Any interest in Pool 19 tournaments??

Hello all,

I recieved a phone call from a guy in Burlington, IA last night asking if the ABA might consider running tournaments in that area. It sounds like there is not much going on in that area anymore in the way of tournament circuits so it could be a good area or it could simply be that there isn’t enough anglers to support it.

There is not much activity on this site for pool 19 but still thought I’d throw this out and see if there is any interest. Please let me know if you live in that area and would be interested in supporting a new trail there.

If you are unfamiliar with the American Bass Anglers please click on the link below in the signature and find out more about us and the 800 tournaments we’ll run in 2005.

Thanks,

ken

aba is having a tourney on pool 18 next month i believe but i dont know if any one has shown intrest i pretty sure i herd 3 of there regluar boaters wont be fishing it also i tried to get them to go to 19 as well but i was the only one to vote for it

as for pool 19 there are people from this board who fish it i used to fish it alot more then the 7 times a year i do now
i think there could be some intrest from our local anglers but i honestly dont see aba drawing the boats as a team supreme would in this area due to pay out and the idea of it being a draw tournament

id love to see it happen but i would like to see more then the 5 boats or less that i have seen at my previous 3 aba tourneys i have fished

Hi Ken, has there ever been interest in having a lake tournamentn schedule in IOWA for the ABA?

Hotrod,

There aren’t any lakes near me that would work. We would certainly entertain the idea of new districts. We only need to find willing individuals in an area who would act as director.

Dusty,

I hope we see you again. We can’t grow without support of anglers such as yourself. We are growing everyday but it may still take another season before we pull full fields but it will happen.

I agree you will not get rich fishing with one of the local districts around here but Payout percentages are as good as anyone else and with over $340,000 given away in cash and prizes at the National every October we are bigger than the other trials you mentioned. In fact that more than is paid out at most BASS pro events.

Also with the new higher tier Angler Advantage Series were launching with 80% payback and a Guarenteed $1000 to first place with just 30 anglers we have raised the bar for weekend tournaments.

Now, I agree, most people here prefer the team format but that is really only true in this part of the country. I think everyone will agree that there is more than enough team circuits around now so I don’t want to replace them or steal their anglers. I simply want to bring in something different.

So maybe you won’t get as excited with the smaller fields that we have been having compared to TS or Harvesters but they have been around much longer. Harvesters had single digit tournout for sometime but they proved if you run clean tournaments the circuit will grow. Older ABA circuits like the one in Minnisota regularly has 50-60 anglers and the districts all run much the same.

So come fish with us again. Interest is growing quickly in my district and we should be pulling 15 or more for the next season.

theres an idea ken get one of the angler advantage tourneys and put it on pool 19 one time and see how it goes instead of a full circut

pool 19 can be a tough pool for those not familiar with it due to the major sand bars and stump fields not to mentoin the area south of fort madison when the wind picks up to 10 mph out of the south and west

I have fished and enjoyed ABA tourneys for the last 2 years. I agree with the drawbacks listed- low numbers and draw format can deter some people. I think that Ken and Chris (new district 46 director) are willing to listen to people – including possible sites for tourneys, new pools, new lakes, etc but it is hard to justify moving too far unless there is some interest generated. I know this year mention had been given to pool 19, and Odessa as possible sites as well as mcbride, saugema, coralville, Pleasant creek which have all been mentioned. Many of these have drawbacks with horsepower/motor limitations and coralville seems to be a thumbs down due to it being generally a “poor” bass fishery. I think people new to tournaments can benefit greatly from the draw format, especially those without a boat who can run the motor and pick spots on an equal basis. Most seem worried about “spots” but most of these “spots” are community holes in general and will be found in time by most anyway, and it still comes down to fishing ability to some extent. Those of you who have interest should talk to ken and see what can be worked out, or ill get you in touch with Chris here for the “southern” pools and lakes. One problem is that because it is such a large tournament trail nationwide the schedules come out very early(they are already set for the most part for 2005), but they are very flexible as to which district(s) you can fish- any one counts towards national points so you can mix or match. Much of the payout problem goes towards nationals which pays very handsomely! Anyone interested should visit the website or pm ken or me for details- http://www.americanbassanglers.com. Also- it should be mentioned that a select few of the tourneys are “open” in that you can try them out without joining aba ($20 bucks) and just fish that one to see if you might be interested in expanding a current district or establishing a new one. Sorry for the moby [censored] sized post, i just think it might interest some of the people on this board who want to expand their fishing abilities or get into tourney fishing with more flexibility than some of the other circuits offer. JJ

I think some things need to be considered when discussing ABA, its turnouts, payouts and etcetera. The American Bass Anglers Tournament Trail (ABA) is not designed to make you rich or even a “Pro” angler. ABA is designed for “Weekend Anglers” to give them a chance to compete locally without spending tons of money or using vacation time to get off of work.

