Of course, part of it is economics. It’s a
tough financial sell to fish the Opens as a
money-making venture no matter where
you live, and add in an extra thousand or
two thousand miles each way, to compete
against home state anglers, and it gets
dicier.
Since you can’t make money fishing
the Opens alone, there’s probably also
a realization of how difficult it is to make
money once you get to the Elites. For a
20- or 30-something, no matter his level
of confidence or talent, crunching the
numbers leads to the conclusion that
it’s not likely a viable career path, if you
don’t have existing financial reserves or
backing.
The one argument that I won’t make
Brett Hite Credit: Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits
is to say that there’s not enough talent in the west. The same conditions that gave birth to the careers of Reese,
Martens, et al, are no doubt breeding the next
Ish Monroe, may not have
generation right now.
those same titles, but they’ve
In fact, with the recession firmly in the rear view
experienced substantial success as
mirror, western fishing seems to be
anglers and marketers.
stronger
Depending on how you characterize
someone as a “western angler,” there
are somewhere between 14 and 17
westerners on the Elite Series out of a
field of over 100. Ten of them finished
in the top 36 in the AOY rankings,
thereby qualifying them for the 2017
Bassmaster Classic. Clearly, a western
fishing upbringing can prepare you to
succeed at this level. Indeed, some
would argue that it is precisely that
upbringing – and the diversity of
waters that they faced -- that
enables them to succeed.
So why are the Open fields not
jammed with talented westerners
looking to make it big on the
national scene? Of course there are
a few, but their numbers seem to
have dwindled in recent years – we hear of fewer of them making the long drive from Arizona or
Chris Zaldain B.A.S.S./Seigo Saito
California to fish the Northerns.
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