Get Your Project Funded: Bass Fishing Hall of Fame Conservation Grants

What projects can qualify?

The guidelines for the types of projects that can qualify for assistance are fairly straightforward and probably what you’d expect.

Qualified projects must directly involve youth in such a way as to teach the importance of resource stewardship and the leadership role that anglers play as conservationists. Each project must have the endorsement of the local fisheries management agency and work to accomplish goals of mutual benefit. The project must have an evaluation component to determine success. A project may be part of a larger project and working with partners is strongly encouraged. Having already obtained matching funds and/or donations of materials and/or in-kind services, increases a project's value. The project must demonstrate a good investment for the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame (e.g. in terms of feasibility, accountability and financial leverage.) And finally, your project’s focus should include one or more of the following categories:

• Make a significant contribution to protect or enhance natural or artificial fish habitat
• Prevent, manage or eliminate aquatic invasive species via action or education/outreach
• Demonstrate best-practices in tournament fish care to maximize survival of released fish
• Protect or enhance angler or boater access to public waters
• Address an acute or chronic aquatic resource pollution issue
• Demonstrate a new or innovative approach to conservation education

Project examples

For example, one of the projects the BFHOF funded last year included the establishment of shoreline and littoral zone vegetation and the installation of deep-water, fish-attracting structures to improve the overall fish habitat in Clarks Hill Lake, which borders Georgia and South Carolina. The Clarks Hill Youth Fishing Team was the driving force behind this project, working with Georgia B.A.S.S. Nation and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Also, in an effort to maintain Lake St. Clair as one of the premier smallmouth bass fisheries for both U.S. and Canadian anglers, the BFHOF Board helped fund an acoustic telemetry tracking project to study smallmouth bass movement within the fishery. The data collected allows Michigan Department of Natural Resources fishery managers to address questions related to the dispersal and movement of bass after being released following tournaments, along with evaluating the survival of fish post-release. And the DNR established a ‘Class Bass’ program that allowed K-12 students to adopt and track the movement of acoustically-tagged fish and learn about the importance of smallmouth bass to the Lake St. Clair ecosystem.

“From the perspective of our Board, the involvement of younger anglers in these projects is a great way to promote bass fishing to the next generation, while ensuring a healthy bass fishery in the waters where these projects take place,” added Mazurkiewicz.

What next?

So, calling all grassroots bass organizations! This is your chance to get some serious financial support for your youth-oriented, conservation initiatives. Team up with the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame to make a difference in your local waters and communities.

You can find all the details and apply now on the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame website.