In a surprise move, FLW Outdoors today announced it moved its 2010 Chickamauga FLW Tour event away from the Smith Mt. Bassmaster Elite Series.
As background, BASS announced dates for its 2010 Elite Series in summer 2008. Although BASS shrunk its season from 11 to eight events, dates remained unchanged. FLW Outdoors later announced its Tour schedule, with Chickamauga scheduled over Smith Mt.
In place of Chickamauga (April 15–18), the FLW Tour field will instead fish Ft. Loudoun–Tellico April 22–25.
In announcing the change, FLW Outdoors president and CEO Charlie Evans said: "We strive to continue to provide the best anglers in the world the opportunity to fish some of the best fisheries in the country for the top prizes in the sport and evaluate all our schedules and events to provide the maximum opportunity for the sport to continue to grow. By moving this date, we're creating some separation between our tournament and a Bassmaster Elite Series tournament held in the same month."
With BASS shrinking its Elite Series schedule to just eight events across 4 months, it can be expected that several BASS pros – particularly those who are Ranger-sponsored – will seek to fish next year's FLW Tour. However, there is still a conflict for the first FLW Tour event of the season (Red River), which overlaps the official Bassmaster Classic practice.
The TBF National Championship will take place in Knoxville – alongside Ft. Loudoun–Tellico. Venue is to be determined.
Pro reactions forthcoming. For reference, here's the revised 2010 FLW Tour schedule:
