WON BASS RESPONDS -

[Scott Shambre]

Frank, the overall theme of my posts related to this topic has been that this was a decision was made without any input from the anglers that supported WONBASS !!!!!!

Gary and Kb are 100% correct, there should have been at the very least a few calls made to toss this idea out there to feel the response. WON had a booth at both ISE shows and there was NO mention of this at all during either show.

This ill-advised decision is going to costs WON plenty of cash which will be in short supply when guys decide on where to spend their hard earned money they devote to this sport. Guys are NOT going to take spend their money on a "luck" deal, they will go to where their skill is truely measured. The AAA's are gonna go where they feel thier money is being well spent and WON's AAA program is not it in this "new" format.

You want my arguement of ONE topic, for the money WON is asking, THEIR FORMAT SUCKS PERIOD!!!!!!!

[FATGUY]

frank you said you understand the decision ..ok i'll try here again for the 20th time. what is the advantage of the one fish limit ?

[Caudawg]

Frank, that was a great post! I agree with you start to finish.

Unfortunately, some people just look for things to argue about. Some of these guys don't even fish these tournaments yet they feel the need to share their vast wisdom about how tournaments should be run.

[Robert F]

bash an organization that I my opinion has been good to the fishing community for decades is a little harsh.

How can you argue with somebody that makes a statement like this? Thank you WON for taking so much of my money over the years. I know you are the only one that can do that.

[Scott Shambre]

How many times did you support WON BASS last year John??????

One tournament....62nd at Shasta!!!!!!!!!

There were alot of guys, both north and south with money ready for this season to support WON, one of which was me. Their schedule would have worked good for me until all of this news broke.

Forget the boat, go with a proven format and structure the payback around all cash. Run with it and the guys will see them thru this bad time. This two fish, two day deal is going to hurt WON more than help them in the years to come!!!!

[Caudawg]

Scott, I'm not talking about you by the way.

Yes, the question of 1 bass vs 5 bass does need to be answered.

My hunch is that this whole thing should have been positioned differently. They should have flat out cancelled the Pro-Ams after Shasta (which they already had a boat for). Then...announced a new big-fish event as a whole new concept. And since WON already had permits for these dates...they would hold them on these dates.

Positioning is everything.

[Caudawg]

How many times did you support WON BASS last year John??????

One tournament....62nd at Shasta!!!!!!!!!

There were alot of guys, both north and south with money ready for this season to support WON, one of which was me. Their schedule would have worked good for me until all of this news broke.

Forget the boat, go with a proven format and structure the payback around all cash. Run with it and the guys will see them thru this bad time. This two fish, two day deal is going to hurt WON more than help them in the years to come!!!!

Scott, I have been fishing tournaments since the 80's and have been a huge suppporter of Won BAss especially since I was very involved with the launching of Won Bass.

My plan was to make a comeback to serious tournament fishing last year but have been sidelined by the unexpected need for shoulder surgeries (including another one 3 days ago). So I'm back on the sidelines again.

I've been around a long time and have done pretty well over the years. So if you want to make fun of my 62nd place at Shasta...have fun.

[Robert F]

My hunch is that this whole thing should have been positioned differently. They should have flat out cancelled the Pro-Ams after Shasta (which they already had a boat for). Then...announced a new big-fish event as a whole new concept. And since WON already had permits for these dates...they would hold them on these dates.

Positioning is everything.

And start treating their customers as such. Sure does make you feel better when changes like this occur.

[Caudawg]

Positioning is everything.[/quote]
And start treating their customers as such. Sure does make you feel better when changes like this occur.[/quote]

Agreed Robert. This could have been positioned (and handled) a lot better. The advisory commitee idea with reps from north and south could have made these changes way smoother.

[bryanmc]

So to me, the question is still why the change? From reading on here it looks like they lost more entries with the format change than they gained, of course the proof of that will be in the numbers.

