Tournaments at Russos Marina

[stickbait]

I'm hearing rumors that Russos is not hosting tournaments this season.... is this true ?

One of the best venues in the delta ... really sad if true ?

[JL]

Hey Stickbait!! Where did you hear this info???

[stickbait]

FB of course.... lol

Bass hole posted their list of 2026 events and none of them are at russo's which is right down the road from the bass hole store..so a couple guys started posting/comments about it ...

I thought maybe someone here would have the scoop...

Sad if it is true...

[Dave Brabec]

Russo’s was a private marina for years. Didn’t start tournaments out of there till around 2000.

[MichaelB]

Unfortunately, the news is true. Russos will no longer host tournaments. Delta Bass Club has moved our Club tournaments to Holland Marina. Russos has even removed the "fish tube" for weigh-ins.

Reasons for abandoning tournaments:
Lack of revenue. Circuits that drew 80-100 boats are now drawing 20-40 and the marina is making no money.

[El Jefe]

Honest question but what did it cost them to host tournaments? I mean people just use the picnic benches and the fish tube, etc during weigh ins ? In turn they would get 30-40 boats worth of launch fees ? I highly doubt they are going to get MORE launch fees on an average weekend vs. hosting a tournament….. there’s gotta be another reason

[stickbait]

Honest question but what did it cost them to host tournaments? I mean people just use the picnic benches and the fish tube, etc during weigh ins ? In turn they would get 30-40 boats worth of launch fees ? I highly doubt they are going to get MORE launch fees on an average weekend vs. hosting a tournament….. there’s gotta be another reason

Chuck retired and I think he was the big push for tournaments for years,,,,

Launch fees of 15 x40...600.00 hardly pays for at least 4 people to host a event plus all the time to set it up....

Holland is a nightmare to host a bass tournament, their ramp sucks, orwood is ok only before summer hits... back to the old school days of big break !!

Not sure about sugar barge, they probably don't want all the boats/trucks coming thru the camp grounds at o dark thirty...

Just another hit to the tournament bass fishing here on the west coast.

[JVGondal]

Seems to be their loss. The bass fest has 200 boats

Most everyone I know launched at sugar barge or somewhere else unless it’s tournament day
I wouldn’t be surprised if Russo host again in a year or 2

[El Jefe]

Honest question but what did it cost them to host tournaments? I mean people just use the picnic benches and the fish tube, etc during weigh ins ? In turn they would get 30-40 boats worth of launch fees ? I highly doubt they are going to get MORE launch fees on an average weekend vs. hosting a tournament….. there’s gotta be another reason

Chuck retired and I think he was the big push for tournaments for years,,,,

Launch fees of 15 x40...600.00 hardly pays for at least 4 people to host a event plus all the time to set it up....

Holland is a nightmare to host a bass tournament, their ramp sucks, orwood is ok only before summer hits... back to the old school days of big break !!

Not sure about sugar barge, they probably don't want all the boats/trucks coming thru the camp grounds at o dark thirty...

Just another hit to the tournament bass fishing here on the west coast.

I wasnt aware that they did anything….always seemed whoever was putting on the tournament did everything concerning their perspective tournament…..Would think they could have just raised their launch fees or “use” fees but whatever…. Good luck to them.

[madgaffer]

Russo’s has always rolled out the red carpet for tournament anglers . They open up the rest rooms ,have staff collect launch fees , golf cart parking assistance etc.. this is a huge loss for us ( the tournament angler ) .
I don’t know if we contributed to this decision but they will not be easy to replace ! Some reasons for the shift stated low turnout , larger events being moved to Oakley ( kick backs ) , trashing the restrooms and upsetting their regulars!
To me it would be in our best ( the tournament angler ) to try and find a resolution with the owners . But hey! the local boat shops get to replace a few lower units every big break event . I think it would have been worth it to either pay them some amount for the service or request they don’t send out the parking crew and police ourselves .

[fishinchips]

Moving from Russo's is terrible news.... But moving to Big Break is worse!!
Is the idea of Brandon island facilities not a better route? Would be interesting to know what location is
preferred more by anglers who fish tournaments.

[Shooter]

What’s wrong with ladds? Good ramp and plenty of room. Wednesday nighters run out of there no problem. Big Break sucks a$$…

[stickbait]

Honest question but what did it cost them to host tournaments? I mean people just use the picnic benches and the fish tube, etc during weigh ins ? In turn they would get 30-40 boats worth of launch fees ? I highly doubt they are going to get MORE launch fees on an average weekend vs. hosting a tournament….. there’s gotta be another reason

Chuck retired and I think he was the big push for tournaments for years,,,,

Launch fees of 15 x40...600.00 hardly pays for at least 4 people to host a event plus all the time to set it up....

