You know for a guy that alot of people love to hate he sure is a heck of an angler winning this years Angler of the year award. i was really rooting for Kvd. Hats off to him to for spotting all the opponents 1 tourney and still placing 3rd. Wow what an angler. Have any of you ever had the chance to spend time with these fellas in a boat? ike
Way to go Ike… 
Congrats to Ike!! 
spent quite a bit of time with ike during the pre-fish period and at the classic this year. He’s a totally different cat away from the “game”. Only way i can say it is cool and calculated. He knows what he’s selling and to whom. It’s an image that sells on the BASS circuit with espn leading the reigns- Janet Bell being the ring leader trying to sell the fisherman on how to sell themselves as a puppet for espn. I really don’t like the idea, but i don’t know how to change the progress other than boycotting it. It’s a double edge sword for me, as i want to become a professional angler, but in today’s world a person that isn’t x-games material doesn’t stand a chance getting any air time to promote his/her faithful and dedicated sponsors. Point of reference, do you know a federation angler that jumped to 2nd place in the bassmaster’s classic this year for a half day and did you get to see that progress unfold? Espn has there puppets and some people can stomach to idea of it being shoved down their neck. Ike is a great guy away from the camera, cares deeply about introducing the next generation into the sport, and is anal about being a self critic- which it takes all to compete at that level. AND he knows how to have fun 
Agreed Jimmy. Of course I didn’t have the opportunity to spend time with Ike like you, I did get to spend 8 hours on the water this summer with his travel partner Fred Roumbanis. Fred told me the thing that seperates Ike from the rest of the crowd is how hard he works. He said Ike believes if he can fish get out on the water 1 hour before everyone and leave 1 hour after everyone he can gain a whole day of practice on the rest of the field in just 4-5 days of practice. Roumbanis said no matter how hard you think you practice… Ike practices harder.
Oh, and I heard a few stories about their “fun times”… 
One more thing- Your story (Federation Qualifier schooling the best-of-the-best) should have been about the biggest story of the year in the world of professional bass fishing… 
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One more thing- Your story (Federation Qualifier schooling the best-of-the-best) should have been about the biggest story of the year in the world of professional bass fishing…
i am suprised the press didn’t do a cinderella type story on jimmy j. usually the crowd eats that up but yet nothing. i agree kind of hate the politics of it all. ike
Ike is definitley one of the top pros out there today. It’s hard to put into words but I don’t see his aoy meaning as much as it would have had KVD not been dq’d at Santee. Because if he hadn’t been dq’d he’d have crushed Ike. As of right now I still see Kevin as untouchable.
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One more thing- Your story (Federation Qualifier schooling the best-of-the-best) should have been about the biggest story of the year in the world of professional bass fishing…
ditto
I didn’t know Luke Clausen qualified through the federation? He still has the time to fish little club tournaments??
I believe Champman was referring to himself. He was the guy that got hosed on air time or hardly a pat on the back when he made his run that day of the Classic.
You’re still the man Jimmy
Oops, i didn’t put 2&2 together. Ya, they really didn’t seem to give the federation guys much air time. They had a bunch of interviews with Jeff Coble though, maybe it was just to give some good PR to the weekend series. Anyways its unfortunate but I think we all know that both BASS and FLW pick the anglers they give publicity to based on internal politics, who they like, and who supports their sponsors. I’m sure they weren’t happy that a guy sponsored by chevy, ranger, and yamaha won the event and that was reinforced by them putting Preston Clark on the bassmaster homepage the day after Luke won it. But anyways making it to the classic and finishing in the top 10 is a heck of an accomplishment and something any fisherman would be proud of.
i wouldnt say flw does it as much as BASS. Their coverage usually is around the top ten as a whole not just the major names, or “puppets”.