Was WON concerned that if the Delta and Clear Lake Pro-Ams weren't fishing for a boat there would be bitching about the change in the 1'st place award? If they were concerned about the economy keeping folks from fishing, why not just lower the entry fee (should attract a few more anglers) make the payout all cash (as I stated earlier, I really don't think anybody was in it for the Nitro) and stick with a proven Pro-Am format (5 fish / 2 days / shared weight).

When time's are tough you stick with what works, it's not the time to try a hail mary gee whiz play.

I think for the most part people just really want to know the logic behind the decision, most of us don't respond too well to "'cause we said so".

[skolnuts]

As a below average basser, and a neophite tournament fisherman, i am dissapointed. i actually took vacation time from work to fish both the delta an CL won dates. I simply wanted to learn more about the tourney's as they can be intimidating to the novice. Now, I ain't all that happy, what happens when i get on the boat and the dude says "i am going to chuck this $100 bait all day, and I don't have anything of sorts, I guess I can spend my vacation days watching the front decker tossing a tennis shoe, while I sit and wish we were fishing for a limit. Not sure what kind of knowledge a back seater can learn in these kind of tournaments ??

[DeltaDan]

what happens when i get on the boat and the dude says "i am going to chuck this $100 bait all day, and I don't have anything of sorts,

Quit your Bitchin Skoal ..... Hell~ Justin Lucas cought the big fish of the 3/08 FLW Delta on a DS Robo with 5 minuets till weigh-in -- right at the tullies outside of Russo's that weighed 13 lbs, 9 oz.


That bait can't cost more than $4 when you add up the sinker, hook and worm.


There is Skill, Luck and Blessed Lucky in a single BF tourney .... and I ain't ever been blessed with anyone of those three options in my entire life !!

...... So I am out (and I had a BLAST fishing the WON Delta last year as-well)

[Caudawg]

what happens when i get on the boat and the dude says "i am going to chuck this $100 bait all day, and I don't have anything of sorts,

Quit your Bitchin Skoal ..... Hell~ Justin Lucas cought the big fish of the 3/08 FLW Delta on a DS Robo with 5 minuets till weigh-in -- right at the tullies outside of Russo's that weighed 13 lbs, 9 oz.


That bait can't cost more than $4 when you add up the sinker, hook and worm.

There is Skill, Luck and Blessed Lucky in a single BF tourney .... and I ain't ever been blessed with anyone of those three options in my entire life !!

...... So I am out (and I had a BLAST fishing the WON Delta last year as-well)

Dan, just think...your potential for improvement is HUGE! Don't give up now brothaman!

[DeltaDan]

Thanks John ... But for $200 I think it would be WAY Wiser for myself personally to hire Cooch, Barrack, Gliebe, Theil, Pringle ect.. for an entire day ~ and have them teach me what I wish to learn.
Not just watch from a drawn partner that may/maynot know the Delta.



There is no bigger payback in WON than learning from a guide for $200 as far as I am concearned ~~ outside of two days fishing and shared expences with your Pro.

[skolnuts]

Ha ha, thats funny Delta Dan, I like it. Your right, however my hypothetical situation could and probably will happen to someone. But I agree and I will stop bitchin, now you stop yours and get out there and fish the tournament too.

[Scott Shambre]

Caudawg....not poking fun at all, and it looked like you were referring to me about not supporting WON. Like Hutch said, being in a competitive role with the FBL stuff, I didn't have much time to support any org. for myself. Now that that is gone, like you, I wanted to get back into it this year. I heard about your shoulder stuff last year, so that is understood.

My only point in every post that I have put up is that when you have a customer base that is migrant from org-to-org, to hold on to that base in tough times doesn't mean trying drastically new stuff. When money is tight on everyone, people want to go to what they know. WON chose to make themselves different by copying the HBC concept and now it has come across as a gimick.

Money is tight for everyone, WON's choice to change a winning format is going to hurt them badly this year.