Getting Reel - Fishing News

Can ABA Stand Up To BFL?

by Don Zaegel on November 5th, 2007

     For many weekend anglers looking for a lucrative tournament circuit or something that offers a stepping stone to higher levels of professional bass fishing, their are two common circuits to choose from. The FLW offers weekend anglers a competitive and well organized series with competitive payouts, great contingency abilities, and a long-standing history with anglers. It is called the BFL and is sponsored by Wal-Mart. On the other end, anglers loyal to BASS have the option of fishing the Bassmaster Weekend Series which is now operated by the American Bass Anglers Association and sponsored by Toyota. The Bassmaster Series does not have the same history and same shared respect by all anglers; however, the past is the past and it’s what you do to fix it that will bring back the anglers. I think ABA is aware of that and is taking measures to challenge the rivaled BFL series.

     Concluding 2006, BASS gave operational rights to ABA for the Bassmaster Weekend Series to start 2007. This was a move that quickly received an opinionated voice from the anglers. Many anglers feared that even with the long history of the ABA, they were not going to be able to handle a tournament circuit of this magnitude and felt that BASS gave up on them to quickly by giving away the series to another organization. The result was an increase in BFL fields and a decrease in Bassmaster Series numbers. In defense to the ABA, I will have to say, and have already said that, You have to let them work out the kinks. You cannot expect things to be run exactly the way you want them to be run in the first year. My recommendation to anglers has been to fish them, see what you do and don’t like, and then tell them; otherwise they will never be able to fix it if they don’t know it’s broken. Regardless, ABA stood up to the challenge and showed the anglers that they are serious and have the resources (backed by BASS and many contingency sponsors) to provide weekend anglers with an honest, and well-organized circuit, giving them another option to the BFL’s.

     As many know, Triton has dropped themselves as a title sponsor from the BASS Elite Series. This will give the Elite anglers the ability to run their own wrapped boats on the final day (the only televised day) of competition. A great move, but another story. Triton instead has decided to get back to the “grass roots” and offer the Bassmaster Weekend Series anglers more contingency money with the evolution of the Triton Black Gold program. A program that will almost the double the purse if certain program criteria are met.

     With the new backing by Triton and a guaranteed payout of $5,000 to the winner of each qualifier, I would say that ABA has definitely listened to the anglers and is proving that they are willing to meet our demands. 

     It will be interesting to see if this will increase field numbers for the Bassmaster Series, and if it will cause the BFL and Ranger Boats to strike back in order to keep what they’ve got. Either way, I can only see all of this as good for the weekend anglers

     For more information on the new rules and format changes for the 2008 Bassmaster Weekend Series, go to www.americanbassanglers.com

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POSTED IN: BASS, FLW, FLW/BFL Series, Miscellaneous