AIM Payouts- Super Cash Pools

[Jim Carroll]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Anglers Insight Marketing Announced the Creation of “Super Cash Pools” for Added Tournament Excitement

Plymouth, WI March 3rd, 2009 - AIM™ announced today that it will administer “Super Cash Pools” that offer increased payouts directly to the participating AIM™ Pro Anglers.

Super Cash Pools will be created for overall tournament placement at each event. Pro Anglers will have the option of participating in the tournament Super Cash Pool – and will compete ONLY against the other Pro’s in the Pool. Entry will be $1000 per event. The total Super Cash Pool will be evenly divided among the highest placing Pro Angler participants according to a progressive table driven by the number of participants.

Below are 4 examples of what the Super Cash Pool payouts would look like along with the number of Pro’s receiving checks depending on the number of participants:

1. At 15 participants - the Pool will be evenly distributed to the THREE highest placing Pro’s each receiving a check for $5,000.
2. At 40 participants – the Pool will be evenly distributed to the FOUR highest placing Pro’s each receiving a check for $10,000.
3. At 60 participants – the Pool will be evenly distributed to the SIX highest placing Pro’s with each receiving a check for $10,000.
4. With 82 participants - the Pool will be evenly distributed to the NINE highest placing Pro’s with each receiving a check for $9,111.

In the above examples, the highest placing Super Cash Pool participant may finish the tournament in 12th place overall. However, this Pro Angler would then additionally win first place in the Super Cash Pool. A table that describes payouts will be distributed at each tournament and posted in the near future on the AIM website (www.aimfishing.com).

Other Cash Pools will also be created for the Big Fish and Big Basket award for each of the first two days of each tournament. Pro Anglers will have the option of participating in these Cash Pools – and will compete ONLY against the other Pro Angler participants in these Cash Pools. Entry will be $100 per category, per event ($50 per day). The total Cash Pool will be awarded to the Pro Anglers with the largest total converted weights in each category during each of the first two days of each event.

Scott Matheson, CEO of AIM™ stated, “At the suggestion of our Pro Angler owners and members, we have created these Cash Pools to increase the excitement and the payouts available at each tournament. AIM is committed to ‘raising the bar’ when it comes to making our events fun and profitable for all our Pro Angler competitors. By participating in the Super Cash Pools a Pro Angler may significantly increase his or her payday!”

He also adds, “Each of these Cash Pools is completely optional and voluntary. Furthermore, 100% of the funds collected will be distributed to the winning participants based on their performance. These three Cash Pools will be an extra source of income for the winning participants – essentially a tournament within each tournament. AIM will only administer these funds and will not keep a single dollar.”

Participation in the AIM Pro Walleye Series™ Cash Pools will not require advance registration. Pro Anglers can elect to participate up to the Rules Meeting preceding each event. Entry into these pools will also available on line at AIM’s website in the near future. Further information about AIM™ as well as up-to-the-minute updates about tournaments can be found at the AIM™ web site: www.aimfishing.com.

Anglers Insight Marketing, LLC (AIM) is an angler owned organization dedicated to lead the fishing industry in competitive angling through the insight and knowledge of its owners who are predominantly participants in the sport.

# # #

For more information, contact:
Scott Matheson
President and CEO
Anglers Insight Marketing LLC
PO Box 110
Plymouth, WI 53073
Office: 920-526-3399
smatheson@aimfishing.com

[Wow]

So this is simply a $1000 dollar per angler pot? So the anglers are once again simply fishing for their own bucks?

So how does this help the sport? Its neither good nor bad, but it certainly doesn't merit a press release.

Now if one of AIMs sponsors was going to provide the cash for this and the anglers didn;t have to pay now that would be something.

This is just gambling for those who can afford to lose $1000.

[bigboy1]

WOW,

What is up with all the post with any thing AIM does? They are new and obviously do not have the expierence or expertise you have.

Why don't we try a wait and see attitude and maybe, just maybe, they will take off and be a very successful circuit. I for one hope they are.

So they have a jackpot going at the same time, so what? Someone please educate me because I sure don't understand.

Times are tough and we all need to support our sport, whether it is the way you or I would do it doesn't matter.

Bill Henson

[Hot Runr Guy]

WOW,

What is up with all the post with any thing AIM does? They are new and obviously do not have the expierence or expertise you have.

Why don't we try a wait and see attitude and maybe, just maybe, they will take off and be a very successful circuit. I for one hope they are.

So they have a jackpot going at the same time, so what? Someone please educate me because I sure don't understand.

Times are tough and we all need to support our sport, whether it is the way you or I would do it doesn't matter.

