Morgenthaler Says PAA Has 'Evolved'

(Editor's note: In observance of the Labor Day holiday, BassFan will not publish on Monday unless breaking news emerges.)

The Labor Day holiday weekend recognizes the contributions of America's labor force. The holiday gained significant focus in the wake of the country's bitter and bloody labor movement.

While no one would compare the struggles of pro anglers to the West Virginia Coal Wars, the Pullman Strike or the Haymarket Riot, the modern Professional Anglers Association (PAA) was nonetheless born of a desire amongst pro anglers to organize.

The original PAA sought to protect angler interest within a rapidly changing sport, but never achieved a real effectiveness and disbanded in 2004. A year later, as BASS worked and reworked numerous iterations of what would become the Elite Series, the PAA re-formed with the same intent – to create a unified voice capable of affecting change in league policy.

That rekindled PAA issued statements of position and often challenged BASS. It then grew longer legs as FLW Tour and Series pros joined. Yet as it grew in strength, it became less of an advocacy voice – less of a "union" – and more an association or league itself. Today's PAA offers a Tournament Series, helps feed the Toyota Texas Bass Classic field, boasts of TV programming and original digital content, and offers a contingency program for members.

So the PAA has effectively morphed from its organized-labor roots into an independent body that offers opportunity for its members to enhance their careers through competition. And with the financial ups and downs of the previous years, the PAA's growth is seen by many as a guarantee there'll be pro-level events to fish no matter what happens to the BASS or FLW tours.

The PAA recently named Chad Morgenthaler its elected president. Morgenthaler replaced prior president John Crews.

In the Q&A that follows, Morgenthaler addresses the evolution of the PAA, as well as its current status and future plans.

BassFan: When the PAA was rekindled in 2005, it was really an effort to organize pros and have a voice amidst all the changes happening in the sport. It issued statements of position and acted somewhat as a watchdog. Would you say that's changed over the past few years?

Morgenthaler: I think we've evolved as an organization. We've had to react to some different times as anglers, and it's kind of caused us to have to head in a direction to protect the sport. It's our occupation, and maybe in the big picture the PAA is there to help things along and kind of give advice and stand up for what's right and how strongly we feel about things heading in the direction they have been the last several years. But along the way, we've been offered some wonderful opportunities to put on events that benefit the members, and we've taken advantage of that.

So yeah, our position has changed and evolved over the past couple of years and we've been making necessary adjustments as we've gone forward.

Would you say that the PAA is a watchdog of any type within the sport capable of representing angler interests to leagues?

I see us as an organization that's starting to take responsibility and control of our own destiny. That's how I see the PAA. And we're learning how to do that better, and learning all the different forms in which we can do that in.

At first, the PAA was perceived as somewhat of a union of anglers, and a watchdog. We want to protect the sport. It's our livelihood. So our No. 1 concern is to protect the sport which we all have an enormous passion for. Whenever that starts to come into jeopardy, we intend to help people take control of their own destiny. That's what we've evolved to do.

And I will say that some of the (watchdog) efforts the PAA has given in the past – some of it was effective and some of it fell on deaf ears.

FLW Outdoors conducted some intensive feedback sessions with anglers this year, which resulted in some changes in the league. Did the PAA contribute to those discussions as a group?

No, just the individual anglers did.

The PAA long struggled to be recognized by both tours. Is the PAA currently in communication with either tour?

No, we're not in communication with either tour. The only common denominator we have is the majority of the anglers on both tours (are PAA members).

Is that by choice?

It's a choice of the PAA to go ahead and control its own destiny and protect the sport. That's what it is. The leagues recognize the PAA as, unfortunately, more of a competitor at this point, and that couldn't be farther from the truth. But at the same time, they're entitled to their opinion of the PAA.

We're just going to continue to do what we feel is best for the sport and the anglers, and do what's necessary to continue to survive and enjoy our passion and share it with others. It's obvious the tours are going to do what they have to do to survive and what meets the basic proponents of their business plans.

