Note: This is the final part of a 4-part series on the formation of the PAA.

What If?

If some of the ifs come to pass and the pros decide to abandon the FLW Tour, what then?

"The thing that would aid us is that we'll have a pro association in force that would basically be our insurance to stop anything that we felt was not fair," says Paul Elias.

But "the only way that the BASSMASTER trail would get our full support is if they accepted the PAA as an advisor so things like the Shootout would never come to be."

The best scenario would be to have the BASSMASTER and FLW tours, and have the FLW sponsor logo rule eliminated, he says.

"We enjoy fishing the FLW Tour and feel that it's an excellent tour," he reiterates. "But pressures from sponsors and the pressure of our consciences is what really will stop the main pros from fishing FLW under the logo rule. We know in our hearts that it isn't right to be on TV and not be able to support those sponsors.

And if FLW loses the top names in pro fishing, "it's not a pro tour," Elias points out. "It won't be recognized by the PAA and it won't be recognized in the BassFan World Rankings, and that will, I believe, hurt their ability to sell sponsorships.

"They have shrewd enough businesspeople to see that. Maybe at the beginning (of FLW) there was the attitude that TV cameras can create pros, but you can't do that. You can't create Michael Jordans or Davis Loves that way, and the same is true of the top bass-fishing pros.

"I'm not going to say it would happen next year or the year after, but before it's all said and done, that rule will have to be rescinded or they will start losing the top professionals."

What About the SFP?

The new Society for Fishing Professionals (SFP) seems to be moving in the direction the pros want. If the SFP can do what it seeks to do, the results should be that:

1) Pros get "paid to play" (instead of entry fees, pros would be guaranteed money just for fishing) in tournaments essentially owned by them (by the SFP)

2) There would be no prohibitive sponsor rules

3) The SFP would emerge as a viable competitor to B.A.S.S. and Operation Bass

Still, many of the top pros have not joined SFP. This seems to be for three main reasons.

One is that they view the SFP as a tournament trail, and they are naturally (and rightly) skeptical of new trails.

Another is that many of the top pros don't know SFP president John Uhler well or at all. And in the small world (people-wise) of bass fishing, trust is very important.

The final reason is that the pros felt the first priority was to organize into a body that could actively lobby for or against changes in the sport.

"We were at a point where we had to have an organization to overcome the things facing us," Elias says. "So we formed the PAA without (an angler-owned) tournament trail in mind in the near future."

He adds that he thinks "John Uhler's intentions are good for all professional fishermen. I felt that when he first started this thing up and talked about a no-entry-fee tournament trail -- I thought it was great, a no-brainer. If there's no entry fee and if he has the payouts he's talking about, the pros will fall in and do it.

Noting that the PAA "isn't in competition" with the SFP, Elias says "I wish (Uhler) all the luck in the world. I hope all his ideas work and that he can accomplish the goals he set. I'm sure some of our members will fish his tournament trail," he adds.

- End of Part 4 (of 4) -