GOLUBOSKY CREATING NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR IOWA ANGLERS
THE BASS FEDERATION By Mitchell Forde
Gabe Golubosky
GOLUBOSKY CREATING NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR IOWA ANGLERS
Iowa Federation became 48th member to join TBF in 2023
The bass fishing bug bit Gabe Golubosky early . He started competing in tournaments at age 12 , and over the past 20 or so years , he estimates he ’ s fished with just about every bass club in his home state of Iowa .
As a result , it takes a true standout to catch Golubosky ’ s attention . But when fellow Iowa native Jordan Hirt took home the Living Your Dream Prize Package after winning The Bass Federation ’ s 2022 National Championship on Lake Conroe , Golubosky took notice . Then , the following year , Des Moines native Chad Garton followed suit by topping the
co-angler standings at the 2023 National Championship on Lake of the Ozarks .
Prior to Hirt ’ s win , Golubosky had never heard of TBF — not a shock considering Iowa didn ’ t have a state chapter ( Hirt and Garton had both qualified for the National Championship through Nebraska ). But after seeing the lucrative prize packages dished out at the National Championship , he needed to find out more .
So , in March of 2023 , he traveled to Missouri to compete in a qualifier event for the National Semi-Finals . Upon experiencing the event and learning more about the straightforward path to the National Championship , he knew he wanted to bring the Federation to Iowa .
“ My first question coming back to Iowa was , why don ’ t we have this ?” Golubosky said .
He wasted little time in making it happen . In April of 2023 , Golubosky joined forces with a few other Iowa anglers to establish a TBF chapter in their home state . By mid-June , they held their first qualifying tournaments , two separate events on the same weekend on Lake Rathbun .
“ I reached out to TBF national office , and ironically there had been a couple other guys in the state that , the stars just kind of aligned ,” Golubosky
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2024 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 75