Shock and relief are the order of the day as FLW just announced it will reinstate its previously shuttered Eastern FLW Series.

The league announced it shuttered the Eastern division in an announcement Tuesday, along with the Western Strens, Stren Championship and Walleye League.

The shuttering of the Eastern Series was met with much frustration and

puzzlement among pros, as it was largely seen as the more successful of the two Series divisions. FLW Outdoors reportedly received significant negative response from pros in the form of written and verbal communication.

In a live chat session yesterday, FLW Outdoors president and CEO Charlie Evans failed to adequately address reasons for keeping the Western Series over the Eastern Series.

Former Eastern Series title sponsor BP is believed to be withdrawing its sponsorship support of the league, which may have been a factor in the initial shuttering. BP is not mentioned today's announcement. The reinstatement of the Eastern Series could mean that FLW Outdoors is close to signing a new title sponsor.

The National Guard remains title sponsor of the Western Series.

One Overlap in Schedule

Here's the Eastern Series schedule as announced today:

> Jan. 27-30 -- Lake Okeechobee -- Okeechobee, Fla.
> March 10-13 -- Lake Eufaula -- Eufaula, Ala.
> Aug. 25-28 -- Lake Champlain -- Plattsburgh, N.Y.
> Sept. 15-18 -- Lake Chickamauga -- Chattanooga, Tenn.

The FLW Series was initially conceived, in large part, as a home for BASS pros who did not wish to fish the Elite Series. In subsequent years, fields in the Eastern Series were bolstered by BASS pros who looked to supplement their income and enjoy more opportunity for competition and exposure.

Overall boat counts in this year's Eastern Series lagged somewhat, though. Many blamed an overlap in scheduling between the Eastern Series and the Elite Series was to blame, rather than the economy.

An overlap again occurs in the above schedule – the Bassmaster Elite Series will be on the West Coast fishing the California Delta during the March 10–13 Eufaula event.

Statement from Evans

In announcing the news, FLW Outdoors president and CEO Charlie Evans said: "As we mentioned before, many of our anglers have been directly affected by the current economic downturn. There were a number of things taken into account when the original schedule was finalized, but we're now in position to bring back an Eastern division schedule for 2010."

The Eastern Series format will be revised to parallel changes made to the Western Series, as announced Tuesday. The field includes 150 pros and cos, practice has been shortened from 4 to 3 days and the off-limits period has been shortened to 6 days. Entry fees ($2,000 pro, $350 co) and payouts have been effectively cut in half. The Top 10 pros and cos will qualify for the Forrest Wood Cup.

The payout table can be seen here.

Registration begins this Monday (Nov. 2).

Angler Reaction

Following are comments from some anglers regarding the reinstatement of the Eastern Series.

Greg Hackney
Greg Hackney, who won the Forrest Wood Cup this year after he earned a berth through the FLW Series, was initially excited when he heard Series was back. But excitement quickly turned to frustration when he realized the schedule overlap.

"I'm out," he said. "I won't fish them. I don't think there's any way to qualify for the Cup without fishing all of them. That's funny they'd do that. A while back, Bill Taylor told me that if they had the Series, there would be no conflicts. The Elites are my number-one deal. They come first and everything else comes second."

Ray Scheide
Ray Scheide had a good year all around – he won the FLW Tour Walmart Open ($250,000) and finished 9th in the Eastern Series points. He described his reaction to the reinstatement as "a little bit of relief."

"Realistically, you can't do it on six tournaments a year. So I sure am happy about it. Would I like to see the old format? You bet. But I'm one of the lucky ones I guess. I won a quarter-million dollars this year, so I want to fish all the large-entry-fee tournaments I can. But I am really glad there's at least another avenue for us."

Dion Hibdon
"I'm damn glad it happened. I make a living fishing bass tournaments, even if it is a lower level. What everybody's got to understand is this (economic downturn) is hitting everybody, not just our industry and not just FLW. From every angle, stuff is tight on everybody and people think BASS and FLW should be offering the same money. Well, if they ain't got it, they ain't got it, and they're having a hard time getting it. It's no different than me paying the bills or something.

"I'm tickled to death they've done a little bit of something because I was damn sure looking for other options."

Steve Kennedy
"I got a text message on it about an hour ago and I was glad to hear it. The best one at Eufaula I'm not going to be able to fish (due to a conflict with the Bassmaster Elite Series schedule), but I'm excited about the fall tournaments, especially. I'm glad just to have some tournaments to fish – that's a good thing."

Randy Blaukat
"That format would be great if it was a regional circuit, but for me it doesn't make sense to spend $2,000 going to Okeechobee or Champlain (from his home in Missouri) and then pay my $2,000 entry fee, and have to finish in the Top 50 to even make $1,000. As a national circuit, it doesn't excite me with payouts that low.

"If they had one 3 or 4 hours from my house I'd consider that, if I could get in that one tournament. But it doesn't make sense for me to go halfway across the country with those payouts. They obviously made an effort, but to me, it's not real attractive financially. They're big jackpot tournaments, to some extent."

David Walker
"It makes me feel a little bit better, although it's certainly not where I want to be. We were fishing for $10,000 down to 50th place, and now it's half that. Even though the fees are cut, the expenses remain the same. My big worry was that what was announced (earlier in the week) was set in stone, and I can't make a living off of six events. It was nice that FLW listened to us, and the reinstatement of the Eastern Series is very welcome."

"I definitely think the Eastern Series had a good following. Granted, we didn't fill all of them, but we came close on fisheries that weren't big draws to begin with, and that was with a $4,000 entry fee. And I'd talked to a lot of BASS guys who'd said they planned to fish it this year."

Terry Bolton
"I was pretty tickled to hear that. I was kind of like a lot of guys, sitting around trying to figure out what else to do and what else there was to fish. I think it's good for all of us and good for the sport.

"It is going to be lower payouts, but when you look at the (Bassmaster) Opens and the Strens, those are pretty weak, too, and it will be better than that. It won't be easy, but it's a chance to make money. I think for the next year or so, our motto is going to have to be 'less is more,' and we're going to have to learn to accept that. I've been doing this for 15 years and I have a very good (college) degree, but I don't want to have to start brushing off my resumé."

Shad Schenck
"Every day things change one way or the other, and whatever tournaments they have, I'll show up and try to catch fish. Other than that I try not to worry about the other junk that goes on. I try to do my job and let others take care of theirs, and I seem to catch more fish when I stay focused like that.

"This will be my 11th season fishing the FLW Tour and I'm really excited about it. That's what I'm focusing on."