It is a given that turnouts and therefore payouts will not be as large as an FLW Tour event, BASS event or even a BFL tournament. The thing is you will never be able to fish a whole season of any of those tournament trails and never drive more than a couple of hours from your house. At some point you will have to make a long drive and spend several hundred dollars (thousands for the big boys) to compete.

I guess I tend to take it a little more personal than others because I spent two years as a District Director for the ABA. I know first hand how much work goes into bringing a District to a new area, attracting members to a trail they have never heard of, getting local sponsors and doing everything that is involved with running each tournament. None of it is easy and the pay (or lack thereof) barely helps you break even. On top of that, there is always going to be someone that doesn’t like this or disagrees with that, it’s just the nature of the beast.

My advice to anyone that has an interest in close to home bass tournaments, is rather than picking apart what is wrong with an organization, give positive feedback that can help it grow. BASS didn’t begin with huge fields and massive payouts, they had to invest several years of hard work. Support your local district and help bring in new members. If it is higher payouts and bigger fields that you seek, help make it happen. Negative comments will in no way bring any positive results. If you prefer to fish big tournaments with big payouts and are not willing to support your local organization, then don’t waste your time fishing the “Small” stuff, you won’t be happy anyway.

If you are anything like me, the size of the tournament field has nothing to do with the level of competiveness. I don’t care if I am fishing against 150 guys or just betting my buddy for lunch, I want to win every time I launch my boat. I never plan on making a lot of money fishing small local tournaments, I do it because I like it. My “real” job pays the bills.

This is not directed to any individual. I just wanted to help paint a better picture of what the ABA and other local organizations are about.

JT Bagwell

I joined ABA last year because I liked the concept of a trail for the “weekend angler”. I don’t have the time or the $$$ to travel 200-300 miles to fish against guys who are sponsored to do almost nothing but fish. I joined, even though I knew my work schedule would allow me only 3 shots in 2004. I joined, not knowing what the average draw per tournament was. The size of the pot didn’t matter to me. I’m a retired teacher and work to put gas in the boat. I joined because I love to fish and I enjoy the competitiveness of the draw tournament. I was a bit surprised at the numbers in the two tournaments I managed, 3 boats in one, 7 in another, but then, none of us is in it for the $$$. Sure, bigger pots would be nice, but the fun and camraderie of a day on the water far outweighs the size of the pot. Will I do it again? You bet. I understand my dues are good for one year from the date I joined, so I can get a couple 2005 tournaments in on the dues from 2004. What a deal!! Hope to see some more of you take a look at this neat “little” trail.

[censored] Saylor

I would agree- its nice for those of us who are busy during the week and on many weekends. It is a group that certainly could grow and offers something different from the team trails which are very popular locally. Many of the tourneys are on sunday which allows some prefishing sat if you can get away from job/wife/kids. If you are in tourney fishing for the big purse you better have lots of time and be able to travel as well as be able to catch some fish, otherwise you aint gonna get rich fishing local tourneys of any kind. It also allows you to fish with new people and learn new techniques unlike the team concept, and as a co-angler you are not banished to the back of the boat a-la BFL but can contribute ideas and locations if desired. Yes the field size is small, but i think it could catch if the directors are patient enough to wait and listen.

i would be willing to bet the turnouts for the ABA tournaments would be better on pool 19 than any of the districts up north. I say that for one reason. On any given weekend up north i can choose to fish at least one tournament on saturday and one on sunday. However, there are very few throughout the year on pool 19 even though there are a lot of bass anglers in the area. i am not saying there will be 50 boats, but i can imagine 25 fairly easily. there are numerous bass clubs in the area and i would imagine many of the fisherman would fish them.