Congrats to Tommy Skarlis on his victory at the inaugural AIM event at Bay City this last weekend. His fishing program was awesome and he executed to perfection, once again proving he’s one of the best walleye anglers on earth.
Following are some observations:
The Community of Bay City and Dow Chemical, along with all of the associated local sponsors were fantastic to work with, and the tent and over all set up were fantastic. This was a first annual festival event and there was a soft ball tournament, bands playing at night, beer tent, great food stands, and fun by all that attended. Thanks to the community.
The local walleye clubs were invaluable in offering their help. Thanks to all that took part. Once again, this Mid Michigan area group of anglers proved that they are involved, care about the sport, and are well organized.
There were quite a few questions about the process of CRR at the rules meetiing. Although the meeting went a bit long, all questions were addressed, and the weigh-in process during tournament time went extremely well. Like the trial run that was held at Winneconnie, WI, the tournament process was smooth, fair, and went without a hitch. I can tell you that I’ve fished hundreds of major events since 1984, and normally when talking to competitive fishermen there are always complaints of some type. After fishing this event, all I saw were smiles, and excitement for the future of the sport. Many of the anglers had suggestions, and all are being evaluated for the future, but by and large the anglers themselves felt that this is definitely the format of the future. You guys saw the line up of fishing pro’s. It’s hard to impress this group, but CRR definitely has left it’s mark. Everyone I talked to can’t wait for the upcoming events that all take place in no-cull and/or slot states.
The stage show was cool. The first day didn’t have as much video as I would have liked, but it was after all the first day of the first event, with a group of techies that are just getting used to each other. By day two, and then three, the show rocked. I did not hear one comment about the weigh in being boring and not one comment about not seeing fish. And I asked many fishermen and observers. So, at least on site, it seems that the comments and concerns about seeing fish on stage were unfounded. The really neat thing for me personally was the fact that I knew the weigh in would not result in fish mortality, like it does in every other tournament format. My background guilt feelings about weigh in’s are not there any more. Maybe it’s just a personal thing, but it does make me feel better.
Day one internet streaming and features were also lacking for the same reasons as above. I think most agree that day two and certainly three rocked! The AIM tech guys all came together and have developed a system that makes tournaments much more “real time” and fun for all. It was a cool experience.
I know that there was a concern about co-anglers not trying. And that none would want to fish this format. We had more co-anglers sign up than pros. The one thing that I noticed, is that two different pros commented to me about how hard their co’s worked and fished throughout the day. I said this winter that I’ve never fished with a co that didn’t try hard in all my years, and that this new format would be no different. That is actually what really took place, in fact I truly believe that I developed a closer relationship with my partners during this event than in any event that I fished previously…. I think that when working with the angler to measure, jointly agree on length, photograph and record, there is a sense of ownership by both the pro and co as to the overall weight of the boat. I’ve asked all three of my co’s’s to pre-fish with me in the future and most know that I just don’t do that very often. All three of my co’s at this AIM event are new friends and these are friendships that I’ll cherish for years. Most of the co-partners that fished with had very little previous Pro-Am experience… this was a new thing for them and they had fun. In fact, I found out today that over 50% of the co-anglers had never fished a Pro-Am event before. AIM wanted to get new anglers interested in tournaments by offering lower entry fees and a unique experience and if the first tournament is any indication it’s looking like the ideology is working. These anglers are the future of our sport and I thank all that attended.
I’ll address the comments of low payouts. Yes they were not what we wanted. We would have liked to see more Pro’s sign up and the payouts would have been better… in fact quite good. But just think. Tommy fished against 45 guys and won $27,000. NOT BAD. The comments were about dropping to $5,900 for second. As most know that’s what I won. Would I have liked to see it be more? Certainly. And if we would have had a full field it would have been much more, so I ask, that before all compare to other tours, please remember that this is a first time event, on a new format, in tough economic times… and many of the comparisons that I’ve seen are comparing other tours with full or larger fields to this first event. What many viewers don’t know is that both Tommy and I entered the Super Cash side of the tournament before the event started, along with about a fourth of the field. Super Cash at Bay City paid two spots $5000 apiece, so he actually won $32,000 and I won $10,900, and that’s not counting what we won for big bag and big fish. Pretty good for a field of this size. The additional entry fee for Super Cash is $1000 and you actually have a one in five chance of winning. Since this format has no slots or no culling restrictions to keep the luck factor down, I’ll take those odds every time.
Please understand that AIM is a fisherman owned tour, and as it grows with sponsors, payouts will go up tremendously, both from entry fees, but more importantly though sponsor dollars.
I’ll also address the point that AIM should have waited and all anglers should fish and support just one tour. We did not start AIM to destroy walleye tournaments. Walleye tournaments are hurting themselves for many reasons stated over the winter. Bad economy is certainly not helping, but the luck factors of no cull, slots, restrictive sponsors and many other things have greatly contributed to this decline in participation. Some would not agree or would like to argue the point, but in reality it is what it is. All of the circuits have within their power to change some of the things that are contributing to this. I hope CRR catches on with all of the tours. That will help. I hope that some tours will consider that fact that the anglers who work hard to garner a sponsorship (and believe me it’s hard to do in today’s environment) are able to represent themselves (and their sponsorships) as much as the tour does for their sponsors. AIM is not doing this to hurt walleye tournaments, but like was stated all winter, is geared to help, by making the events more exciting, more fair, more green, and hopefully turn the sport into a true competitive event where everyone can grow.
I just finished with a 5 hour board meeting. It’s looking like we’ll be announcing some pretty cool things in the near future. As soon as the timing is right it’s looking like we’ll change the industry again. Welcome to the new direction of tournaments. I encourage everyone to participate, join in on the fun and fairness, and the awesome fisheries at the best times of the year.
The next stop is Green Bay. For those interested there are Pro openings and Co openings and if you want to catch fantastic bags of fish without the worry of keeping them alive or having to come in early with your guessed limit this will be the event of the summer. The final day is linked with one of the largest festivals in Wisconsin and the Bay of Green Bay is looking to be a monster slug fest and a huge amount of fun. Hope to see you all there!
Thanks for listening to the post/ blog and have a great day!
Gary Parsons
It’s exciting to watch this “New Age” of walleye tournaments take off. 
Congrats on your second place finish. 
Good luck at GB. 
