Nation: Championship registration

Hats are the first order of business in the room filled with lots of products from the sponsors. Those brands are here for the Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation Championship presented by Magellan Outdoors.

Academy Sports + Outdoors is the title sponsor and the tournament on Lake Conroe is happening in the companyâs backyard. The corporate headquarters is about an hourâs drive south in the suburbs of Houston.

Those Academy Sports + Outdoors blue packs will be full by the time the anglers reach this, the final table in the room filled with bling.

Toyota is an ever-present brand at B.A.S.S. events and the Nation championship is no exception. Many of the top amateurs pull their rigs with the brandâs Tundra.

Nationwide and Livingston Lures are here, too, along with a full room of product from the sponsors.

Another Texas-based company is Skeeter Boats. The brand started in Marshall, Texas, in 1948. Thatâs when Holmes Thurmond built the first Skeeter in the East Texas town.

Another goodie that will be popular this week are these Berkley Wild Thang 6.5 crankbaits. Lake Conroe is known for itâs long points and offshore structure that are perfect for the lipped lure.

This weekâs weather is typical for Texas. Hot one day and chilly the next. When the chill comes the angler will put on these Carhartt jackets.

The first angler in the room is Albert Collins, the defending champion who is from nearby Nacogdoches.

The first order of business is presenting a valid Texas fishing license to B.A.S.S. official Max Leatherwood. Unfortunately for Collins, this one expired in August.

So he pulls out another, and another license. Collins goes through several expired short-term licenses until finally finding a valid permit in his wallet.

Nine countries sent representatives to the championship. Traveling from Japan are Naoaki Ishikawa and Yuya Wakebe.

Also here is Kurt Glass, the Paralyzed Veterans of America Angler of the Year.

In all, the best 113 amateur anglers from all over the world are here at La Torretta Resort & Spa in Montgomery, Texas. The resort is tournament headquarters in the event hosted by the Conroe Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Checking in is Edgar Romero, the national champion from Mexico.

Another international angler is Mitch Cone of Australia.

Friends made the trip to record the moment with the Aussie.

Joining Cone on the trip is Garry Harman, standing behind him in the photo.

Each boater and non-boater received an engraved plaque. Showing off his plaque is Florida state champion Arnie Lane.

Lane is the brother of Chris and Bobby, the Bassmaster Elite Series pros.

Forty-seven states sent representatives and they all pass through the room to meet and greet the sponsors, B.A.S.S. staff and media.

Don Barone welcomes Oklahoma state champion Matt Pangrac. Heâs also an outdoor journalist like Barone and they both cover the Elite Series.

Felipe Almeida and Andre Fidalgo are the national champions from Portugal, one of the newest international contingents.

Son Jaxon joins Becca Golightly, the Wyoming non-boater champion. Golightly is the first woman to compete in a Nation championship.

Representing Iowa is Greg Vance of Dubique and Kyle Coffman of Des Moines. Vance qualified from last yearâs championship for the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.

Representing Maryland are boater Andrew Sams and non-boater Mike Duarte. He came up through the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops.

Representing Canada is Chris Barrett and Mark Cavanaugh, winner of the Eastern regional held on Douglas Lake in Tennessee.

After registration, competitors met in the banquet room for the tournament briefing and dinner.

Idaho’s Darrell Ocamica and Oregon’s Addam Gross go over the tournament rules before the briefing.

Intense study of bass pics and lake maps is taking place …

Team Ohio — Brian Mailot and Jody Atkins — hangs out before the briefing.

Kevin Voss of Illinois is in good spirits before the kickoff of the tournament.

Kevin Noel of Connecticut studies hard before the briefing begins for his first Nation Championship.

Competitors Mike Coleman and Mark Lassagne stopped at several lakes for a day of fishing on their drive from California to Texas.

Mauro and Luca Salvato of Italy are stoked to be here for their first Nation Championship.

Jon Stewart, B.A.S.S. Nation director, began the briefing. “I look forward to this week more than any other week in the year,” Stewart said, “because I get to see dreams come true. Our goal is for this to be the best tournament you’ve ever fished in your life.”

Harold Hutcheson of the Conroe Convention and Visitors Bureau welcomed the competitors to Lake Conroe.

Hutcheson encouraged anglers to use the hashtag #captureconroe, which is part of the CVB’s current photo campaign, and then he took a photo of the crowd for him to post.

Dean Nunciato of Academy Sports + Outdoors welcomed the competitors, too. “I can’t tell you how proud we are to be the title sponsor for this event,” Nunciato said. “Y’all be safe and best of luck to you!”

Anglers participate in a Q&A session at the end of the briefing.

David Porter and Jon Harshbarger go over the last bit of rules at the end. Tomorrow is the only day of official practice; competition begins Thursday.