The American Sportfishing Association (ASA) elected four members to fill two at-large and two regional seats on its board of directors. Their three-year terms begin October 1, 2023. 

ASA is the national trade association that represents the sportfishing industry. The association has six regions: West, South Central, Great Lakes, Southeast, Northeast and Northern Plains, and Inter-mountain. 

Each ASA member company or organization is assigned to a region where that member’s principal business is located.

Elected to the At-Large board seats (pictured below from left to right) are Diane Bristol and Matt Jensen; elected to Regional Board seats are John Johnson and Doug Lasko.

  • Diane Bristol is the VP of culture & community at Simms Fishing Products. Bristol is the chair of ASA’s Sustainability and Community Committee.
  • Matt Jensen is the VP of marketing at Rapala USA has worked for Rapala for 19 years and serves on ASA’s Marketing Committee. 
  • Southeast Region: John Johnson is the EVP of sales and chief revenue officer of Pitman Creek Wholesale. 
  • West Region: Doug Lasko is president of Okuma Fishing Tackle. He is a longtime Government Affairs committee member and is chair of the Saltwater West committee.

“I congratulate Diane Bristol and Matt Jensen on being re-elected to the board of directors and welcome John Johnson and Doug Lasko to their first terms on the board,” said ASA President Glenn Hughes. “These four industry veterans and longtime ASA members bring decades of experience to ASA’s governing board. I look forward to working with them and thank the entire board for their time and service to the industry and to the greater recreational fishing community.”

The current members of ASA’s Board of Directors are:

Executive Committee: Phil Lillo, Don Coffey Company, Chair; Patrick Gill, TackleDirect, Vice Chair; Casey Shedd, AFTCO Manufacturing Co., Inc., Secretary; Dan McDonald, Yakima Bait Company, Treasurer; Dan Ferris, Midwest Outdoors, At-Large; and Jesse Simpkins, St. Croix Rod, Immediate Past Chairman.

Board members: Diane Bristol, Simms Fishing Products; Dave Bulthuis, Pure Fishing, Inc; Ken Eubanks, Rather Outdoors; Peter Foley, Boone Bait Company, Inc.; Carey Graves, Daiwa USA; Todd Hammill, Wired2Fish; Frank Hugelmeyer, National Marine Manufacturers Association; Kirk Immens, Sportco Marketing, Inc.; Matt Jensen, Rapala USA; Chris Megan, On The Water, LLC; Daniel Nussbaum, Z-Man Fishing Products; David Pfeiffer, Shimano North American Fishing, Inc.; Mike Powell, Mason Tackle; Bruce Stanton, PRADCO Fishing; and Mark Tisa, Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.