Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Asst. Fisheries Chief Bobby Wilson announced Thursday that the Agency hopes to add another specialty license plate to their stable. Wilson says they are making plans to propose a Smallmouth Bass plate.
"It's an idea we've had in our mind since the bear and the turkey plate came out," said Wilson. "We just didn't get ours submitted in time."
Besides giving sportsmen an "air of individuality" about their cars, the plates raise money for TWRA.
The Agency's first plate was the "Watchable Wildlife" plate that came out in 1995.
Wildlife Chief Larry Marcum says, "we get $30.75 from that plate which goes into the Watchable Wildlife Endowment Fund. The agency can spend only the interest from this fund and only for non-game programs. That fund currently has about $4 million in it so we can spend the interest off of the $4 million."
TWRA's other two current specialty plates include a Turkey Plate and a Bear Plate. They don't generate quite as much money for TWRA as the Watchable Wildlife plate.
Marcum says of the $35 purchase price, $4.25 goes to Dept. of Safety for providing the plate and administration. 50% of remaining $30.75 goes into TWRA's general fund. 40% goes to the Tennessee Arts Commission and 10% goes to TDOT.
Politics had much to do with how those money's are distributed. It's presumed that the Smallmouth plate would be set up the same way, however the legislation actually hasn't been written yet. Wilson says the Agency is in the process of writing that bill and seeking legislative sponsors.
If the legislation goes through, TWRA would still have to pre-sell 1,000 plates in order for it to become a lasting endeavor. Wilson has high hopes that the Smallmouth Plate will prove to be popular.
"It's a special fish in our state," he said. "The (smallmouth) world record anniversary is coming up. We've got a tremendous smallmouth bass fishery... in fact (Tennessee) has got the largest smallmouth and the second largest smallmouth."
Wilson says they are also expecting to adopt a special slogan for the Tennessee Fishing Guide and other publications - "Tennessee, where smallmouth is king."
No doubt wildlife officials hope the Smallmouth Plate might inspire renewed interest in TWRA specialty plates since sales have dropped significantly since they peaked in 2001.
