Conventional wisdom among BassFans holds that while the FLW Tour definitely has bigger payouts, the Bassmaster Tour has the tougher competition. That's one thing to say from the shore, but how do you prove it? What about two-tour pros who finished behind FLW-only pros in the points? If the Bassmaster Tour was truly tougher, wouldn't Bassmaster pros who also fished FLW be stacked near the top of the FLW points?



And if competition really is more fierce on one tour vs. the other, what makes it that way?

Since these are questions only the pros can answer, BassFan took these questions to them. And since there isn't a good way to compare FLW-only pros to Bassmaster-only pros, BassFan spoke with only two-tour pros to get the scoop.

Off-Limits and Information

Between the two tours, a few rules differ significantly. The first concerns off-limits periods and FLW Outdoors does not mandate an off-limits period for its tour events. Secondly, it places no substantial restrictions on how anglers obtain information prior to a tournament.

BASS, on the other hand, requires a 30-day off-limits period. This restricts both information gathering and on-the-water practice and allows Bassmaster pros just 3 days of official practice right before the tournament begins. Anglers cannot receive local help, nor can they receive help from their non-boaters.

A few pros, like Jim Bitter (a former two-tour pro), clearly see a difference in how those rules affect the competition, and it runs contrary to general fan opinion. "When you get right down to it, the competition is stiffer in FLW," he said. "There's no off-limits (period) and guys are living on the lakes before you get there. You cannot compete with guys who are doing that."

His point is that if an FLW-only pro won't put in the extra time to level the playing field by his own efforts, he may indeed make things harder for himself. Of course, due to the tight schedules of both tours, two-tour pros don't have the luxury of a long practice. So the FLW might be tougher on anglers who haven't learned to dial in a bite in just a few days of practice. That's all they have on the Bassmaster trail too, of course, but everybody's in the same situation there.

On the other hand, Bassmaster Classic champion Takahiro Omori tends to agree more with the fan opinion. "I like fishing FLW and I've fished it since 1996," he said. "This was my best year fishing both. But I think Bassmaster is harder. There are different fishermen – more higher quality fishermen. Because there are no sponsor slots for the Bassmaster Tour, everybody has to qualify (from the Tour, the Opens or the all-time money list). So there are more, better anglers (fishing Bassmaster).

"My top priority is the tournaments," he noted. "I want to show fishing success at every chance and compete with the best fishermen in the world – that's why I came to the U.S. – so I chose Bassmaster for more challenge for myself."

But definite opinions like Omori's are the exception among pros. More common is Matt Herren's take. "To say which tour is harder is a double-edged sword and there's no easy answer," he said. "In FLW, it's tough to compete because guys can get all the information and spend as much time on the lake as they want. I think the Bassmaster setup is great because it limits your time on the water. But for someone like me (with limited experience on the lakes) that's really hard."

Herren highlighted a key difference that several new Bassmaster pros also pointed out. For those just starting out on the tours, it may be easier to make a check in FLW since they can spend the time to learn each lake before the tournament. Bassmaster tends to favor the old guard who've been to the tournament lakes before.

Dean Rojas used to worry about his FLW competition putting in longer practice times. "When I started fishing FLW I thought I needed 5 days or more to practice," he said. "Then I found out in BASS that I could find (the fish) in 3 days, so I shortened my practice in FLW too. I want to fish the current conditions. You're always trying to find something off the norm anyway, so maybe it's one less thing to worry about.

"The competition is really about the same (on both tours) in the respect that you still have to catch fish no matter who's out there."

No Secrets

Greg Hackney, who won notoriety by finishing in the runner-up spot in both the FLW and Bassmaster points, made several observations about the effects of the no-off-limits in FLW. "There is one group of FLW-only anglers that spends a lot of time on the water, and that 2 weeks of practice takes the secrets out," he said. "People get more bunched up and have to share the water, so it's tougher to find a place to yourself."

It's always harder to fish in a crowd and Hackney thinks that plays a role in sack weight. "Weights run bigger in BASS because guys can find spots to themselves with a shorter practice," he said. "Not everybody finds the same fish."

"A lot of fish get caught in practice in the FLW," he noted. "A lot of those guys catch fish they maybe shouldn't, thinking they'll bite again, but most of the time they won't. Still, (those anglers) are good at what they do and how they do it. That long practice suits some people better, but not me."

Omori agrees that the fish get more pressure in FLW events. "All the easy fish are gone (by the time the tournament starts)," he said. "I have to adjust to find fish in a high fishing pressure situation. It's a lot different from just going fishing for the weekend. I have to be very open-minded." And he is right in line with Hackney on the crowding phenomenon: "Even on the big lakes, everybody shows up in the same areas."

