Bassmaster

I see they are coming to Leech next August.

It’s a Bassmaster Open Event. Not an Elite event. Just an FYI.

I am not very familiar with the Open events. I think Bass Pundit may be familiar.

Does it matter?

Does it matter if it it’s an Open versus an Elite? I would say yes it does matter. I may be mistaken but the qualifications to participate in an Open event aren’t as difficult as it is to make the Elites. And the prize money isn’t as big either.

Kind of the minor leagues for the Elite Series. Some of the top pros will probably fish it trying to make the Bassmaster Classic if they didn’t qualify through the Elites this last season, but it will be mostly guys trying to qualify for the tour.

Dutchboy wrote:

Does it matter?

It does not matter, but its not the same as getting the Bassmaster elite events. I wish they were going to be there at a different time. Mid August will not do a good job of showing what a great bass fishery it is. With how much the SM population has increased in Leech the last 10 years and the time of the year this event is, I don’t don’t doubt that SM will play a big part in the event. Another event where everyone will be using forward facing units and targeting deep fish.

It’ll still be a big deal for the city of Walker.

Dutchboy wrote:

It’ll still be a big deal for the city of Walker.

Yes it will. They are large events and will probably urine some people in the state off because of it….But, it will be a nice little boost for the community.

They follow that by being in LaCrosse in Sept.

An Open will probably have 200-plus boats if this year’s entries are any indication. The Elites field is around 100 and has significantly more accomplished anglers. The Open payouts aren’t very good. Really, almost no level of tournament angling has a good level of payout anymore unless you win. The heyday of bass tournament angling is now long past. I don’t know how much longer BASS and Major League Fishing can hold on thanks to sky-high inflation, especially in fuel prices.

Bass Pundit wrote:

An Open will probably have 200-plus boats if this year’s entries are any indication. The Elites field is around 100 and has significantly more accomplished anglers. The Open payouts aren’t very good. Really, almost no level of tournament angling has a good level of payout anymore unless you win. The heyday of <em class=”ido-tag-em”>bass tournament angling is now long past. I don’t know how much longer BASS and Major League Fishing can hold on thanks to sky-high inflation, especially in fuel prices.

I agree the costs are high but I still think it will be a full field of wannabe’s at both stops.

I would disagree that the heyday of tournament angling is in the past. The youth movement in high schools and colleges will fuel it for a long time. Even with the high costs to try and make it. The part that is long gone, is the hard working guy being able to make it that doesn’t have a ton of money to throw at it.

I don’t see the MLF making it too far down the road though, mostly because of the idiot running it.

Mahto I agree. You need to be a business owner and be self employed to get the time off to do these things correctly. Either that or have a wife or family thats loaded. I can only imagine what the bill for a weeks prefishing these things is.

Dutchboy wrote:

Mahto I agree. You need to be a business owner and be self employed to get the time off to do these things correctly. Either that or have a wife or family thats loaded. I can only imagine what the bill for a weeks prefishing these things is.

Yeah, been thinking about it…. Am self-employed, but maybe next year. It’s a young man’s game, but I’d like to think I’m in better shape than many 40-50 year olds. Advil helps… but not Bassmaster Elite, the kayak series. We’ll see…

FryDog62 wrote:

Yeah, been thinking about it…. Am self-employed, but maybe next year. It’s a young man’s game, but I’d like to think I’m in better shape than many 40-50 year olds. Advil helps… but not Bassmaster Elite, the kayak series. We’ll see…

With the money you get for your boat you could probably pull off one season of the kayak circuit!

Dutchboy wrote:

Mahto I agree. You need to be a business owner and be self employed to get the time off to do these things correctly. Either that or have a wife or family thats loaded. I can only imagine what the bill for a weeks prefishing these things is.

I’m not sure anymore(it’s been 6+ years since I worked the Elite Series), but most of the guys on the Elite Series were independently wealthy to start off. The younger guys, did work their way up. But I can say, virtually every one of them has a bigger head than most. Brandon Palaniuk and Justin Lucas were pretty damn cool humans when they first started. And both WERE very down to earth.

I am assuming with the contracts that the Elites will be fishing it. I have been seeing a few guys up there already. So maybe?

Really cool to see this.

There are a fair # of the elite guys who also fish the opens. So I’m sure they will be more than a few really good fishermen fishing the event. These days there is little if any difference between the elite guys and the open guys.

fishthumper wrote:

There are a fair # of the elite guys who also fish the opens. So I’m sure they will be more than a few really good fishermen fishing the event. These days there is little if any difference between the elite guys and the open guys.

I wouldn’t go that far. The only elite guys that will be fishing it are the ones who didn’t qualify for the Bassmaster Classic this past season. It’s their only shot at getting in. That’s literally the only reason they’ll be fishing it. Or if they didn’t keep their Elite Series qualification for next season.