Bill Henson
I'm convinced that "WOW" is just setting us all up for the big announcement of his WOW (Walk on Water) Professional Fishing Series, with guaranteed $100K+ cash payouts to the winners, multi-thousand dollar payouts down the 50th place, $100 entry fees, free boat and tow vehicle gas, and all the willow cats you can carry.
Honestly, in these economic times, I find it hard to believe that professional fishing circuits even exist. I wish AIM, MWC, FLW, and all the circuits, and their participants, the best of luck, and hope that all those involved can flourish and prosper.
HRG

[wundering]

I signed up for all 4 tournaments, payed my down payment. Why do I have to get all this new info about AIM from W/C? Am I missing something here?

[Gary Parsons]

I signed up for all 4 tournaments, payed my down payment. Why do I have to get all this new info about AIM from W/C? Am I missing something here?

If you are an owner, You should have received the same email as Jim Carroll posted. If you did not please contact the AIM office because you're not getting the updates correctly and Scott will remedy right away. Also Jim posted within minutes of receiving his email. Thank you.

Gary Parsons

[thank you]

Thank you Mr. Parsons just goes to show the high quality this tournament is going to be! It took all of 3 minutes for a response Thanks again

[Stacker1]

wow, looks like Jim wants to be the first to tell any news that happens to the public. Is he the media director?

[Nice work AIM]

Wow - Every time I read one of your posts, I am reminded of a Robin Williams line from "Good Morning, Vietnam". Anyone care to guess what it is? Then again, you could be a woman... if so, my only comment about you would be "Never mind her - she hasn't been the same since the house fell on her sister".

Wundering - Not sure what your gripe is...? Seem like a post on one of the largest walleye related websites running would be a great place to find information. You got it, right?

Dear AIM - Most of us like what you are doing and appreciated how difficult it must be in these hard economic times to get things done. Unless something changes, I'll be at the GB event fishing as an amateur. I like the format and love the fact that you guys are willing to make changes to the status quo. I firmly believe CRR will be the standard in walleye tournaments very soon. THANK YOU.

[Juls]

[quote=Nice work AIM;1085237]Then again, you could be a woman... if so, my only comment about you would be "Never mind her - she hasn't been the same since the house fell on her sister".
quote]

Being the only woman who hangs around the tournament board, I can guarantee you that it's not a woman.

However, I must point out that this site allows anonymous posting, so he is allowed his opinion as much as the rest of you. If you don't like his posts, ignore them.

As far as I can tell, he's asked some questions early on that never were answered.

But, if he shows up for the Chat with Keith K. Wednesday (7PM Central Time) maybe he can get the questions answered then.

Nice plug for the chat, eh? :)

Juls

[wundering]

If anyone took my quote as negative, you took it wrong!!!!!!

[Nice work AIM]

"Being the only woman who hangs around the tournament board, I can guarantee you that it's not a woman."

I seriously doubt that is the case. And I certainly wasn't implying yours was the keyboard behind all of the insightful things Wow has shared. I was just trying to work another joke in there to lighten the mood a bit. Guess it flopped, ehh?

Personally, I'm a bit tired of all the negativity towards AIM and was hoping WC would help make corner of the world just a teeny bit brighter.

[Wow]

You guys are all sure star struck with the AIM guys. Thats fine, but when they claim to be the "best of the best" and a pro circuit, cutting edge, blah, blah blah they sure as heck out to be.

Instead they provide the potential AIM angler, myself and others, with an Operations Director who bashes other organizations and accuses them of bashing them. His definition of bashing is what most reasonable folks call questions or opinions. Most of which AIM refuses to address or answer whether here where they choose to announce everything or via e-mails which they refuse to answer

Then they are mimicking the old RCL format for their "international" championship. This after many many years of many of the AIM Board Members, bashing the RCL now FLW as not a true pro circuit and not having a real championship then. Now that it is clear they don;t have support and the business model is weak they are adopting the old RCL format for their championship calling it cutting edge when they publicly and privately tore it apart in years past.

Then the big announcement of a cash pot at an event. Gee whiz, thats not even a professional deal. Nor is it cutting edge, nor is it worth a press release. It is a form of gambling and frankly a poor attempt to falsely inflate the amount of cash someone can win.

I am an industry person who has dedicated his professional life to this sport. Its sad to see it devolve into what appears to be heading our way and being passed off as "professional".

[Juls]

Personally, I'm a bit tired of all the negativity towards AIM and was hoping WC would help make corner of the world just a teeny bit brighter.

They bash AIM, they bash FLW, they bash MWC....

How the AIM organization responds to it, is what's important.

As Scott says, we allow anonymous postings. As long as there isn't any name calling, bashing (seems there are different definitions of what bashing is), or beasts of that nature....it's allowed.

They can bicker all they want, but when they cross the line, it's dust.

Only the users can make it a nicer place. We mods can only keep it in line as best we can.

