2020 NATIONAL
SEMI FINALS KICK
OFF IN OKLAHOMA
TBF District 6, which is comprised
of top anglers from Oklahoma and
Arkansas, held the first of 22 TBF
National Semi Finals of 2020 on June
20-21. The event was hosted this year
on sprawling Lake Eufaula in eastern
Oklahoma.
Each state sends its top 10 percent
in adult participation to a close-tohome
district National Semi Final to
compete not only for state bragging
rights as district champions but to see
who will represent their home state at
the 2021 TBF National Championship.
The top boater and the top co-angler
from each state federation advances.
Kevin Brown and Wyatt Ryan
In overall state standings, Arkansas’
best topped the Oklahoma squad in
total weight and took home the district
bragging rights for 2020. In the individual
standings, and advancing to the
2021 championship, Arkansas’s top
boater was Kevin Brown from Hot
Springs, Arkansas and Oklahoma’s was
Wyatt Ryan from Ada, Oklahoma.
Advancing from the co-angler
ranks were Arkansas’ Jonathan
Dotson from Dover, Arkansas and
Steve Carlon from Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma. Congratulations to all.
TBF CHAMPIONSHIPS: THE EARLY DAYS
In 1980, the state
federation presidents
voted on a new program
that took effect in
1981, which led to a lot
of change and growth
in the first several years
of the decade. There
were only five federation
“divisions” nationwide,
and all states
were divided up and
assigned into one these
five divisions: Eastern,
Western, Southern,
Central and Northern.
In more recent
years, the federations
voted to add new divisions
to bring the total
up to seven, which
included the addition of
the Mid-Atlantic Division
and a restructuring of
the 10 westernmost
states to form the
Northwest and
Southwest divisions,
which is how it remains
today.
There was no TBF
Championship from
1981 through 1987.
Instead, each division
advanced its top angler
from a divisional championship
tournament,
which, at that time,
allowed winners to
advance to the
Bassmaster Classic, as
the federations were
aligned with B.A.S.S. up
until 2006. Here’s who
advanced from each in
those years:
1981 –
Eastern: Robert Moyer, Pennsylvania
Southern: Blake Honeycutt, North Carolina
Central: Johnny Talley, Louisiana
Northern: Paul Converse, Michigan
Western: Renaud Pelletier, Washington
1982 –
Eastern: James Dudley, Virginia
Southern: Van Kennedy, Georgia
Central: Danny Ashley, Arkansas
Northern: Larry Ummel, Indiana
Western: John Lawson, Washington
1983 –
Eastern: Phil Hunt, Connecticut
Southern: Roger Farmer, Georgia
Central: Alfred Williams, Mississippi
Northern: O.T. Fears, Michigan
Western: Dan Westfall, Arizona
1984 –
Eastern: Dick Garlock, New York
Southern: Larry Lazoen, Florida
Central: Charlie Pierce, Kansas
Northern: Robert Hetz, Michigan
Western: Milo Hardt, Arizona
1985 –
Eastern: Dave Hall, Pennsylvania
Southern: John Hunt, Tennessee
Central: Grayson Tobler, Arkansas
Northern: Jerry Harmon, Illinois
Western: Jeff Boyer, Washington
1986 –
Eastern: Danny Correia, Massachusetts
Southern: David Yarbrough, Alabama
Central: Harold Sanders, Mississippi
Northern: Kenneth Pine, Indiana
Western: Jesse Lane, New Mexico
1987 –
Eastern: Tim Sullivan, Delaware
Southern: Bruce Ellison, South Carolina
Central: Gary Henderson, Arkansas
Northern: Gary Hardwick, Indiana
Western: Ward Cole, Arizona
Jonathan Dotson and Steve Carlon
Contact TBF: Send us your club stories. If you have a question or want to know more
about TBF, which is YOUR organization, drop us a line at [email protected].
Above all else, thank you for being a member of The Bass Federation. n
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