On the Western Front - Lack of Participation
By Terry Battisti
Northwestern Writer
Part Three
August 21, 2009
In the last two segments of On the Western Front, I talked with Ron Colby and Gene Batey about their perspective on why the major tournament organizations are failing out west. Both stated that it’s a combination of poor scheduling and long travel distances that make up the brunt when it comes to lack of participation. Both also said that the economic situation that has a grip on the entire U.S., especially California – where the majority of western anglers reside – also has a huge influence on angler participation.
For this segment, I talked with western king pin Gary Dobyns in order to find out his opinion on why the west is having trouble filling major tournament fields. Dobyns is not only one of the most respected and decorated anglers in the west, he’s also one of the few western anglers who actually makes his sole living off the industry. He’s also noted for not mixing words when it comes to touchy situations – as with this subject.
Dobyns – Let Me Count The Ways
“Where do I start?” Dobyns said. “There are a number of reasons the major circuits are failing out here. First off, when BASS came out here, they never gave us the same opportunities as they did the eastern anglers. For example, we got less (Bassmaster) Classic spots and less qualifying spots for both the Tour and eventually the Elite Series. The western anglers didn’t like that and eventually quit supporting the organization.
“About that same time, FLW came out west with their, ‘We listen to our customers,’ motto,” he said. “They were an instant success.
“But, FLW has made a number of mistakes in recent times that have hurt them,” he said. “One of the worst was when they increased the entry fees for the National Guard events to $4,000. What organization in their right mind would do that in this economy and truly believe they’d survive? They want to charge us like it’s a tour-level event and it’s not a tour-level event with respect to billing, press or payout. For crying out loud, we’re still fishing for our own money.
“FLW doesn’t understand or seem to care who their ‘customer’ base is out here,” he added. “Even though we are considered professional anglers by the tour, 95 percent of the anglers out here have a normal job. To top that off, a large number of the anglers out here are contractors and they got hit hard with the recent economy. If FLW was smart, they wouldn’t have increased the entry fees – they would have left them alone. Instead, they didn’t listen to their customers and increased the fees anyway. So much for their motto.
“They (FLW) have also made a lot of promises to the anglers that haven’t been fulfilled,” he added. “For example, the way they pick their team-sponsored anglers is a joke. There are a number of anglers out here that have been staunch Ranger supporters for years. Unfortunately, FLW is all about moving more people into Ranger and if they can give a sweet deal to a Triton owner, they’ll do that over rewarding a long-time Ranger angler for his past support. That in itself angered a ton of people and they have no clue how bad it hurt them out here.
“Another thing that really bothers the anglers is the Fantasy Fishing deal,” he added. “As many anglers as there are who are struggling financially, the way they’re running Fantasy Fishing doesn’t make any sense.
“The Fantasy Fishing deal is a 10-million dollar program – for people who aren’t fishing the league,” he said. “Why not take half of that money and give it to the leagues so they can help the FLW Teams out, decrease entry fees and increase payouts? 5-million dollars would go a long way in that sense. FLW has to realize that if they don’t take care of the people who are making Fantasy Fishing possible, the tournament anglers, there will not be Fantasy Fishing in the future.
“We have plenty of anglers out here who want to fish and we proved that in the beginning with full fields. The problem is the anglers aren’t getting what they came for. The events aren’t fun anymore and the league encourages confrontations. They’ve taken away the fun factor and in the process they’ve lost their cheerleaders.
“Another problem with FLW is their scheduling is atrocious,” he said. “They make us go to places that stink or make us go places at the worst time of year. And, if you try to give them constructive criticism, they label you as a trouble maker.
“The way these big circuits are doing business these days, they’re setting themselves up for an organization like the PAA (Professional Anglers Association) or some regional circuit to come in and take it all away,” he said. “Like I said, we have plenty of anglers who want to fish. The problem is we don’t feel like we’re getting our fair shake. This next year we have three pro-am circuits coming out west and I’d like to say if FLW doesn’t make some changes, especially with entry fees, they are libel to fail. If these new circuits play their cards right with schedules, I look for them to knock FLW off the chart here in the west.
*Click here for part IV, a summary of thoughts on western tournament fishing . . .