Juls

[no one]

It cracks me up everyone getting on this guy WOW you might be amazied (SP) how many people feel like he does. I know more than one person who would like to get there money back from AIM but who would buy there share in this new circuit? Its is pretty funny that AIM sent a letter last week to the owners asking, but almost begging all the owners to register for the tournaments because all the world will be watching them and they have not many entrants yet! This circuit seems like just a new version of the PWT. Lets face it this new bonus version for an extra 1K wasn't run by the owners but decided by the board without any ones input from the people who paid their 5K to start this circuit. If this works good for them but lets let everyone have an opinion without running them into the dirt.

Bash me all you want but these are the whats going on with AIM!

[Brad Bahls]

"I am an industry person who has dedicated his professional life to this sport. Its sad to see it devolve into what appears to be heading our way and being passed off as "professional". "

Please do the sport a favor and tone down your rhetoric. I find it a little hard to believe you think your doing the sport a service by posting the things you have, yet are unwilling to post your name.

..."there are a lot of decaffeinated brands on the market today that are just as tasty as the real thing"...

[Chris K]

There is nothing wrong with guys fishing for their own money if it is lucrative for them to do so. When I first opened the thread, I figured that the payouts would be split up per finishers like most contingency money and percentage rated with each finish. Good work in thinking outside the box to make this very appealing, and to make the payouts how they are structured. The extra 4000 spent to enter could really make a guys year that much better with a few solid finishes. Chris K

[Pro veeee]

And I certainly wasn't implying yours was the keyboard behind all of the insightful things Wow has shared. I was just trying to work another joke in there to lighten the mood a bit. Guess it flopped, ehh?


Not a flop, I'm still laughing. Thanks for injecting a little man humor....

[MT ripnlips]

[QUOTE=no one;1085261]It cracks me up everyone getting on this guy WOW you might be amazied (SP) how many people feel like he does. I know more than one person who would like to get there money back from AIM but who would buy there share in this new circuit?

Can you give aone name, email phone# or other way of contacting a AIM owner willing to sell. I missed out when the opertunity was there would love to buy in now.

THANKS

[Wondering]

You know it probably would be quite inappropriate to give out any names of those that would like to have an out from their "share". Suffice to say those indivviduals won't be fishing but maybe one or none of the tourneys. However, keep in mind the stipulation in the original offering---- you cannot sell your shares---

I know of several (more than 5) owners in that position.

It's nothing more than a matter of dollars and cents as the base reason for those not participating. There are other reasons but they have been adequetly covered here and don't warrant my covering them again.

So, to the curious part, many have asked but haven't seen and answer yet. What does "prize value" mean.

I would suspect that would mean an inclusion of something other than money in the payout.

I was also curious about the payout implementation in MN. Per the rules, AIM will mail checks but as I understand after some research, MN requires all payout to be on hand at the tourney and paid immediatly after the completion of the event. Was just wondering if that had been addressed and I just missed it. It may be applicable in other states as well but I haven't looked into the others.

[piper]

They should offer this cash pool concept to the co-anglers....

[Raybob]

I spent "waaay" too much time on the aim PR in 2008 w/o details, I'll wait for the 2010 info to see how the 2009 season goes...

later Gators--

[A Kuffer]

Wow,
That's what I call throwing your money in a hat! I like it. Now if I only had deep enough pockets I would be in. The more I read about AIM the more I like it and wish I was in. Cool thing is, it is optional. Nothing wrong with a little friendly wager now then is there? This should up the level of competion a little. Ya Think?

Good fishing
Andy

[bigboy1]

Now FLW is doing something similair. Just adding interest to the pot and trying to increase the fields.

[COOLY O]

Best thing out there. But good luck with these hard times.

[Jig Bite]

Now FLW is doing something similair. Just adding interest to the pot and trying to increase the fields.

The FLW has had an "Optional Entry" for years on the Bass side for their "Wild Card" regional event. I was at the NPAA meeting and Sonny announced then that they were going to do this for the Walleye League Finals for 2009. It seems like AIM is finding out that what the FLW has done in the past with their Bass programs as well as the RCL, now the FLW Walleye Tour wasn't so bad after all so why not use the ideas. The thing is that the FLW uses the "Optional Pot" in year end tournaments that are no entry fee events that the contestants have qualifyed for. It's just an added program for those that want to get in it.

Jigger

[brother of guest]

I was the one who brought it up to the board about the $1,000. I called it the "put your money where your mouth is" and I got it from the side betting that goes on in the poker world. To say that the board doesn't ask for peoples ideas is just flat out incorrect. If you have an idea and you call one of these guys up and present it in a reasonable fashion they are very receptive. A lot of the groundwork laid out already is because of "positive" feedback that we as fishermen(women) have presented.

The big fish stuff is a no brainer that about every tourney has. It's just something on the side that we can have some fun with. The CRR, 7 best fish and everything has me thinking differenetly about how to attack some of these tourneys. Either way it is going to make it a blast to be on these bodies of water and having some fun.

