As the migration of fishing continues to be a fluid and ever changing and money becomes tighter and tighter, changes in the FLW Tour were imminent. You could feel the writing on the wall, sponsors becoming harder and harder to acquire, opinions were rapid and change was on the horizon. The key is will these changes for 2015 hurt the overall perception of the FLW Tour; only time will tell.
The first and probably the biggest change is the field will be cut from 180 participants to 150, only the most competitive and best will be fishing. What this will change will yet to be determined; there will be less entry fee money, the local fisherman that has had a chance to fish the FLW may not make the cut and the hometown hero may not get his one-time chance to compete! Will this be good or bad we don’t know but what we do know are there will be fewer participants to follow and admire.
The co-angler which has been a controversial point for many years will only be allowed to participate in the first two days of a FLW Tournament. This to me will hurt the crowds at the weigh-ins as many folks are in the stands because they have a loved one fishing as a co-angler. There will be no more co-angler participating in the Forrest Wood Cup as it will be pro fisherman only. Some of the biggest and best sponsors have come from the field of co-anglers, as many of them were CEO’s, business owners, bait and tackle companies and more and this could devastate the sponsorships.
The FLW like every sport is facing large money issues and making it better with less will be a tough task, sponsors want more for less, fisherman want more for less and the viewing public wants more for less; who will win is the question and ultimately the future of all professionally bass fishing and the FLW!
Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service
www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com
www.facebook.com/FishGuntersville
Email: bassguide@comcast.net
Phone: 256 759 2270
Captain Mike Gerry