Some BASS, Some FLW, Some Still Fishing Both

(Editor's note: This is part 1 of a 2-part story about which tours individual pros will fish next year.)

Friday witnessed one of the most tumultuous shakeups in professional bass-fishing history. FLW Outdoors effectively opened its doors and invited over 150 BASS pros to come fish its new FLW Series – a 5-event "companion" series to the FLW Tour.

At close of business Monday (Oct. 24), the FLW Series had filled nearly all of it available slots. Only FLW Outdoors

knows how many BASS pros jumped ship to the FLW Series, and the company's not talking. Simple math shows at least 75 BASS pros defected, perhaps more.

But a number of heavy-hitters balked at the carrot and stayed with BASS to fish the Elite Series. Still others plan to fish two tours. And then there's the bunch that's still undecided.

So who's fishing where? Some answers might surprise you. Note that the following declarations are by no means complete. Instead, they are a sampling of the field, and some anglers might change their intentions, so updates will continue.

Sponsor Alignment

Pros faced a number of factors next year in the decision of where to fish. Some factors weighed more heavily than others, but sponsor alignment was often the deciding factor. Triton and Mercury, for example, sponsor the Bassmaster Elite Series, so it's only natural that its guys would gravitate toward BASS. Same thing for Ranger, whose pros typically tend toward FLW Outdoors competition.

Two-tour anglers also faced sponsor decisions, especially those who are members of FLW Outdoors "teams." These deals, like Chevrolet or Fujifilm, are put together by FLW Outdoors in conjunction with its sponsors. The FLW Outdoors logo is incorporated into the team graphics, and BASS now has rules that prohibit the display of competitive tournament-trail logos.

Then there are those with alcohol-based sponsorships, like Jason Quinn (Evan Williams bourbon), and Denny and Chad Brauer (Busch beer), who could not continue with those sponsors should they wish to compete in the FLW Series.

The Qualifying Conundrum

The exact qualification rules for all tours are cloudy at best. Of the three tours, the new FLW Series is most clear-cut in its qualification process – at least for its initial season. Registration was first open to 100 Bassmaster pros who fished the Bassmaster Tour in 2005, and 100 FLW Tour pros who fished the FLW Tour in 2005. Next comes Ranger owners, then Stratos and Champion owners, and a group FLW Outdoors described as "other aspiring pros."

The Bassmaster Elite Series is open to all 2005 Bassmaster Tour pros, as well as those who qualified via Bassmaster Open and Federation competition. Although BASS originally planned its 2006 tour as a 200-boat field, it then pared that back to 100 boats, but said all those who qualified would be able to compete. In other words, it will honor all qualifications.

The FLW Tour is open to the Top 100 anglers in the previous year's tour points, plus qualifiers from the EverStart (now Stren) Series divisions, as well as the top FLW Tour co-anglers.

Priority registration then takes place for Ranger owners, followed by Stratos and Champion owners, then other Tour-sponsor slots are filled. These are called "sponsor exemptions" and are the source of much speculation.

Given the schedules of all three tours next year, anglers can fish the FLW Tour and Elite Series, or FLW Tour and FLW Series, but not the Elite Series and FLW Series (the first three events conflict). There is a minor conflict with FLW Tour and Elite Series dates for the Lake Champlain events, but two-tour anglers say they've been told by BASS they would be able to fish both tours.

Sticking With the Elite Series

Here are some of the anglers who will fish the Elite Series next year, followed by their boat/motor sponsors. Some had previously been announced, but anglers who recently declared their intentions are accompanied by quotes.

Mike Reynolds (Champion/Mercury) – "I'm totally disappointed in the way it is. I think they're making it hard for a guy who just wants to go fishing."

Guy Eaker (Triton/Mercury) – "I've always supported BASS. BASS has changed things, and a lot of guys don't like (the changes). I think they're trying to get the sport to where it should be, one of the biggest sports around."

Scott Rook (Ranger/Mercury) – "My whole career's been built around BASS. I've fished a few EverStarts, but never an FLW (Tour) event. I think if it was physically possible, I'd like to fish both. But my career has been built there (BASS) – it's where I need to be. Their plans for the future – it looks real good to me."

Gary Klein (Triton/Mercury) – "I already sent my (Elite Series) application in. I don't know what the final numbers are, but they ought to be up there. When push comes to shove, everybody's committed. I'm very excited about it. I think for a professional angler's career, it's a great opportunity. I like the smaller fields."

Kevin Wirth (Triton/Mercury) – "I plan to send my deposits in for BASS. It's one of those catch-22s. I have to fish somewhere, or I'll lose the money I've got. I really don't want to fish BASS – not unless I could sign one or two more sponsors. But right now, that's where I have to be."

Jarrett Edwards (Triton/Mercury)
Terry Scroggins (Triton/Mercury)
Greg Hackney (Triton/Mercury)
Marty Stone (Bass Cat/Mercury)
Skeet Reese (Champion/Mercury)
Rick Clunn (Nitro/Mercury)
Shaw Grigsby (Triton/Mercury
Gerald Swindle (Triton/Mercury)
Paul Elias (Triton/Mercury)

Former BASS Pros Who Registered for FLW Only

Dave Wolak (Ranger/Yamaha) – "Quite frankly, I looked at everything in my life – both inside and outside of fishing – and that's the best decision for me to make. I don't want there to be any hard feelings. But that much of a financial commitment required (for the Elite Series), and my position in my life, it's not the right decision for me."