they gave extra attention to jeff coble because he’s a big shot with tritoon boats! That’s what gets me sooooo steamed about all these bigger tourneys. If you don’t conform to their mold, your outcasted. Just look at how their going to wreck the stren series- if you don’t go out and buy a new ranger, your f#$#$D! I think the boat manufactures are running into the wall they were afraid of, and that is pricing the boats so high that most of the population can’t afford one. So now they have to force you to buy one if you want to fish those tournies. It’s a crock i say- hey i own a genmar boat- ah must be the stepchild that no circuit wants to love. Just venting. PLease come a day when we can get tournies back that someone doesn’t have to politicize the hole event- maybe a BassFan event where the coverage is unbiased and coverage for all. I talked with Ron Shuffield everyday at the classic about everything under the sun. The man’s real down to earth and is one of the ugly ducklings with BASS. Once a person see’s the inside working’s of these events, is when you start to understand want is going on-I think the root of the new evil of BASS is JM associates. Jerry McKinnis has 8-9 guys picked out that he’s going to cover in every event(can you guess those guys?) There’s no unbiased coverage anymore, just personallities that make ratings. I can’t believe that they took bass center off the air, because that’s what we want to see- unbiased coverage with facts..ah i’m done for now……. 
I guess you should have paid more attention to the Break Dancing movement when it came around. You’d be part of JM’s little group. Or if you had orange hair and a back full of tattoos. I bet those guys can’t even carolina rig a Sammy!!!!
good one t-bass! 
It’s a sad day when a guy’s ability to fish tournament circuits and get sponsor’s is based more on his ability to brown nose than his ability to catch fish.
You would think they would have learned their lesson after the federation when champ came from no-where to win the classic birth. I think we all know how impressive your/his showing was at the classic, but unfortunately respect/interest of the general public seems to weigh very little in the minds of espn/bass.
IT’S ALL ABOUT GETTING YOU SPONSOR ON T.V. ALSO, DOES YOUR STYLE FIT THE “IN” CROWD OR AT LEAST WHAT JERRY BELEIVE THE IN CROWD IS. THE SAD PART IS THAT THE NEW COMMERS TO THE SPORT THINK THAT IS WHAT TOURNAMENT FISHING IS ABOUT. IN YOUR FACE, BREAKDANCING CRAP. BOTTOM LINE, THE PEOPLE THAT WATCH THE TOURNEY STUFF ON TV ARE GUYS LIKE US THAT DON’T BUY INTO THE “ACT”. WHAT DO I KNOW I STILL HAVEN’T FIGURED OUT HOW TO CATCH BASS YET.
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Just look at how their going to wreck the stren series-
What they are doing to the Strens suck! I finally made the decision to fish the entire 2007 Stren circuit on the pro side and now this. Since I run Blazers the biggest payout I can receive is $25,000 (unlike this year which was $60,000+). Here is a section of the FLW release…
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The new payout structure looks like this. First-place on the pro side is $25,000 cash. If the winner is the registered original owner of a 2004 or newer Ranger boat, 1st place also includes a Ranger 519VX powered by Evinrude or Yamaha (valued at $40,000).
The winner, if a Ranger Cup participant, will also receive a $3,000 bonus. If Powered by Yamaha guidelines are met, he or she will receive an additional $1,500.
That’s a substantial difference from this year’s 1st-place award, which is $10,000 cash plus a Ranger 519VX, regardless of the pro’s personal boat brand. Yes, the ceiling for the overall 1st-place prize has been raised, but only for Ranger owners. For owners of other boat brands, the winning payout will actually decrease.
Now I’m still undecided. I will definitely be looking into the BASS Northern Tour (not a Citco fan though ).
I can’t believe I am getting angry while deciding what tournaments to fish next year. POLITICS… 
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i’m in the same boat with you d, finally got my schedule to work out to fish a tour next year and then stren drops that bomb on us! I will be looking at the Northern Tour also. A great friend of mine is the tourney director for the weekend series and maybe that will be the way to go for a year also- possibility to make the classic through that championship! I still will say that is the greatest tourney on the planet!
I have seriously been considering doing the stren in its entirety next year as well. But by the sounds of that payout structure, they can have it. A guy can’t even run the boat they prefer to and get paid the same. I am aware it has been like that. The BFL is cool, but it don’t pay for all the running and practice.
It’s time to man up and hit the big time!
So does that mean you’ll be stepping up to the front of the boat to fish next year?
huh??
It’s a matter of getting the time off work, finances, etc. together. If I have the dough to fish the stren centrals next year I’ll do it in a heartbeat. Otherwise it’ll be the silverado and extream. That’s my best guess right now. I might try to fish some Tour or Series events as a co-angler too.
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