Two Tournaments at Once?

   There are two tournaments, a B.A.S.S. and an FLW, happening at the same time in April. The FLW tournament is on April 9-12; the B.A.S.S. tournament is from April 10-13. Which did the pros enter?

   Many pros only fish one tournament trail, but what about those that try to fish both? I really think that the Bassmaster tournament will have fewer pros fishing it than normal. Why? Reason #1: the FLW tournament is an Open, with the winner taking $200,000 instead of the normal $100,000. The FLW Opens' payouts are much higher than normal, but so is the entry fee. This particular Open is the Wal-Mart Open and has the largest payout of any FLW or B.A.S.S. tournament except the Jacobs Cup and the Classic. However, if the FLW tournament was not an Open, the pro entries would probably be more balanced. Reason #2: The FLW Open is going to be held on Beaver Lake, in Arkansas. The Bassmaster tournament will be held on Clear Lake, in California. Why does the location matter? Because most pros live in the middle and eastern part of the country, and Arkansas is much closer to home than California for them. If the pros enter the Open, they won't have to drive nearly as far. This is why I think that there will be more pros at the FLW Open than at the B.A.S.S. tournament. Now, please understand that I don't prefer one trail over the other, I'm just stating facts as they are.

   Could this have been avoided? Probably not. B.A.S.S. and FLW are two completely different organizations, and most likely would not try to work out their tournaments to be on different days.

   UltimateBassin.com will have statistics up for both tournament trails as soon as possible, even though they are on the same days. The home page will be split down the middle, with the B.A.S.S. results on one side and the FLW on the other. The Final Report might be a little late for both tournaments because so much will be going on, but it should be up within two or three days after each tournament ends.

By Brandon Shook

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