Andy Montgomery and JT Kenney might seem like two very different pros, but they actually have a lot in common – especially at this particular moment in time.
Kenney, a 36-year-old Maryland transplant and FLW Tour veteran who now lives in Florida, survives year-to-year off his tournament winnings.
He's fast-approaching the $1 million mark in career earnings yet doesn't have a single big-dollar sponsor.
Montgomery, a 28-year-old South Carolina pro who just completed his fifth FLW Tour campaign, likewise survives off winnings and boasts a modest sponsor portfolio.
Yet both find themselves staring down the road to the future with both FLW Tour and Bassmaster Elite Series invites in-hand, and must make a decision of where to fish next year.
The Elite Series invites come compliments of the Bassmaster Southern Opens. Both pros also have 2011 Forrest Wood Cup berths through the Eastern FLW Series, but Montgomery can add a 2011 Bassmaster Classic berth to his future road, which he earned as the runner-up in the Southern Open points.
Where things get a little tricky for both pros – and others who face a similar decision – is in timing. FLW Tour deposits are due in about 2 weeks. But BASS has yet to even mail info packets to qualifiers, and the league is in the final phase of an ownership change.
Kenney Leaning FLW
Although Kenney fished a short go-round with the Bassmaster Tour in 2003-04, he's long been identified as an FLW Tour pro. He fished for sponsor teams like 7-Up, A&W rootbeer and BP, but his career has more relied on tournament winnings than promotion proceeds.
JT Kenney loves next year's FLW Tour schedule.
As Kenney puts it, he needs to fish to get paid, so he likes the 10-event FLW Tour format next year (six Majors, four Opens). And he likes the overall organization itself. But perhaps the deciding factor for him is the schedule. The FLW Tour has shifted to favor power-fisherman, and as a flipper, that suits him perfectly.
"I'm 99% sure I'll stick with FLW," Kenney told BassFan. "I've heard a lot of rumors from both camps. There's a rumor that BASS is going to lower its entry fees, but you might not get paid until the end of the year. That wouldn't work for me, but it could just be the rumor mill.
"And to be honest, it's weird to say this after the last decade or so, but FLW's schedule is way better than BASS's. Obviously, I do a lot better on power-fishing lakes, so when you take all the sponsorships and everything else aside, the FLW's fun-o-meter will be 10 times that of BASS. Do I want to go to West Point and Murray (BASS) and chase fish that are chasing blueback herring, or the Arkansas River where VanDam caught 8 pounds? No. I want to go fish the grass tour (FLW)."
Kenney also has no hangups with the FLW Tour's logo restrictions. If such restrictions help FLW Outdoors sign sponsors and boost the purse, he said, no problem.
Montgomery on the Fence
Montgomery expressed a common sentiment about his Classic berth – that it's "everybody's dream growing up to fish it "and it's "pretty special."
But when it comes to his tour of choice next year, the sentiment is less concrete.
"I've thought about it, but it's still kind of up in the air," Montgomery said. "I'm going to wait and see when BASS releases its plans for next year. I don't know if anything's going to change there, but I'm still really up in the air. It's a big decision for me – really big. I'll probably just go to where I think I can make the most money.
"One big deal is that next year, if I fish the FLW Tour, I won't be able to fish the Southern Opens because they overlap. We'll just wait and see. I'll weigh my options and see how much sponsor help I get. There are a lot of factors that go into it."
A few other things going through the minds of Kenney and Montgomery:
