FLW Tour pro Shane LeHew (shown here with Shad Schenck and Hank Parker) made his competitive bass fishing
debut by winning the TBF Junior World Championship in 2007 – the second year of the TBF-FLW partnership.
More recently he was featured on the cover of FLW Bass Fishing (below).
t
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
tbF-FlW allIanCe beneFItS baSS angleRS eVeRyWheRe
he long-running strategic partnership between The
Bass Federation and FLW continues to benefit bass
anglers from all walks of life and levels of competition.
“FLW was founded on the principle of providing anglers
with affordable, professionally run, close-to-home, weekend
tournaments with opportunities for advancement to increas-
ingly higher levels of competition,” says FLW President of
Operations Kathy Fennel. “Partnering with TBF was a natural
extension of this grassroots philosophy, and together we
have helped countless anglers fish their way onto the world
stage. We are true partners in fishing, working together to
recruit, retain and reactivate anglers for the benefit of the
entire fishing community.”
“Perhaps the biggest thing that makes this relationship
so strong is how much alike both organizations are in our
philosophies,” adds TBF President and CEO Robert
Cartlidge. “FLW and TBF both put our anglers first, are hon-
est and above board, and share a deep
commitment to conservation and youth
programs.”
According to Cartlidge, one of the
great successes of the partnership is the
way it has served as a gateway for anglers
to advance up the ranks.
“The strength of this partnership is evi-
denced by anglers fishing their way from
the TBF Junior Program, High School
Fishing and TBF adult programs to the
Forrest Wood Cup and everything in
between,” he says. “A number of anglers
have advanced through the TBF adult side
and done well on the FLW Tour and the
BFL, including winning the BFL All-
American and placing very high at the
Forrest Wood Cup. But we’re just now
may-june 2018 I flWfIshIng.com
beginning to see the effects of the TBF-FLW partnership
come full circle, as anglers who fished the TBF Junior
Program early on in the partnership are becoming a major
presence on the Tour.”
Cartlidge offers examples to support his point: In 2006,
Jacob Wheeler fished the TBF Junior World Championship
in Alabama. He went on to fish the Tour and won the Cup in
2012. In 2007, Shane LeHew won the Junior World
Championship. Now a full-time Tour pro, LeHew was fea-
tured on FLW Bass Fishing magazine’s January 2018 cover. In
2008, Justin Atkins fished the Junior World Championship.
He’s now the reigning Cup champ.
The relationship between the world’s largest tournament-
fishing organization and the nation’s oldest broad-based
grassroots fishing, youth and conservation organization
dates back a dozen years.
In January 2006 the organizations announced “a historic
alliance that ensures a vibrant and inde-
pendent future for Federation chapters
and members, while further elevating
FLW’s standing as the world’s leading tour-
nament-fishing organization.”
At that time, an overwhelming majority
of Federation presidents voted to accept a
proposal from FLW, presented by FLW
Chairman & CEO Irwin Jacobs during a
Jan. 8 meeting in Orlando, Fla.
“After our meeting, it was clear what
the TBF state presidents wanted to do,”
Cartlidge recalls. “To a person, they felt
at home with FLW. They could tell that
we were among people of like values,
people of like minds, people who share
our concern for the nation’s youth and
conservation.”
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