Kevin VanDam

IT IS OFFICIAL - PICKWICK, BAY dE NOC & CHAMPLAIN GONE

January 12, 2009
(basszone.com, January 11, 2009)

Norman, OK. – After an offseason in which the overall economic downturn has wreaked particular havoc on the financial well-being of professional bass anglers, the rumors have come true – on the afternoon of Friday, January 9th, 2009, BASS announced that the 2009 Elite Series schedule has been cut from eleven tournaments down to eight. Additionally, they have taken the step of reducing entry fees to $4,000 per event. Between the three eliminated tournaments and the reduced per-event entry fees, anglers will have to spend $25,200 less, exclusive of expenses.

But there’s a wrinkle to the plan – after the eighth event (Oneida), the top twelve pros in the Angler of the Year race will move on to two back-to-back additional tournaments to duke it out for the championship and additional prize money. The anglers in thirteenth place through the end of the field will not have further opportunity to move improve their finish. BASS did not announce where the two limited-field tournaments will be held or when. They will be no entry fee events.

The three casualties are Pickwick, Bay de Noc and Lake Champlain, a long-time favorite of the pros.

Furthermore, the Oneida tournament has been moved to July 30th through August 2nd, which means that it will run directly against the FLW championship.

While BASS did not offer any rationale for how it chose the particular lakes to be eliminated, they seem to be logical choices. Pickwick is one of four Tennessee River lakes on the original schedule and would have been back-to-back with Guntersville. Bay de Noc requires the longest drive for most anglers and would have had a substantial chance of losing a day to bad weather. In a bow to northeastern anglers who would have likely revolted had both New York waters been stricken, keeping Oneida and eliminating Champlain allows the season to stretch well into August.

Had Bay de Noc, Champlain and Oneida all been stricken, the full field events would have been over on June 14th, giving the anglers who qualified for the Bassmaster Classic but did not make the top twelve an eight month hiatus. Those who didn’t qualify for the Classic would get an even longer vacation.

http://www.basszone.com/2009zlines/elitechanges.htm

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