American Fishing Series replacing FLW Series West?

[Go Time]

Alright I may be completely off base here but in a recent article put out by FLW on the 2011 American Fishing Series schedule, it states:

"The 2011 American Fishing Series will expand to five divisions Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western with the new Western Division replacing the FLW Series Western Division"

Does this mean the AFS Western Division is taking the place of the FLW Series West? Or am I just misunderstanding something. It just doesn't seem that this could be correct.

PS: I'm from Illinois so this does not affect me directly. It just raised an eyebrow.

[Glenn]

Yes, you are correct.  Both FLW and BASS have a long history of ignoring the western states.  FLW has done a better job in recent years at bringing it's major series to multiple states out west, but as you noted, that too is gone now.

And sorry BASS, but California is NOT the only state west of the Mississippi!  Holding a couple of tournies there does not constitute a "western division".

Sorry for the rant, but folks out east have a disproportionate amount of opportunities compared to the west. And with FLW pulling out, it just got worse.

[Go Time]

I don't think you have anything to appologize for, that's for certain. This is ridiculous. I just checked thinking maybe several of the FLW Tour Opens would be held out west but no not a one. Was the removal of the National Guard Series something that you were aware of prior to the release of the AFS schedule?

What is your opinion on the cause of the lack of tournaments put on by BASS and FLW in the west? As with everything, I would imagine it's monetary related. And after looking over results from 2010 angler participation in the FLW Series West and East are very comparable. So that would lead me to believe the cause is lack of sponsor participation.

This may not be my business to be concerned with but I just can't help thinking, what if this was happening to me.

[Glenn]

It's all about the money. The West does not have the concentrations of bass angler like the southeast does. So it's more difficult to fill out the whole field - but they were doing it.

The problem is that it's more expensive for them to run the tournaments due to the travel (they're all based back east). So the profit isn't as much. Its easier/cheaper to stay closer to headquarters, where you can fill up the entire field of tournaments based a few hundred miles apart from each other, vs. the west where they can be thousands of miles apart.

The converse holds true for western anglers. If they want to compete, you're talking some very serious traveling (miles) and expenses in order to fish the circuit. The payouts make it virtually impossible to make it worthwhile unless you can consistently place in the top 10 -- not good if you're just starting out, and cost prohibitive for a lot of talented anglers.

I hate it. >

[fishfordollars]

Yes, you are correct. Both FLW and BASS have a long history of ignoring the western states. FLW has done a better job in recent years at bringing it's major series to multiple states out west, but as you noted, that too is gone now.

And sorry BASS, but California is NOT the only state west of the Mississippi! Holding a couple of tournies there does not constitute a "western division".

Sorry for the rant, but folks out east have a disproportionate amount of opportunities compared to the west. And with FLW pulling out, it just got worse.

So true. Hopefully the new owners of BASS will try to put an end to the lack of tournaments on the lakes out west that continue to be ignored.

[fishermantony]

That's exiting news, hopefully both organizations will hold tournaments in multiple states in the west.  I believe FLW had an event on the Columbia River in June 2009, not sure what series it was, but I think it was a pretty big event.  Last year I noticed nothing here in Wa outside of the Federation Nation and the Bass Federation and that was disappointing.  I'd love to fish my first open this next season, but like has been said in this thread, the travel, and accommodation costs will be so high and that's even before you get to the tourney entry fee and all the numerous other expenses.

I think the west is such a diverse and challenging environment to catch bass and I believe because of these factors the west produces some fantastic bass anglers.  I'm so grateful to be out here, I love it!