Clifford Pirch may make the jump to the Bassmaster Elite Series in 2013. But he may also choose to stay put and continue fishing the FLW Tour. Then again, he might fish both.
It’s all going to boil down to scheduling for the Arizona pro, who’s coming off a 9th-place finish in the FLW Tour Major points this season.
He earned an invitation to fish the Elites in ’13 by virtue of his 2nd-place finish in points through the Bassmaster Northern Opens. He’s also the points leader in the Southern Division with one event remaining. The Top 5 finishers in each of the three Open divisions earn invites to fish the Elites the following year.
He won’t make the decision until he’s had some time to get back home and look at the schedules and determine what’s going to benefit him and his sponsors the most.
“Obviously, being a Skeeter/Yamaha guy, my exposure would be better with B.A.S.S. than with FLW,” he said.
He chose to fish the two Open divisions this season to fill gaps in his schedule between FLW Tour events, but he also knew that if he placed well in the Opens and earned an Elite invitation, there was a higher likelihood that the Elites might fish closer to home next season.
He said he’s spent the equivalent of about a week at his Arizona home in the past 4 months.
While the ‘13 Elites schedule doesn’t include any stops in Arizona or California, it does open with a pair of events in Texas, but will remain in the eastern portion of the country the rest of the way. The FLW schedule for next year includes a stop at Grand Lake in Oklahoma, but nothing farther west.
“B.A.S.S. is a little more apt to go west than FLW. When it’s all said and done I’m going to have spent 9 months on the road this season,” he said.
