A Maine event for conservation
Professional bass tournaments are the faces of BASS most often seen, but beyond the competitions and pageantry, the BASS Conservation department incessantly works to spread a message of responsible resource management to ensure clean waters and healthy fish populations for future generations.

 On May 25, however, the work of BASS Conservation will take center stage at Maranacook Lake in Winthrop, Maine, when state and local officials will dedicate a new boat washing station made possible by generous donations from BASS Conservation and the L.L. Bean Co.

 The dedication will take place at 1:30 p.m. at Norcross boat launch on Maranacook Lake, which is part of the Cobbossee watershed in central Maine, which local officials describe as the most popular bass fishing watershed in the entire state.

 Gov. John E. Baldacci is scheduled to attend the ceremony, along with officials from the Maine BASS Federation Nation, L.L. Bean and the group Friends of the Cobbossee Watershed.

 According to BASS Conservation Director Noreen Clough, the boat wash station will help support the federal "Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers" program, which seeks to slow and prevent the spread of unwanted aquatic organisms from one body of water to another.

 Unfortunately, undesirable plants and animals are often inadvertently spread from lake to lake as a result of the organisms clinging to boats and then being deposited in the next body of water the boat visits. A prime example is the zebra mussel, an invasive species that likely found its way to America in the ballast water of large ships and then spread rapidly to numerous watersheds across the country.

 Officials hope the new boat wash station, which was funded in part by a $7,000 grant from BASS Conservation, its sponsors and a large financial contribution by L.L. Bean, will help prevent the spread of so-called aquatic hitchhikers from Maranacook Lake to other watersheds in Maine and neighboring northeastern states. 

Martens ’Vaults’ into the green
For years, Aaron Martens was an easy angler to spot on the lake. It was hard to miss his bright purple boat amid the more common hues of red, blue and silver. Purple is Martens’ favorite color, and over the years it had become almost a trademark for the 2005 CITGO Bassmaster Angler of the Year winner. 

 This season, though, Martens made a switch to a teal green boat, and now his boat will be covered in a different shade of green – Vault green, that is. 

 On Thursday, Martens officially signed Vault as a new sponsor, meaning his Triton boat and truck will soon sport the color of the new refreshment, a "hybrid" sports drink from the Coca-Cola Co. that is marketed as a cross between a soda and an energy drink. 

 Martens donned a green and black Vault jersey for weigh-ins at the Pride of Augusta presented by Lowrance earlier this month and says his new boat design will debut at the Bassmaster Memorial, May 18-21, in Fort Worth, Texas. 

 ]You know it’s going to be a bad day when ...The second day of the Pride of Augusta at Clarks Hill Lake didn’t start very well for California pro Mike O’Shea. 

 And it didn’t end very well, either. 

 As the field of anglers idled past the dock at Clarks Hill on Friday morning, O’Shea’s bright green Golf Digest Schools boat was nowhere to be found. O’Shea’s launch number was called by tournament officials, and still nothing. 

 "Where’s Mike O’Shea?" emcee Keith Alan asked. 

 About 30 minutes after the rest of the field had taken off, O’Shea finally appeared at the boat ramp. 

 "I just overslept," O’Shea explained. "It’s a little embarrassing, but hey, it happens." 

 The rest of the day didn’t get much better for O’Shea, who weighed a respectable 13-plus-pound limit on the first day of the tournament. On the second day, he caught just one keeper that weighed 1 pound, 15 ounces, and ended the tournament in 84th place. 

 BASS is the worldwide authority on bass fishing, sanctioning more than 20,000 events through the BASS Federation annually. Guided by its mission to serve all fishing fans, BASS sets the standard for credibility, professionalism, sportsmanship and conservation, as it has for nearly 40 years.  

BASS stages bass fishing tournaments for every skill level and culminates with the CITGO Bassmaster Classic. Through its clubs, youth programs, aquatic resource advocacy, magazine publishing and multimedia platforms, BASS offers the industry’s widest array of services and support to its nearly 550,000 members. The organization is headquartered in Celebration, Fla.  

For more information, contact BASS Communications at (407) 566-2208.