Big Lake Bass Team Information

The Big Lake Bass Team is made up of both Junior and High School Teams.  Our Junior program is designed for students in grades 2nd through 7th grade and our High School team is focused on students in grades 8th through 12th grade.

There are competitive Junior and High School Teams, but our primary focus is to teach students how to be successful anglers and stewards of the outdoors.

• Junior Teams fish the B.A.T.S. tournament series www.mnbats.org
• High School Teams fish the MNSATT tournament series www.mnsatt.org

Parent / Coach Information Meeting

January 26th and February 23rd

Big Lake High School - Lecture Hall

4 - 5 pm - Parent Meeting

5 - 6 pm - Coach Meeting

Register online - you can pay online or bring checks or cash

2025 Season Dates

Our Season starts March 16th and runs until August 11th. 

Indoor Practices

Big Lake High School - Lecture Hall, Cafeteria

5-7PM

• March 16 and 30
• April 13 and 27

Outdoor Practices

• Monday and Wednesday
• May 13 - August 10
  • No Practice Week of May 26 or June 30

Most activities, local lake events and tournaments are finished in August.

Registration is DUE by March 16, 2025.   Late registrations are accepted, but late registrations will not receive a fishing jersey.

Registration fee is $150

• $200 Volunteer fee (1 per family)
• $200 Raffle check (1 per student)

Registration Includes:

• Team Fishing Jersey
• Team Hat
• TBF/SAF annual dues
• MNSATT High School in-person tournament fees
• Bassinators Junior in-person tournament fees
• SAO Virtual Tournament fees
• Team Product Discounts from Participating Manufacturers and Sponsors
• In-house Tournaments, Competitions and Prizes
• Awesome fishing and volunteer opportunities!

Coaching / Fishing / Mentoring / Competition

Big Lake Bass Team provides opportunities to fish, learn and grow as an angler and a young adult.  Our coaching philosophy is that we help everyone from novice to more experienced fisherman.  This includes the coaches, boat captains, and students.  We do this by:

• Meetings and Training Sessions 
  • Held at the High School cafeteria, we focus on safety, professionalism, environment and fishing tips/techniques.   At times we are fortunate enough to have industry experts and professional fisherman come in and teach.
• Local Lake Fishing and Practice
  • We will be utilizing our coaches to provide hands on fishing sessions concentrating on presentation, lure selection, technique, lake presence, and tournament preparation.
• Local Lake Fishing Competitions!
  • This is a friendly competition with prizes for big bass and best 5 fish / boat. Members with boaters safety certificate can drive their own boats.
  • FishDonkey is used for our monthly virtual tournaments
  • May 11 - June 10, June 11 - July 10 and July 11 - August 10
• Fishing Tournaments
  • Virtual Tournaments - We participate in the SAO virtual tournament trail.  This is open to all Big Lake Bass Team student anglers.  We encourage all of our student anglers to participate in the SAO virtual tournaments.  www.studentangler.org
  • In-Person Junior - Our Junior student anglers will have the option to fish in the Bassinator Junior Tournament Trail.  These are Student Angler Federation (TBF/SAF) sanctioned events.
  • In-Person High School - We fish the Minnesota Student Angler Tournament Trail (MNSATT). These are Bass Federation / Student Angler Federation (TBF/SAF) sanctioned tournaments. Winners can advance to State and National Championship Tournaments. Anglers must have an adult (Boat Captain) with them during these events. www.mnsatt.org

Expectations:

• Attend registration meeting and complete registration form and pay registration fee. 
• Attend team meetings and training sessions. 
• Volunteer for a minimum of 2 events per year. 
• Respond to email communication as needed. 
• Represent the Big Lake Bass Team in a professional manner. 
• Use boater safety skills on and off the water. 
• Be respectful to others and other's property - always. 
• Be prepared for all types of weather at an event. We are in an area where the weather can change from one extreme to the next in a very short period. 
• Be sure to have food and drinks during fishing events. 
• Maintain satisfactory grades in school.
• Respect the natural resources.
• Catch Big Fish!

Meetings and Training Sessions

• We will have, at a minimum, quarterly meetings for most of the year.  Spring will be more frequent. 
• Be on time and be prepared for the meetings.  
• Listen to the speakers and participate in any hands-on activities. 
• Refrain from talking to those sitting by you while there is a presenter speaking.  
• Meetings typically will be held from 5-7pm at Big Lake Senior High School Lecture Hall, Cafeteria, and Rooms E100 / E101 unless announced with a different location.  
• Meetings will have a consistent focus with topics of safety, professionalism, and fishing.  They may consist of guest speakers, fishing techniques, fishing lesson plans, upcoming events, recapping our recent fishing experiences and telling good fish stories.