Jesse B

[Gary Parsons]

Guys, I hate to see another thread that started as a press release that was posted by an individual, degrade into another argument about AIM. I’d like to address a few things, clarify a few, and maybe answer a couple of questions. There have been some things that were stated by a few that are not true and have been stated as if they were fact. Other things have been said that need clarification for a full understanding of the total picture. Questions are good, and I’ll try to answer a few. First, please understand that the folks involved with AIM are not the devil. They are almost 80 anglers that have put in their hard earned money to start a walleye tournament circuit that perhaps could grow and maybe with a little luck make things a little better in the walleye world. These are the guys and gals that are your friends, competitors, and peers. They are not the enemy, but like you, the customer. The board of directors for AIM was an elected position, they are a small groups of guys who have put in 100’s of hours of their own time to help build a business model in a very short period of time, in the toughest of economic times. They have listened to the owners, anglers, and many industry leaders to fabricate a plan of action. I’m sure that the end result does not make everyone happy. That’s an impossible task, however, we will always listen, always evaluate, and always try to do the best job that we can. That being said, let’s try to address a few things.

Wow brought up a couple of things that he’s stated as fact. He stated that the board of directors of AIM has bashed the RCL (now FLW) about the early RCL format of their Championship and now we’ve copied it with the AIM format. To clarify, I did criticize the early RCL. Only because of the reason that they were stating that they were the “best walleye anglers on earth” when their circuit was essentially a closed tour. I can’t remember for sure if I could even have entered, because I didn’t own the right boat, but for sure I could not wear my sponsored clothing. In fact I fished as a Co-angler in one qualifying event and could not wear my Tracker cap across the stage. This was the rule in the early RCL and in the FLW today (at least the last day of the tournament when all of the press is incurred). That is their business model and I have no problem with it. It’s their business and quite frankly I admire how smart their marketing people are and it’s obviously been a great thing for the FLW sponsoring companies. I didn’t criticize the Championship, heck I would have killed to fish those first Championships, but I did criticize that they stated that their anglers were the “best”. In those days after 15 years of fishing hard and working even harder to get my sponsors, I felt that myself and many others who just happened to be aligned with other companies should be considered in a statement like that. I couldn’t do anything for my main sponsors, and therefore for all practical reasons couldn’t participate and was not included in the blanket statement that was being made. Please understand that I was not alone. Many other top shelf guys could not participate either. It wasn’t the Championship model that was criticized, it was the terminology that was initially being used. Heck, even today, if I could wear my sponsors clothes across the stage, I’d already have my entry fee money in to fish the FLW. They are a great tour, with great people, and some wonderful fishermen fishing that tour! The RCL Championship was pretty awesome... as stated before, I wished I could have fished it. Our goal with AIM has been to make fishing better. We’ve always had a grass roots tour plan in the works. If the economy was better, we would have liked to role out a pretty cool game-plan for the smaller tours in the United States and Canada. However, this country is facing a severe recession, bordering on depression, unlike anything I’ve seen in my lifetime. In the short period of time that we have had since the board was elected, and with the economy we were faced with, we decided to incorporate a grass roots opportunity into the Pro Tour format. It has similarity to the old RCL and the current Cabela’s NTC. The difference from the RCL model is that with AIM there are no restrictions on fishing sponsor clothing or equipment for the competitors. It is truly an open format for the anglers, and if they are so fortunate as to garner as good sponsorship, they will be able to represent that company. This is a pretty simple deal, and angler friendly for everyone. The Championship will be 100% payback plus $10,000 dollars for sure, maybe more if some new sponsors are added for 2009. Would I like to see it be $500,000 dollars? Sure, but again, for a first year tour, in this economy we’ve done the best we could. We have great feed back from many grass roots tours and this format has gotten many local tour anglers excited. That hopefully is viewed by most as a good thing. Adding the local Team’s of the Year into the Championship was not a slight to our owners. Some have asked why is AIM waving the membership fee to the local tours and not for those fishing the AIM events. That is very simple. We are partners with each tour that signs on. Offering the positions to each tour without the membership fee is a type of sponsorship. We are asking each tour to provide information to their participants. This takes manpower and time. It is AIM’s way of helping and saying thank you. No hidden agenda there. As anglers we need to look at the big picture and the local anglers are a very important part of that picture. It is still going to be quite hard to get that invitation as any of you who have tried to win a Team of the Year type of award at any level can attest to. And quite frankly, I’m excited to fish this event. If a TOY angler from a small eastern tour beats me, I’ll be the first to shake his or hers hand. AIM owners and life time members put up their hard earned dollars to start this tour. They took a risk and in essence have paid there membership fees. Therefore new AIM contestants have to pay the membership fee, again a pretty simple deal. This is the partnership that AIM has with it’s members and life time owners. Quite frankly I’ve only heard good things about this Championship format from our owners and in fact this idea was brought to us by the members! Mr. Wow, you stated (like it was fact) that the AIM business model is weak. I guess only time will tell.

