BassBlaster

Something’s Brewing at B.A.S.S.

I’m not quite sure what’s going on at B.A.S.S., but something is up. Have you guys been paying attention? Surely, I’m not the only one that’s noticed.

I started scratching my head when I read a quote from Jerry McKinnis buried way down in a story about the Lewisville Central Open. Here’s the excerpt I’m talking about:

Anglers raved this week that the Opens now carry a Classic berth for the winner. It’s why many said they were fishing the event.

Winners know they have to fish all three in the Central division to maintain Classic status, but some of the Elite Series anglers said that would also take off the pressure of worrying about every point during their eight events.

Jerry McKinnis says worry on.

“It does relieve some pressure, but they better bust it,” the new co-owner of B.A.S.S. said. “The points they don’t earn this year will be important. They need to fight for those points. That’s all I’m saying.”

Scary.

Huh?

It’s a cryptic statement, but if Jerry didn’t want it to be talked about he wouldn’t have given that quote to one of his own media folks (Right?). What does it mean? I have to figure it’s one of two things: either the Elite Series field size is going to get chopped down or B.A.S.S. is going to change up it’s scoring system to some type of multi-year, BassFan-esque rolling average.

I had sorta’ forgotten about that quote until this week when something Chris Lane said in a video featured at Bassmaster.com made my ears perk up. Here’s Lane’s quote transcribed from that vid. If you want to hear it for yourself, the full video is posted here. Go to about the 3:00 mark to hear the exchange.

“There is no holding back. It is all full-bore form here on out.

“This whole thing’s fixing to shake up in the next couple of years here with the Bassmasters. I want to be—worse than anybody—in that group. Because I know how good it’s going to be.

“Nothing’s going to stop this year or the years to come. You’ve got to be 100% focused all the time.”

Clear as mud, ain’t it?

At this point I think it’s safe to say that Jerry and Co. have something cooking that’s either going to impact how anglers qualify for and/or maintain their Elite Series status. Lane says he knows “how good it’s going to be”. So there’s already some hype attached to it as far as the anglers go.

Are we about to see the end of the Elites as we know it? Based on B.A.S.S.’ timeline of scrapping one format in favor of another, we’re about due for a repackaging. Maybe it’s some kind of new TV deal? It’s all speculation at this stage of the game, but I definitely smell smoke.

Anybody out there have any thoughts as to what all this means? What would you like to see happen? Is the Elite Series fine as is or does it need some tweaking?

14 Comments

14 Comments

  1. admin (mostly Jay)

    March 11, 2011 at 8:12 am

    I have no inside knowledge here at all, but will give some context. Jerry has been involved with BASS for a long time, was involved in a lot under ESPN, and under ESPN there was a lot of talk about a smaller TV-friendly field. Have no idea whether that goes with the above, but do know Jerry is a smart guy and is not afraid to make changes — which personally I like about him.

  2. Ronald J. Lindner

    March 11, 2011 at 8:25 am

    A lot of folks won’t remember but years ago Jerry said he saw an ‘ Elite field of only a small number of select Pro’s drawn from a much larger field . I don’t recall the number or sizes..if they were mentioned at all…maybe that’s where he is headed..with today’s technology and a very small limited field perhaps the dream of watching this LIVE can become a reality.

  3. Ronald J. Lindner

    March 11, 2011 at 8:33 am

    ADDENDUM : Interestingly on the Bass First web site, Tim DeVoe interviewed the four leaders of the Harris lake tournament from day one on the morning of the day two, and this has already been posted at 7:30 AM CST. That’s almost real time reporting. KVD, Golden and Kevin Wirth, explained their plans for the day quite succinctly to a morning audience …that’s something.

  4. VinnieTheFish

    March 11, 2011 at 9:55 am

    I was there at Lewisville when Jerry announced this. My impression was that Bass fishing would eventually cross the line into Pro Golf. You’d qualify through the opens, have it a much smaller field and instead of paying out huge entry fees everyone who was in the special group now had a chance to make a check just like golf. I think with smaller fields, more TV coverage and a greater emphasis on the Opens BASS could do this.

    Note that I have no insider information but it’s the 1 topic that’s been on the back burner for years. After seeing the impact the economy had on sponsorships this seems like the next logical step in the game. This would truly make the Elite series the best of the best, not just the best of those who can afford it.

  5. Bass Pundit

    March 11, 2011 at 9:59 am

    I don’t know what to think if they go about doing something to make the Elites, even more Elite (smaller field). That just makes it that much harder for young aspiring Pro’s to break through unless they stop weighting qualification so heavily toward people that are already in. But if you make qualifications difficult for the guys already in than almost everybody will have a harder time selling themselves to sponsors because of the uncertainty.

