Pine Lake Seminar a Big Success!

NBAA Directors Larry Hayes Sr. and Larry Hayes Jr. spoke recently to students at the Michigan Tech Center on Pine Lake near Delton, Michigan. The topic was fishing on Pine Lake for a variety of species from panfish to bass to bullheads. The Hayes’ are well known tournament anglers in the area, but are also expert crappie and bluegill fishermen.Jim Sprague, president and owner of both NBAA and K&E Tackle, Inc, was on hand to help with the seminar and provide tackle for the students to use when the panfish start moving into the shallows near the shores of the Tech Center.

“This is a great way to introduce fishing to students who may not have had the chance to fish in the past, and a great refresher for those that have been away from the sport for a while.” says Sprague. “We have a very active group of NBAA directors who have made themselves available for these types of seminars. Their range of knowledge is amazing. We’re thought of as just bass tournament anglers, but we have experts in every type of fishing within our ranks, from panfishing to big water trolling. We’ve already conducted several kids clinics and have been asked to be part of several talks throughout the year. We plan to step up this type of activity to include teams of pro staffers that can do talks on all types of fishing, including ice fishing, panfish, walleye, steelhead and, of course, bass.”

Hayes covered topics from knot tying to crappie tube techniques, with hands on instruction. Sprague covered panfishing using the “bug and bubble” technique. The talks were geared towards the great fishing that Pine Lake offers. The Tech Center is a well known facility to area tournament anglers. The Tech Center allows tournament weigh ins to be conducted on their more than ¼ mile long beach. Students attend the tech center for a variety of vocational training including woodworking, auto repair, printing, medical assistants, and much more.

NBAA directors have been invited back in May to put the techniques and the products to use. Look for more information on upcoming events and seminars. If you would like to get more involved in these activities, contact Jim Sprague or Jack Horning at NBAA.