Mr. No One, you stated that this is the new version of the PWT. I do not see all that many similarities myself. They did not do many of the things that we are doing. You say that the Super Cash idea was a board idea and not discussed with the owners? Again, please don’t state things as fact without knowing. It was actually brought to the board by the owners, and discussed with quite a few of them. The board thought it was a good idea and included it. Was it run by everyone of them? No, but I know of no business (with a board) that checks in with all stock holders with every decision that the business makes. Super Cash is optional, it’s based on an anglers finish just exactly like every other tournament entry fee, and it provides an opportunity to win more when competing. I see that it’s posted that the FLW league Championship has offered an additional pot like this in 2009. I personally didn’t know that until today (maybe that’s where the members that brought it to the board got the idea). I applaud the FLW league for the idea and think that it is great... and still think it’s a great option for AIM. I’ve fished tours for 25 years and have never had this type of tournament opportunity before. So in fact it is news to me and others and since AIM is offering this in every event, warrants a press release.

Mr. Wondering, you stated that you know of more than five owners that would like their money back. You then did state that it was mainly a matter of dollars and cents. I guess that statement makes sense to me, but let’s put it into context. Most, if not all walleye tournament anglers have seen their sponsors cut back on dollars in the last 6 months. Every guy I’ve talked to has lost money. Many have lost jobs. Many have lost retirement income. Many wish that they had money back that they had only 6 months ago. Walleye tournament angling is not a lucrative business and with what this country has gone through lately, I’m not surprised that some would want their money back. I’m sorry for that, I know that personally I’ve lost quite a bit of sponsor support and because of that there will be tough decisions for the future. Surely I wish that I was able to make the same income as 6 months ago, but times change. My, or other anglers financial situations shouldn’t be mistaken as the reason that is used to suggest that the AIM tour is at fault. In fact, to counter your observation, I know of two AIM owners that believe in what the company is doing so much that they said that they would give their winnings back to the organization to see it grow! And they weren’t board members! You also stated that there has not been an answer about “prize value”. This is another valid question and needs an answer. I’m sorry that I didn’t address it earlier, but it has really been a busy time for me. So here goes. That statement was put in as a payout option to cover a potential new sponsor coming on board that would want to use their product as part of the purse. For example, if another boat company (as part of their sponsorship) was to include a boat, that same boat may be used as part of the purse in leu of cash. I know, that’s what the PWT did and it didn’t work. I fished the PWT and won quite a few boats and never got the money that they advertised out of the boat sale. We know that.... so if a boat was used in an AIM event, the cash that it would replace would be at a level of what the boat could be actually sold for. If that didn’t make a full 100 percent payback, cash would also be part of the purse. In fact if the boat was used and theoretically (in a 100 boat field) a 100 percent payback for first was $50,000 and the boat could only realistically be sold for $25,000, then first place would be the boat and most likely $30,000 to make sure that at least a 100 percent payback was achieved. If a boat is used, it is actually AIM’s intent for that purse to be slightly above the 100 percent level as per the example above. The same would apply for a vehicle, etc, etc. Now, this would only apply upon additional sponsor support where product was included in the sponsorship. As of today, the only tournament where we have used this ideology is the Championship, and I think that you would agree that a Lund 2075 with a 300 Mercury Verado and $10,000 is worth more (based on a 100 boat field) than $50,000 cash.
Guys, we have no hidden agenda. We are not the enemy. We are trying to do the best job possible with the fishermen always being top priority. At first we were going to do a 10 boat cut on the last day. Many argued that the Co-Anglers were not getting enough fishing time for $250 dollars. We listened, and the cut went to 50% of the field... a change to the original plan to provide even more Co-Angler bang for the buck. Could we pay the Co’s? No, but not because we don’t want to, but because of the CRR ideology that is the foundation of AIM. So please realize again, this is a tournament circuit owned by fishermen, for fishermen, and it is trying to make our sport better with more options for more fishermen. We wish we could make everyone happy and are sorry that we cannot... and we wish that we could have had all of the events, festivals, CRR, paybacks, Championship, and PR information out by last October, heck we would have loved that. But again, our only choice has been to announce things as they are finalized and hopefully most of you understand and would consider AIM in you 2009 plans. Please don’t take this post as adversarial in any way, as it was surely not meant to be, and was done to answer and clarify some observations and questions. This post has taken a lot of my time and I most likely won’t be checking in with the back and forth posts that are sure to follow. I will leave with a few thoughts. Our sport is not the healthiest, and bickering constantly isn’t helping, please consider fishing. Fish the tour you like. Fish the tour that fits your needs, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to post this long reply. For those of you with additional questions, Keith Kavajecz is doing a chat tonight and will help with answers. I hope that you’ll join in and participate. Thanks again.

