Kevin Van Dam Forums

Next season since BASS is eliminating the co angler, how much money do you think they will loose? I already know a bunch a people who will not continue their membership with them (including people on the forum).

Yeah BASS hurt its self with the decision to not to allow co-anglers but I think they have or had a plan in place to replace the money they are going to loose.  I have heard that they may charge the observers or caddys as they have been refering to.  I’m not going to drop my membership but I’m still upset they made the decision and the reasoning is just as stupid, Becuase the co-anglers are just so good they could change the outcome of the tournament.  If I remember right every pro had a co-angler so everyone was on fair ground and the co’s could only bring 3 fish to the scales.  So I’m not a big fan of their decision.

A lOT. This will pull a ton of people off bass. I aam going to stay, only because i learn sooo much through their magazine, and bass times. But to many people, they probably hate BASS. haha, it’d be funny if one day i changed my name on this site to “flwmasterman”

I think the move was stupid. I am 19, but someday hope to go pro. I planned on fishing as a Co in Bass, but now that this happened, ill be entering FLW. I think Bass forgot about the little guy in this sport. I’m sure KVD, and Ike got their start fishing as a CO. I just don’t agree with the decision. I guess i went off on a side topic. Sorry…lol

I already chose not to renew my membership and let it expire, i did renew with FLW though. Even if i never get to fish as a co-angler, i support those who support me or dont consider me a nobody.

As far as charging observers, thats stupid, they should pay people or have drawings for free rides…..I respect some Pros and watching and talking to them would be great, but i aint gonna pay for it.

Remember who owns BASS…...it’s ESPN. And who owns ESPN ???.....it’s Disney.
It’s all about the bucks.
Forget anything to do with people or “the little guy” as some have put it.

now there wanting us to pay 100.00 bucks to ride with them and cant even fish!!!!!! bull shit!!!!

Thats some major crap. I may just let mine expire too, but that’ll be about 4 years from now. If they pull any more im just gonna call in and get out.

save… couple mill.  especially if they keep putting KVD on the cover ...

you know, i see mostly negative feedback on the decision from BASS about eliminating the the co-angler. did you stop to think that just maybe it was really kind of democratic and the decision was reached with input from the pro anglers themselves? 

i don’t have any insider information, but i would wager a bet that those elite anglers were quizzed about their feelings on this issue and that the majority of them probably were in favor of it. this is how those guys make their living. some a lot better than others.  i read in a book the other night that was written by Shaw Grigsby, and he stated that on the average, across the board….professional anglers win tournaments only 5-6% of the time…throughout their careers. do all the math, and average it out…. thats what it came to.

taking into consideration the date of publication was in 1998, here is a sample of the stats:
angler                               # of tourneys                   number and % won
Rick Clunn                                 234                           12 /  5%
Larry Nixon                               203                           13 /  6%
Denny Brauer                             176                           10 /  5%
Gary Klein                                 180                           7 /  3%
Roland Martin                               209                                 9%

i guess what it boils down to…are you just mad because you dont get the chance to fish with a pro in Elite series tourneys and you know/think that you’re better than some on the circuit….OR is it because you just follow in behind the herd and do what the lead cow does?

a lot can be gleaned from watching a pro for a few days as an Elite Marshal and the cost is only a fraction of what it used to be. personally, i would love a chance to be put in a boat with a different pro for each of those few days, and see just how they work the situation…in particular, on my home lake. but thats just me.

I’m OK with it.

Those pros have have over 100K invested per year….and a good chunk don’t have the money to cover it. If they think have co’s in the boat hurt their chances at winning…it’s their call.

BTW…doesn’t our membership get us a mag subscription? If I remember correctly - I got 3 years of Bass Master and Bass Times, knife, pliers, some lures, and a hat for about $60. I don’t think $60 covers the shipping.

yep..thats right…membership gets you the Bassmaster mag…11 copies per year.  i just got my last one and sent in for another upgrade….gonna get those goodies for the re-up.  hey brownie…do you ever go on the bassmaster website and check out the info from the pros?  lots of good reading there if you happen to be iced in later in the year.  i particularly like the one entitled The Reel Story…..its only been online since around june / july this year…. that guy jaison writes some pretty interesting columns every week….take a look see and let me know what you think.  new stuff every mon or tues….

now all i half to think about is my job…and how im not going to miss out on future bass fishing tourneys.