2009 Bassmaster Opens

[flippincrazy]

What do all think about the schedule? Anybody plan on trying to fish any of the divisions?

[ww2farmer]

I plan on fishing at least 1 of the events in the Northern Division as a co-angler, my boat is too small for those big tournaments. I can't decide yet which one I would like to try to get into first.

[flippincrazy]

thats cool I'm also thinking about fishing the northern division, but wanna see how the my last few tournaments go this year.

[mawilson]

flippin i guise i need to find a new roommate for the opens next year

tight lines Mike

[flippincrazy]

Mike,

Well see how this year ends. The southerns are not much further for me to travel, I broke down the drive time, miles ect. The biggest draw back is that first tourney is in january in florida. I also like Erie and I fish ther often. The florida tourney scares me because it florida and one of you florida guys will probably when it, unless your willing to give me enough spots for a second place finish ;D But only time will tell. Is your wife going to the Guntersville tourney, mine can't so if you want to cut cost, let me know.

[UPS VT]

I am thinking of giving it a try as a co=angler.  I would fish the Northern Open on Champlain.  $300 is still quite a bit of money to me though.

[flippincrazy]

Ups,

I'm fishing them as a co this year. To date haven't done well, but three hundred dollars is not bad. I've been paried with a big named flw guy and a former elite series pro. To hire them for a day would cost a lot more than 300. Now I did get front boated like no one could imagine, but I learned a lot. Most guys are more than willing to share info, I think fishing these as a co is a must if tournament fishing is something you desire to do for a while, this being even more true now that the elites don't have co-anglers. Stay in touch if you decide to fish it, if fish the northerns i'll be up there the whole week before.

Caleb

[UPS VT]

Thanks for the info, I know that $300 is not a lot of money when you think of it that way.  It is just a lack of confidence to step up to a higher level of tournament fishing.

[flippincrazy]

I completely understand, I kinda felt like a fish out of water the first one I fished, but if you plan on tourney fishing that step is gonna come sooner or later. Confidence is the hardest part of fishing IMO. It's a while away so just keep your options open.

Caleb

[mawilson]

now my wife's not going to guntersville so ill need a room mate do you know what ramp were going out of. I plan on fishing the Harris tournament as a boater and if you come down for it you can stay at my house.

tight lines Mike

[riverfisher]

http://assets.espn.go.com/winnercomm/outdoors/bassmaster/pdf/b_Opens_2009_Reg_Sched.pdf

Provide my wife allows I may do the Northern Division or at least Champlain as a co-angler.

[flippincrazy]

thats cool riverfisher. the champlain tournament should be a good one, with some rough water

[5bass]

Unless you're just hel bent on fishing every tournament, I'd skip the FL event. If the fish happen to be spawning then, that's the very best scenario to get front-ended. ALL DAY LONG.

[flippincrazy]

five bass limit,

I know. It happened to me on the St. Johns River event this past January. Kinda sucks!

Caleb

[Manigotapee]

I was really excited to fish the Central opens, that was until I saw the schedule.....Maybe they could rename in the East Texas Opens??

T

[Glenn]

They completely and utterly left out the west coast. Very deliberate, which has NOT gone unnoticed by (soon to be ex) BASS members in the west.

[Sharkbite]

Why would they leave out the west?

[South FLA]

Why would they leave out the west?

Those Cali boys are too darn good!!

[Willzx225]

I'm sure they left the west out of divisions like the Central division solely due to gas prices but I agree that they should have a Western Division like they used to.  I mean if they didn't we might not have ever seen anglers like Aaron Martens.

[Manigotapee]

Gas Prices???  What....  There is some d**n fine fishing in the west and the "True" Central Division.  I know that texas in phenomenal for fishing, but I could barely afford to drive 9+ hours to fish the tourneys in texas, much less afford to properly pre fish for a tournament of this caliber.  It's too bad they have left certain areas out of this, they could be missing out on some good fishing, and great talent!

good fishing,

Thomas

[5bass]

Gas Prices??? What.... There is some d**n fine fishing in the west and the "True" Central Division. I know that texas in phenomenal for fishing, but I could barely afford to drive 9+ hours to fish the tourneys in texas, much less afford to properly pre fish for a tournament of this caliber. It's too bad they have left certain areas out of this, they could be missing out on some good fishing, and great talent!

good fishing,

Thomas

I agree. BASS is definitely missing the boat on the west coast.

[flippincrazy]

I agree that BASS is missing out on some good fishing, but I also think they'll be out west evetually. I don't know if I was them how many new divisions I would want to open in one year. If they had a west division this year too they would have had two new divisions to schedule and staff between there elite events. Also the more divisions you have the harder it is to convince some people to fish them too because of qualifying issues. If there was 4 divisions there would be only one person from each going to the classic and a couple to the elites, this really cuts down your possibility of making it, one bad tournament people start dropping out. Also would the west be hard to schedule, its so big guys could still be driving forever even if they lived out west. Lastly, this is tournament trail that gives you chance to qualify for the Elites the best of the best, no one said it would be easy, if you live out west and your dream is to fish the elites then do it, sacrafices have to be made. With that said I hope there is a west division soon, but all you seem to hear about is how BASS screws people over.

Also I started this thread to see who was fishing or thinking about fishing the Opens so we could help each other out.

Caleb

[Willzx225]

Mr. Wells, With all due respect you reassured what I was trying to point out.  Lets face it, tournament organizations have to look at the "sales" aspect of everything as well.  And by sales I mean how many fishermen they can get to enter the tournaments.  If you take the "Central" division that is basically in Texas and then put in a tournament on the Delta you will not be able to fill the spots like you could have if you put them all together because someone who is trying to earn an Elite birth is more likely to fish them ALL if he can afford to put the gas in the truck to drive 5 hours instead of 15.  That is what I was getting at.  The Western division is something that I would love to see but until they have a division set solely in the West, I wouldn't expect to see an open held on one of the great fisheries of California solely due to the expense to the fishermen and the tournament organization.  I was in no way trying to discount the fishing in California (that was proven time and time again last year in the Elites).

[Manigotapee]

ahhhh....gotcha now.  We both were saying the same thing just a little different.  If they want to keep the "Texas" division, fine, but they could have a true west division, and a true central division (Table Rock, Bull Shoals, LOZ, Truman, Dardanelle, Grand, Beaver, Norfolk, Texoma, etc...)  I do understand that more divisions would make it harder to qualify to fish the elites, but some earlier said it best, "it's not supposed to be easy!"

Thomas