Gary Parsons

[Wow]

AIM should reconsider the 2009 season. Pull back, reinvest whats left of your funds. Hold the one day "championship" and use your resources of top pros to promote your events.

Stop the nonsensical blathering being past off as press or communications.

Refocus on what is good for the growth and future of the sport and not what will fulfill your individual contract obligations and ability to make bonuses etc for number of events fished.

Support the existing circuits, FLW, MWC, etc., until you have firm footing and have run a stand alone event for a couple of years.

Once you've achieved success with a stand alone event over consecutive years then look to create a circuit.

By doing this AIM will become a productive and effective member of the sport fishing world and industry. By supporting existing circuits you will keep them healthy during this down time in the economy and be able to figure out exactly how AIM wants to position itself and its angler/owners into the future.

Good luck to AIM regardless of what path they choose.

[Fishing Insider 2]

AIM should reconsider the 2009 season. Pull back, reinvest whats left of your funds. Hold the one day "championship" and use your resources of top pros to promote your events.

Stop the nonsensical blathering being past off as press or communications.

Refocus on what is good for the growth and future of the sport and not what will fulfill your individual contract obligations and ability to make bonuses etc for number of events fished.

Support the existing circuits, FLW, MWC, etc., until you have firm footing and have run a stand alone event for a couple of years.

Once you've achieved success with a stand alone event over consecutive years then look to create a circuit.

By doing this AIM will become a productive and effective member of the sport fishing world and industry. By supporting existing circuits you will keep them healthy during this down time in the economy and be able to figure out exactly how AIM wants to position itself and its angler/owners into the future.

Good luck to AIM regardless of what path they choose.

Wow,

Your reply might be the best suggestion yet. Personally, I am quite concerned about what will happen in 2009. After watching the PWT circuit fail in 2008, I do have to wonder if there is room right now for two upper tier walleye circuits in today's economy. It has become apparent that right now the sponsorship support is not there. Sponsorship has been reduced or is not available for walleye circuits and Pro anglers alike. That in its self has created a smaller pool of Pros who can afford to participate. Add to that the uncertain economy and it appears to not bode well for any of us who love competitive walleye angling.

The risks of what happens if AIM fails in these uncertain times does need to be considered. It is my belief that if another major walleye circuit fails after the PWT circuit did last year, competitive walleye angling would be set back to the point where recovery may not be possible. At least for a number of years. That unfortunate possibility is of legitimate concern to all of us.

The costs of traveling around the country fishing half full circuits is also of major concern to me. The prospect of the already thin posted payouts for full fields and the knowledge that with partial tournament fields we will see those payouts reduced even further. I for one find that possible reality very sobering. That includes both AIM's payouts and the FLW's payouts. Two circuits competing for a limited pool of anglers is of a very real concern. Many of us would like to do both circuits. With decreased payouts that option simply does not seem to pencil out at this time.

Gary Parsons does make some good points in his reply. A few I would take exception with, but in the interests of peace and accord, I will not. Thanks Gary for replying on W/C. Your comments were appreciated. I wish my schedule would allow me to sit in on Keith K. Chat tonight.

Will today's economic conditions ensure enough sponsor and angler support for two major walleye circuits to survive? Should AIM have taken another year to get rolling? It looks to me like we will find out the answer to those questions at the end of the 2009 season.

[Burr]

I'm not really sure if Calcutta's are standard fare for other areas of the country? We have what we call a Calcutta, I think it's a pretty standard name, during our 'local' tournaments where anglers can elect to participate or not.

Our program differs in that we auction off the teams (we're team tournaments) with a minimum. So an Angler like, lets say Burr - might only auction off for the minimum $25.00 cuz he is kind of a rotten fisherman. But then the team with, let's say, Gary Parsons, might auction off for several hundred dollars, cuz people think that team may actually have a chance to win. In our format, the team selling price is 'market' determined.

Also, we allow anyone to bid and buy. The requirement is you have to pay what you bid! So let's say I don't believe Burr has any chance of winning, but I do believe Gary Parson's will win. Well, Gary might think he can win too - so I end up bidding against Gary, until I run him out of money at $250 - now I own Gary's final placing in the Calcutta. It's pretty easy to run Gary out of money, cuz he fishes for a living. OK, that's a joke, not a slam for Juls to delete. Me, run Gary out of money, yea, right...
I would not even have to be fishing the tournament, and I could buy into the action. Year's ago, we had some non-participating buyers that helped put more money into the pot. Recently, not so much. But we do have team's buying other teams. As a side note - I kind of enjoy watching Lamarr sweat out the other bids and wish others would quit bidding so he can buy 'himself' for less money. It's kind of fun. At times we also add in a Wildcard Auction. Where the bidding winner can pick any of the unpurchased teams left. I really don't have the intestinal fortitude to allow a Wildcard to usurp a team that has already been sold. If you can imagine someone may not be too happy with that. But it adds a twist - do you wait for your team to be auctioned off, or do you buy the wildcard now to just purchase yourself and you can go home early, or do you buy the wildcard and pickup a team that you think is going to sell for more when it gets auctioned, taking everyone by surprise. Oh, and yeah, Lamarr really sweats the wildcard auction.

