Columnist Barb Henderson: Stripers affair salutes a year of great catches

Barb Henderson

Friday, Feb. 20, 2004 | 10:21 a.m.

Barb Henderson is an outdoors enthusiast, freelance writer and producer/host of outdoors radio television programming. Her column appears Friday in the Sun.

There will be something fishy going on tomorrow night in Las Vegas when the Nevada Striper Club rigs up to tackle its annual awards banquet.

This family-oriented club will fill the room with members of all ages who enjoy fishing for striped bass -- more commonly known as stripers. Since 1982, the Nevada Striper Club has been a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and improvement of Lake Mead, as well as increasing the awareness of striped bass.

The club will present approximately 20 awards to both adults and juniors. These winners are anglers who have caught stripers and had the most total weight during the club's 11 fishing tournaments this past year.

It is always a delight when children are included in fishing tournaments and actually have an opportunity to win awards, especially the young anglers who participate in the Nevada Striper Club's tournaments. It takes experience when it comes to catching these hard-fighting, aggressive fish.

All of the awards are prestigious, two main awards will be angler of the year and junior angler of the year.

The 2003 junior angler of the year award will be presented to 12-year-old Alex Riebe.

"He works extremely hard," said Alex's father, Don Riebe. "He has been fishing since he was 3 and is an excellent fisherman. He is the best fishing buddy anyone could have."

The 2003 angler of the year award, will be presented to Sandy Wood.

"I think this is cool," she said. "From what I understand, I am the first female to ever win angler of the year."

Sandy had quite an impressive year, holding first place in club standings for all 12 months.

Interestingly, last year Sandy was presented with the Big Fish Award, for a 15- pound, 7-ounce striper she had caught in 2002 at Lake Mead.

"I think this is neat," said Bob Wood, president for the Nevada Striper Club. "My son Jack won the angler of the year last year and now my daughter-in-law has outfished us all."

Toward the end of the awards ceremony, Bob will be handing his president's gavel over to the newly elected president, who by the way just happens to be his daughter-in-law, Sandy.

The club is dedicated to introducing children to the sport of fishing. One-way, this has been accomplished has been with an event called CAST (Catch a special Thrill). This will be the sixth year for the Nevada Striper Club to participate in the program. The members volunteer their time in taking under privileged and disadvantaged children out for a day of fishing. The purpose is simply; to give a special thrill, of hooking on a fish, to a child.

The Nevada Striper Club members are always eager to share their knowledge of catching stripers with interested anglers and encourage folks to get hooked to the sport. The Nevada Striper Club meets at 7:30 p.m. on the second Thursday of every month at Lake Mead Lounge and Casino, 846 E. Lake Mead Drive in Henderson. Meetings are open to the public and usually the meeting will include a special guest who speaks on fishing and/or a related subject.

GREAT OUTDOOR GAMES: The National Shooting Sports Foundation's first shotgun, rifle and archery qualifying event for the ESPN's Target Sports for the Great Outdoor Games will be this weekend. This will be the first of three events to be held around the country. The top finisher at each will be invited to participate in the great Outdoors Games V in Madison, Wis., July 8-11. This weekend's qualifying event will be free to spectators at the Desert Lake Country Club, for more information call 294-0029. For information on the Great Outdoor Games click on the Internet at: www.greatoutdoorgames.com

DUCKS UNLIMITED: Ducks Unlimited, the leading wetland conservation organization, will host hundreds of participants for its inaugural clay target event in Boulder City March 11-14 at the Desert Lake Country Club. The event will raise both funds and awareness for DU's mission of wetland conservation. Interested parties may register online at: www.ducks.org/ events/ continentalshoot.asp Trout Unlimited

The Southern Nevada Chapter of Trout Unlimited's annual banquet will be at the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino on Saturday, March 27. For information and/or to buy tickets click on the Internet at: www.snctu.com.