West Region Anglers vs. the "Rest"

Caudawg · Post by **Caudawg** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 2:06 pm

With all of this talk about how "western anglers" are viewed by the industry and the anglers outside the west... I think we could put together a team of 50 anglers that could whoop the pants off of any team "they" put together in some sort of "Throwdown Challenge".

"The West vs. the Rest" has a catchy ring to it...hmmmmmmmm....interesting possibilities eh?

If nothing else, it could be a fun rivalry with bragging rights galore!

whazup · Post by **whazup** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 2:27 pm

My bass fishing "Who's Who" knowledge is limited pretty much to the Elites.(outside of CA) It seems to me Skeet gets a fair amount of respect as do some of the guys FROM Calif. Aaron Martins etc. I know there is an east coast bias when it come to fishing venues. What don't they like about us? Do they think we all fish off surfboards? LOL

Rick G · Post by **Rick G** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 3:09 pm

They are just jealous. They know this is where all the good baits and techniques start. Looks how PO'd they were when Brent Ehrler went and spanked those guys at Amistad MLF. No respect from the B.A.S.S. guys. Also they just cant handle the fact that our weather is better, we make more money, our women are hotter and our bass are bigger. I say let them think what they want, who cares and quit forcing "Honey Boo Boo" down our throats. Get the economy back and rolling out here and the derbys will fill again dont worry. Merry Xmas to all! Rick G.

kane-o · Post by **kane-o** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 3:27 pm

Rick G wrote:They are just jealous. They know this is where all the good baits and techniques start. Looks how PO'd they were when Brent Ehrler went and spanked those guys at Amistad MLF. No respect from the B.A.S.S. guys. Also they just cant handle the fact that our weather is better, we make more money, our women are hotter and our bass are bigger. I say let them think what they want, who cares and quit forcing "Honey Boo Boo" down our throats. Get the economy back and rolling out here and the derbys will fill again dont worry. Merry Xmas to all! Rick G.

well said rick ! and 30 feet is a deep lake for them ! try and fish one of our 300' deep lakes..

mark poulson · Post by **mark poulson** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 4:30 pm

kane-o wrote:
Rick G wrote:They are just jealous. They know this is where all the good baits and techniques start. Looks how PO'd they were when Brent Ehrler went and spanked those guys at Amistad MLF. No respect from the B.A.S.S. guys. Also they just cant handle the fact that our weather is better, we make more money, our women are hotter and our bass are bigger. I say let them think what they want, who cares and quit forcing "Honey Boo Boo" down our throats. Get the economy back and rolling out here and the derbys will fill again dont worry. Merry Xmas to all! Rick G.
well said rick ! and 30 feet is a deep lake for them ! try and fish one of our 300' deep lakes..

That explains all the ugly people back there. Not enough water to drown them and hide the bodies.

Oldschool · Post by **Oldschool** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 7:39 pm

What little bass fishing we have is good, we develope most of the new lures and presentations, however our state federal governments will be taking over 50% of every dollar we make and regulate our fishing to the point can't be competitive. Get use to the economy, it's is the norm!
Aerospace industry is nearly gone and replaced by tax users in lieu of tax producers.
Why do you think the western bass pro that wants to make a decent living moves east, lower cost of living and less regulation.
Tom

calfisher71 · Post by **calfisher71** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 9:03 pm

I think this would be great!

Brian D. · Post by **Brian D.** » Thu Dec 20, 2012 7:36 am

Finally a reason to use kramer's Top 40 List.!

whazup · Post by **whazup** » Thu Dec 20, 2012 1:42 pm

Recent interview with Gerry McKinnis of B.A.S.S.

What scenario needs to exist for B.A.S.S. to revive the Western Opens division?

That’s the third question that people ask me! We are working on it right now. We’re really working on trying to get some Opens out there. We’ve loved going out west for our Elite events. There have always been big crowds and great fishing. It’s just tough right now to send the guys out there. Gas prices are coming down a little bit. We always look at that, especially the folks out there that we’re always in contact with. We’re trying. Be patient with us. We know we need to be out there. That’s not the first thing on our priority list, but it’s in there. When we put the list up, you can see that one pretty clearly. During 2013, you’re going to start hearing some plans. It may be small, but it’ll be a way for us to get something started out there in some way.

