Anyone know why they decided not to return to the Mississippi river at all next year? Does it have anything to do with some bad press received from the Lacrosse tourney? 
The closest tournament next year is Kentucky Lake! 
Not sure, but I’ll definitely be asking about it down at the championship in November.
Not only are they not coming to LaCrosse, but there isn’t even a Midwest division anymore! Unfortunately I think the message is coming through to MN/WI anglers loud and clear from FLW. I’ll report back what I find out at the championship.
Ugh..that sucks. I really wouldn’t doubt that it is thanks to the press. got what they wanted huh? 
I am looking into fishing the Central division since the Mid-West is gone now.
I wonder if it had anything to do with a weak turnout? None of the tournaments ever really filled to capacity(except maybe kentucky lake). Compared to other divisions I don’t think they had as many boats. Probably a combination of factors but I’m sure the culling controversy in LaCrosse didn’t help matters at all.
I am pretty sure LAX was a full field. But the last 2 were not.
I am not sure why, It is definitly not because of lack of fish. Two of the four tourneys this year were full fields. I am not sure if the other divisions had full fields in all of the events or what. I do know that it is disapointing to some extent because it is nice to be able to compete in your back yard for at least one of the four events. It may be a confidence thing, I don’t know. The bottom line, gentleman, is money. All location scheduling is influenced by financial factors. I am sure that the fish kill may have had some influence on the decision as well, who knows.
I myself, like D-nort, am planning on fishing the central division this year. If you care to have your opinion on this matter heard, call Chris Jones @ FLW and let him know that you sre dissapointed in the schedule this year. 270-252-1000. Maybe this will influence future planning.
Danny 
The first two events were filled but ft. madison only had 144 boats and detroit river had 137. That’s why the midwest division was canceled. It by far had the lowest turnout of any division. If FLW doesn’t have a good turnout then it doesn’t make financial sense to put the tournaments on. It stinks for us, but if there’s other regions of the country that will do a better job of showing up to the tournaments then it makes sense to move the circuit there. Baisically there’s a lot of guys who are lazy and just don’t want to go and travel to fish tournaments that aren’t on their home body of water. Why could they fill the LaCrosse tournament and not Ft. Madison? Why wouldn’t guys who fished the Lax stren go and fish ft. madison? Now I know that gas is expensive, and its hard to get time off work, etc. but guys in the other divisions are doing it and they have the same financial obstacles. There’s a bunch of guys in MN who could afford it but they’re just afraid to fish anything other than gull lake and minnetonka. I know I’m going off here, but I see a lot of guys who limit themselves by being closed minded and AFRAID to fish anything new.
I do agree Crawdaddy, to some extent. I do not necessarily know if travel is the major reason. Anybody who is commited to their goals should be willing to travel anywhere to accomplish them. This same situation happens every year in the BFL. By the time the last couple of tournys come around, we are lucky to have 100 boats. The super tourney isn’t so super if the payout sucks. The first tournament on LaX paid down 31 places. The super tournament paid down 20. I believe priority entry should involve a commitment for all 5 tournament. Just my 2 cents which aint worth a penny
Well then I guess I’ll put it like this. There’s a lot of guys in Minnesota who have both the time and money but not the ambition or desire to compete at what I call the Regional level. As far as the BFL’s go I suppose a big part of the draw is the regional tournament and the dream of making it to the all-american. Once someone is out of the points race they don’t feel like fishing anymore. I myself would fish the BFL’s but I live in the twin cities and its not worth it financially for me to fish any division. Too much travel and not enough payout. I’m sure if I lived in southern Wi or northern IA I’d fish the great lakes division.
I still feel that we are getting the shaft. At least a guy feels like he has a chance to make the championship when one of four tournaments is on familiar water. Now we are supposed to go down south and try to compete with the same guys who whooped us up here? Why is that fair, my god…they fish for a living. Its also going to be harder than heck to even get confirmed for all the tournaments unless you qualified through the BFL or 2006 STREN series. Its not laziness, there are many reasons.
I feel like we’re getting the shaft too and I wish they had at least one Stren central event in MN or WI. It’s just not going to happen right now with the WI and MN DNR being too restrictive in their tournament regulations. I think that is the number 1 thing keeping tournaments out of our region.
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