Why B.A.S.S. or FLW?

[airborne_angler]

Ive been following Professional Bass fishing for as long as I can remember.

Ive seen some pros that used to be on the B.A.S.S. tournament trail over on the FLW tourney trail. A few names like Dion Hibdon.Tom Mann Jr,Larry Nixon and probably most recently Ish Monroe. Is Boyd Duckett fishing FLW now or was it Luke Clausen,some how I get those 2 mixed up.

Why do some anglers decide to quit fishing B.A.S.S. and go over to the FLW Tourney Trail? Can a Pro fish in both the FLW and B.A.S.S.?

Is it because of Competition,The pay outs,the sponsors? Any specific reason?

[Jason Penn]

Seems like prior to the Elite series (I think that's when it was) there was more guys fishing both. When BASS changed up and added more T's, I'm not sure they had as much time to fish both.

I have noticed you see more of the older guys fishing FLW now. Maybe they just like the lakes they fish more, or maybe the payouts are better.  I do remember reading an article with an angler one time and he said "if you want to be famous fish BASS, if you want to be rich fish FLW".  I don't know how much truth there is to that.  I don't really pay much attention to the payouts, I have no interest in it.

I'm pretty sure Luke Clausen has always been more FLW than BASS.  I don't think he even fished BASS after winning the classic.

[Flukeman]

The first major reason they don't double up anymore is the cost factors. Then you can look at the two organizations going to the overlapping dates the last few years and lastly sponsors. When FLW went to those big sponsor teams it benefited some BASS guys to switch over to those teams.

It is so expensive to fish either trail anymore, especially when you have to put up the whole shot up front. With that format you couldn't pick and choose individual events as easily as before. Now to survive you probably have to pick the trail that plays to your strength to assure you can continue fishing. That's why there are so many good fishermen not trying to go pro anymore, got to be rich to play or willing to risk everything. Especially considering the sponsor situation these days, a lot of the luxury deals are gone or cut back now.

[Jason Penn]

After posting on this thread earlier,  I went to Ish's site.  There's a link on the front page of his site to an article were he's explaining his view on fishing both tours.  I was pretty amazed at the cost shown on there. 

http://www.another site.com/news_article.asp?id=3811

That's a pretty good chunk of cash right there!  I do understand all it takes is one win and you're getting into profit, but that's not that easy.

I remember an article in Bassmaster a few years ago that Marty Stone wrote.  It was talking about how much money some anglers made just from sponsors.  I'm sure a lot of that has changed in the past 2-3 years though.

Like I say, none of it really matters to me.  I in no way would want to have to fish for a living. I don't even have the desire to fish small T's.  Any career that keeps you out on the road and away from your family would be very tough.

[Ima Bass Ninja]

Alot of the pros fish both tours Ish Monroe is one of them. I imagine that it has  alot to with preference, scheduling, where each tourny is at, the payout, and prestige of the tournament itself. Also the sponsors may be asking them to fish in certain events.