Valley City, ND, January 8, 2008: The National Professional Anglers Association (NPAA), a non-profit organization focused on growing the sport of fishing and increasing the professionalism of its members is proud to announce the restructuring and election of Tommy Skarlis NPAA#11 and Pat Neu NPAA#77, to the board of directors.

On January 5th, 2008, at the NPAA annual meeting in Bloomington, MN votes were tallied and it was determined that previous board member and NPAA President, Tommy Skarlis was re-elected to the board for another term. Also elected to the board of directors was new board member Pat Neu, replacing long time board member Bruce DeShano NPAA#6. DeShano will remain active on the board and will be assisting the board as an adviser.

Following the certification of the election the board met and announced that new board member Pat Neu will assume the dual roles of President and Treasurer of the NPAA, Tommy Skarlis will be the new Vice President, Johnnie Candle NPAA#42 will be the Secretary, and Tony Puccio NPAA#2 and Tom Backer NPAA#33 will continue to serve on the board as members at large. Board members serve on three year terms with staggered elections annually.

New President, Pat Neu, from Forestville, WI, has been involved in the Outdoor Industry his entire professional career, nearly 35 years. After selling his interest North Country Marketing Ltd., an Outdoor Industry manufacturer’s rep agency in June, 2005 Pat has shifted his focus to his family, his passion for competitive angling, and the needs of the companies he works for on a promotional or a consulting basis Pat brings a renewed enthusiasm to the leadership of the NPAA and is committed to growing the sport of professional angling and assisting walleye anglers all over the country in increasing their professionalism and resulting value to the industry.

This year’s annual meeting set a new level for exchange of ideas and information. According to Neu, “The NPAA annual meeting was a huge success thanks to our supporting members and a dedicated group of professional anglers. Our focus for the coming year will be to make this annual meeting/conference an event that will benefit a larger percentage of our current members as well as a tool to attract new members to our organization”. Tommy Skarlis enhanced Neu's statement by adding “If I had to place a value on the annual meeting, I would venture to say it would have been worth thousands of dollars over an anglers career - regardless if those anglers were beginning, intermediate or full-time professionals." In conjunction, several new members attending their first annual meeting agreed by stating “it would be nearly impossible to find this much information on professional angling anywhere”.

Bruce “Doc “ Samson NPAA#80 conducted a day long mapping seminar on Thursday prior to the official beginning of the annual meeting. This was attended by several NPAA members. WOW! Where else could you get this extensive information? At the meeting Doc Samson described how he made the transition from medical doctor to professional angler and how he “manufactured” his own niche in the highly competitive fishing industry.

Another highlight of the meeting was the presentation by John Butts NPAA#251 on the relationship between the professional angler and his/her sponsor. What does an angler need to do to get, and keep sponsors? This was followed by an outstanding seminar by Johnnie Candle NPAA#42 on how to format a comprehensive resume to “grab” the attention of a potential sponsor in a time when sponsors are flooded with requests. All sponsors need to be kept in the loop, so they feel their sponsorship dollars are well spent. Johnnie taught the NPAA members how to construct an Annual Report that will “blow your sponsors away”, and will insure their continued support.

Gary Speicher NPAA #128 addressed the issue of financial planning and retirement review since we as tournament fisherman are basically self-employed and how we can best prepare for the future.

Special guest presenters included the legendary bass superstar Larry Nixon from Evinrude, who gave an overview of his rise to superstardom, how the industry has changed since he started bass fishing and where he sees the competitive bass and walleye circuits heading in the future. Long time friend of the NPAA and honorary lifetime NPAA member, Ron Lindner presented a historical overview of Lindner Media Productions, the exciting changes on the immediate horizon in the realm of new technology, what opportunities the new media holds for NPAA tournament fisherman and their sponsors.