®
Summer 2024
page 64
But that being said, the bad feeling was on them specifically and shouldn’t reflect on everyone else in the sport out here and that brings me to my next point. BAM is not Wild West and Mark is not, well, you know.
BAM TOURNAMENT TRAIL
Most of us know that Mark Lassagne from Bass Angler Magazine purchased equipment from Wild West. What it seems like some people don’t know is that he didn’t do that to keep Wild West alive or to revive that circuit in anyway. He did that to start a new and different circuit. BAM is not, has not or will never be Wild West. Yes, Mark got their trailer and some other equipment, but that was no different than buying someone’s used car. It was just equipment and wasn’t because he was a part of Wild West ownership or management in any way. There are no ties from BAM to Wild West.
The fact that Mark did buy the equipment from Wild West was a win for some of the anglers that were owed money as it gave Wild West a little bit to attempt to pay
some people back, but even that was on Wild West and had nothing to do with Mark.
Mark doesn’t owe anyone from Wild West anything. He is his own circuit and that seems to be getting lost somewhere in the mix here and that’s why I wanted to comment on the whole situation.
FISHING BAM
So again, I want to support the regional tournament scene and events in our local area, and I want to support BAM and Mark in trying to provide us an opportunity to do that. I am fishing all of the BAM events that I can work into my schedule including Pro/Ams and the BAM Pro Tour and I want to encourage everyone else to also.
Mark has been openly transparent about payouts. Mark pays checks right at the ramp before we leave, just like we did in the old days. There is no electronic payment that will be paid “next week” or you have to sign up with a fund transferring system or anything like that. Money at the ramp. It’s simple.
Mark is a businessman. He has had experience
running a business. He is
a fisherman. He knows
what the industry is. He is
a tournament angler. He
understands what we are
looking for and how we
want to be treated.
WHAT ELSE COULD WE ASK FOR FROM A CIRCUIT IN THE WEST?
I hope all the guys that have a bitter feeling about the Wild West (and believe me I do get that) but I hope all those guys don’t transfer that feeling to BAM or Mark. I hope that we can all give Mark the chance he deserves and the opportunity to continue the sport of competitive bass fishing here on the West. Check out his paybacks. They’re all open and online to see. If we get more boats, we fish for more money.
And last, I wanted to thank Mark for trying to pick up the pieces of what Wild West left and giving us something to fish. •