Copied from Bass Fan

kane-o · Post by **kane-o** » Thu Dec 20, 2012 3:48 pm

really the elites cant afford the gas to come out west ? give me a break

Oldschool · Post by **Oldschool** » Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:06 pm

Outside of the California delta, Lake Shasta and Clear Lake in northern CA and lake Havasu on the Colorado river, lake Mead in Nevada and the Columbia river Whashington/Oregon, there a few places that can host for B.A.S.S. to hold tournaments with enough water, fan support and quality bass fishing. In the past those Open events didn't draw well for B.A.S.S. and the economy isn't as good today as it was when they did have a few western events. Our fishing is good, our support ihas been marginal.
Every western bass pro who moved east has had to learn to fish the local lakes, same is true when eastern anglers come west, very few can fish anywhere.
When you consider the small number of western bass pros who moved east, they have done extremely well over the years.
Tom

mark poulson · Post by **mark poulson** » Fri Dec 21, 2012 7:06 am

Since we have the interstate highway system, why not do a B.A.S.S. sponsored semi-truck caravan and haul all the rigs to the Delta and back once a year? It has to be cheaper than everyone driving on their own.
A caravan of bass boats and trucks on semi's, with B.A.S.S. plastered all over their sides, would be great publicity, and there are certainly enough bass fishermen in NoCal to make attendance a success.
Cable TV is dying for content. They seem to put every Tom, Dick, and Harry who hunts with a GoPro camera on.
So something as established as B.A.S.S. would seem to be a natural.
And, if B.A.S.S. reached out to the west coast tourney organizations and did some kind of hybrid event, like a pre-Open tourney up there with the winners getting to fish the Open, it would give a boost to the west coast trails that participated by holding an additional qualifying tourney just for the pre-Open tourney.
There are tons of anglers here who want to fish B.A.S.S., but can't move east to do it.
It would make the B.A.S.S. event an annual state-wide event with enough participation to make it pay.
The West Coast Open. Kinda has a nice ring to it.

DanO · Post by **DanO** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 9:53 pm

kane-o wrote:really the elites cant afford the gas to come out west ? give me a break

This sounds like you assume all of these guys make huge income fishing, and let me tell you, there is definitely a wide disparity between the field when it comes to sponsor dollars.

From polling several in my working with them over the past several years:
10 to 15 anglers make a good to great income from sponsors
Another 10 to 15 have all entry fees and expenses covered with sponsor income
Another 10 or so have all entry fees covered
The rest are subsidizing themselves with family income, own businesses, or the worst one, living off of credit cards.

I know several guys who finished their stints on the Elite Series and had to pull out with $50,000 or more in credit card debt.

Think of things in terms of a family here in California for a guy starting out on the Elite Series. $41,600 in entry fees, $16,000 in additional expenses (fuel, food and lodging) comes close to $60,000 just to go to work for the year. Plus, a guy has to fund his family life and pay for all of the home expenses while he is on the road at likely another $40,000, or more.

At a bare minimum, an angler on the Elites needs to account for at least $100,000 in expenses before he can profit for the year. FLW Tour guys only have slightly less expense because their tournaments have a $4,000 entry fee. If they come to California, the expenses go up by another $500 per event for the additional distance and high costs of fuel and everything else. Not all of them are making a killing, especially when they can only fish eight events in one of the circuits and six in the other

Rick G wrote:They know this is where all the good baits and techniques start

.

Also, having learned from experience, a great deal of our "Western Focused" baits don't sell as well in the rest of the country. Our colors are not mainstream, and the prices are higher. There is a small handful of anglers who toss Huddleston's, Basstrix, Roboworm and Lucky Craft, but Strike King, Bandit, SPRO, ZOOM, NetBait and other brands are by far more popular and successful than our brands.

Sure, our techniques get press, and dropshotting and swimbaits have their place across the country, but more people back there pick up a jig, a crankbait or a Shaky Head and 7" straight-tailed worm in green pumpkin, watermelon-red, jun bug or Bama Bug than anything else out there.

Been there, seen it in action, and have learned a lot about how my Western perspective was lacking when it came to the business across the country. Everything from how they value a dollar to what kinds of colors they need in their baits needs to be looked at in our marketing and positioning. We have a lot to learn about our bass fishing brothers from the rest of the country if we ever want to narrow the divide between the bass fishing mainstream areas and how they view us out here.

