SUPPORT.DEFEND.FISH.
T
he armyBassanglers & the Coalition
are not content with just fishing the
toughest team tournaments in texas.
More importantly, they use their ability to fish in national team tournaments and
with the support of some nationally recognized
sponsors they raise the awareness and
generate support for some very note worthy
charitable causes and events. “We are ecstatic
about the support provided by all our sponsors
that enables us to carry out our SUPPort.
deFeNd.FiSH mission,” says roberson. The
team dedicates a lot of time and effort to raising
awareness and money for returning Heroes
Home (returningheroeshome.org), Heroes
on the Water (heroesonthewater.org) and
Veteran outdoors (Veteran outdoors). With
the severity of their wounds, (amputations,
parallelization, burns, disfigurement, post-
traumatic stress, etc) it is critical that they have
a place and or activities as they begin the very
surreal long road to recovery and reintegration.
In addition, the ArmyBassAnglers & the Coalition are involved in three fishing tournaments dedicated to taking Soldiers fishing. The team volunteers their personal time to support “Fishing for Freedom” each year on Belton lake, Choke Canyon & truman lake. The whole premise behind the events is an opportunity for the local angling and business community to thank these Heroes for their service and sacrifices. annually, Choke Canyon reservoir is the host location for “Fishing for Freedom,” a tournament that pairs local fishermen with wounded Soldiers in the San antonio area for a day of tournament bass fishing on an awesome fishery just for them. all three events are heavily supported and only made possible through the generosity of local businesses, volunteers, and caring local and regional anglers. These are just a few of the ways the team and organization lives up to the SUPPort pillar in its three pronged mission statement.
As mostly active duty Soldiers, the members of armyBassanglers & the Coalition have the very surreal responsibility to deFeNd this nation and the liberties we enjoy as americans. Members of the organization are currently deployed with several others scheduled to make their second or third deployments next year. it makes it tough to uphold their obligations in their charity work and to their sponsors, but what makes them & the Coalition unique is that their military background creates a “take care of each other” mentality. “each angler has a “battle buddy” that he fishes two-man team tournaments with and when one member of the team is gone, the other “rucks up” and carries the load for both of them, this is by design and is ingrained in all our military training,” states roberson.
Finally, and last on their list of “priorities of fire” is the FiSH pillar of the mission statement. They currently fish all across the country on the World Fishing Network on the toughest National team tournament trails, like Bass Champs, oakley Big Bass tour, Faith angler Network and other regional and national trails. again, they uses these appearances as “combat multipliers” to promote returning Heroes Home, HoW and Vo and the Fishing for Freedom charity events all while carrying the torch as ambassadors for their respective sponsors, but do not count them out as qualified contenders.
If you read about their successes in the tournament highlights page of their website, you will quickly notice they are a threat every time they idle into a weigh-in. President/ Founder, Cody roberson, describes the team by saying, “We don’t consider ourselves professional fishermen, but professional Soldiers who just happen to be really good, avid anglers with a far more important mission — HooaH!”
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