It's a good thing Mike McClelland didn't sell the boat he ran last year on the Bassmaster Elite Series – having the extra Champion at his disposal allowed him to take advantage of a unique midseason sponsorship opportunity.

The Angler of the Year (AOY) leader from Arkansas will be sporting his regular Champion/Falcon Rods wrap during this week's event at Lake Wheeler. But when the circuit moves to Kentucky Lake the following week, both he and his boat will be decked out in the black and lime green colors of Tahoe Smokeless (tobacco).



The Tahoe deal is for one tournament only, and could open a new avenue for other anglers to secure short-term agreements – particularly with regionalized companies. Tahoe Smokeless has been on the market for less than a year, and its distribution is currently limited to less than a dozen states (primarily in the Southeast).

"I'd really like to think this will open some eyes and show some companies that they don't have to commit for a whole season to benefit from a deal like this," McClelland said. "If we'd been a little more ahead of the curve, we could've done a two- or three-tournament deal in states where they're represented. We could've easily done something in the Carolinas (where the circuit just departed from), but we were just a little slow to react.

"It might also give anglers a chance to split their primary deals up into halves or thirds (of the season). More companies might be interested if they know they're going to get exposure in the places where most of their potential customers are."

Classic Connection

McClelland's initial contact with Tahoe Smokeless representatives occurred at the Bassmaster Classic in February.

"They came to the Classic as a vendor and sent a couple of their promotional guys to see what they might be able to do with fishing, and they got a good feeling from that," he said. "And Steven Bailey (president and CEO of Rock Bridge Tobacco Corp., which produces Tahoe) is an avid fisherman himself. We spent a day together at Clarks Hill during practice going over some of the possible scenarios.

"It's really all about the demographic they're trying to reach. They're already involved with racing and rodeo and they've got ads on quite a few hunting shows. This brings it around full-circle and pulls everything together for them, and they have an interest in being involved long-term.

He dropped off his '07 boat at H2O Graphics in Hendersonville, Tenn. on Friday to have the Tahoe wrap installed. That job will be complete by the end of this week.

"The good thing about it is (the wrap) will still have the Champion and Falcon logos. (The Tahoe people) understand that I've been with those companies for a long time, and besides, they didn't want to look like loners on there."

Conflict with Kriet

McClelland and Jeff Kriet are longtime sidekicks. They room together on the road and share all of their practice information.

Kriet's primary sponsor is Longhorn, another smokeless tobacco brand. Will that put any strain on their relationship when they get to Kentucky?

"It's going to be kind of interesting," McClelland said. "We've never been 100% agreeable on tobacco brands to begin with, and this just adds to our differences in opinion. But I imagine we'll get through it okay."

Tahoe Smokeless is available in five styles – long cut wintergreen, fine cut wintergreen, long cut natural, fine cut natural and long cut straight. The latter is McClelland's favorite.

"I'd used another specific product for 10 years, and this is the first time I've ever been able to switch and feel comfortable about it," he said.