Welcome to the Maryland Bass Nation Membership Page! We want you to join the Maryland Bass Nation!
Letter from the President
Welcome to our new membership page.
We've crammed a bunch of information into this page so you can check us out and get all of your questions answered. We are actively recruiting new members to either join an existing club or to start a new one. If we can't immediately place a prospective member into a club, we've created a 'Spawners' club where we'll place you until we can find you a home. While in the 'Spawners club', you'll be eligible for all member benefits, including our Team and Weekend State Qualifying Tournaments.
There are almost 50 bass fishing clubs associated with the Maryland BASS Nation (MBN). These clubs are organized into four separate regions based on where they are located in the state. Clubs manage themselves and often run their own tournaments, have their own officers and hold elections for those officers, participate in MBN sponsored tournaments and socialize with one another.
Joining the MBN is a 2-step process. In addition to filling out an MBN member application, at some point you'll want to join B.A.S.S. Both applications are available on this webpage.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to a member of the Executive Board. We'll be glad to help.
Good Fishing!
Roger Trageser
WHY JOIN A BASS NATION CLUB?
Membership Benefits
What Do I Get For My $20 (An article written by Denis Schanberger)
What I hear a lot from some of the membership is "what do I get for my $20". My initial reaction is to say that you get to join a bass fishing organization where we basically have similar interests; tournament fishing, conservation concerns and youth development into bass fishing, and the $20 goes towards organizational maintenance – the running of the organization. But, upon closer scrutiny, one realizes not every member is equally concerned about each of these three areas. Some are intensely concerned about tournament fishing and although they may have concerns for youth and conservation, they may not wish or have the time to devote to them as well. And the same can be said for youth and conservation advocates. In my opinion, that is why this is a great organization; we have people that devote their free time (and sometimes, not free time) to the areas with which they have the most concern.
The rub, it seems, comes when one area cannot get enough help or when it appears that another area is getting to much attention. I don't think we can blame members who devote all of their attention to one area at the expense of the others. Not everyone has a balanced interest in all three areas. Yes it may be for self interest in some cases, but without that intense interest we will not be as strong of an organization as we have been in the past. I say, be glad that we have those kind of members. They are what keeps an organization from being ordinary and bland.
- For $20 you get people who will go to the political meetings (that a lot of us do not want to attend) in order to insure that our fishery is being taken care of and that our interests and concerns are being put out there.
- For $20 you get people who will spend the forty and fifty hours it may take to acquire tournament sites and attend meetings trying to hash out the concerns of all of the members on how our tournaments should be run.
- For $20 you get a chance to make a state team and be recognized by our peers and have the opportunity to move on the BASS Classic.
- For $20 you get to fish a trail with other members and not have to travel great distances.
- For $20 you get an opportunity to fish in a tournament as the best angler for that year in your club against all of the other Mr. Bass anglers from the other clubs.
- For $20 you get members that devote their time to organizing tournaments and introducing youth to the art and pleasures of competitive bass fishing.
- For $20 you get to be in a club that is in an organization that does all of these things for you even if you or your club does nothing.
- For $20 you get a national quality magazine that informs you of the federation’s yearly activities and that recognizes its members for their accomplishments.
- For $20 you get a website devoted to the federation and its members with bulletin boards to interact with your fellow members.
In the recent past we, as an organization, have sponsored many CastingKids competitions and had National CastingKid's Champions; raised and released bass in our waters; fought pollution to our waterways; fielded state qualifying tournaments, tournament trails, and state teams that represented the State of Maryland in regional tournaments against other states; successfully fought legislation that would negatively affect the fishery; had members recognized at a national level; and many other contributions to the community.
I think what you get for your $20 is "people" – people who love the sport that you love.
A famous man once said "ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country". I say "ask not what do I get for my $20, but what can I do to help make the Maryland Bass Nation better".
$20, the price of three crankbaits – I think it is a great deal.
—Denis Schanberger, MBN Secretary
Membership Application
Thank you for your interest in the Maryland BASS Nation. Please fill in the form below to the best of your ability. This form is used to best determine a club in your local area that would be a good fit for you. Once you hit the Submit button, your form will be forward to us for review, and we will call or email you back soon. You can also reach out to our Membership Director (contact information on the Contact Us page) directly to inquire about joining a club.