USAC Announces 2012 Pro-Am Season

Bill Hutcheson · Post by **Bill Hutcheson** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 8:22 am

U.S. Angler’s Choice, the leader in West Coast shared weight Pro-Am events is pleased to present our Pro-Am program and schedule for the 2012 season. “We had a banner year in 2011 with some of the top named Pro’s on the West Coast competing at some of the West’s best fisheries”, noted USAC Director of Operations and Pro-Am’s Tournament Director Bill Hutcheson. “What we have for 2012 is shaping up to provide our participants with the chance to once again test their angling skills at top lakes during the prime times of the year.

The 2012 season kicks off at Lake Oroville on February 11-12th, 2012. Although the weather sometimes provides a challenge, Oroville’s famed spotted bass fishery will be going full blast at this time. Participants can expect 20 to 50 fish days on a variety of baits. With higher than normal water levels, Oroville’s Spillway launch ramp and parking lot will be the location of the drive by weigh in and awards ceremonies. In 2011 Dee Thomas bested a field of 105 Pro’s and Co’s with an outstanding two day weight of 23.32 pounds worth $12,350 in cash! Last year, nearly $70,000 in cash was awarded at the Lake Oroville season opener.

The USAC trail moves over to Lake Shasta’s Bridge Bay marina on March 17-18th to sample the plentiful Largemouth, Smallmouth, and Spotted bass that this fishery has to offer. March is a key time on Shasta as the fish are in a pre-spawn/spawn mode and anything goes as far as presentations and baits. In 2010, Tommy Cardoza bagged a couple of 5-1/2 pound fish on the final day of competition to garner the victory and nearly $8,500 in cash for his two-day total weight of 24.01 pounds.

What could be grander than Clear Lake in April? USAC will make a stop at this fishery right in the midst of the spawn on April 21st & 22nd. USAC hit Clear Lake twice in 2011 for Pro-Am events and huge weights ensued. Swimbaits, Reaction Baits, and Senkos should all be productive in putting the fish on the chew. Ron Tobey went from wreck to check last March, boating just shy of 60 pounds en route to the Pro-Am victory and $9,000 in winnings.

The season finishes up with the combined Open and TOC event on June 9-10th, 2012 at the California Delta out of Russo’s Marina. Whether you are punching, flipping, pitching, or drop shotting, one thing is for sure – you never know whether that next bite will be a tournament winning toad or not. In April of 2011, USAC hit a chilly CA Delta and the bite felt the effects. With only 39.27 pounds for two days of fishing, local angler Phillip Dutra scored his first big tournament win and earned nearly $8,000 in the process. Look for more stable weather and bigger weights to dominate the final tournament of USAC’s 2012 Pro-Am season.

TOC Fish off Program – Anglers need not worry if they have a bad tournament as USAC’s approach to our TOC fish off is aimed towards supporting those who support the circuit. Simply fish all four of the USAC Pro-Am events in 2012 and you will automatically qualify to fish for the TOC holdout cash at the June 9-10th event at the California Delta. 15% of each entry from the season is placed into a TOC reserve fund. Based upon full fields at the four USAC Pro events, a total of $30,000 will be set aside for the Pro division and $10,000 for the Am division competitors.

The TOC event is effectively two tournaments in one. All anglers get to fish for the regular payback, however, only anglers who have fished all four events will get to compete for this additional cash pot at the June 9-10th CA Delta tournament.

Entry Fees – Entry fees for the 2012 USAC Pro-Am season is $500 per event for Pro anglers and $250 per event for Am anglers. Pro and Am fishermen who sign up together are guaranteed entry status. All other entries will be taken in and paired up on a first come, first serve basis and paired up accordingly. As such, we recommend that you get your entries in early as all USAC events tend to fill their Am positions early. All competitors must be current USAC members in good standing to compete and qualify for prizes.

Paybacks - No hyperbole or smoke and mirror here. USAC immediately posts tournament results along with complete paybacks for everyone to see so that the anglers will know that they are getting paid out what they paid in. USAC pays back 1 in 5 places and pays back 100% on all options taken in. USAC bases its paybacks on a realistic 100 boat full field and the paybacks increase proportionally when the fields exceed 100 boats.

Options – All USAC Pro-Am options are paid back 100%. USAC Pro-Am events offer two $50 options – A $50 Big Bass option, which pays out the top two largest bass caught each day at a 65-35% ratio. The second option is a Top 5 Option, which pays back the Top 5 positions in that Option pool based on the final results of the tournament. The Top 5 option pays back at a 40-25-15-10-10% ratio. Both the Pro and Am anglers have their own option pools which pay out independent of one another.

Shared Weight Program – Anglers Choice Pro-Am events utilize the popular shared weight concept. Developed here on the West Coast, the shared weigh concept allows each day’s Pro and Amateur angler to effectively fish as a team to catch their best five fish limit. The Pro and Am angler then “share” their total weight, which carries over to the next day of fishing. Pro and Am anglers are then paired up with different partners for the second day of competition and any subsequent days of fishing. The total weight each pro and co angler accrues for each day of fishing is then totaled to determine their overall weight and position in the standings.

“The advantage of the shared weight format is that it fosters a learning environment within the boat” stated USAC’s Hutcheson. “Pro anglers are all for their Am partners catching fish as it goes towards the common good of the boat. Am’s will often find their Pro partners offering tips on bait selection, techniques, and even loaning tackle in an effort to boat fish. Your $250 entry fee would not even pay for a day’s guided trip much less two days on the water with some of the top pro anglers in the west”, Hutcheson closed.

Sign-Ups – Competitors may sign up for the 2012 USAC Pro-Am events by logging on to usanglerschoice.net and clicking the Pro-Am events link on the home page. You may then click on the entry form link and print out a copy and mail it in with a check or credit card. Want to go paperless? Call Sherry Harwood at the USAC office (800) 360-7112 or Bill Hutcheson (208) 442-6877 and you may sign up over the phone with your credit card. Specific event related questions should be phoned in or e-mailed to Tournament Director Bill Hutcheson at hutch@basswest or (208) 442-6877. Deadline to enter each tournament is the Wednesday prior to competition. All competitors must be current USAC members in good standing to compete and qualify for prizes. You may also renew your membership over the phone at the numbers below.

U.S. Anglers Choice Tournament Coordinator – Sherry Harwood (800) 360-7112
U.S. Anglers Choice Tournament Director – Bill Hutcheson (208) 442-6877

Fish the best in 2012 - Fish U.S. Anglers Choice

Levy · Post by **Levy** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 10:17 am

Not speaking of options, what is your payback percentage for Pro and AM division?

Bill Hutcheson · Post by **Bill Hutcheson** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 7:43 am

John - Glad to hear that you are interested in fishing USAC Pro-Am's this year and that is why I am happy to respond to your post.

On the Pro side, the all cash payback including the year end hold out is 95% On the Am side it is 70%. I do not inflate these payback percentage numbers by including merchandise prizes, trips, or trophies - this number is based upon a straight cash payback. If I wanted to include these other items, then you are looking at over 100% for the Pro's and around 85% for the Ams. Likewise, USAC posts our paybacks immediately after each and every event so there is complete transparency.

FYI - USAC paybacks are exactly the same as they were for the 2011 season and the same as the other shared weight circuit on the west coast who liked our program so much that they copied us to the penny. A complete breakdown of our paybacks can be found on the USAC website.

If you or anyone else has any questionsregarding our paybacks or any other aspects of the 2012 USAC Pro-Am season, please feel free to contact me directly at (208) 442-6877 and I will be happy to address your questions.

ronsmart · Post by **ronsmart** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 1:52 pm

First post since the Havasu TOC fiasco and he's already taking cheap shots at WON Bass.
Typical Hutch

ASD · Post by **ASD** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 2:50 pm

ronsmart wrote:First post since the Havasu TOC fiasco and he's already taking cheap shots at WON Bass.
Typical Hutch

Just another reason to NOT fish any AC events.

B.Carpenter · Post by **B.Carpenter** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 3:45 pm

Has any decision been made yet on where the Clear Lake tourney will be out of ?

