Sponsorship Hurdles Are High
California's Thompson Wants Another Shot As A Tour Pro

Photo: FLW Outdoors/Gary Mortenson Zack Thompson finished among the Top 25 in all four Western FLW Series events this year.

The reigning Western FLW Series Angler of the Year (AOY) from California badly wants to compete on the FLW Tour in 2010. But he's discovered that despite his superb 2009 campaign on the Left Coast, most sponsorship avenues remain clogged in this still-staggering economy.

"It seems like everybody's lost sponsorships and they're out there trying to find new ones, and there just isn't much available," he said. "I've talked to a couple of non-endemic companies, but their advertising budgets are so small right now that whether they'd like to do it or not, they couldn't provide me enough income that I could afford to lose my salary at my regular job."

He could bankroll 1 year out of his savings from his work as a contractor, but he doesn't view that as a prudent move. If he goes east to fish, he wants to have a longer-term plan in place.

A Couple of Options

If the 35-year-old Thompson can't get close to half of what he needs for entry fees and expenses (for a Californian fishing the six-event FLW Tour, a $35,000 total would be a conservative estimate), he might postpone his return to the big time for awhile and continue to focus on the Western Series. He's already qualified for the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup at Lake Lanier in Georgia, and that trip could morph into a longer journey that includes a couple of Bassmaster Northern Opens.

Fishing the Opens in a quest to make the 2011 Elite Series isn't out of the question, but he'd prefer to fish the FLW Tour. He feels some loyalty to the organization for providing the most lucrative western circuit, and also to the National Guard for title-sponsoring it.

He'll fish the Western Series whether he joins the Tour or not.

"If I do go (east), I want to be able to do it for a few years to give myself a competitive chance," he said. "I fished the Bassmaster Tour the year before it became the Elites (2005), but I opted out of the Elites because of the extra entry-fee money. I'd won an Open at Clear Lake and I used that money for the entry fees the year I fished.

"I don't want to do it that way again and have to rely on paychecks to survive. If I go back east, I want to be able to plan on at least the next couple of years. I want sponsors to know that I'll be there a couple of years down the road, and if they'll show that kind of loyalty to me, I'll be loyal to them."

More Seasoned Now

Thompson competed in six Bassmaster Tour events in 2005 with a best finish of 63rd at Table Rock. He said if there's one area in which he's improved since then, it's confidence in his own decision-making.

"Back then I'd be on a new lake, Toho's a good example, and I'd want to flip, but I'd be watching guys do other stuff and think maybe that's what I should be doing," he said. "I'd see Kevin VanDam doing this or Edwin Evers doing that, and they'd been at this for awhile, so maybe I should try what they're doing instead of knowing that those aren't my strengths.

"Now I know what I need to do in those situations to make it work out best for me. KVD might catch them on a spinnerbait, but I don't catch them that way."

He's well-versed in finesse tactics, as all top California anglers are. But if he had his druthers, he'd just as soon flip all the time.

"I think I'm pretty versatile and I can throw light line like anybody, but I'm actually more comfortable in shallow water. Most of my best finishes have come from flipping, like the (FLW Series) Fish-Offs at Amistad and Falcon and the cuts I've made at the (California) Delta.

"With the Tour going like it is, it should suit my shallow-water style a bit. If I can flip, that's about my favorite thing to do."

Notable

> Thompson's Western FLW Series finishes this year were 2nd at Havasu, 21st at the Columbia River, 7th at the Delta and 25th at Clear Lake.

> He and wife Cassandra were married in September, and he said she's fully supportive of his touring ambition.

> His current sponsors are Ranger, Yamaha and Pure Fishing.