That's not saying we don't have great things to offer, but our isolated perspective limits our ability to relate.

DanO

kane-o · Post by **kane-o** » Tue Dec 25, 2012 7:07 am

@dano, dont all the elites get a comped boat as well that they can sell every year as well ? new rods and reels every year, which they can sell off as well...right there is another $40,000 after the year ends ....granted not all the pros are making big money. but to leave the west just craving for a western tour seems a detriment to the sport... kind of like black balling the western guys, unless they make the choice to move ? im not a tourney fisherman. so i dont know all the in's and out"s.. just my 2 cents... merry christmas guys !!

DanO · Post by **DanO** » Tue Dec 25, 2012 8:35 am

kane-o wrote:@dano, dont all the elites get a comped boat as well that they can sell every year as well ? new rods and reels every year, which they can sell off as well...right there is another $40,000 after the year ends ....granted not all the pros are making big money. but to leave the west just craving for a western tour seems a detriment to the sport... kind of like black balling the western guys, unless they make the choice to move ? im not a tourney fisherman. so i dont know all the in's and out"s.. just my 2 cents... merry christmas guys !!

No, most do not get a comped boat; those days are gone for most. Some do, but not many. Many get what is known as a memo, but when they have to register it and pay taxes, they are fortunate to break even on the sale each year. They have to sell their boat and pay their bill to the manufacturers before 365 days are up to or incur penalties.

Rods, reels, line and bait, by the time you go through your annual allotment for the season, not much left to sell, and the rods and reels don't last as long as you think when you're fishing as hard as they do.

As far as the thought of black balling the West. Tournament orgs are businesses. If it doesn't make sense for them financially, then they won't come either. B.A.S.S. makes no profit from the anglers directly, in fact they put some sponsor money into each event. Sure, the anglers are the attraction, but having three or four new anglers from a Western circuit doesn't break them even.

Bottom line. If they come out, and in the case of FLW Everstarts that are already here. We have to support them, or they will leave again, for good. Having 87 boats at Clear Lake or the Delta is not going to excite anybody with the National orgs. That might be a decent draw for a regional pro am, but it won't cut it for a National group.

A lot of assumptions and misunderstandings about the life of a pro out there.

They're not all getting rich - far from it.

DanO

Rich hamilton · Post by **Rich hamilton** » Tue Dec 25, 2012 9:26 am

same old story just change the date!

GW · Post by GW » Tue Dec 25, 2012 1:25 pm

well based on what DanO is saying, and I am pretty sure its fact as I know he is close to the sources, maybe BASS needs to rethink their business model? Lower entry fees? Include the West?

Dont know, just thinking out loud........

and they say the East Coast guys cant come west? What about the West Coast guys going East? Last time I checked Skeet still lives in Auburn and Cody in Grass Valley and Ish in Hughson and Dean and Brett in Havasu.......

jiggin4bass · Post by **jiggin4bass** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 3:29 pm

Show FLW & B.A.S.S the money up front too bring them here every year and they will show up its pretty simple why they dont come here year after year. You dont pay they wont come and play thats not too hard to figure out. I can see why these org like aba, wonbass, anglers choice arent making it if you wont work together you go down with the ship

maybe you need 3 or 4 vince harris or randy pringles running tournaments they seem too be the guys drawing the better numbers but we now that wont happen

jiggin4bass · Post by **jiggin4bass** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 3:45 pm

Let's see 50,000.00 for a bassboat and 35,000 to 45,000 for a tow vehicle and jerry's lame excuse is the gas prices Thats priceless right there.They better stop fishing the tournaments back east then if gas is the only thing holding them up from coming here huh.

DAN · Post by **DAN** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 7:28 pm

DanO is on target, the perception that these Elite Guys are getting rich or a free ride is so far from reality for most anglers. DanO explained the expense break down well, and most anglers really get very little compensation and a lot of product they use throughout the year. From a Western perspective, fortunatly we see many of the top personalites from our region.. And I must say there are many here, that could compete at that level but will never get a chance. As far as "our baits" and techniques heck yes they work there but Companies Like Big Bite, Net bait and Zoom will always dominate.
Looking forward to doing some work out that way soon...