Questions That Keep Me Up at Night about the 2022 Tour Season

The Opens and the FLW-turned-Pro-Circuit are now upon us. That means it’s officially not too soon to start thinking about what’s going to happen at the (lowercase) major league level, which includes, of course, the (uppercase) Major League Fishing events. These competitions take up an unhealthy amount of space in my head, and the more I write about them the further afield I sometimes get.

Here, in no particular order, are the issues, themes and questions that are on my mind?

Bally’s Enters

To borrow a line from Casablanca, “I’m shocked that there is gambling in this establishment.” I mean, I guess that the entrance of Bally’s into professional bass fishing is a sign of progress, or at least that there’s interest in this sport, but it nevertheless surprises me that the BPT crew has been so willing to bring them into the fold. Do you remember when BASS required anglers to display the Busch Beer decal to be eligible for AOY? Many of the same anglers who protested and clutched pearls at the time are now going to benefit from this. Is gambling a lesser evil than alcohol? Have their opinions changed? Have circumstances changed (after all, we have an NFL team in Vegas now)? I don’t know the answer to any of those questions, but I am a little bit surprised-bordering-on-shocked.

COVID Remains

After two years of plague, the tours have gotten very good at establishing protocols for anglers and fans alike. Yes, there have been intermittent breakouts, and some semi-superspreader events like ICAST, but with the unfortunate exception of a couple of NPFL pros, we’ve done a good job. Hopefully Omicron is essentially gone by the time the tours start up and is not replaced by another variation. If it is, however, the circuits will need to avoid becoming complacent, while remaining malleable and flexible.

Last Stand for Veterans?

We have several pros who hung on at the Elite Series by virtue of their “Legend” status. Meanwhile, the BPT did not make cuts. Nevertheless, there are certain icons of the sport who are not competing at their once-lofty levels and may risk being eliminated at the end of the season. Are we witnessing the end of some illustrious careers? It’s not like the NBA or MLB, where they fete retiring heroes with gifts and ceremonies at each visiting stadium. If and when they’re eliminated, for most of these guys it won’t be voluntary. They’ll still hang around the industry (we’re the Hotel California of sports), but it likely won’t be on their own terms.

Short Shorts on Top?

For some reason I just have a sense that this is going to be the year of Patrick Walters on the Elite Series. Through three seasons on the Senior Circuit, he’s finished 16^th, 3^rd and 4^th in the Angler of the Year standings. He’s won an Elite event (which came with a Century Belt) at Fork and two Opens, including one at Hartwell, which happens to be in his home state and the site of the upcoming Bassmaster Classic. Most importantly, he’s not even 28 years old yet. If he gets the ball rolling on major titles, he could be hard to stop.

Swimbaits for the Win

Is this the year that we’ll finally see some big glidebaits or swimbaits creep into the tournament world’s collective consciousness via a win or three? We saw them play quite a bit at Fork last year, and the Elites are headed back there this season. They’ll also be on other big fish factories including Santee and Chickamauga. Hartwell, not typically a producer of giants, could come into play, too. Zaldain could do it. Livesay could do it. Palaniuk and Jocumsen certainly expect to do it. But my money is on the one and only Steve Kennedy.

Japanese Influence

Taku Ito won over the bass world last year with his effectiveness on the water and incredible charm both on and off of it. Now he’ll be joined by three other Japanese anglers, at least one of whom (Daisuke Aoki) is reputed to be a superior stick (Ito himself told me that). Yes, at this point it’s been nearly three decades since Norio Tanabe won a BASS tournament and almost 18 years since Takahiro won the Classic, but this feels like a new infusion of Japanese spirit at the pro ranks. Anglers including Tak and Shin Fukae are known commodities, but with the increasing normalization of BASS Live and the proliferation of JDM tackle in the US, it seems we’re primed for a renaissance of new techniques.