Indiana veteran Chip Harrison qualified to fish the 2011 Bassmaster Elite Series via his 7th-place finish in the Northern Open points, but he's in no hurry to decide whether he'll accept that invitation or stick with the FLW Tour. He competed on the old Bassmaster Tour for several years, but has been FLW-only since 2004.
"I'm still waiting on some sponsorship stuff to come around," he said. "I need to talk to the Tom Moleski at (primary sponsor Medix Specialty Vehicles) in the next few days and see if we can get everything figured out.
"I also need to talk to FLW about the new sponsorship stuff they're going to have, and they're also supposed to have some exciting stuff in regard to payouts. I'm waiting for all that to come out and I've got a little time."
He's disappointed that he didn't garner one of the two 2011 Bassmaster Classic berths that were available through the Northern Opens. He entered last week's final event at the Chesapeake Bay at No. 3 in the points, but took himself out of contention with an empty bag on day 1. He boated three keepers for 8-15 on day 2 and finished 64th.
"That first day of the tournament was one of the worst days I've ever had – I hooked eight keepers and landed zero. I lost three bites on consecutive dock posts – two (3-pounders) and a 2. It was just a bad deal."
