a significant show. There are those who have some
old school Pro-Am format of the hey days of West
ambition at a professional fishing career based on the Coast Bass and WON Bass, and the entry numbers
draw the FLW Rayovac Series continues to have. But
were less than I thought they would be. WON Bass
I could never quite put my finger on why some events responded to the call of the Northern California angler
were successful and others never got the response.
last year by bringing the format of the U.S. Open
To be perfectly honest, I still can’t say that I can do
on Lake Mead to Clear Lake in the spring, and the
anything other than guess.
response was lower than I would have expected again.
But, I have learned some things since moving to
Turnout was a little higher this year, but still only 77
Alabama that I think could help the anglers of the
boats signed up.
West and the businesses that market to them that
What I’ve already learned about most of the
might help. I think as a group, the Western angler
anglers in my new home state is that they love to fish
needs to be able to recognize opportunities that are
- which is no different than a Western angler - and
being provided to them and take them.
that they seem to be appreciative of any opportunity
The biggest complaint I’ve heard throughout my
that they get to fish in a tournament - which is
career in fishing is that the Western angler feels that
different than the Western angler.
they are being disrespected by the fact that more
That’s not to say there are very few tournament
opportunities are not offered to them to fish.
fishing opportunities in Alabama;
We have long held a grudge that B.A.S.S. took the Western Opens away from us and never
brought them back. We
Buck’s Island Marina Flyer Table
lament that the FLW Series National Guard Western Division is gone, as are the BFL level events. The statement I’ve heard is that it must mean that those organizations don’t like us in the West, so they don’t offer us opportunities to build careers.
I personally know by asking representatives from both organizations that they view the West as a viable market that they would like to figure out more how to work with. Both of them said
that their main reasons for
there are bunches. When I made
not committing annually are
financial. While our my first visit to the local Marina - Buck’s Island Marina
participation numbers often are close to that of the
in Southside, Ala.- there was a table with flyers
other regions, the expenses for B.A.S.S. to come from announcing everything from full scale tournament
Birmingham and FLW to come from Kentucky are
trails to Friday Night Big Bass Fruit Jar tournaments.
higher, so the outcome is fewer events in our region.
Couple that with all of the BFL, Rayovac, Federation,
If it were just those larger events that suffered, I
B.A.S.S. Nation, B.A.S.S. Opens, Alabama Bass Trail
would think it was an isolated occurrence, but people
Tournaments and clubs and there are tournaments
who have tried to deliver opportunities on more
every weekend on Neely Henry it seems, and I’m less
localized scales also get a similar response. Bill Cook
than an hour to Guntersville, which is probably slap full
started the California Tournament Trail based on the
of events.
FALL 2014
17