Omori doesn't worry about his competition's practice time though. "The off-limits doesn't affect me," he said. "I changed my practice strategy to fish only 3 days for FLW, just like BASS. I have to find fish quicker. I don't talk to anybody. I just study my map. Most of the time I don't even talk to my amateur (laughs). I just do my own fishing."

Statistical Analysis

Opinions are one thing, but what do hard facts add to the debate? Below is a table comparing 2004 points finishes and regular-season money winnings, plus FLW Tour Championship (FLWTC) and Classic finishes/winnings, for the nine pros (in alphabetical order) who qualified for both championships.



What's telling here is the average finish on both points lists ("BASS finish" and "FLW finish") is almost identical. In other words, the Top 9 two-tour pros who qualified for both tour championships together averaged a 16th-place finish on both tours. None of them won any regular-season events, but when averaged together, they did just as well on both tours. Of course, Hackney is the perfect example – he finished 2nd in both the FLW and Bassmaster points.

That would imply that the competition, for these guys anyway, was about the same on both the FLW and Bassmaster tours. Four of them did better in Bassmaster, four did better in FLW and the Hack Attack put the heat on the points leaders on both tours.

The regular-season money comparison confirms what we already knew – the FLW is more lucrative – and the earnings and place finishes for the championships are just interesting but don't say much.

Likes and Dislikes

So now that the stats and the pros have indicated the competition is fairly even across the two tours for experienced pros, what are some of the things that influence how each tour can challenge an angler in different ways?

> Hackney: "I like the short practices in BASS because it gets me more hyped up for the tournament. I'm not burned out by the time it starts."

> Rojas: "They both have their little negative things, but I like to focus on the positive things instead. Both tours strive to be professional and promote the sport in a positive manner. And the competition between BASS and FLW is good. They may not admit to it, but there's a little battle going on between them. We wouldn't have the growth we have if they weren't doing that."

> Hackney: "If you lined up everybody on the FLW Tour, I could only name a handful by face recognition. But I could name like 99 percent of them on the Bassmaster Tour. I get to fish with guys I've looked up to for years."

> Omori: "It's hard to say which I like better. As a pro I have to fish all the opportunities I have to make a living. We have to have more than just six tournaments a year to make a living. I spent almost $40,000 of my own money to fish all the BASS and FLW tournaments this year." (And that's with strong sponsor support.)

> Hackney: "A pet peeve of mine is that the FLW lets them get local help. I think everybody should be on their own at the pro level. Top guys are good because they do their own thing. Consistent guys don't get in the habit of getting information. They figure things out for themselves."

All three like the payout in FLW. Hackney noted: "That really suits a guy who doesn't have any sponsors. That helped when I got started fishing for a living. But when you really get down to it, money doesn't have anything to do with (why we fish). It's an ego trip for most fishermen. I mean, why else would we do it? It's not like a factory job or something."

Experience Counts

"I cut my teeth in BASS since FLW didn't have anything out West at the time," Rojas said. "That got me a start, and then when Yamaha became an affiliate with FLW Outdoors and they wanted me to fish it, I was a little skeptical – not being familiar with it. But I fished one tournament that year and it was really good. My other (non-FLW) sponsors get better exposure in BASS, but as long as Skeeter and Yamaha are happy, I'm happy.

"I'm in my seventh season now," he added. "I'm really starting to get a grasp on why guys like Clunn and Nixon can dial in and do well year after year. They have that vast experience going for them. Fishing both circuits gives you even more of that. Even little stuff, like knowing where the hotels and gas stations are, helps to make it less stressful."

Hackney also remarked on how fast the BASS veterans can find fish. "The guys read the water so fast," he said. "They're trained to (with the short 3-day practice). The (Tour) guys are the most impressive I've seen. Give them 2 days and you'll think they're locals when they weigh in. You have to dial in quick to compete."

Notable

> Hackney started fishing the EverStarts and the BASS Invitationals in 1999, but soon dropped BASS. "I didn't like the draw format," he said. "For the same investment in the EverStart I could do my own thing and have more than 3 hours to fish my fish. The second year (2000), I won the (EverStart Southern) points and qualified for the FLW Tour. Then when BASS went to a pro-am format I got in again."

> Although FLW anglers can practice as long as they'd like, two-tour pros often don't have the luxury. After the FLW Okeechobee opener, the Lake Toho and Ouachita River FLWs directly follow a Bassmaster event. The same thing occurs later in the season when the Potomac FLW follows the Lake Wissota E50. That means two-tour anglers who make the cut to fish Sunday (Bassmaster) must hustle to get just one practice day for the upcoming FLW, which begins on a Wednesday.