Juls	Ok, let's keep this chat more formal tonight....just for one hour... the floor is yours Keith
Keith Kavajecz	So a lot has changed since the last chat - web site is up, all the sites are signed up (Saginaw, Green Bay, Akaska, Winnibigosh), Super Cash Pools was announced, rules, we have some sponsors (Lund, Mercury, Navionics, Optima). Things are happening!
Keith Kavajecz	As most of you know I am on the Board of Directors for AIM, so will try to answer any questions you might have.
Juls	Ok, I'm tuning it over to the audience tonight. Who wants to throw the first question out there?
stpper	when will you have a list of the diffrent tournaments sign-up for the AIM Champ??
walleye_69	Does that mean ur fishing out of a lund this year
Juls	one question at a time please...see note above the window
Keith Kavajecz	I beleive they are building that right now. Last I heard we had 10 signed up so far, 10 close and a total of about 65 invited. If you know of a club/organization that might be interested, contact the AIM office.
Keith Kavajecz	No Lund, but am very glad they are supporting our sport!
SnailsTails	n what capacity are the sponsor active?
Keith Kavajecz	Guess I am not quite sure what you are asking about the sponsors?
robert kidd	Is registration open yet and if so How many has entered?
Juls	Hey Keith...it's been brought to my attention that no one can tell when someone else is entering a question, so let's just do the best you can and if you miss any, we'll ask them again....ok?
Keith Kavajecz	Registration has been open for a couple of days. Anyone can register although there is some "preference" until April 1st (for example Owners and Lifetime members who fish all 4 are gaurenteed to get in). For Co anglers it is first come first serve.
ozarkeyes	Is there a cut off date for the clubs/orgs?
Keith Kavajecz	As I said we just started registration - I beleive about 20 pro's per tournament so far although most owners have not signed up yet.
SnailsTails	Are they, the sponsors active with monatary support for the curcuit or just product for the Championship?
Keith Kavajecz	Cut off date for clubs to get involved - I don't think there are any. We do have an Aug 2 (I think) cutoff for the clubs to let us know who is coming to the Winni tournament - so for some that means it will be the current angler of the year.
eve21	how many of the PWT anglers do you expect to just transfer over to AIM?
Keith Kavajecz	Product and money.
Keith Kavajecz	Well I would hope a lot, but do expect a mix of PWT, FLW and MWC - as well as some new anglers. I know one angler that signed up last week is fishing all 4 and became a Lifetime member and his name was not familar to me...
Keith Kavajecz	Remember our owners came from all tournament trails - AIM is not just a replacement for PWT anglers.
robert kidd	Any new concepts on the catch photo release
Keith Kavajecz	to anything that makes sense for the anglers.
Keith Kavajecz	On the drawing board... well as you have probably seen, we are trying to adapt as best we can to the wishes of the anglers. It was only two weeks ago that the concept of Cash Pools was brought up - and we announced it today. I think we will be open
Juls	How is the camera "thing" going to work? Will everyone have to use the same brand/model?
tyee_guy	I am interested in how CRR works too
Keith Kavajecz	New concepts on CRR - not really. Best thing is that after a lot of discussion, most anglers are convinced it will be a fair system. Also, most agree that it will bring a lot of fun back into tournament fishing - catch the most and biggest - you win!
Juls	I would think that they would all have to use the same software so the upload would be quick and smooth?
SnailsTails	Is AIM going to supply the cameras for the photo release?
Keith Kavajecz	Camera - right now we are trying to find a camera that everyone will use. Hopefully be able to provide it to everyone at a reasonable cost - or for those who are only fishing one event - maybe a rental program. Best of all would be to find a sponsor and
Keith Kavajecz	have free cameras. That has not happened yet. We want a standard camera to ensure we can process the pictures correctly and quickly for the weigh-in.
Juls	When will you be doing your trial event to see how well this works? Did you figure out a date yet and where you will hold the trial event?
