BASS chapter members are our grass-roots fishermen dedicated to the future of bass fishing. They furnish manpower, money and equipment for lake clean-ups, promote catch-and-release, encourage community involvement, lobby for and against proposed legislation, introduce youth to fishing and even conduct tournament creel census reports.

Realizing that a collection of chapters could accomplish more and have a stronger voice on issues that affect the future and preservation of bass fishing we decided to unite them. In 1972 we installed 19 state federations and so began our BASS National Federation program. We currently have 51 federations in the United States, Japan, South Africa, Italy, Ontario and Zimbabwe. We will shortly add one or more provinces in Canada to that ever expanding list of federations.

The BASS Federation program is designed so BASS clubs within a state are able to communicate and cooperate with other BASS chapters and federations. The result is a group of bass-fishing "Minute Men" which can be assembled in times of need; be it an environmental problem, a youth oriented program or a community service project.

Children's love and enjoyment of fishing launched our Junior Bassmaster Chapter program in 1983. Today we have 45 junior chapters with approximately 1,000 members. Many of our junior chapters are tied-in with other great youth organizations such as Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of America and 4-H Clubs.

In 1991 we designed the Bassmaster CastingKids program to introduce kids to the fun of fishing. This program is a flip, pitch and cast competition conducted by our federation members which gives away over $20,000 in scholarships each year. To date we have reached over 1,000,000 children with the numbers increasing each year.

Our federation members also have another common interest, tournament fishing. These weekend anglers enjoy the BASS National Federation Tournament Trail because it is the only amateur circuit that leads to the prestigious Bassmasters Classic where they compete against the top 40 professional fishermen each year.

On this circuit, chapter members qualify through their state federation for a slot on their state team. The state team then competes against other state teams at one of the BASS Divisional Championships; Central, Eastern, Northern, Southern and Western. At these tournaments the contenders compete as a team for the prize money, but the top individual from each state team advances to the BASS Federation National Championship. At this National Championship tournament the contenders compete against all others and against the other contenders in their division. The top individual from each division advances to the Bassmasters Classic.

Today our federation members are actively pushing for better conservation practices, introducing kids to fishing, conducting community service projects and promoting fishing throughout their communities. Because of the hard work and dedication of our federation members the future of fishing looks bright!