Holland is a nightmare to host a bass tournament, their ramp sucks, orwood is ok only before summer hits... back to the old school days of big break !!

Not sure about sugar barge, they probably don't want all the boats/trucks coming thru the camp grounds at o dark thirty...

Just another hit to the tournament bass fishing here on the west coast.

I wasnt aware that they did anything….always seemed whoever was putting on the tournament did everything concerning their perspective tournament…..Would think they could have just raised their launch fees or “use” fees but whatever…. Good luck to them.

Lots of stuff to be done... and it all starts real early. Cones set up, golf cart drivers, tractor drivers for guys that store boats there, launch fee taker and someone directing launching traffic sometimes. Chuck got most of this going on... First thought is tournament orgs should pay a tournament fee to help off sent these costs.

Part of the problem for these marinas or launch ramps here on the delta, there is no other services offered, rooms, gas, food, store...ect to help with income for the marina... all they make is the 15 bucks a launch. and that's peanuts !!. At russos sure they sell gas but not at 4 am, (and can't compete with the gas station right down the street) they may sell a few overnight slips but that's iffy, not safe for a 100 grand in boat/gear.

The launch sites get the short stick !

The surrounding services are the folks that make the money. Mostly gas stations, for the one day events, hotels and food for 2 days or more.

Its a sad deal...

[stickbait]

Moving from Russo's is terrible news.... But moving to Big Break is worse!!
Is the idea of Brandon island facilities not a better route? Would be interesting to know what location is
preferred more by anglers who fish tournaments.

Way back in the day...when Gene had the tackle store and most all everts that went out of the west used big break. IMO they had a pretty good set up for the time and it could have been built into a prime tournament site as they had the area to expand. But new owners took all that another direction. Looks like with Bam and some other using them again things might move in a better direction for the bass anglers.

B &W could be a gold mine for the people there, lots to offer.

[El Jefe]

I don’t fish the delta a bunch but I do fish a lot of tournaments at the motherlode lakes…. They do ZERO as far as the tournament goes. I guess it’s just a failing business model, they should raise launch fees a few bucks and tell the tournament directors to fend off themselves…. As far as launching boats or whatever…. That should be included in the price of storage and they have an iron Ranger to take launch fees…. Like I said, seems like some other issue to be turning away all the boat launch fees but who knows.

[stickbait]

I don’t fish the delta a bunch but I do fish a lot of tournaments at the motherlode lakes…. They do ZERO as far as the tournament goes. I guess it’s just a failing business model, they should raise launch fees a few bucks and tell the tournament directors to fend off themselves…. As far as launching boats or whatever…. That should be included in the price of storage and they have an iron Ranger to take launch fees…. Like I said, seems like some other issue to be turning away all the boat launch fees but who knows.

You are right most all events, mother lode lakes or even ladds can run themselves with no staff needed. (might be changing with this mussel stuff though) Russos is a different venue. Mainly parking, if you turned 100 bass guys loose in that place to fend for themselves for parking.... what a friggin mess it would be.

[El Jefe]

What’s wrong with ladds? Good ramp and plenty of room. Wednesday nighters run out of there no problem. Big Break sucks a$$…

I’m with ya…. Ladds is great. Had to do a Toc at big break and it SUCKED.

[Dave Brabec]

Depends on where you live. When I lived on Bethel Island I hated having to pull the boat and drive to Ladds. I used to run to BigBreak in the dark by boat. Long as the wind wasn’t blowing.

[ash]

Its always funny reading the comments and having some knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes. City of Oakley is incentivizing organizations to host in their City, so why would the organizations pay out of pocket for a venue? Almost 1/3rd of the field if not half come in by the waterway so that is not revenue to Russo's and hosting a touranment out of Ladds vs Oakley are two separate permit zones so it would be a nightmare trying to get a permit if most went out of the East Delta. Bethel island and the surrounding communities are rapidly changing to suburban housing - its most likely a matter of time before an offer is made to turn that property into a resort (my guess)

I will miss seeing Lisa, Visiting Pop's and Cooch's bench. Lots of great memories were made at Russo's

[mark poulson]

Its always funny reading the comments and having some knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes. City of Oakley is incentivizing organizations to host in their City, so why would the organizations pay out of pocket for a venue? Almost 1/3rd of the field if not half come in by the waterway so that is not revenue to Russo's and hosting a touranment out of Ladds vs Oakley are two separate permit zones so it would be a nightmare trying to get a permit if most went out of the East Delta. Bethel island and the surrounding communities are rapidly changing to suburban housing - its most likely a matter of time before an offer is made to turn that property into a resort (my guess)

I will miss seeing Lisa, Visiting Pop's and Cooch's bench. Lots of great memories were made at Russo's

I wish all the best for the Russo's crew. They are great.