The PAA Tournament Series has successfully received underwriting with a new title sponsor in Bass Pro Shops. And the quality of the fields is truly impressive. How would you characterize the success of the Tournament Series?

It's interesting, in that I characterize is as being a little bit surprising. Here we are toward the end of everybody's season. Everybody's been through a lot this year and they're probably toward the end of their financial commitments and abilities with sponsors, yet they're still electing to support the PAA. So I'm surprised that we've gained the momentum and the support we've gotten from the anglers. Pleasantly surprised I'd say.

It just goes to show that the anglers get it. We've obviously gotten a lot of support with great partners along the way, and we're continuing to pick up momentum in what's perceived as the worst economic downturn in years. With the addition of Bass Pro Shops as a partner, obviously that's helped immensely. We're very excited about it.

But it's created some situations we haven't got a lot of experience working around. As you can probably tell, our tour is an iron-man's tour. It's as brutal a schedule as you'll see anywhere, not only when you look at the competitors in the events, but the conditions and the lakes we've been on. It's a situation where it is what it is. It fell victim to a bunch of different circumstances, but at the same time, it's obviously still a very good thing for the PAA and our partners involved.

We've gained not only tour-level membership, but we stepped up all membership. And television – the Tournament Series is on Versus and we can offer that to the anglers and our partners. And it's all without logo restrictions.

It's been a wonderful journey to this point. Can it get better? Absolutely. And we're working to get it better every day. We know we have a lot of room for improvement and we're continuing to work toward that.

The PAA released a 3-year plan a while back that included mention of a no-entry-fee All Star Series. Is that still on the table?

Always, we're working toward reduced or no-entry-fee tournaments to support our anglers as we go forward. And the All Star Series is a very viable possibility in the very near future. We're constantly working on avenues and ways to do it. Obviously, it presents some issues. There's a direct cost if an event like that's going to take place. But we're pretty excited about wanting that to become a reality very soon.

Let's face it, the other tours have their no-entry-fee events as well. The PAA is associated with the Toyota Texas Bass Classic (TTBC), which is a great event and a wonderful opportunity for anglers. But that's not where we intend to stop by any means. It may take a while to get where we want to be, but that's definitely the direction we're going to continue to work toward. It's very much a part of that 3-year plan.

Could there possibly be an All Star event or Series next year?

I wouldn't be surprised if you saw one next year.

The TTBC is an important part of the PAA Series. Anglers can qualify through the Elite Series and FLW Tour, but the PAA Series sends anglers too. Do you know if the TTBC is guaranteed to happen beyond this year?

To my knowledge it's on an annual basis. Honestly, I just know that it's guaranteed for this year. I don't know about future years. I hope it continues to get bigger and better and offers even more anglers a chance to be associated with it.

How about Chad Morgenthaler the angler? Past PAA presidents have said that the rigors of the post affected their performance. Is that true for you?

It's like it has been for past presidents. It's a very time-consuming position. It takes a lot of effort, a lot of focus and a lot of attention. But it's very worthwhile. Obviously it's affected my fishing. I haven't done much this year. It's been a very disappointing year (on tour).

But I'm trying to find some common ground. The PAA staff does everything above and beyond what they can possibly do. I knew that coming in because I served as VP with Tim (Horton). I'm not going to in any way, shape or form blame my performance on the position, because guys have still been able to perform through it. Maybe I just haven't come to grips with everything right now.

But as for the bigger picture, there are a lot more people involved with the PAA than just Chad Morgenthaler. Hopefully I can help the Association along throughout my term, and when things return to a little bit more normalcy and ease up a little bit, hopefully I can concentrate even more (on my fishing).

Does the office take away from your edge and drive a little bit? Yeah, because it's so time-consuming. But the effort's well worth it.

Notable

> The third PAA Series event begins next week at Tawakoni. PAA anglers qualify for the TTBC based on standing after that event.

> Morgenthaler wants to somewhat limit his schedule next year, he said, in order to help balance the responsibilities of office. He'll for sure fish the FLW Tour Majors, and perhaps the FLW Tour Opens. He'll of course fish the PAA Series.