Only the Names Have Changed

We’re getting to do-or-die time, the dates when commitments or deposits are due for the now-three major tournament circuits. There’s likely to be some movement – from one tour to another, or back to the original venue, or to retirement, and in a few unfortunate cases to the dustbin of history – but for all of the preseason rumormongering, I doubt it will amount to much. Each bold move comes with the understanding that it’s not easy to reverse course. There are only so many people with the options of a Cliff Pace or Randy Howell.

Of course, the emergence of the NPFL has changed that a bit. No longer is it a binary choice for the pros: Column A or Column B. Now there’s a third option, and it’s one that has recently distinguished itself from the others by banning the use of forward-facing sonar in its events. That has to be tempting to some disgruntled pros, as does their likely perception that despite the $100,000 top prizes, the NPFL field will not be as strong top to bottom as the Elites or the BPT. Time will tell whether that perception is true.

What I can tell you is that little will change in the way the committed fan imbibes bass fishing news, coverage and other information. We’ve survived the retirements from competition of Roland Martin, Denny Brauer and Kevin VanDam and neither the world nor any particular tour has crumbled. We’ve seen 80 pros leave one tour for a new one, and some might argue that the tour they left behind is stronger than ever.

This is bad news for individual pros but good news for the state of the game. While I still think there are too many tour slots for a reasonable number of top sticks to make a living from competition, we still have an appetite to learn how they’re catching them and to see the best in the world going head to head on the nation’s best fisheries. The tours have a job to do to distinguish themselves, and to give the anglers a platform, but they’re still in positions of power.

I’m guessing that any shakeups and movement will be smaller than we’ve been led to believe. There may be a few small tremors, but no earthquakes. That’s good for the sport in the long term – as there are too many uncertainties related to a post-election year season, the increasing importance of social media, and the fact that there are 300+ tour-level pros – but the anglers who make the wrong choice for their particular model may end up on the outside looking in. I hope they all choose wisely.