In the past, we tried to increase the interest by auctioning off blocks of 4 teams instead of individual teams. Well, that didn't go so well. The anglers WANTED to just buy themselves. In my opinion it had an interesting twist, cuz you had to evaluate 4 teams to make the decision.

Then our payout is a percentage calculation. We payout 80%, but then our organization is not created to run tournaments. Our organization has other formation goals and mission statement objectives.

I haven't seen Calcutta's on pro level circuits before, not sure of the reason. But thought I would throw it out there - doesn't this happen all over? It's pretty standard fare around here, just with a bit of a twist and tweak at each event.

It does give the anglers another method to potentially win money, with a defined expense. After all, your not going to prefish or pay more for transportation, your already there and fishing it. It takes the same amount of bait and gas to win both instead of just one, and allows those who want to enter the tourney for the minimum amount the ability to participate.

Oh, and AIM, just so you get all the opinions, I like what your doing, and don't share the opinions of wow. I wish you the best for success. I do believe the only way to really make a tournament that will hold the anglers in the 'right' place, is to have it angler owned. You have a chance, I wish you my best.

[stpper]

Based on everthing I have read AIM is set for 2009, and if eveything goes well sponsorships and the number of people wanting to fish should go up.

Its pretty clear to me delaying their start would of caused more issues and even greater risk. I'm sure they would of liked to have things "bigger" with more sponsors, and with larger pay-outs but the economy just will not allow it now.

They have done a verfy good job pushing their agenda ahead with limited amounts of capital. 2009 for AIM will be plowing, planting and sowiing the field. I would expect 2010 to be target year for real growth.

I'm not an owner, or life time member, and I do not plan fishing AIM 2009. I do want them to be succesful and I like most of what they are doing. When I have more time, dollars and can fish more tournment, I would like to have choices. I do think it would be neat down the road to see some kind of fish-off between the top AIM Pros and top FLW Pros. Maybe something like the PWT did with Canada Pros.

[mrbreeze]

I'm not really sure if Calcutta's are standard fare for other areas of the country? We have what we call a Calcutta, I think it's a pretty standard name, during our 'local' tournaments where anglers can elect to participate or not.

Our program differs in that we auction off the teams (we're team tournaments) with a minimum. So an Angler like, lets say Burr - might only auction off for the minimum $25.00 cuz he is kind of a rotten fisherman. But then the team with, let's say, Gary Parsons, might auction off for several hundred dollars, cuz people think that team may actually have a chance to win. In our format, the team selling price is 'market' determined.

Also, we allow anyone to bid and buy. The requirement is you have to pay what you bid! So let's say I don't believe Burr has any chance of winning, but I do believe Gary Parson's will win. Well, Gary might think he can win too - so I end up bidding against Gary, until I run him out of money at $250 - now I own Gary's final placing in the Calcutta. It's pretty easy to run Gary out of money, cuz he fishes for a living. OK, that's a joke, not a slam for Juls to delete. Me, run Gary out of money, yea, right...
I would not even have to be fishing the tournament, and I could buy into the action. Year's ago, we had some non-participating buyers that helped put more money into the pot. Recently, not so much. But we do have team's buying other teams. As a side note - I kind of enjoy watching Lamarr sweat out the other bids and wish others would quit bidding so he can buy 'himself' for less money. It's kind of fun. At times we also add in a Wildcard Auction. Where the bidding winner can pick any of the unpurchased teams left. I really don't have the intestinal fortitude to allow a Wildcard to usurp a team that has already been sold. If you can imagine someone may not be too happy with that. But it adds a twist - do you wait for your team to be auctioned off, or do you buy the wildcard now to just purchase yourself and you can go home early, or do you buy the wildcard and pickup a team that you think is going to sell for more when it gets auctioned, taking everyone by surprise. Oh, and yeah, Lamarr really sweats the wildcard auction.

In the past, we tried to increase the interest by auctioning off blocks of 4 teams instead of individual teams. Well, that didn't go so well. The anglers WANTED to just buy themselves. In my opinion it had an interesting twist, cuz you had to evaluate 4 teams to make the decision.

Then our payout is a percentage calculation. We payout 80%, but then our organization is not created to run tournaments. Our organization has other formation goals and mission statement objectives.

I haven't seen Calcutta's on pro level circuits before, not sure of the reason. But thought I would throw it out there - doesn't this happen all over? It's pretty standard fare around here, just with a bit of a twist and tweak at each event.

