Personally, I wish to acknowledge the tireless work of our Board of Directors. My greatest respect and admiration is given to Dana Seipp, Kim Rutley, Waino Anderson, J.D. Lloyd and Ron Wolfe. Without their time and effort, in no possible way could this organization flourish. I thank you all. Also, I wish to say farewell and thanks, one final time to former Board member Denny Henkel. He is a great fisherman and a better friend.

The Board wishes to express our sincere gratitude to Larry Barger and Butch Wilson for again serving as our official weighmasters. We appreciate their willingness to volunteer their time to help us with the tournament weigh-ins.

Again, thanks to all, and we look forward to seeing you next season!

We would like to share with you the results from the 1998 Tournament Of Champions held on November 1 at Liberty Reservoir and November 8 at Prettyboy Reservoir for those that were unable to make the weigh-ins.

Our congratulations go out to Glen and Ralph Fowble who were crowned as the 1998 Champions with a two-day total of 21.87 pounds. Their victory was highlighted by a 17.83 pound stringer on Day 1 which included that days Lunker Award winning 5.56 pound Largemouth.

The second place team of Tom Brown and Walt Miciche had the heaviest stringer of the second day with seven fish weighing 7.68 pounds. Their tournament total of 15 fish was also the highest for this years event and weighed 15.92 pounds.

Third place in this seasons Tournament of Champions belongs to the team of Mike Farrell and Paul Koontz. Their thirteen fish in the two day event weighed 14.85 pounds. Their catch was anchored by the day 2 Lunker Award winning 3.08 pounder.

Just missing the money was the forth place team of Gary Lippa and Ed Meushaw. This seasons most consistent team missed the third spot by a mere 36/100ths of a pound. Incredibly, Gary and Ed fished the six regular season tournaments and the Tournament of Champions in 1998 and their worst showing was a sixth place finish .

Gary and Ed had one first place finish at Loch Raven on October 11, a third place

finish at Prettyboy on June 28th and a fourth place finish at Liberty on July 19th. Fifth place finishes at Loch Raven on August 2nd and Liberty on September 20th as well as a sixth at Prettyboy on August 30th rounded out their great year.

As a part of our plans for next year, the Board has decided that we will greatly increase our efforts to secure more sponsors for events. Sponsorship does not necessarily mean a great financial contribution. And knowing that you are contributing to a non-profit organization, such as the Metro Reservoir Anglers, Inc., often makes it a little easier.

This season you could have personally sponsored a trophy for as little as $28.35. Therefore, if you are willing to sponsor a trophy please contact one of the Board members and let us know. It would be nice to have some new names on the trophies instead of the same ones year after year.

Also, we will be trying to secure corporate sponsors for our events. Again these sponsorships can be extremely affordable. This could result in increased purses, added prizes, giveaways, payoff to more places, etc. for our members next year. If you own a company, work for a company, or know of a company receptive to such promotions, as most are, please contact those same Board members. We will take care of the rest! This could be our most effective way to make this organization soar to new heights in the coming years.

kind enough to pay for one of our two tournament fees at Loch Raven. They did this in gratitude for the effort that a few of our members gave to help promote fishing to children.

The effort required was not enormous. We spent only four hours helping to show children how to tie a hook on the line, make a cast, remove a fish from a hook and handle and release the fish. In addition we measured the fish and conducted a casting accuracy contest so prizes could be awarded. All the kids are accompanied by adults. So this is not a baby-sitting exercise. What is needed and so greatly appreciated is the expertise that all of our members have that they can share with some wonderful kids.

We would like to continue supporting this worthwhile endeavor, but we could use more people. Last year, almost seventy children attended with only six of our members there to help. We need at least double the amount of volunteers to do the job right.

The event is always held in early June, at a small pond in Timonium. If you would, please indicate your willingness to help, and I can assure you the Rec. Council will again cover a tournament fee for us.

First, as was brought up at the 1998 General Meeting in February of this year, we have heard from many people that they would like to see the entry fees and/or lunker fees raised.

In response to these requests we have been reviewing past tournament fees and contemplating some new fee structures. Back in 1991 the N.A.B.A. circuit was formed and a great many of our current members were paying $100.00 per tournament for an entry fee. That fee continued in 1992. After the demise of N.A.B.A. due to the great Zebra Mussel scare of 1992, the tournament fee that became popular in 1993 was $75.00 for the entry and $10.00 for an optional lunker prize. Therefore, the schedule we have been using has remained constant for the past six years!

We are considering changing the tournament fees for 1999 and returning to a flat $100.00 entry fee that includes the lunker prize.

Second, we have heard from many that they missed not having an awards banquet at the end of this season. The Board of Directors agrees that as an organization, we lose out by not having our members gather to acknowledge the victories, share the stories of defeat and reflect on all the events in between. However, the turnout at such functions has historically been fair at best.

The time and effort needed to organize such an affair, only to have it attended by a few members led to our decision to not have an awards party this season. However, a suggestion was made that could make the awards banquet a tremendous success and we would like your viewpoint.

It has been suggested that the annual dues be raised in the amount equal to the cost of a ticket to the awards banquet. Then upon paying your dues, each person would automatically get a ticket to the banquet. Each member would have to confirm attendance at the banquet by a predetermined date.

Those that do not wish to attend, or do not respond by the cut-off date, would forfeit their ticket. For those members who would like to invite others to attend (spouses, family, friends, etc.), they would be able to purchase extra tickets at the normal cost.

By allowing us to plan well in advance we should be able to reduce costs and provide the best value for the banquet.

Enclosed with the Election Ballot and this newsletter is an Informal Survey. It is on this survey that we encourage you to give us your opinion on proposed changes. Also, take a moment to express any other concerns, voice an opinion or offer a suggestion. You can use that survey to express an interest in sponsorships, let us know you if you would be interested in serving on the Board in the future, volunteer to help the Rec. Council or if you would like to serve on any committees. Please include your name on this survey so we may contact you to answer your questions or concerns, or if we need to get more information from you for some suggestion you may have made.

All replies will be kept confidential. If you wish to make certain that your Board of Directors Ballot is kept separate from your informal survey, so as not to compromise your anonymity, return the informal survey in a separate envelope to the same address.

Remember that only 1998 members will receive invitations to the General Meeting in February 1999. If you know of any others that would want to join our organization, you must be personally able and willing to attest to their worthiness as a member. We want to keep the membership numbers steady, but we must retain the trust that each member has is his or her fellow members. Do not ask prospective members to attend the meeting. Instead, bring their name, address and telephone number with you to the meeting. New members can only be admitted upon the personal recommendation of current members and approval by the Board of Directors.