12 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE BEST BASS TOURNAMENTS

 


If you’re in California and you competitively bass fish, you most likely have heard of Best Bass Tournaments (BBT); but do you really know the BBT. WesternBass checked in with the BBT Bass Boss himself Randy Pringle for 12 facts that explain the organization.

#1 NOT AN AMATUER LEAGUE
The perception is that the BBT is an amateur-only league and that is not the case. The BBT is a broad step in the sport of bass fishing. Just like in other sports (baseball, football, golf) there are many levels. There are the club levels, AAA divisions, minor leagues, big leaguers – the pros, and any variety of level in between. The BBT welcomes anglers of all experience up to semi-pro. We call it a semi-pro league because we top out at that level. We are open to anglers and teams that are not considered professional.

It was once thought of as an amateur league because there was a max dollar earnings limit on for anglers to be able to participate. The maximum earnings qualification was been removed with thought to current day payouts. Maximum limits were a theory carried forward from organizations in previous years. Today, most of us have moved away from this concept.

This made sense in considering our own payback. Because we giveaway so much money – the best payback of the industry – a team could win one BBT event and be close to being pushed out.

There is much difficulty in setting a financial dollar for qualifications, when there is just so much money being awarded to “non-professional” anglers these days.

We’re not here to push out a team just because they win one. We’re not even here to push out teams that are consistently doing well. The reason that we review a team for a BBT qualification is so that we can offer a tournament platform where professionals (that fish for money to live on, like fishing guides or high-level pros) are NOT competing with our semi-pro teams.

Also, as we all know there is luck is involved with the sport. We don’t want to kick a person out for luck. An example would be if a guy goes out and catches two ten-pounders in an FLW event and wins a chunk of money; but he has never done consistently well in the past. If there was an exclusionary dollar amount to qualify, he could because of that one lucky day and that wouldn’t be fair.

Qualification is on a case-by-case basis.

#2 TEAM CONSISTENTCY DOESNT GET A DQ

Many of our teams are weekday workers and don’t spend as much time on the water as they want. Some do have more time than others, but aren’t as experienced as others. Many of our teams have been fishing for a lot of years and have gained experience on the water. Due to any of these reasons and many more, some teams may consistently do better than others.

At any level, in any sport, there are always teams or athletes or individuals that consistently do better than the majority of others. We are not looking to push out that guy or that team. If we did, the model of the BBT would be rewarding luck – it would say, “you can do well once or twice by getting lucky, but if you do consistently well by practicing, developing experience at this level etc., you cannot fish”.

That is not our intent. Once again, the BBT’s purpose is to offer a tournament platform where professionals are NOT competing with our semi-pro teams. Based on this, many anglers would be allowed to fish BBT. There are some anglers that shouldn’t be.

We do review teams that are consistently in the top 3 to 5 percent of teams over multiple years. If they are deemed too skilled in a specific region, they could be asked to fish another.

Qualification is on a case-by-case basis.

#3 GROWTH HAS EXPLODED

In the past year, the BBT has increased by more than 600 participating teams. Last year, we had over 1700. This year, we had over 2300. 

We must be doing something right.

#4 GROWTH CHANGES THE TOC

Because of the exponential growth of the circuit, the BBT had to reconsider the matrix to determine the TOC qualifiers for the 2017 season. The goal was to work out a matrix to invite a field that is close to the 150 mark. This is due to the limited fisheries that can accommodate the demand that a field over that requires. See the updated rule on TOC qualifiers on the BBT webpage.

The number qualified doesn’t change the payback. The amount paid back is determined by the number of teams participating throughout the year. For example, in the TOC 2016, because of the number of boats we had, we started with $31,000. It didn’t matter if only two boats showed up at the TOC, we would still have be giving away $31,000. This includes the $20,000 guaranteed to the winner. Options are on top of that.

RELATED: BBT Awards Over $50K at TOC

#5 PRIZES ARE AWARDED IN CASH

We keep it simple at BBT. You win, you get cash. Not a boat you have to try and sell, not a certificate you have to wonder when you can cash in on, not a check you have to wait for the bank to clear – you win at BBT TOC and you get cash. No muss, no fuss!

#6 SOCIAL MEDIA IS A PRIORITY

To date, the BBT has become the largest tournament organization in the state, with the most video views, the biggest Facebook page and Instagram page. We use our social media to promote the anglers as the anglers see fit.

The top-3 teams at any event, get video with BBT. We provide YouTube videos for the top teams of all events and we allow the angler to express his own ideas. This means that they can say anything that they want, plug any sponsors that they have etc. We don’t rewrite or edit out any of the products that anglers use just because they are not sponsors of the BBT.

Videos, photos and results are promoted for the top-3 on our social media outlets, our webpage and the West’s biggest bass fishing forum and their social media outlets. We don’t only promote on our own webpage, like most other circuits do. We offer a broad platform of exposure and marketing for our winning teams and the product they choose to talk about.

We’ve opened up the box for anglers to promote whatever they want. Many organizations do not allow this. We do.

#7 TECHNOLOGY IS PROVIDED

The BBT has moved into modern technology with filming technology on a number of top boats. There are two specific reasons for filming: 1) It is great exposure for the BBT anglers 2) It cuts out any questions of cheating.

If you watch our TOC video, you will see that our anglers caught every one of their own fish. You cannot get more honest than that. It is all on film. We keep honest people, honest.

This technology will be used in the BBT as well as the specialty events that BBT hosts such as the Snag Proof Open, Rat-L-Trap Open and The BassFest or any other events that we may offer in the future. This step forward helps the anglers and gives confidence in our organization.

#8 ANGLERS THOUGHTS ARE IMPORTANT

The BBT is always looking for input from the angler to make the organization bigger and better for the fishermen. We accept input throughout the year and take it to our annual Advisory Board meeting in September. Issues, questions, input that comes up through the year are saved and addressed by the Advisory Board every year and updated in our rules as necessary.

#9 ASK AND BBT WILL ANSWER

The BBT is transparent and responsive to angler questions. Feel free to contact any BBT Tournament Director or myself Randy Pringle the BBT Owner/Operator. There are issues that we don’t respond to on social media, because they have to be reviewed by the Advisory Board; but we will always be there to help with anything you need.

#10 RULES DON’T VARY

The BBT will never change the rules mid-year. The rules of the BBT are reviewed, updated each September by the Advisory Board and put into place prior to the start of the new season.

Once the season starts, BBT will not change a rule unless we are legally obligated to do so through a mandate by the California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife or the State of California.

It is not fair to the angler to change the rules mid-ship. We set the rules, post the rules and just as we expect the anglers to follow the rules, they expect us to be transparent with the rules and not change them.

#11 THINK TANKS INCLUDE MORE THAN JUST ANGLERS
I don’t know everything, nor do I want to; so I surround myself with a supporting cast to review the issues, questions and input that each angler has. This is the BBT Advisory Board and it includes people that fish and don’t fish, people that fun fish, that fish at a high level and a variety of business people. To get a diversified prospective of the topics that arise, I include people from all walks of life with the anglers.

#12 IT’S ABOUT THE FUN

I fished tournament for many years. Because of that, the primary concern for the BBT is to have fun with the anglers. We are here to bring fun back to tournament bass fishing. If we can’t do that, we don’t want to do it.

The BBT isn’t just about money. Yes, the more anglers that fish the circuit, the more money the BBT makes; but also, the more money that we give back.

When I tournament fished, fifteen years ago, it used to be fun – we traveled together, we camped together, we fished together. The BBT wants to bring the fun back to tournament bass fishing. That is our goal and we hope that you will join us in doing just that.