000 on trophies in 2003 and plan to spend about the same this year. The Lake is a division and our computer software system cannot assign a division across multiple states. This was the way the NSBA set up the software 3-years ago and to make a change would require a major software modification and cost a lot of money. This is an NSBA points system, the costs are ours, the costs are real, and I cannot justify doing it because a few people want it differently. It has nothing to do with the TSA. It is an NSBA issue. The TSA asked to do the tournaments on Texoma for us and we agreed. The relationship is a mutually beneficial one where both organizations win. Concerning the product the NSBA sent to the TSA, this was product sent to us to sell and use to pay for their advertisements on TV and in the magazine. These products represent real dollars to off set real costs for printing and TV time to the NSBA and their use with the TSA was a calculated investment with that organization for a relationship that we hope will be long and fruitful.

Toledo Bend is a LA division. If the TSA ever asks the NSBA to sanction a tournament there it will be as a LA division. The NSBA was planning on conducting the Texoma tournaments ourselves when the TSA contacted us and offered to do them for us. At that time it was an OK division, and today it is still an OK division. The poster that made this string of posts turn negative posted erroneously that we made changes in the middle of the game. My post was to set the record straight. I believe hat it did!

Axman9, at no time did I say "don't participate if you don't like it", I will quote what I posted earlier. �For the question askers, feel free to ask and I will always try and answer them. For the naysayer, if you do not like the NSBA then simply do not participate.� The naysayer is the person who never has anything to contribute to the building of anything, just always willing to try and pull down the foundation a little at a time so the structure falls down on top of us all.

Mike, why should the TSA have any concern in the NSBA structure for NSBA points? The TSA is our partner in the tournaments. Other than the sanctioning fees, does the NSBA get any money from the TSA for these tournaments? Why should the TSA be concerned if the OSA participates in NSBA Texoma tournaments? The NSBA is responsible for the structure. The NSBA is responsible for the awards and trophies. The NSBA is responsible for the costs of administering the program.

The NSBA concern is in getting the divisional tournaments offered so that our members can participate in tournaments at their leisure. This is our structure for our NSBA people and there are no state boundaries within it, only divisional titles, state titles, regional titles, and trophies for any NSBA member to win regardless of which state they call home. Our plan is to get people interested in crossing the lines to have fun and to participate. If this plan works, then the host organization stands to benefit for that participation. In some of our REGION-I events, some tournament hosts have made several thousand dollars for the participation of our members. What is so wrong with our plan?

I can only hope that you try and understand our position,

Warren Turner
President, NSBA

Warren, thanks for your responses. We know you are busy and you've worked hard and we appreciate all that you've done. Truly, we do.

But, I quote from your earlier posting: "For the naysayer, if you do not like the NSBA then simply do not participate."

If that doesn't say "don't participate if you don't like it", then I apologize for my ignorance.

Warren,

Did you buy a Red Boat ?

Axman9 and others,

I will try and keep this one short and simple (Yeah right! If you can believe that I have some prime TX grazing land south of the TX Gulf coast!) since your post updated on my screen while I was looking at this string this morning.

To quote a quote:
""Axman9, at no time did I say "don't participate if you don't like it", I will quote what I posted earlier. �For the question askers, feel free to ask and I will always try and answer them. For the naysayer, if you do not like the NSBA then simply do not participate.� ""

Then I went on to try and describe who I was talking to when I made the original post by defining a Naysayer. "The naysayer is the person who never has anything to contribute to the building of anything, just always willing to try and pull down the foundation a little at a time so the structure falls down on top of us all."

I will break it down a little more to try and get my meaning across. I wrote "if you do not like the NSBA" I did not write, if you do not like what I am saying. A very devoted NSBA member can like the NSBA and want to build it up and yet disagree with what I say, especially if they do not see the whole picture as I see it. I am always concerned with the thoughts and concerns of NSBA members, especially those that want to build, even if what they see in their minds to build is not what I am seeing. Hopefully, I as the NSBA prime contractor can get all of the NSBA sub-contractors on the same blueprint and building together and thus singing from the same sheet of music. Even then, a sub-contractor may bring to me a new idea that causes a design change so that the end result is better than the original idea. The naysayer, on the other hand, is out there pulling out a brace here and a brick there with no intention to build.

Another example, I read my Bible and hope that I see the big picture of it. To me it is a Love letter to Gods children, written by man but inspired by God. Yet, a person came to my doorstep last week and wanted to point out the errors in it by picking a verse here and a verse there. Many times the same thing happens in these message board strings. Because of this, I find myself having to write a book with paragraphs to explain and then sub-paragraphs to explain the explanation of what I am trying to say.

