FLW Saltwater Striper Trail part 2

[Basser]

Actually Wal-Mart was forced into this (so to speak) years ago when BASS brought on K-Mart as a sponsor. The FLW Tour was started and sponsored by Wal-Mart to "protect" their portion of the tackle business.

[basswipe]

Its supposed to kick off this May.That's not all that far away.I would everything from TV deals,sponsors(other tan Walmart) and the anglers themselves are all established.

I would imagine that some of the anglers who fish all NSBA freshwatertournaments would take a stab at the salt.I know by checking out their site all you need to fish their tournies is to be a NSBA Competition member($40) have a boat and be able to pay the entry fee.

If it works like other fishing organizations maybe the best anglers from "amatuer" tournies are invited to participate.And through sponsorship will get nice shiny boats and new gear.

Obviously I'm just speculating on all this.Since I do have some time on my hands this week I'm going to give that information number in
the article a call and see if they can't send some detailed info.

[basswipe]

Raven makes a great point about exposing more youngsters to the outdoor by it making fishing more recognised. It also has the potential to bring awareness to environmental issues here in the northeast that kids might not otherwise be aware of.

[Goose]

For the most part there are no secrets out there no rock left unturned. You see a boat sitting by itself just head for it and looking at your electronics you know where he is not to mention guys with bino's. As far as giving away spots, unless its within reasonable sight of land you realy could be anywhere kinda like the ESPN shark tourney.

Its the guys during the work week that have to worry about giving up spots. They have one eye on the screen and one on oncoming boats. It usualy boils down to knowledge. As soon as another boat approachs he'll move off then when the time is right get back to bending rods without skipping a beat.

I think it was in the 'Salt Water Sportman' I read Gary C. had over 150 50's, don't know how accurate those #'s are but its guy's like that who put alot of hours on their motor in order to be in the right place at the right time. I think it was 3 yrs ago in went from buzzards bay to Montauk in rough sea's to win the ASA, he also fished in gale winds to win another. I'm sure ASA guys will be all over this tourney. I think alot are willing but not all are able.

If its lures your screwed.

[Joe]

With the biggest fish - the ones that would constitute an outright win -still so few and far between, luck plays such a huge role that I don't think a lot of people are going to be willing to spend $2500 on entry fees and I'd be wary of the ones that do.

Look at the Vineyard derby - scores of dedicated fishermen putting in vast amounts of vacation time and a 12 year old girl wins first and our own Drumcorpfan (a nice guy, and an enthusiastic angler, but a relative beginner) gets second.

[Mr. Sandman]

I have not been following these threads but if you have a sponsor which is picking up the entry tab in order to get the name of their company or product on the TV in front of lots of wannabe anglers, I guest that constitues what a "pro" is. Most pro's don't pay for much, hence all the logo's.

As for luck...we all know when it comes to fishing there is an element of luck involved. Yes the hard core experienced guy generally does well most of the time but like joe said...a 12 year old girl could land the big one,

2500 is a lot of cash and will keep most recs out of it and that is what they want. If you want to see a "pro" win, just up the entry fee enough to where only "pro's" enter. Lots of good fishermen I know would never spend 2500 bucks to fish in a contest.