Stacey King (Nitro/Mercury) – "I didn't make my decision not to fish the Elites because of the FLW Series, but it was a nice option to have to go to. I may consider some BASS (Northern and Southern Tour) events, EverStarts or some regional stuff too."

David Walker (Ranger/Evinrude) – "The biggest thing to me was the payout. And I signed a good deal with (FLW Outdoors sponsor) Berkley, so I'll be running a Berkley-wrapped boat. I feel it's going to be a long-term deal." (Note: He will fish both the FLW Tour and Series.)

Brian Snowden (ProCraft/Mercury) – "I'm trying to keep all my options open at the present time. I'm still working with several non-endemic and current sponsors and trying to get funding to fish the Elite Series. I've always been a supporter and always believed in BASS, they're how I got started, so I would love to continue with BASS. But I can't financially put my family in that much jeopardy."

Greg Gutierrez (Nitro/Mercury) – "I did send in my deposits for the FLW Series, but my problem is, I'm still a working stiff and will continue to be a working stiff. Despite (BASS GM) Don Rucks, I will still continue to work. The problem is, I don't have any vacation time approved for it (the FLW Series). I'm still trying to raise the money there (to fish the Elite Series). I have a couple of prospective deals."

Luke Clausen (Ranger/Yamaha) – "Right now I'm signed up for the FLW Tour and FLW Series. Ideally, I'd like to fish the (Elite Series) and FLW Tour, but because of the limitations BASS has with no competitive tour logos, it's difficult for me right now unless I change the FLW deal I have. I'm on an FLW Team (Chevy), so I have to have an FLW logo on my shirt and boat. FLW won't allow me to cover it up for BASS tournaments and BASS won't back down on that rule either."

Ron Shuffield (Triton/Mercury)
Chad Morgenthaler (Ranger/Yamaha)
George Cochran (Ranger/Mercury)
Mark Davis (Skeeter/Yamaha)
Jay Yelas (Skeeter/Yamaha)
Larry Nixon (Stratos/Evinrude)

Both FLW Tour and Elite Series

Brent Chapman (Skeeter/Yamaha) – "I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket. Both organizations have good things to offer, so I'd hate to give up one. I'm going to do it again (fish both tours)."

Mike Iaconelli (Ranger/Yamaha) – "Basically, my plans are to fish all the BASS events. I'm 100% sure of that. The FLW (Tour), I'm going to try to fish three or four of the events, if not the whole (season). In the post-season, I will also fish some of the stand-alone events – Opens (Bassmaster Northern/Southern Tours) and Stren Series events. My decision is to keep moving forward – fish as hard as I can and keep moving forward."

Ish Monroe (Ranger/Yamaha) – "It was mostly because of the fun factor, is what I call it. The fun factor is fishing both FLW and BASS. They both have great schedules, and I love to catch fish. Each place we're going to is going to be awesome. I'm going to be running a Cocoons eyewear and Lowrance wrap. It's a conjunction wrap."

Mike Wurm (Ranger/Evinrude) – "I'm going to do just like I've been doing (fishing two tours). It's nothing different than any other year. My wife and I talked about it quite a bit, and it was a mutual deal because it affects her as much as me. We had a long talk, thinking really hard. She thought about it and said, 'We're fishing BASS.' I feel good about it. I think BASS will come along and make it happen. If I don't take a chance, I'll never know."

Aaron Martens (Triton/Mercury) – (Note: Martens previously said he'd fish as many FLW Tour events as he could next year, but it "might only be a couple.")

Undecided

Kevin VanDam (Nitro/Mercury) – "I haven't signed up yet. I haven't committed yet."

John Crews (Ranger/Yamaha) – "I'm leaning toward BASS but not committed yet. I've been in two (Bassmaster) Classics (2005/2006) and I'm building some momentum. But this is a big thing I have to overcome – I basically have to pay out $22,000 before I even make a cast at Amistad (the Elite Series opener). There's no time after that to make a deposit or mail a payment."

Bernie Schultz (Ranger/Mercury) – "I'm an 11th-hour kind of guy."

Tommy Biffle (Ranger/Mercury)
Denny Brauer (Ranger/Evinrude)
Chad Brauer (Ranger/Evinrude)
Edwin Evers (Nitro/Mercury)

Wrap Update

Anglers must run a wrapped boat to fish the Elite Series. Some have a wrap strategy in place, others are still searching. Iaconelli has been selling his wrap piece by piece, rather than as a whole.

"What I've been doing is I kind of strategically broke the boat up into five different sections," he said. "What that consists of is, one named sponsor will be a title on the boat, then there will be four different subsections, which are going to be real prime real estate on the boat. That way I can go to different companies with a plan more based on straight advertising.

"I've sold two of the four (sections) so far," he noted. "The plan's kind of coming together. I have a couple of other (potential sponsors) that are real interested, and one big one that's real close."

He added that he'll incorporate some of his own branding. "I've been real adamant about that. Over the years it seems like individuals have lost their own branding in favor of a boat or motor. I worked so hard in the last 2 or 3 years to develop my branding, so it'll stay a part of this plan. My boat will be like no other boat out there. It'll have elements of my brand, with red and black flames, yet still incorporate advertising of the sponsors."

Wurm is also close to nailing down his wrap. "I picked up one new sponsor – my wrap deal. I'll be able to announce it in a few weeks."

– End of part 1 (of 2) –