January 19, 2012

Joining us for our next Monday Night Fireside Chat on January 23, 2012 is one of our favorite Guest Hosts, Chase Parsons. Always informative, funny, and easy going, he is the perfect host (Not to mention he can type pretty fast too, which is always a good thing).

Chase (pictured here in an FLW Outdoors Photo) is from Brillion, WI and a phenomenal angler. As a seasoned Professional
Angler, Chase found his first victory in a major, while competing on the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour event at Lake Oahe, SD in August of 2011. Cashing a check for $52,000.00 had to be a thrilling experience for a new husband and father, so let’s find out what he thought of that experience, together in the chat, shall we?

Back in 2010, Chase did one of our “Twenty Questions” interviews, so instead of repeating that information, you can view his previous interview to find out about his history as a fisherman, hunter, and all around outdoorsman here: http://www.walleyecentral.com/articles/?a=2346

This year, I thought it would be best to just get right to the knitty-gritty of his 2012 season and expectations.

Please mark your calendars for Monday Night, 7pm Central Time, and join us in the Walleye Central Chatsite, where you can sit and chat with this extraordinary competitor.

Juls: Thanks for taking the time to do this Chase, it’s much appreciated. Please tell us who your sponsors are this year?

Chase: Sponsors are Nitro/Tracker Boats, Mercury Marine, Bass Pro Shops, Fin-Tech, Sebile Baits, Berkley, Fishouflage, Mustad, Lowrance, Oakley, Motorguide, Smooth Moves Seat Mounts, Otter Outdoors, Striker Ice Technical Wear.
 
Juls:  Please tell us what your plans are for 2012 and, if there is anything special you want to talk about, please do!
 
Chase: My 2012 schedule will be very similar to 2011.  I plan to fish all of the AIM and FLW Walleye Tour Events.  I had a great time last year on both circuits and fishing tournaments is the most exciting part about my career. 

Placing 2nd in Angler of the Year last year, to Tom Keenan on the FLW, just added more "fuel to the fire."  Keenan better be on his game this year again, because I'm coming for his title! 

Between tournaments, I'll be busy shooting several "The Next Bite" television shows, which air on NBC Sports, and also possibly a few Bass Pro Shops "Outdoor World" shows.

 
In my free time, I'm going to hang out with the family; wife Bridget and 7 month old son, Logan as much as possible, because without their support, I couldn't do this for a living.  If 2012 is as good as 2011, I'll be a pretty lucky man.   
 
Juls: Do your sponsors have any new products you would like to tell us about?
 
Chase: I'm happy to say all of my sponsors are on-board once again for the upcoming season.  Without these companies supporting me, I wouldn't be fishing for a living.  Otter Outdoors and Striker Ice Technical Wear are two new companies that I look forward to working with for many years to come.  Each company builds top of the line products for the "ice" season, which will be a great fit for us, as Dad, Keith and myself are beginning to spend more time in that market now.  We even went up to Lake Winnipeg to catch some of those giants through the ice last year, with Keith actually shooting a "The Next Bite" show, which I believe just aired a few weeks ago.  It's an exciting time right now for us, as in the past we haven't taken the opportunity nearly as much, to get out on the ice.  
 
Juls: What are your thoughts on the FLW for 2012? And, what do you think of the schedule, sites, the sponsors involved, and your expectations for each site.
 
Chase: I am looking forward to fishing all of the FLW Events in 2012, simply because I love fishing tournaments.  I have to be honest and say that I feel the locations as far as tournament waters aren't nearly as good as 2011.  Either way, someone is going to win each event!
 
Redwing (Mississippi): I think the FLW is getting pretty lucky with the winter weather in terms of this event.  Being as early as it's scheduled; it could have been a pretty brutal event with a bad winter.  However, the way it's looking, the bite probably will be pretty good but hopefully guys won't be on top of one another.  It's one of those places where if you don't draw a low boat number, you might be pushed out of the winning spot.
 
Lake Erie: I always look forward to goimg to Erie and this is an event I expect to be better than last year.  If we can get lucky and have better weather this year, guys should be more spread out and monster weights will come in again.  Never a bad place for a tournament...
 
