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situations by coordinating what they call Bacon Savers. A Bacon Saver is a AAA competitor who brings their boat to the event, and makes it available for a pro to use – for a fee – should the pros boats break down. Egan coordinates those by contacting the AAA competitors after each day. Under normal circumstances, these calls often take several hours to complete, and he has to be back out to the lake at 5:00 a.m. for takeoff.
Thanks to the extreme weather conditions, it took until well after midnight to finish the “bacon saving” tasks this year.
WEATHER CONSIDERATIONS
This past U.S. Open brought some of the most extreme weather conditions we have seen at the event. The first two days were some of the windiest days we have seen to date at an Open. The first day of the event saw the lake buffeted by 10 to 15 mph winds, with gusts to 20. The second day saw increased wind speeds that were 15 to 20 mph, sustained with gusts to 36. All of the winds came from the southeast, blowing directly into Callville Bay, and across some of the more heavily fished areas of the lake.
Not only did that create the need to utilize more Bacon Savors than a usual event, but it also created a situation where Egan and his crew, along with several other angler volunteers mounted an effort to track down anglers who had pulled up short in the rough seas, and never made it
back to weigh-in; especially on day two. While he is usually back at the hotel for the Costa Live postgame show at 7:00 p.m., on day two, Egan did not leave the lake until after 8:00 p.m., and he had yet to start organizing the day three pairings, or the Bacon Savers for day three.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The juggling of resources is certainly nothing new for a tournament director, but in the case of this year’s U.S. Open, it certainly was extreme. Along with the weather creating havoc, Egan also dealt with software issues that had to be solved before the day two pairings could be made, and the litany of angler comments, needs and complaints that come with the territory when operating a bass fishing tournament.
A good event coordinator tries to make certain that everything is in perfect shape on the publicly viewed and the private stages. However, when there are unplanned obstacles that arise, the job of an event professional is to make sure the chaos behind the scenes does not spill over into view. The old adage is that it doesn’t matter what happens backstage as long as it does not show in the final product.
A bass fishing tournament director must live by that motto, and in most instances, they pull it off. At this past U.S. Open at Lake Mead, not too
many people knew how many hurdles
were jumped through in order to
make it smooth for the public and
the anglers.
With extreme effort, Egan
and his crew pulled it off. Such is
the life of a tournament
director.
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