Jon Bondy of Windsor, Ontario told BassFan today that he has dropped out of the Bassmaster Elite Series for financial reasons and will not fish this week's Smith Mt. Lake event.
"Narrowly missing the first three $10,000 checks of the season is what I call an economic downturn," he said. "I'll be guiding full-time, which will allow me to honor my sponsor obligations, just as I did before joining the Elites 4 years ago, and it's safe to assume that as the economy improves I'll be competing again.
"I have many friends on the tour and will miss them a lot," he added. "I want to wish the entire field a successful rest of the season. For anyone who'd like to book a trip, please visit my site (FishStClair.com).
Bondy first fished the Elite Series in 2006 – the inaugural year of BASS's new tour – after he qualified through the Bassmaster Opens. Across three complete seasons, he made two Top 12 cuts (Table Rock, Toho) and missed two others buy a single place (Clarks Hill, Erie/Niagara).
He missed checks in the first three events of this season buy a combined 15 places.
