MASSENA -- Fishing tournaments continue to attract anglers and fans alike to the North Country but according to Massena Sport-Fishing Promotion Director Don Meissner, it's the goodie bags that brings the North Country to sports shows.

Meissner said he is in the midst of the sport show season, covering the northeast to promote Massena, sport fishing and the county at large.

While attending events, Meissner and town grant writer Linda McQuinn hand out the bags to visitors to raise awareness.

“This welcome bag is absolutely extraordinary. We never had anything like this in the past, and maybe that’s the reason we had such attendance for our booth,” Meissner recently told the town board.

McQuinn said local sponsors and supporters have continued to supply products for the bags, including magnets, pencils, brochures and other Goodes that promote the region. Participating organizations include the Nicandri Nature Center, the town of Louisville, Hydra Lures and other local businesses.

McQuinn and Meissner said the lures and cookbooks supplied by WPBS are huge hits at each show.

According to McQuinn, she and Meissner are on their feet and engaging with every visitor to their booth, affording them the chance to promote the region and all that it has to offer.

"If I see somebody who’s wandering around with a whole arm load of stuff and they don’t have a bag, that’s my opening, too. 'Could I give you a bag and maybe you’d like one of these things and we’d love you to come to Massena because we have so much to see and do,' and they’re fairly enamored with the things that they see,” she said.

Since the items are free, McQuinn said it gives she and Meissner the opportunity to converse with visitors who come through the Fish Massena booth.

"“These folks so believe in the power of Massena’s mission to use tourism as an economic catalyst that they have donated time, materials and talent to create a positive outcome that comprises the booth and visitor engagement," Meissner told board members.

"When all of the materials are given away during the time-frame of a show, the message has evidently been well-received,” he continued.

When all was said and done at a recent show, McQuinn said she and Meissner just had business cards left, a sign that they proved popular with the large crowds. Meissner said that at one recent show, the line to get in stretched around the block with a wait to get in.

"We were at capacity and security at the door made them wait to get in. When three or four people left, they would let three or four more people come in. It was incredible to see," he said.

Meissner and McQuinn thanked the local businesses and organizations who participated and encouraged others to reach out to see how they could help contribute to future shows.

“If they have something that they’d like to give us, we’d be more than anxious to give them to folks,” McQuinn said.

While the shows are the primary focus right now, Meissner said the countdown is on for fishing tournaments this summer.

Major League Fishing announced in Aug. 2023 that the league would once again be hosting a tournament in Massena.

The event, part of the sixth season for the league, will be part of the most competitive circuit, the 2024 Bass Pro Shops Bass Pro Tour.

Stage Seven at the St. Lawrence River in the 2024 tour will be hosted by the town of Massena Aug. 6-11, 2024.

The St. Lawrence River and Massena, New York, will play host to Stage Seven of the 2024 Bass Pro Tour season. The event, hosted by the Town of Massena, will showcase the world’s top professional bass anglers competing for hundreds of thousands in cash, along with valuable points in the Bally Bet Angler of the Year race, and qualification into REDCREST 2025 and the General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event.

“The Town of Massena is honored to once again host Major League Fishing’s Bass Pro Tour,” said Don Meissner. This event enables our community to bring the world’s top anglers to compete on the fabled St. Lawrence River and we can’t wait,” Meissner previously said.

Each stage of the 2024 Bass Pro Tour features six days of competition using the catch, weigh, immediate-release format, broadcast live on MLFNOW! and streamed to the Major League Fishing app, MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app, and at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.