Gary Engberg Outdoors

Local Column River Currents National Association of Professional Anglers (NPAA) 1-9-2012

gengberg January 9th, 2012

Local Column River Currents

National Professional Anglers Association

This past weekend, I attended the National Professional Anglers Association Conference (NPAA) at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I’ve been a member of this great organization for years and every year the organization gets better in doing all it can to promote and help this great group of professional anglers, guides, charter captains, and everyday anglers. The organization’s main goal is to promote the sport of fishing in today’s society. The Conference began on Friday night, January 6th, and lasted till Sunday, January 8th. Photos by Jim Kloth
For those of you who don’t know about this group of anglers, who are true ambassadors for the sport of fishing, and are working to protect, help grow, and be influential in the fishing world in the future. The common bond which holds this diverse group together is their desire to promote the sport of fishing for everyone.            Members, as I said, come from all over the country and have many reasons for joining the NPAA. There are members who are true professionals fishing competitively for a living by fishing tournaments, guides and charter captains who take people fishing for a living, anglers who see themselves as stewards of the sport and resource, and others who may be “casual anglers” desiring to see fishing grow and continuing to be an important part of one’s leisure time and life. Your skill level isn’t the important thing for joining the organization, but a passion and love of the sport is! The common goal is to help the sport we love so much grow with increasing the professionalism of all its members.
The NPAA is constantly looking for new members and after a couple of rocky years; the group is now on sound financial ground. The membership dues are $100.00 per year which is a “deal” for the benefits you’ll receive, the friends and contacts that you’ll make, and the chance to help the sport and group grow by introducing others who love to fish to this organization. Other benefits include; frequent E-blast updates (emails), members only discounts, a boat insurance program, your profile on the group’s website, NPAA Facebook exposure, member media releases, member number branding (all members receive a personal number to display), the annual conference, access to industry contacts, member and partner networking, member education on the web, and so important the youth event support. If you like to fish and want to join a group who promotes and protects our wonderful sport, then the National Association of Professional Anglers is for you! Don’t let the word “professional” scare you away from joining because there are members who don’t fish tournaments or guide, but have a passion for the sport and would like to see others who like to fish do the same!
Our group is involved in getting today’s youth involved in the sport of fishing by spending countless hours introducing our youth to fishing in fishing events in many states. One member, Greg Karch, did 15 youth clinics alone because he feels that today’s young need to be involved in more outdoor activities instead of spending all their time on the computer. The popular, “Take an Adult Fishing Tournament” at the Wilderness Fish and Game store is staffed and run by NPAA members; Jim Kloth, Wally Banfi, Terry Frey, Duffy Kopf, and myself. The NPAA donated T-shirts and other prizes for this local event and many other youth groups in the country . Our group donated over $30,000.00 worth of goods for children at our youth events around the Midwest and this will continue in the future. Remember what I said earlier, it’s all about the sport!
   Local fishing professional and guide, Robert Blosser, is now President of the NPAA and my co-host on Outdoor Horizons Radio, Tony Puccio, is on the Board of Directors. Many of the NPAA members are from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, and South Dakota. There are almost 500 members presently and the NPAA is growing everyday and if you think this is something that you may enjoy, then join and be a part of this influential organization. Believe me when I say that there is something for everyone who loves the sport of fishing in the NPAA!
One member, Kristine Houtman, has written a series of wholesome books (Fish on Kids Books) for children that focus on the outdoors and particularly fishing, hunting, and camping. These popular books are being bought and added to school and community libraries everywhere. Kristine was in Sauk City and the local school district and the Wilderness Fish and Game store bought some of her great books for local children to read. The books have become so popular that Houtman is now working on finishing her 5th book in this great series which focuses on the lead character, Gus, and his family and friends. Check these books out and they make great reading material for families and youth groups. Plus, they make great gifts for the young!
The Conference was not just a fun weekend with friends. Everyday was packed full of meetings, group sessions, and panel discussions all geared to being a better angler in promoting the sport of fishing and bringing today’s youth into a life-long sport and the outdoors. There were mini-sessions on running youth events, meeting with and hearing from the many sponsors from the fishing industry, learning how to use social media to promote yourself and or group, conservation tips and information on preventing invasive species from spreading to more waters, insurance information, the latest news on new products from the group’s sponsors, public relations, and talks by some of the fishing worlds well-known individuals, like Steve Pennaz from the North American Fisherman and National Guard bass professional, Scott Martin both who gave wonderful talks.
   Personally, I got to see many individuals that I’ve known and fished against for years, meeting new friends, seeing the people who work for many of the NPAA sponsors, learning new information on photography and the Internet, and dong and learning many things that you could not find in any other place under one roof. This is a professional group that is devoted to the sport of fishing and seeing it grow in the future. My radio partner on Outdoor Horizons Radio, Tony Puccio, and I did 30 interviews that we’ll use on the show giving our listeners information from the fishing world’s best anglers and some that you may not know or heard of the great things that they do for fishing and the anglers of the future. Where else can you have the best people in the fishing world all under one roof and have a chance to meet and talk with them? The contacts, friendships, and information gained from this Conference are well worth the money spent attending this event. There is something in the NPAA for everyone who fishes and loves this wonderful outdoor activity. Go to the NPAA website at www.npaa.net and see if the organization is something for you. I think that the more you hear and read about the NPAA, the more you learn about us and hopefully you’ll be interested in joining and as the NPAA says, “it’s all about the sport.”! I guarantee that there is something in the NPAA that will make you interested and hopefully join.