    • VinnieTheFish

      March 11, 2011 at 10:10 am

      they already test drove the idea with the E-50’s, except that in my mind it conflicted with the Elite series. This seems like they were on the right path, but if you put more importance on the Opens and say only the top 20 from the E50’s last year qualify then you have 30 spots to fill from each of the Opens into the E-50. As much as I’d love to see BASS come back out West with the Opens, if they had 30 spots to fill from the opens into an E-50 style club you’d see the Opens fill within the first hour or two of open registration. Everyone wants a shot, but few can afford it. That might just be the carrot that brings a lot more guys from the West Coast (including myself) to the Opens just like Zaldain, Lucas, Bennett, etc.

  6. Jack McGee

    March 11, 2011 at 10:35 am

    Wasn’t there talk about the Elites “fishing for free”? Essentially doing away with the entry fee and anglers fishing for other people’s money instead of their own?

    Thought I heard smothing through the grapevine some while back?

  7. Jody White

    March 11, 2011 at 11:25 am

    All I know is live fishing would be sweet. And you would definitely need to make the field smaller to do it. But why not test drive it on the final day of tournaments.

  8. BryanT

    March 11, 2011 at 12:14 pm

    The bad thing about professional bass fishing is the cost that even clubbers now endure. It has really squashed the dreams of probably millions of folks who thought they have the talent. There is no doubt what you see on TV is 1/1000 of the available talent out there if not less. Unfortunately bass fishing has nascar attitude with a PGA pocketbook. In reality I just can’t see Pro fishing sustaining itself without cheaper entries, more diverse and available sponsorship dollars, go back to making a pro fishing a “part-time” job. The ’80’s and 90’s maybe weren’t the best for tv, but out of the 100 elite anglers out there now, 15 make a real good living. For it to sustain itself long term you would need 70% of the field doing well. If the cost of fishing continues to rise with out jobs and wages increasing, you now lose most of the talent pool. The bottom 80% are just broke folks getting more broke by the top 20% anglers. Thankfully there is some attrition of the top pros but not enough to support long term health.

    I can only see a more elite group if you cut open tournament costs. Make it more available for more folks to access the highest echelon of professional fishing to those that belong. Make the elites a great “value” to those that belong. I remember when top 150 were $1500 just 15 years ago. Now it is $5500. Funny thing is top prize went from $40,000 to $100,000. It was a better value to fish 15 years ago than now.

    To me the BASS tourney series needs to re-evaluate their entire system.

    Just to be even more subjective I hate FLW’s stance even more as they cripple the guy that busts his ass to make it, only not to be able to support those that support them.

    • BryanT

      March 11, 2011 at 12:25 pm

      Best value out there is BassChamps. $400 entry, first with contingency’s at almost $29,000.

      Best non-pro circuit out there.

  9. Chad Keogh

    March 11, 2011 at 1:16 pm

    I’m sure it has to do with the move towards the top anglers not having to pay to compete. Which is the way it should be I feel if we want it to be a legitimate professional sport.

    • Bass Pundit

      March 11, 2011 at 10:13 pm

      How will anglers “not having to pay to compete” differ from the current system where the idea is for anglers to get sponsors who will pay the anglers entry fees?

      Obviously the anglers and organization need sponsors to put up the money. That doesn’t change. So what changes and how?

      Maybe all anglers get a guaranteed minimum payback from B.A.S.S. and the anglers can make sponsor deals on top of that?

      How do you get there other than with a basic redistribution of the total purse with a lot less going to the top finishers?

      The way I see it you have risk and reward. The higher the reward means higher risk for individual fishermen. I don’t see how you lower the risk without reducing the reward at the top. It’s a zero sum game.

      For it not to be a zero sum game, somehow you have to create more value for the sponsors than what already exists. It will be interesting to see if the new ownership can figure out a way to accomplish that. Maybe skillful leveraging of new media is the answer. (But then again maybe not, there are a lot of children at that table already and those hi-tech secret formula’s are notoriously fickle.)

  10. Jacob Robinson

    March 11, 2011 at 4:28 pm

    If you make the field smaller, its going to make it hard for the up and comers to qualify. Its going to be the same guys fishing year in year out. Im not in favor of a smaller field.

  11. Dave

    March 11, 2011 at 6:24 pm

    I’d like to see the co-anglers come back to the elite series for the first two days and just the elite anglers the last two days.

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