Hackney, Stone Top Off-Season Moves List

(Editor's note: This is part 1 of a 2-parter on the bass fishing Silly Season, focusing on tour pros and the major boat and outboard companies.)

It happens in a lot of sports – particularly fishing and motorsports – and it's an important time of year. In motorsports it's called the silly season in reference to all the juggling and jostling in sponsorship contracts. And as the 2005 tour season looms closer, both the anglers and manufacturers race to finalize their deals before competition begins.

Last year, the biggest news was a wave of anglers moving to Ranger. This year, Ranger's pro staff

stayed pretty stable. Instead, the biggest news involves two key anglers who made a big switch. The first is The Hack Attack Greg Hackney, who's one of the hottest properties in fishing right now.

Triton Minus One, Plus One

Triton's powerful pro staff – which includes names like Gary Klein, Shaw Grigsby and Gerald Swindle – took a hit with the recent loss of Marty Stone. But it gained a new face and a powerful player in the form of Greg Hackney. Hackney literally tore up the tours this year – he notched five Top 10s and finished 2nd in both the Bassmaster and FLW points. He also won the Southern Open points, finished 2nd in the Open Championship and is ranked 6th in the State Farm-BassFan World Rankings.

Neal Hart, Triton Boats VP of marketing, said of the Hackney acquisition: "He'll start the 2005 tour season in a new Triton TR-21X. He is so well thought of by everybody we speak to and everyone knows he's not a flash in the pan. He's for real. A mutual friend mentioned it to us and asked us to give (Hackney) a call."

"I feel like my move to Triton is probably the best decision I've made in a long time," Hackney said. "I really feel good about it. I feel they're really a family organization – which was the main reason for my change. I just feel it was the best move for me and my family."

On leaving Ranger, he noted, "The deal with Ranger was we just couldn't get eye-to-eye. It's not the first time someone's had that problem with a boat company – a lot of people change. It's just something that happens. I feel like I'll fit in a lot better with Triton than I did with Ranger."

Great as the Hackney deal may be for Triton, the company was disappointed to see Stone go. "I've known (Stone) since back in the Javelin days," Hart said. "I hated to see him make the move and it's a loss for us. As he said, he had to do what's right for his career. I still consider him a friend."

It looks like Hackney will be running a Yamaha-wrapped Triton on both tours – although final confirmation is yet to come – and Hart noted that Hackney's Yamaha motor is a welcome addition to the mix. "We'd like to have more anglers from Yamaha and other brands. That's one reason we were thrilled to get (Hackney) – he brings some motor mix into our family."

Triton is a presenting sponsor of BASS, but Hart said Triton pros are free to fish the tour of their choice. Still, that synergy can help Triton pros land other deals. Citgo is the title sponsor of BASS, for example, and the majority of its fishing team runs a Triton. "Being a co-sponsor of bass, it makes sense for us to try to align our pros with other sponsors," he said.

"Call it networking or activation – whatever you want to call it. As far as particulars, each case is different. Shaw (Grigsby) was with Triton before Citgo and we reached an agreement on how to share costs, plus exposure and benefits." Gerald Swindle is another example of a Triton/Citgo pro.

There is no word as to whether Hackney will be asked to join Citgo's team, but it remains a strong possibility. In addition, Hart hinted at Triton pros landing some other major non-endemic deals in the coming months.

As for the rest of Triton's pro staff, it remains the same with no notable additions or cancellations.

Bass Cat Signs Stone

The Bass Cat pro staff suffered a serious setback when Mark Davis moved to Skeeter last year. With an eye to filling those shoes, Bass Cat went on the offensive and signed Marty Stone.

"We're a small company," said Bass Cat owner Rick Pierce. "And under the ownership we have, we're older than the rest of the companies. That means we've basically been the starting base for a lot of the national pros and that goes way back – back to Tommy Martin and Rayo Breckenridge. We started all those guys."

That's why Bass Cat likes to sign up-and-comers alongside established pros. The company also maintains a strong stable of non-tour pros, particularly in the West. But over the past few years, Pierce recognized his staff was tipped a little too heavily to the West.

"When you look at the West, we've got Dave Gliebe, Robert Lee, Mark Tyler, Bill Siemantel – all quality acts," Pierce said. "We're loaded up heavy probably on the western side. We definitely needed things on the South and North Carolina side. That was some of our thought with Marty. He's from North Carolina."

Stone said he's excited to join Bass Cat, and felt honored to join a company with such tradition. "It was sort of overwhelming to be asked to be a part of that," he said. "It's the oldest company in the bass-boat business – one of the most elite companies – and their business model has been there for a while and they've built a solid base.

"For me, I still consider myself just one of the guys in the sport. For them to show an interest in me was a humbling experience. Triton is a great company, with good folks and they have taken on tremendous responsibility for our sport. It was a hard move to make, but I felt Bass Cat was a better fit for myself."

Nobody was dropped from the Bass Cat pro staff this year, but along with Stone, Bass Cat also added Steve "Bub" Tosh, Jr. who will fish the FLW Tour this year. "We went into '05 looking at three," Pierce said. "We've added two and we're still looking at another."

Tracker Group Adds One

The Tracker Marine Group, which includes the ProCraft and Nitro Brands, added one name to its pro staff this year – Jason Reyes.

"It takes a lot to get us to add someone to our team," said Jackie Camargo, pro team coordinator for the Tracker Marine Group. "We've added Jason Reyes because he's up and coming on the (Bassmaster) Tour. We like to keep our team small so they can reach out and get me whenever they want to – as opposed to them feeling they're out there by themselves."

Although the Tracker Group's team is small, it's powerful. On the ProCraft side there's Tim Horton and Jason Quinn, and of course, Kevin VanDam and Rick Clunn on the Nitro side.

Reyes said of his deal with ProCraft: "It's going to be great. I think I'm with a company that's behind the fishermen. So far, I've had nothing but good success out of the product. The way things are changing, I think I'm in a good position with Tracker, Mercury and Bass Pro – they all tie in with Bassmaster.

"This is only my second year on the Tour, and the help from ProCraft will make a huge difference for me this year."

Notable

> Stone said he feels confident and comfortable with his sponsor lineup. "I'm still with Citgo so I still have the big four – Citgo, Lucky Craft, Bass Cat and Mercury. I just added a new associate sponsor this year, Purolator, and I'm really looking forward to helping them build more brand awareness."

> Stone also said Citgo saw good results from its bass-fishing sponsorships. "I really think our sport is starting to build some brand loyalty equal to NASCAR. We've already seen it in meetings with Citgo. They've brought some hard numbers to the table, with people switching to their brand. They attributed a lot of that success to their fishing participation."

> Hart said that when Triton pros sign to a non-endemic fishing team, Triton loses some exposure from the shirt change, but in the long run, it wins. "Some people look at it like we're losing part of our exclusivity. But in the big picture, (non-endemics) cross-promote. So it's worth giving up all of Shaw Grigsby's shirt to Citgo because of what they do for his exposure."

- End of part 1 (of 2) -