All you have to do is go back and read the entire string and also go back and read any other string about the NSBA on this forum and you will know what I am talking about. The NSBA has its own forum for NSBA members to write and discuss issues concerning the NSBA. This is the TFF, not the NSBA forum. The naysayer is a habitual problem. They pop off with wrong information. Many readers read their comments and then go off and never comeback to hear the "rest of the story". Then later on down the road they hear someone say for example, Have you heard of the NSBA, and they say, I don't know about that group. I remember reading somewhere sometime back that they just make up rules and then change them as they go, and I do not want to be involved with anything like that.

Now let me try this one again using a different approach. The NSBA Competition Point's structure is an NSBA concern and is designed to promote striped bass fishing nationwide. Although we hope our relationship with the TSA works well to build up Texas, our design is larger than Texas. Yes, I know that nothing is larger than they grow them in Texas, but just humor me here. Our Competition Point's system is for all NSBA members no matter where they reside. Our Competition Point's system is not designed to cheat anyone from one side of a lake over another side of a lake. It is designed to promote striped bass fishing nationwide. It is designed to be positive and promote the NSBA and participation in our tournaments. If we accomplish this, the tournament hosts, such as the TSA, will benefit with our partnership. It is designed to work together in the entire network structure. The fact that the NSBA has assigned Texoma to Oklahoma for NSBA State Point's competition is set up to benefit any NSBA member and is not set up to specifically help the OSA in any way. It is needed for the NSBA to promote itself to our sponsors.

Let me explain this deeper while comparing each NSBA REGION at the NSBA State competition level. In this string, a person with a question was steered into the wrong direction as this string spun negative. The end result was that the NSBA REGION-III was compared to an UGLY cousin. Then in another post on the string, a follow-up said that they did not think I wanted a REGION-III, and even made statements that what I was promoting between the TX and Okie fishermen was wrong in some way. This, I believe was a simple misunderstanding from those posters. However, the string had already spun negative and the wrong message was getting out there to readers, especially those that never come back to the string again. What I was promoting was friendly competition between NSBA friends from across state lines. My post was to tell the REGION-III NSBA members that each region is set up under the same structure. There is no UGLY cousins here, just three regions of NSBA competition. The trophies we give out are nice special glass trophies with a striped bass carved out of it. The NSBA State trophy is over $200 each. The NSBA Divisional trophy is over $80 each. We want NSBA members to want these trophies and to cross state lines if necessary to win one. At the current time, the leader in South Carolina is from Georgia, the leader of North Carolina is from Virginia, the leader of Oklahoma is from Texas, and for the first time in 3-years, the leader of Tennessee is from Tennessee. There has been a lot of publicity generated in Tennessee covering the TN team that is set to bring that trophy and title back home to TN for 2004. The local teams are pushing for that publicity. The end result is that this local newspaper coverage is good for the local TN clubs and for the NSBA. This kind of friendly competition and positive publicity is what I was trying to use to say while at the same time I was saying that the TSA was being compensated in a positive and productive manner for their hosting the Texoma tournaments. No cheating anyone out of anything is going on here.

On the other hand, someone turns around and indicates that the NSBA is cheating the Texas NSBA members because the Texoma Division is an Oklahoma division. I still do not see it that way at all. The NSBA Point�s structure is there to reward all NSBA members based on how and where they compete. It is positive and all parties and members should be proud of the association and partnerships we have.

Maybe this time I have used some different examples to explain myself better. Again, the comment on naysayer was intended for the trouble makers, not the question askers. I hope this post is taken in the positive manner I intended.

Warren Turner
President, NSBA

Whats the difference tween a "question asker " and a "trouble maker "
My guess is that when one asks a question that is tough or someone else doesnt like that makes him a trouble maker as oppesed to a question asker...

"perception is reality "

If people in region 3 think they are "ugly cousins " then who's to say they are wrong

Bug-A-Bass, hush!

I like that explanation a lot better then the first one and there isn't the frustration that was in the first one.
I still think that if a Texas group holds a tournament at Texoma, then it is a Texas Region or Texas Tournament. If the OSA does not want to fish Texoma, why are you pushing the lake on them. There are other Oklahoma lakes with Striper or Hybrids, why not list those lakes for the second Division you need for Oklahoma to have a State Tournament? Some of them are: Grand, Eufaula, Keystone, Ft. Cobb, Altus-Lugert, Ponca, Foss, Canton, Ellsworth, Bell Cow, Tom Steed, Ft. Supply, American Horse, Birch, Great Salt Plains, Lake Carl Blackwell, Sooner Lake, Arcadia, Draper, Waurika, Overhol serand Kaw. Then even the OSA might benifit. How's this for a positive solution.