It does give the anglers another method to potentially win money, with a defined expense. After all, your not going to prefish or pay more for transportation, your already there and fishing it. It takes the same amount of bait and gas to win both instead of just one, and allows those who want to enter the tourney for the minimum amount the ability to participate.

Oh, and AIM, just so you get all the opinions, I like what your doing, and don't share the opinions of wow. I wish you the best for success. I do believe the only way to really make a tournament that will hold the anglers in the 'right' place, is to have it angler owned. You have a chance, I wish you my best.

Thanks for the great description of the calcutta, Burr. I know that they do this out west, but I haven't seen a well done description such as this, nor do I know of any tourneys that have done it in the Great Lakes region. I would think, since I am a little concerned about how crowd pleasing the no-fish weigh-in format CRR (though I do like it in theory) is going to be, the calcutta would offer an opportunity to get the crowd at the weigh-in much more involved. I think it is a neat idea and something worth considering. OK that's my "nonsensical blathering" for the evening, as WOW would say.

[Just thought of this]

"I know of two AIM owners that believe in what the company is doing so much that they said that they would give their winnings back to the organization to see it grow!"

This is something that kind of bothers me. Ok say you have 60 AIM owners in a field of 1oo boats. You guys have other moneys invested besides the entree fee. Ok so 30 of you get together and have a plan to share information (spots, tactics ect.) and split prize money for the better of the AIM and enough to keep each other going to the next tourney. I understand that "Teaming up" is part of the game but the owners in AIM have a little more invested than the pay as you go fishermen. To me the owners could monopolize the final day field pretty easily.


Just my thoughts

[Gutterball]

"I know of two AIM owners that believe in what the company is doing so much that they said that they would give their winnings back to the organization to see it grow!"

This is something that kind of bothers me. Ok say you have 60 AIM owners in a field of 1oo boats. You guys have other moneys invested besides the entree fee. Ok so 30 of you get together and have a plan to share information (spots, tactics ect.) and split prize money for the better of the AIM and enough to keep each other going to the next tourney. I understand that "Teaming up" is part of the game but the owners in AIM have a little more invested than the pay as you go fishermen. To me the owners could monopolize the final day field pretty easily.


Just my thoughts


That's ripe.

The oppurtunity for impropriety is no greater than it is or was for an other organization.

ie FLW tipping the scales to ranger runners, PWT tipping the scales to to Lund/merc runners, MWC tipping the scales to Cabelas sponsered anglers, Full Throtle tipping the scales for the believers,

:frypan:

[TJM]

After watching the Bassmasters Classic on ESPN a couple of weeks ago I took notice that ESPN made it a point this year to show much more on the water coverage (TV & live Internet feeds) instead of on stage weigh-in coverage.This is a great start for a new way of seeing whats happening on the lake throughout the day.
I think the organizers at AIM that came up with the idea that CCR would be a good plan for their tournament trail and could be something that ESPN and the Bassmasters might be doing in the future.

At the end of the 2009 Classic both Tommy Sandars and Mark Zona both said that this Classic was some of the best coverage that ESPN has done on a bass Tournament.

So my point is, to have a weigh-in you do not need to be bringing fish across a stage to make tournament fishing exciting. ESPN just proved that.

TJM

[SLT Guest]

After watching the Bassmasters Classic on ESPN a couple of weeks ago I took notice that ESPN made it a point this year to show much more on the water coverage (TV & live Internet feeds) instead of on stage weigh-in coverage.This is a great start for a new way of seeing whats happening on the lake throughout the day.
I think the organizers at AIM that came up with the idea that CCR would be a good plan for their tournament trail and could be something that ESPN and the Bassmasters might be doing in the future.

At the end of the 2009 Classic both Tommy Sandars and Mark Zona both said that this Classic was some of the best coverage that ESPN has done on a bass Tournament.

So my point is, to have a weigh-in you do not need to be bringing fish across a stage to make tournament fishing exciting. ESPN just proved that.

TJM

With all due respect, there is a difference between a TV show and a weigh-in. On water coverage makes a good TV show, the FLW changed their TV programs format to more on water coverage over a year ago and it was great with fantastic coverage. But yes you do need fish across the stage for an exciting weigh-in. Would the Classic been as exciting for the 9,000 spectaors with no fish on stage? Would the Forrest Wood Cup or FLW Championship been as exciting with no fish on stage? I don't think so. People come to weigh-ins to see fish, people watch a TV show or DVD to see what happens on the water and then the weigh-in is secondary.

Thanks, SLT

[620]

That's ripe.

The oppurtunity for impropriety is no greater than it is or was for an other organization.

ie FLW tipping the scales to ranger runners, PWT tipping the scales to to Lund/merc runners, MWC tipping the scales to Cabelas sponsered anglers, Full Throtle tipping the scales for the believers,

:frypan:

:muahaha: EXCELLENT, on the FTO...