Won Bass Tournament Director Billy Egan Organizes the Pros and Fishing at the US Open by Dan OSullivan

Billy Egan tournament director for WON Bass Fishing Orgnaization

These people work even harder on tournament days trying to make sure everything comes off without a hitch; and it is rarely easy or simple. Every adjustment comes with another, and in the case of Pro-Am style events, the juggling can bring even more of a balancing act.

At the recent U.S. Open at Lake Mead, I watched Egan jump through hoops like a trained poodle.

A BIG SHOW

Every tournament has its difficulties, but when you put a three day event on a puddle like Lake Mead, there are bound to be things that happen that will require extra attention. The U.S. Open has so many different moving parts that have to be juggled. Egan and the crew at WON Bass begin planning months in advance for the Sponsor Row, partner pairings and equipment needs.

Along with that, they are selling partnerships, and planning for the event program in the WON Bass paper, and all of the other factors that have to be accounted for. Those are performed in a controlled environment at the office, but once they arrive

on site, that environment becomes much more dynamic.

ANGLERS AND EQUIPMENT

It takes months to bring a field together that can manage not only the expenses, but also to needs of an event like the U.S. Open.

On a National Level, dealing with the most renowned professional anglers, the equipment is the newest, latest and greatest. Along with that, there are crews on hand at every event to handle any small break down in rapid fashion. What they know at those levels is that anglers arrive at those events with their equipment largely in working order. Things break at Elite Series and FLW Tour events, however, the anglers go

direct to the service yard, and the tournament

organizers never have to deal with the

issue. The U.S. Open is much different.

There are people on hand to help

at the U.S. Open. Mercury provides the

services of Mark Nicoletti, a veteran

tournament service professional, and

Angler’s Marine sends their tournament

support truck as well to try and patch the

boats of competitors.

The problem lies in that unlike National

tours, most of the anglers that compete at a

U.S. Open fish out of vessels that are not the

newest, and some of the things that break

are not repairable on site, due to

not having parts for an

older model.

WON Bass

deals with

those

Tournament Director Bill Egan

WINTER 2017

19