Lake Oahe: I'm probably a little bit partial to this one, since I was lucky enough to win this event last year, but I love fishing Oahe.  I've always had good luck on that body of water and usually guys will be fishing a bunch of different techniques, in a bunch of different areas.  I'll be willing to bet there will be a certain style "bass bait" in more boats, than in any walleye event ever in the past.  :)
 
Escanaba: This is pretty local for me, being that I live close to Green Bay, but I think this event might be the biggest overall letdown of them all.  I've placed well at this time of the year in tournaments of the past (PWT), but it's always a pretty tough place to fish in the August time frame.  There will be plenty of zeros and one fish weights BUT a few guys will catch them good.  The one thing I was looking forward to, was fishing an event out of Escanaba without the slot limit, but it looks like that'll be back on by the time we are there.  Probably the toughest bite of any of the qualifiers which actually makes it the easiest to win...
 
Quad Cities/Championship: I've never fished there, so that makes it exciting!  I love learning new waters.  On the negative side, the people I've talked to that have, for the most part aren't excited for this event.  Insanely late in the year, but from everything I've heard it had to be, otherwise the bite would've really been poor.
 
Juls: The AIM Pro Walleye Series schedule is coming out slowly. Would you care to tell us what your thoughts are on their plans for the season? I’m assuming you’ll be fishing all of them, right?
 
Chase: Yes. I'm also really excited to fish the AIM events this year.  The CAN/AM at Bay Mills Casino was full in two weeks, which I thought was pretty cool.  It'll be fun getting another shot at those guys and hopefully winning this time.  This event will be one of the best watched and attended events in any circuit this season.
 
Maybe the best news this year for AIM just happened a few days ago, when Oconto came on board for an event!  I know a lot of guys were upset the FLW didn't go back to Oconto, so here you go!  On July 20-22nd AIM will host an event on Green Bay, out of Oconto, called the "Pro Team Challenge".  It's an awesome format that many of us have spent a bunch of time discussing and ironing out throughout the fall, with Brett King starting the idea with our Advisory Council, which I'm a part of.  This will be an event that will appeal to both PRO/CO anglers and Team Anglers alike.  As an angler who fishes PRO/CO events, I will pay the expenses and entry fee just as I usually would.  In turn, I'll collect any winnings.  However, because it's a "Team" style, I'll hand select a partner to fish with me all three days.  On top of that, AIM will still supply a co-angler like other events.  So, because of three anglers per boat, we can run 6 lines.  There will be plenty for three anglers to do in the boat, but the best thing is, is that it allows Team anglers to fish in their "comfort zone" with their normal partner.  It's all about getting more anglers to experience CRR, and I sure hope a bunch of new anglers step up and fish this one.  100% payout minimum and we're working to make it more, which is something most Team anglers have wanted in their events, for quite some time.
 
Our recent announcement of Lake of the Woods in August is also really exciting!  It's been a while since an event has been on LOW and everyone can expect huge weights at that time of year.  CRR will get us around the restrictive slots on that body of water, so be ready for the possibility of some 7 fish baskets that will blow people's minds!  It’s awesome fishing location at one of the best times of year.
 
As a whole, AIM is trying to go the route of having special stand alone events, because of looking at some of the most successful walleye tournaments in the country, not being part of a full circuit.  I think the 3 events we have scheduled right now are pretty impressive and hopefully we will announce a 4th soon, at another great location.  This year we also took away the "non-owner" fee and reduced the entries into our events.  It's $1200 for anyone, in any event.  (Other than the set field of CAN/AM)  If you haven't tried an AIM event yet, I'd invite you to give it a shot this year.  I'm probably as excited about AIM in 2012 as I was to try CRR for the first time a few years ago.  
 
Juls: What is your seminar schedule for the winter? Where can people come and see you and talk to you?
 
Chase: My seminar schedule is as busy as ever for this year...I keep my seminar schedule updated on www.thenextbite.com and my facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=502893020&sk=wall  .

Juls: Thank you for participating in our LIVE Chat again this winter, Chase. We look forward to sitting down with you on Monday night, January 23rd, at 7pm Central Time.

Hope to see you all there!