With Deadline A Week Away, Some FLW Pros Sweating

The registration deadline for the 2010 FLW Tour is this Monday. At the same time, there's continuing questions over sponsor support for the 2010 Tour – some sponsors have pulled out, others are waiting to commit until news of the Genmar bankruptcy sale matures early next month.

Another wrench in the registration process is that Ranger Boats is part of the bankruptcy sale,

and the ultimate fate of the company won't be known until the January auction. So pros right now must either purchase the boat they ran this year, or work with Ranger on a new boat deal without knowing who the future owner or owners of the company will be.

To complicate matters, several pros have recently learned that, as of now, they don't have a team deal for next year. The entire Berkley and Abu Garcia team lost their deals when Pure Fishing pulled its sponsorship. And former Castrol pros Mike Surman, Darrel Robertson and Carl Svebek III learned 2 weeks ago they were naked of a title sponsor, as Castrol downgraded and retooled its sponsor contract. That situation forced Svebek to withdraw from the Tour last week.

So while Ranger, FLW Outdoors, pros, sponsors and fans all play the Genmar waiting game, pros still must determine this week if they want to fish the 2010 Tour. Yes, it's expected that openings will remain on the Tour after this Monday's deadline, but that doesn't ease the minds of pros who've made their living off the sport, and who continue to agonize over whether they should self-fund their 2010 Tour campaign with expenses that will stretch upwards of $50,000.

Bolton Will Play

Terry Bolton is a longtime member of Team Yamaha, but with the motor manufacturer in a holding pattern with FLW, he's not sure what his jersey will look like next year. But he is going to fish the Tour as well as the Eastern FLW Series. He also plans to fish the Kentucky Lake Stren if he can, and will look at the PAA Tournament Series.

He sold his 2009 Ranger last Monday and ordered his 2010 boat, but hasn't heard back on availability. It's his expectation that he might have to borrow a boat for the first few events of the year.

"I sure hope I can still fish for the team," he said, in reference to his Yamaha deal. "I have a lot invested with Yamaha, and hopefully they'll stand with me and everything will work out. You can sit around and worry, but you really have no control over it. You just have to let the process play out. I'm not real thrilled about this timeline – I'd like for it all (the bankruptcy auction) to be over next week, as I'm sure everybody in this sport would – but we just have to deal with it."

Defoe Will Do Tour

Tennessee pro Ott Defoe was a casualty of the Land O'Lakes pullout, so he faces a bleak sponsor portfolio as 2010 approaches. He still plans to fish though.

"I'm definitely going to do the Tour and the PAA Series," he said. "And I might do another small thing like the Stren level or something like that. But I won't fish the Eastern Series. If it was just the three Southern events, given the entry and payback, it's not that bad of a deal. But I can't afford to drive up to Lake Champlain."

He'll self-fund his $24,000 in Tour entry fees, with some help from associate-level sponsors, and plans to keep his current boat, which he's had since May 2008 and is already paid for.

Jeane's Out, for Now

Former Abu Garcia team member George Jeane, Jr. got a little boost this fall when he won the Toledo Bend Texas Stren, but it wasn't enough bank to justify another year on the Tour, he said.

"I'm working on a deal with a company out of Houston right now, but I don't know what's going to happen yet," he added. "We have a week left, but as of right now, I'm out. If I have to pay the $24,000 in entry fees myself, then pay another $20,000 in expenses, if I have a bad year, there goes everything I won on Toledo Bend."

Surman Will Likely Straddle Fence

Floridian Mike Surman has fished every FLW Tour event held over the past 14 years, and for a lot of that time, he fished with the benefit of a lucrative Castrol team sponsorship.

But that changed 2 weeks ago when he learned about Castrol's new direction with FLW Outdoors. The lubricant company, he said, wants its team members to be more like Castrol employees, and he wasn't able to do that, since he still holds a job as an electrical engineer with Siemens. So he, Svebek and Darrell Robertson won't be wearing the red, green and white next season. David Dudley and Bobby Curtis will remain with Castrol, however.

"The fishing business is about sponsors and FLW has always been able to provide lots of sponsors for the pros," Surman noted. "But with me out of that type of job right now (i.e. a team deal), it's not an easy task to find my own sponsors. I'm keeping all my avenues open right now, but it looks like I'll be fishing the Bassmaster Opens and I'm pretty sure I'll fish the FLW Tour."

He again plans to run a Ranger, but given the situation with the Genmar bankruptcy, he's not even sure about that. He's also looking for a way to help improve the representation he can give to his sponsor Toyota.

He summed it up by saying: "Right now, I'm kind of in panic mode. FLW's working with many sponsors right now, and they've always given us a lot of good-paying jobs that allowed a lot of fishermen to go for their dreams. I'm hoping there could be an opportunity there, but for now I'm kind of scrambling."

Williams Fishing Off Kentucky

Arkansas' Keith Williams was another member of the now-defunct Land O'Lakes team. The loss of that deal caused him to consider sitting out the 2010 Tour, but he's decided that he can swing it on his own thanks to the proceeds from this year's Tour victory at Kentucky Lake.

"I've been back and forth on it, but I don't see myself not fishing," he said. "I'll get my deposits in and hope I can pick up (a major sponsor) later on. I can't just sit around and not fish.

"It wouldn't be possible if I didn't win that money this year. I'm not from a wealthy family and I don't have a safety net to catch me. I just have to try to survive long enough to get another sponsor."

He considered fishing the Bassmaster Opens, but has decided against that. He hasn't ruled out the PAA Series, though.

"I'll also fish more local stuff than I have in the past just to keep myself sharp."

Newby Will Pay

Oklahoman Sam Newby's team deal with Abu Garcia went by the wayside. As it stands right now, he'll be funding the bulk of the 2010 campaign himself.

"I'm pretty certain I'm going to fish the Tour, and most of it will be out of my own pocket," he said. "Finding another sponsor doesn't look real good."

Browne 'Can't Stay Home'

Glenn Browne's situation is similar to Newby's – the Floridian was a member of the Berkley team.

"I can't stay home," he said. "The Tour has been a major part of my income and I can't just let it go away. As of right now, it'll all be out of my own pocket. I was with Gambler before, and they said they'd take care of whatever product I needed. Maybe we can work out some compensation down the road, but we'll have to wait and see."

His efforts to acquire new sponsorships have been fruitless.

"I've tried to make some contacts, but it's hard to even get somebody to call you back. It's pathetic out there."

And he's in a difficult position with his boat. He must sell his current Ranger before he can order a new one, he said, "and I'd like to still be with Ranger. They build a great product. But with the way they've changed the program, I can't commit to ordering a new boat. They're really expensive and it's hard to sell them right now. There's no way I can afford to have two boats."

Notable

> Although pros referred to the 2010 Stren Series, the circuit will almost certainly undergo a name change next year as Stren parent company Pure Fishing no longer sponsors FLW Outdoors.