Juls	I'm asking in case there is anyone in that area that would like to go see it happen...:)
Keith Kavajecz	The trial event will be on APril 25th in Winneconnie. We hope to get a dozen or so boats there, maybe hold a quick little 4 hour tournament and then go through the weigh-in process.
walleye_69	you said catch the most u win,,so every fish counts or the 5 best
Juls	good choice on location...great time to be there
Keith Kavajecz	Sure, not only see it happen, but maybe get to go out fishing. We will need boaters and non-boaters and want comments from everyone to make this right.
Keith Kavajecz	We will be weighing the best 7 fish each day. After 7, if you catch a smaller fish it does not have to go through the CRR process, you can simply release it.
Keith Kavajecz	The angler will decide at the end of the day, which 7 fish on their scorecard will be converted to be their daily weight.
ozarkeyes	CRR Waterproof cameras- theres just couple brands out there, ought to be good sponsorship pitch.
eve21	a lot of questions and fears on cheating, how strict are the rules on that? Strike one and you are done I hope?
Keith Kavajecz	Exclusive CRR camera of the AIM Professional Walleye Series is available!
Juls	Will the pics have to match the fish you choose? Or? I would think that would be a tough thing to do in the office as the angler crosses the stage....or are the pics simply for entertainment for the crowd at the weigh in?
robert kidd	Would it be possiable to post your results from the trial?
Keith Kavajecz	Not as many fears as you would think. We are going to have a very strict process on how the fish are measured and photo'd and then released. Based on the infraction the tournament director can Dq any daily weight, DQ them from the tournament or even DQ
Keith Kavajecz	from ever fishing another AIM event. So, yes, very strict.
620	winneconee will be crowded MWS tourney that weekend.
Keith Kavajecz	ONe thing that helps us here is that the Co-angler is not competing for the weight, so hopefully will be a neutral observer.
eve21	agreed, I think you have the co-angler idea right as we were never competing for much anyway, more of a learning experience
Keith Kavajecz	No the pictures will match the recordings on the official score card. Each fish will be photo'd on the ruler and then one of the anglers will hold it up for the hero shot. This Hero shot will be used to show the live audience and the web audience the fish.
yellowbelly	has the MWC and Full Throttle been discussed to send TOY to the championship
Keith Kavajecz	We are just holding a small - informal tournament - probably right out of the resort down by the park - Critters is helping us out.
tyee_guy	What is the web address for AIM?
Keith Kavajecz	I know we contacted the MWC - haven't heard if they are participating - I hope so. I don't know about Full Throttle - I would guess so but will check.
Keith Kavajecz	Web site is www.aimfishing.com
stpper	Whats your thoughts on how many pro spots are actually available once you get by the owner and lifetime members priority? 20, 30, 40?
SnailsTails	I would think that if there was an infraction that was "classified as cheating" there would be only on ecall to make, DQ
Bigfoot	Keith here an idea...put a number onthe ruler that can match your score card
Keith Kavajecz	I would guess 40ish. Hard to say, with this economy all the tournament trails are struggling and many anglers are waiting as long as possible to get their money in.
eve21	i have seen it before, but what is the pro entry fee again?
Juls	Bigfoot has a good idea...that would make it easier with the photo downloads and making sure the right ones are shown on stage
Keith Kavajecz	Cheating = DQ - I agree. Honest mistake/not following the process (remember guys like Seeloff will be fishing) - DQ for the day I would think. Again, we are going to make this strict - it is what will make the system work.
Keith Kavajecz	Pro entry - $1500 plus $250 membership fee if you are not an owner or lifetime member.
ozarkeyes	Howbout issue an official numbered ruler with the score card-
Keith Kavajecz	Number in the photo might be a great idea - we will look into that.
eve21	is that 250 per year?
Keith Kavajecz	There will be an official ruler, we are talking to several companies to make sure we get very precise rulers and ones that have easily visible marks that show up well on a photo. Jim Caroll is also investigating a digital ruler.... probably for future year
Keith Kavajecz	$250 membership per event or you can look into becoming a LifeTime member.
walleye_69	You must get a heck of a magizine for that
620	to fish the championship as a co, do you have to fish a previos aim event that season.
stpper	Not a question, just a comment...Keep up the good work! I really feel your heading down the right road and now have a good 2009 layout, which will I really like your championship format..gives a chance for alot of people to get engaged and have some fun.
Keith Kavajecz	Well, as most of us are finding out it takes some pretty good money to run a tournament and present it in a reasonable fashion to the people on site and on the web. The goal of AIM is to increase the purses as we get more sponsor support.
SnailsTails	SO the entry is the same as FLW? $1750
eve21	ditto what stpper said, only up from here i would say
Keith Kavajecz	For this first year, it will be the membership fees and the owners initial investment that carry the weight of the financial burden. But beleive me, as we get enough sponsor support to run the events, money will be given back to the angler purses above
Keith Kavajecz	100% of the entry fees.
Keith Kavajecz	Thanks stpper!
Keith Kavajecz	Well we consider $1500 to be an entry fee, $250 a membership fee - as I said we will all be putting on the event to start.
Keith Kavajecz	But yes, same investment if you are a non-owner, non-lifetime member as the FLW.
Matt	Maybe this was already covered, I just got here. I've heard that you don't have to necessarily have to fish the AIM tournaments to quailfy for the championship. What tournaments could I fish to possibly have an invite to that.
robert kidd	Illinois Walleye Trail
Matt	Ok, are there any in Minnesota?
Keith Kavajecz	The Championshp qualificaton for anglers not fishing AIM is to fish another Regional (or National Trail) and be the top placing team for the circuit. For most circuits that will be the Team of the Year (or current TOY). We will have a list on the web site
Keith Kavajecz	And be adding to that as we go.
Keith Kavajecz	I don't know the exact ones, but will make sure the list is on the site (www.aimfishing.com).
Keith Kavajecz	I hope there is a circuit in every state - I know we even have a couple of organizations in Canada.
Matt	Ok, thanks
Matt	Wave Wacker winners getting an invite?
Keith Kavajecz	I beleive Wave Wackers, and Merc National have been invited also - and maybe some other big individual events. I just don't keep track of that day to day...
stpper	Any comments on what your considering for 2010? Whats the next big steps?
walleye_69	What kind of response r u getting from Co anglers so far (is it full yet)
Keith Kavajecz	2010 - I would hope with a year under our belt, that if the economy comes around we will start to get greatly increased sponsor support. With that comes more money in the purses for anglers, hopefully TV coverage, better Angler of the Year prizes,
Bigfoot	If the AOY winner declines do they go down the list to find a taker
Keith Kavajecz	Maybe more events, etc. We also want to keep involving the Regional trails more an more with AIM. One of our major goals is just to get more anglers involved with the sport and to make the sport fun again by bi-passing so many of the legal
Keith Kavajecz	restrictions we are now facing by using CRR.
Matt	Is there going to be a video that a person can purchase at the end of the season like the PWT did?
Keith Kavajecz	Co angler - the main thing we are finding there is that we just need to do a better job getting the word out. Gary and I were in the Chicago Bass Pro stores last weekend and talked to a lot of potential co-anglers. To a person, they loved the format,
walleye_69	Hi Gary any questions ur kinda quiet LOL
Keith Kavajecz	they loved the lowered entry fee, and many were going to sign up for 1 or more events.
Keith Kavajecz	If TOY declines, it is up to the trail if they want to go down the list - I would guess they would in most cases.
Juls	It's Keith's Chat tonight 69..:)
Keith Kavajecz	Besides Parsons types with one finger....
walleye_69	lol
Matt	lol
Bigfoot	no he lets REX type
Juls	lol
ozarkeyes	Yeah but which finger?
Keith Kavajecz	Yah and Rex (his dog) is missing one toe
eye-tracker	:)
620	to fish the championship as a co, do you have to fish a previous aim event that season
Matt	How many touring teams have you got signed up as of now?
Matt	or pros rathers
Keith Kavajecz	No, Co anglers for the Championship can sign up now just like any other event. In fact there has been some confusion on this issue that CO's thought they needed to qualify for the Championship. If you want to fish at Winni as a Co, sign up now
Keith Kavajecz	In the first week we had an average of 20 pro's for each event. Most were not owners/lifetime members who have until April 1 to sign up and still get preference.
SnailsTails	It seems like AIM is kind of following in the foot steps of the RCL when it first started and now their league finals with the optional payback. It worked for them do you see the same for AIM?
Juls	if a TOY both decide to go...can both fish as pro then or does one need to fish as a co?
eve21	did you guys decide to keep a cut for the final day of fishing, or just fish 3 all together like pwt?
620	I see it may stem from TOY being offered going as pro or co, sounds like qualifying to be a co, to me , thats where i was wondering. all clear.
Juls	let's give him a chance to answer...there are 4 questions on the table right now
Keith Kavajecz	Well I guess it is similar to when the RCL started out - the biggest reason for this (and again the idea came from outside the Board) was to get more anglers involved in tournaments. It is based a little on the Poker craze that is going on. Fish a
Keith Kavajecz	"Satellite" event to get access to a bigger event.
Keith Kavajecz	Yes the TOY will get a Pro and a Co spot, but we still will have all of the anglers that qualify through AIM events that will fish with CO's.
Keith Kavajecz	The final day the field will be cut to half the field. So for a 100 boat full field (in the qualifiers) it will get cut to 50. We felt that with the 7 fish limits and full cull, anglers might be able to come back a long way. That is exciting. Remember when
Juls	Ok, if Cos can sign up for that event now, do you have a plan in place to save spots for those TOY Co's?
Keith Kavajecz	Fairbairn came from like 32nd to win Fort Peck on the last day. Again - trying to get the fun and excitement back into tournaments.
Keith Kavajecz	Since TOY will be qualifying a Pro and a Co, they will be in. And they will have preference as CO's because they qualified. But again, we will need more Co's at the Championship because of all of the AIM qualifiers. By the way, the Championship field could
Keith Kavajecz	be higher than 100 boats. In which case the payouts will go up accordingly.
eve21	will you be randomly drawing the 50 co's, for the final days?
Matt	Do you guys take suggestions on different fisheries to look into?
Keith Kavajecz	Yes, the Co's that will make it the last day will be randomly drawn at the rules meeting. You won't know your last day partner, but will be able to make hotel arrangements if you are staying.
Juls	OH yeah...forgot about the bigger field at that one...my bad. :)
620	Do you see a FLWL type level in the AIM future ?
Keith Kavajecz	DIfferent fisheries - absolutely! If you will notice, we have got 4 great locations at 4 great times of the year. We should catch lots of fish this year!
Matt	There is one in particular that I'd love to see a major circuit come to again. Lake Minnetonka in the Minneapolis area. There are a lot of people, including myself, that would jump at the opportunity to learn a little about that lake and being it's so close to the metro area, I think you would have an easy time filling that with co anglers
Keith Kavajecz	AIM League - I don't think so, I think it is better to just get the existing tournaments out there more involved with AIM. Hopefully as we go, we can work with the regional events and provide more stimulus for anglers to fish their tournaments with the hopes of getting entry into the higher level AIM events. The beauty of enhancing the existing events is that it should help them get more entries - especially for anglers that are just starting to explore tournament fishing.
Matt	It would be interesting to see how the pros do.
Juls	8 more minutes left...get your questions in guys
Keith Kavajecz	Years ago we had a PWT championship there... as I recall a pretty tough bite - but you never know. One thing are are staying away from is just going to a site because they pay us to come or going during a time of year that is tough fishing just
Keith Kavajecz	to fill motel rooms.
Keith Kavajecz	I can stay longer than 8 - all great questions!
Juls	sweet! thanks big guy!
Matt	I wasn't aware of that. Do you remember the year by chance?
walleye_69	Are you gunna bring the dead fish in to feed the needy or ya gunna let dem float like a road kill
eve21	what is going to kill them?
Keith Kavajecz	Is that a trick queston - kind of like - Did you quit beating your wife yet?
Keith Kavajecz	Just kidding...
Juls	it's a release at the boat event 69...what dead fish are you talking about?
620	da ones 69 kisses.
Keith Kavajecz	Since we are handling the fish quicking and releasing quickly the fish should not be dead. If some die - just like in slot limit tournaments now - well that's that nature of the beast and I am sure nature will take care of that.
Juls	ok...lets' get back on track here
Keith Kavajecz	As was mentioned, we will not be bringing any fish in to the weigh-in. We should have very minimal affect on the fish in any system.
sha	Keith could you name the location for 2009
SnailsTails	I don't know but there maybe some time issues with DNR agencys on the time it will take to unhook, measure, photograph, etc; could turn into posession.
Keith Kavajecz	End of May, Saginaw Bay
Juls	I've seen it asked several times on the message boards, and I know Gary addressed it in his post today (that probably took him all day to type with only one finger...heheh), but since this chat will be posted too, can you tell every one what "Payout Values" means? Let's get that answered once and for all. :)
Keith Kavajecz	Beginning of July - Gren Bay
bbbbbbb	Hello Kieth how many Pros are in so far for your first tournament?
Keith Kavajecz	August - Akaska (Oahe)
Keith Kavajecz	Start of Sept - Winnibigosh in Mn
sha	Thanks...sounds good
Keith Kavajecz	All of the DNR groups in every state we are in, are in favor of CRR. They all support it and think it is a great system. CRR is the reason we get to go to Green Bay at the end of June/early July. Warm water, but the best time of year to catch fish.
Keith Kavajecz	I guess I am not up on the "Payout Values" - we pay back a minimum of 100% of the Pro Entry fees ($1500 per angler). So for a field of 100 we will pay back a minimum of $150,000. If we do give away a boat package as part of the payout, the payout will be
Keith Kavajecz	greater than 100% because we realize the retail value of the rig is not the actual value to most anglers.
620	Is pretournament meetings open to the public, just to check it out ?
Juls	thanks
Keith Kavajecz	Rules meeting - open? I guess.... never been asked that before. I know my wife and kids and friends have attended. So, yeah - tell them Keith sent you
Juls	lol
eve21	thought you would say tell em that gary sent you :-}
Keith Kavajecz	On the Payout subject, any questions about the new Super Cash Pools?
Juls	not from me...seems pretty easy to understand
Juls	Are there anymore questions for Keith?
stpper	me too, I would think most people will like the added opportunity
Keith Kavajecz	They are just another competition within a competition. Again, most anglers want to maximize their potential winnings at an event given fixed expenses.
Keith Kavajecz	One neat thing about the overall SUper Cash Pool is that it is split evenly amoung the top anglers participating so potentially really beefs up the middle of the payouts.
rapman2	and do you feel your going to see a problem with filling it?
Juls	the middle?? how so? If you only get 15 playing...then only the top 3 are paid...right?
Keith Kavajecz	We have an average of 20 anglers per event right now. We have only been taking registrations for a week. Most of those signed up are not our owners/lifetime members who have until April 1st to sign up and still get preference. All of the spots
Keith Kavajecz	after that are first come first serve - so if you are interested get signed up. No money will be processed until after April 1st if you are signing up for individual events.
rapman2	Thats pretty good you guys have to be elighted with that
walleye_69	and how many owners so far
Keith Kavajecz	Yes but those top 3 can be 5th place, 8th place and 20th place depending on who is in the Super Cash Pool. So even if one goes to 1st place, the other equal pays will be distributed down the list.
Keith Kavajecz	I don't know the exact number of owners - maybe 4 or 5 fishing all 4?
Juls	oh right, right, right...I understand what you meant now
620	cool
Keith Kavajecz	We are cautiously optimistic.... but then again what other choice do we have. I do beleive it could turn into a snowball affect - once some guys sign up - others will hop in. Gary and I talked to one pro this weekend who decided after our Championship announcement that the format worked for him that he was signing up for two (non-owner by the way). And then when he told his wife, she prompted him to do all 4...
Matt	wow, nice wife!
Keith Kavajecz	The other thing to remember is that as we go, we are still looking to sign up more sponsors. Many just can't commit at this time because of the economy. I would hope that as we get more support we might be able to announce increases in the % paybacks...
Keith Kavajecz	Did I miss any questions?
Juls	Well, if there are no more questions for our host tonight, we'll officially end it here, so Scott knows where to stop editing. Thanks for taking the time to join us tonight Keith...we really appreciate it! Feel free to stay and chat if you like....Scott will get it all, I'm sure. :)
Juls	Nice Chat Keith...thanks!
Matt	Thanks Keith
bill-brown(Ind)	yes a real fine job
Keith Kavajecz	Cool. Hopefully everyone knows where we stand with AIM. Not trying to hide anything. Sometimes we can't announce things as quickly as we we'd like, but we don't want to promise things we can't deliver. If anyone has any quesitons about AIM, get a hold of our President, Scott Matheson - or anyone on our board to disucuss your comments and concerns. Myself, Gary Parsons, Mark Martin, Dave Anderson or Pat Neu are all willing to discuss any part of AIM.
	The chat "officially" ended here but there was more commentary that is worth of posting so I edited through it below:
yellowbelly	I wonder if "wow" was here tonight:)
Keith Kavajecz	I don't know if WOW was here - I was going to send a personal invite to make sure all concerns were addressed....
walleye_69	lol dats funny
Matt	You guys will do fine. I for one am appreciative of what you are doing. Doing something like this has got to be an incredible amount of work. It was a goal of mine to fish the PWT, now I guess it will be AIM!
Keith Kavajecz	It was meant to be - as was my comment to you earlier - no bad intent intended.
walleye_69	he probably dont even fish
Juls	Good luck guys! Keep us posted...:) I have to head out now...thanks again!
Keith Kavajecz	Glad to hear it Matt! It should be a great bunch of anglers to fish with - and we are going to great places to fish so it should be Fun.
Keith Kavajecz	Bye Juls, thanks for having me....
Keith Kavajecz	I will stay on for a while if anyone has more questions
Keith Kavajecz	Or Comments - we have changed quite a few rules, programs, etc. on the great suggestions of anglers.
620	I'd like too touch on the AIM league concept, you idea of growing interest in those qualifying series and events is all good, but AIM is the only crr format, i would think there is plenty of intrest in that format, without the steep pro entry, no ? like
620	FLWL fills with weekend anglers, at least here in Badgerland .
#182	Keith or Gary.... What do you predict will be the biggest innovation in fishing in the next 5 years?
Keith Kavajecz	I would think CRR will be something that some groups would want to look at. Especially if the groups are in areas where there are strict culling, slot or time of the year restrictions. Team tournaments might have some logistic issues
Keith Kavajecz	with proper measuring. I think we will sort out a lot of CRR as we go through the first season of AIM.
Keith Kavajecz	If I knew, I would be rich! Hard to say, probably something with our electronics and the ability to find fish. Maybe we will come up with a Bio-Sonics like deal for walleye - seems Skeet Reese really likes them for Bass.
yellowbelly	in my opinion AIM is not a very catchy name, has that been discussed?
walleye_69	lol
620	it's an acronim. (sp)
620	lol
Keith Kavajecz	I think the FLWL concept is great. By the way I am completely supportive of FLW and FLWL and for that matter all tournamets. I sport has plenty of room for them all - just gives us anglers more opportunities to make the right fit for what we want to accomplish
yellowbelly	I understand it is an acronym
Keith Kavajecz	It actually has worked out very well. AIM can be used as verb in many slogans. It has the concept of direction (AIM High). Most people are remembering it...
yellowbelly	maybe it will grow on me
620	AIM the boat toward the fish.
walleye_69	good one
walleye_69	maybe we should try that next time
Keith Kavajecz	The other thing we considered with the name is that it may be for more than just Walleye in the future. If this business model works for our portion of the sport I gaurentee you Saltwater, Panfish, Pike, Musky, even Bass will all look at it.
Keith Kavajecz	AIM is also AOL INstant Messanger
yellowbelly	AIM high = walleye.....AIM low = bass?
bill-brown(Ind)	lol
620	AIM the boat toward the winch post.
Keith Kavajecz	You said it (I might agree, but not in public)
Keith Kavajecz	Again, don't hesitate to get a hold of us if you have any other comments, suggestions or questions.
Keith Kavajecz	Bite ON!
Keith Kavajecz	Good night.
Matt	Thanks again Keith
Matt	Looking forward to following the circuit.
walleye_69	Thanks good chat...may all fish live lol
Keith Kavajecz	Logged out