Brian Latimer has become the latest 2019 FLW Tour champion to decline an invitation to compete on the FLW Pro Circuit in 2020. Instead, Latimer will focus on the Bassmaster Opens with the hope of qualifying for the Bassmaster Elite Series.
Latimer made his announcement Tuesday evening across his social media pages, posting a 15-minute video on YouTube to explain the thought process behind his decision.
Latimer, who won the Lake Seminole FLW Tour in March, joins Buddy Gross (Elite Series) and Andrew Upshaw (B.A.S.S. Opens) as Tour winners who will not be part of the Pro Circuit field next year. John Cox, who won at Lake Chickamauga, has said he’ll attempt to compete in the Pro Circuit as well as the Elite Series. Bryan Thrift, the FLW Cup winner, accepted an invitation to join the Bass Pro Tour.
“My gut feeling tells me this is the best thing to do,” Latimer said in the video, which was shot while fishing at Lake Broadway near Anderson, S.C. “It’s not that one organization is better than another but I felt like for what I want to accomplish in the sport and what I want to do and the place I’ll be happiest fishing is at B.A.S.S. right now. I really like the way I’m fishing right now and I’ll really happy with my career and how things are working out. I feel like to continue what I have going, I’m going to be happiest at B.A.S.S. I just like B.A.S.S. right now. It’s the most stable.”
Latimer’s explanation can be viewed in the video embedded below:
