TW Tour Big O Fantasy Post Mortem

 Well, the kid being late to check in on Day 2 cost me about 10 lbs, which sucks because I would have gained ground on just about every once of improvement. But my anglers just couldn't hold it together on Day 3, and most of them dropped. A once-promising lineup lands me in 500th Place. Got to do better than that. 

On to Kissimmee and back at the Big O for the Elites next week. I'm luvin it. BPT starts on Monday.

Good Day That Don't Mean Jack Squat

 

Not worried about Wheelers, I think there is room to grow in this flight.

When I turned on the coverage in the afternoon, and David Walker was on screen, I knew immediately it was a good sign. The next two guys they went to was B Lat and C. Lane and, shortly after that, Michael Neal.  

I was surprised to be all the way down in 212 Place after Day 1. McCormick killed me being 4lbs back from the average bag. He holds the key to my teams success at this point. If he rallies big and everybody else holds serve, I could easily be in the prizes tomorrow. I am in 9th Place in the  Hellabass League and less than 10lbs from the leader.

Tackle Warehouse Tour Big O Fantasy Roster

Flight 1 

 

Flight 2

As far as I can tell, the "Flight" really only applies to the Bass Pro Tour where I think they will still spit the field for the first 4 competition days. Everybody fishes the first two days on the Tackle Warehouse Tour.

Women And Professional Tournament Bass Fishing

So I was reading through my blogs from January 2010 and I came across this one announcing the end of the ill-fated Bassmaster Women's Tour.  I was bummed out about it at the time.  So here we are 10-years later and it would seem that women haven't made any progress in that time in the world of professional tournament bass fishing.  The one exception to that is Kristine Fischer who has made a name for herself in the kayak tournament scene.  Kayak tournament fishing is in its infancy but is exploding in popularity and Kristine's success speaks for itself.

So what will the next ten years hold for women tournament anglers?  I think incentives for women are such that it is too easy for them to get sidetracked rather than perfecting the craft required to be competitive against the men. I don't see reaching success at the top levels of the sport.  I hope I am wrong about that.  I would love it if there are more unicorns than just Kristine.       

Dude Wipes Dude and Brandon Palaniuk Returning To The Elites

Article Here...

After one year on the Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour two of the biggest names in bass fishing are going back to B.A.S.S..  This may or may not be an ominous sign for Boyd Duckett and the boys over at MLF.  Who knows how the MLF FLW take over is going to work out in the long run.  I think going back to B.A.S.S. is the smart bet.  When I lost Outdoor Channel last Spring when we switched to Direct TV my interest level in MLF nose-dived.  In fact, it wasn't until I was doing this post that I looked up The Bass Pro Tour on Discovery Channel which we do have.  I now have the DVR set to record.  I got to do something with my time this winter because with these back to back Thanksgiving week snowstorms it looks like my ice fishing got done before I could even get started.

Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour, My Thoughts:

Putting my pundit cap on and weighing in on the coming Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour.  I don't see how this idea will be sustainable.  I hope I'm wrong and this turns out to be a fantastic success, but I just don't see it.  FLW and B.A.S.S. are not what they once were not by choice, but because it's what the market dictated.  Tournament bass fishing is a niche sport with limited appeal.  I don't think the MLF BPT changes that reality.  I will be shocked if it does.

MN FLW Bass Pro Andy Young Is In A Tough Situation

Sorry that I don't keep on top of blogging about this kind of stuff like I would of in the past.  Two weeks ago at the first FLW Tour event at Lake Okeechobee on the first day of competition MN Pro Andy Young was injured in a boating accident.  As a result, Andy has racked up medical bills and they aren't cheap.  Andy will probably miss the next two FLW tournaments as well.  This has put Andy in a tough financial situation.

If you are so moved to help, here is his Go Fund Me Page.

Get well, Andy!

Winner, Winner, Getting Something for Dinner!

Thanks to getting 4 Anglers in the Top 10 at Beaver Lake I had a pretty good Fantasy Fishing roster last week and I'll be rewarded for it.  Probably a Strike King Lure.

This makes the second time I reached my goal  to win a prize this year.

Holding my Muse

Caught a 24" Golden Bullhead on the 13 Fishing Muse Gold Rod last night.

Updated: My prizes from FLW for Beaver Lake

6XD, Hat, 10XD

Don't know if I'll ever have a use for the lures.  Throwing deep diving cranks is something I haven't done in years.  There are some spots on Sullivan Lake I could give them a try if I ever get the Trophy back in the water.

FYI to FLW Fantasy Bass Players

Tackle Warehouse must have deleted their legacy League and started a new one.  I just discovered it.  I could have sworn the Tackle Warehouse League was there when I registered, but when I went to look for it this morning it was gone from my list of leagues.  I re-registered, but don't know if my score from the 1st tournament will be counted or not.  As of right now my score is not in the list for Lake Okeechobee.  I will not be happy if that is the case.  I recommend you check and make sure you are in the Tackle Warehouse League ASAP.

Better Get Those FLW Fantasy Line Ups In

Tournament at Okeechobee starts tomorrow and line ups lock at mid night.

Will B.A.S.S. Or FLW Come to Mille Lacs Now

I doubt it!

Allow tournaments to keep and cull whatever they can, no restrictions.  Then and only then will bass fisherman flock to Mille Lacs.

BASS Fantasy #Fail

What in the heck is happening with my fantasy picks this year?  My best angler in this tournament is in 33rd Place and only got that because somebody got DQed allowing Tietje to fish today.  My best angler in FLW came in 31st Place.  I put extra time into researching my rosters this year.  It looks like I am sunk in both BASS and FLW for the year. #Fail

FLW Fantasy Bass #Fail

I wouldn't have believed it was possible, but moving day and my line up got worse.  Well this group was one big mistake.  Nothing like knocking myself out of all the great end of the year prizes in the first tournament of the year.  #Fail indeed!

2015 FLW FantasyFishing.com Is Open For Business

Free to play at Fantasyfishing.com

Here are Prizes this year:

I would have to say FLW has taken back the mantel of the top fantasy bass fishing game to play with this prize structure.  I really should put more thoughts into my picks than I have in the past few years.  The only thing I don't like is they kept the $100 salary cap.  I would prefer to just pick the 10 anglers I want to have on my team for each tournament straight up.  It does look like they toned down how much the "Top Angler" will cost us to buy compared to last year, which was my biggest complaint with last years game.

FLW Tour Changes for 2015 & 16

Here is the synopsis from Wired2Fish:

• Pros will be allowed to wear their own jerseys on final day
• Exclusive FLW sponsors move from 31 to 9.
• The field has been capped at 150 pros (down from 180 in 2014).
• Co-angler competition will conclude on day 2 of all 2015 FLW Tour events including the Forrest Wood Cup
• Starting in 2016, the Forrest Wood Cup will be a pro-only event.
• Pro entry fees have slightly increased by $300 per event to $25,800 for the six tournaments ($4,300 per event) – co-angler fees are $800 per tournament.

I don't have any argument with any of the changes.  I could care less who's Jersey's a pro wears on any day of competition.  I think making The Cup exclusive to Pro's only was the right move.

Here is FLW's spin on it.

Pioneer Press Write Up On The Gophers FLW Championship Win

Here it is...  I think they did a much better job of telling the story than the Star Tribune did last week.

U of M Team Wins 2014 FLW College Fishing National Championship

Chris Burgan  (left), and Austin Felix

That's right, Golden Gophers traveled down to South Carolina and brought home the trophy's and entry into this summer's Forrest Wood Cup, which will also be held in South Carolina on Lake Murray.  Austin Felix of Eden Prairie will go as the Boater and Chris Burgan of Rhinelander, WI will go as a Co-Angler. Read the story at FLW here.

Way to Go Boys!!!

Fantasy Squad for Lake Hartwell FLW

At the last minute I subbed in Clausen for Christie, Morrow for Fukae, Wolak for Lefbre, and Blaylock for Yelas replaced. Will learn soon if those move work or bomb.

Update: As of day 1 I made some serious mistakes.   Canterbury being the worst.  Christie for Clausen was a push losing 3 places, and Yelas for Blaylock gained me 25pts but Morrow lost me 86 spots and Wolak cost me 61 places.  However, it's only Day 1 which don't mean jack squat.  I assume Morrow will come back significantly, Thrift will improve his 110th place position.  I expect Wolak to improve as well.

Update Day 2:  I had a good day moving up 231 places total. Have a shot at 4 in the Top 10 (Yelas, Ehrler, Gags, and Morgan)

FLW Says: "Ten Bucks, Buddy"!!!

(And it Sucks, Buddy!!!!!)

That is right, it's going to cost you $10 to play FLW Fantasy Fishing this year.  I thought not such a big deal and signed up, but then I learned they only have Prizes to 10 Places and that is ONLY FOR THE END OF THE YEAR!  WHAT THE HECK!  Seriously had I known they would not be giving prizes for every tournament I would not have paid.  Turns out the money is not refundable.  I wrote FLW and told them I thought this is bullshit.  I would much prefer they split the $100,000 top prize into smaller amounts and have nothing for the end of the year.  I just can't believe it, Seriously 10 winner for the whole year, it's just sad.  B.A.S.S. now totally kicks FLW's ass in Fantasy Fishing.

I advise you save your money and go by scratch off or Powerball lottery tickets instead.

Congratulations Scott Roland Martin

FLW likes to hype the Forrest Wood Cup as greatest title in Professional Bass Fishing. Honestly, I don't know that it is even the greatest bass fishing title within in the FLW Organization. I think winning the FLW Angler of the Year title is actually more impressive and has a better pedigree in terms of past Champions. What the Forrest Wood Cup has undoubtly been is the single richest payout in profesional Bass Fishing. There is no doubt that it is one of the major Championships of the sport. Yesterday bass fishing legend Roland Martin's son Scott won the Forrest Wood Cup giving him the major tour tournament championship title his dad was never able to win.

Congratulations Scott and the whole Martin Family!!!

I wish I would have been able to watch the weigh-in, but I had important family stuff to do today so I missed it.