Bill Hutcheson · Post by **Bill Hutcheson** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 7:43 am

Scott,

Not really sure how stating a fact is bashing someone, but you are certainly free to your opinion. This is part of the reason I rarely post on WesternBass.com any longer - there is more drama here than on the Bravo Channel!

FYI - At this point in time, the Clear Lake will be out of the Redbud Ramp

ASD · Post by **ASD** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 8:41 am

Bill,

Stating the facts or not is not my point. It would be nice if You (and others) just talked about your (their) own circuits and left the other circuits out of it. Point in case the "Bravo Channel" coment. Why dose the bravo channl have to be part of it?? you could have left that out and just said somthing like [ This is part of the reason I rarely post on WesternBass.com any longer there is to much drama on here] But you seem to nead to drag other into your coments. Just my .02 . But I think you may be guilty of your own complaint about the "drama". If you had keeped your posts clean you would have given Jhon the info he asked for and that would have been the end of it.

Bill Hutcheson · Post by **Bill Hutcheson** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 8:57 am

Scott,

As a point of reference, I did give John the exact information he was asking for as it pertained to paybacks. With respect to comparisons to the competition, I guess you have never watched any advertising where one product is compared to the competition. According to Advertising Age magazine, it is the foundation for nearly 65% of advertising. That is all that I am doing here and there was no dig - that is unless you chose to turn it into one.

Do you somehow deny that WON BASS did not copy our payback structure in 2011 and is once again utilizing it this season? Do you somehow deny that WON BASS has neglected to post thier paybacks on thier pro am events for the past couple of seasons due to "computer issues" that they just cant seem to fix? If so, then yes, I will admit to a cheap shot. Howver, I am very careful not to make libelous statements, so you will get nothing but fact in my posts and these items are facts.

I know that you have been on this site some time and there is no question that there is a "Ford vs. Chevy" power struggle going on between ourselves and the competition. I find it humorous that what are considered as "digs at the competition" that have been fathered by the other guys seem to get a free pass - posts like "Seriously" and "Wake up and drink the coffee". Come on Scott, the history of posts that you any Levy have put forth pretty much let everyone know who you are shilling for.

I still don't know what upset you about the Bravo Channel comment. They have some great programming over there....

ASD · Post by **ASD** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 9:54 am

Bill,

I am sorry if it looks like I am picking on your or any ORG. I am just getting fed up with some of the things that are added to peoples post that drag others into it. I understand the "ford vs chevy" thing. As for me shilling for Won. I have never fished a Won Bass event so I can't say anything good or bad about them but I have fished some AC events and they are very well run. As for the Mag thats a diff story. I just wish that all ORG's could just come on here and tell us about all the GREAT things that their ORG have to offer and leave the F vs C thing out of it. I also understand advertising and and how it works. There is no such thing as "bad advertising". The #1 thing is "name recognition" and keeping your name and or posts @ the top of a page on a blog. So if nothing else I am guilty of geting "sucked in" and helping AC to keep their name up top

so you have Won and are geting advertising an keeping the post on top.

Bill Hutcheson · Post by **Bill Hutcheson** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 10:13 am

Thanks Scott,

A decade ago, the economy was booming, sponsorships were plentiful, and participation numbers were way up. I think part of what everyone is experiencing is what traditionally happens in nature when resources get scarce - things get a bit more aggressive in an attempt to grab market share. I am glad you understand where I am coming from. I hope you and your family had a great holiday season and I hope to see you at an event this year.

Hutch
USAC

jrbasspro · Post by **jrbasspro** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 12:51 pm

Bill
No southern tournaments this year?

does that mean I have to go north to use the AOY certs.?

Walt

Brian D. · Post by **Brian D.** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 12:55 pm

Thats what I was thinkin Walt. As a guess, prolly not since the turnouts were not there. Looks like you will havta go North, young man.

Ray Coleman · Post by **Ray Coleman** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 1:38 pm

I, too, would like to see a Southern tour. I know last year wasn't good for turn out. I also know that are previous attempts by Anglerchoice pro/ams on the South didn't meet expectations. But before a farmer harvests a crop seeds must be planted, fields must be tended. It is only after much work and investment does the crop mature and pay for itself. Just my point of view.