USFA VS WWA

[WalleyeX]

I fished the USFA tourney's last year. I am curious how many tourney fisherman will be moving to the WWA. I know the differences between the two. This year I think I will stay with the USFA. But next year I may reconsider. Does the WWA have the permits for the Wisconsin Tournaments. Would be nice to see the tourney dates on different weekends so we tournament fisherman could fish both.

[HooksNbobbers]

Were sticking with the usfa also. We had already made reservations based on last years dates posted after the state tourney in Minn. The WWA made changes a little to late for us to adjust to. Will be interested to see how they draw this year. Makes for easy prefishing for alot of the hard cores.

[porkchop]

actually quite a few are switching to wwa,higher payouts and better incentives for fishing that circut,and yes wisconson is ready with all of the permits. should be a great year with the wwa!! no more hassles!

[jbird]

I like both circuits, I will be fishing the one day USFA events, but our main goal is the WWA two day events. I am fishing the Wisconsin side of things and looking forward to the season. I hope to make the WWA championship because it will be closer to home than devils lake, plus the payout seems to be much better. I am curious as to how the new director will be for the wisconsin region Team Walleye events.

Just my plans for this year
jbird

[jumbojim]

well i will be fishing usfa this year
hope to see you guys there

[John Brett]

Your comment on higher payouts, remember you are paying a higher entry fee and thus a higher payout. Percentage wise Team Walleye paysback almost 82% at the lake and when you add the 2 boats at the classic, the payout is well over 150% for the year. WWA lake payout is 80% without any word on the championship.
Just a clarification so that you compare apples to apples and not just say 'higher or bigger payouts'.

[jbird]

I understand I am paying more, but I could also recieve more. Like I said before I will be running Team-Walleye one Day events, I am not comparing any tournament circuit to the other. I just answered the question listed above...


Fish On
Jason

[eye catcher]

As I see it the goal of the WWA is to have 100% pay backs the and as sponsors come on line the sponsors will pay for the majority of the costs incured to run the circuit. Making the payouts closer and closer to 100% payback. Not like the USFA taking sponsor money to line there pockets and 20% from the fisherman to run the circuit. The ideals of the WWA are truly for the fisherman not like any other circuit. We the tournament anglers are paying the entries, we should reap the rewards for doing well not taking a % of the entry fees. The forming of this circuit could change the tournament fishing industry as a hole for the benifit of all thornament anglers.

[rigs]

Numbers from your MN tourneys posted on this site from 99. Please explain 82%. Thanks in advance.
Big Stone 103 teams x 115 = $11,845, Big Stone payback $8,140 = 68.7%. ( 82%=$9,712)
Mille Lacs day 1 103 teams x 115 = $11,845, Mille Lacs payback $8,140 = 68.7%. ( 82%=$9,712)
Mille Lacs day 2 100 teams x 115 = $11,500, day 2 payback $7,900 = 68.7% (82%=$9,430)
Osakis 71 teams x 115 = $8,165, Osakis payback $5,580 = 68.3% ( 82%=$6,693).

[Fish-on]

You didn't take into account the championship fund and the trophies.

[eyecatcher]

This is eye catcher and I did not wright the above statement.

[eyebass]

The fishermen are the ones who are going to end up getting the short end of the stick regardless which tourny's they decide to fish. I'm sure the DNR's and anti tourny people are going to use this situation to their advantage to get control of all tourney's. This is just what they look for to try to drive a wedge between us. With all the dates and landings overlapping the general public will not tolerate landings overflowing with tournament fishermen and tournament organizers that can't seem to, or are unwilling to work things out. All this does for the tournament fishermen is cut the prize money in half, instead of maybe 80 boats in a 1 day tourney we will have maybe 35 in each and 10 pissed off like me and not fishing either one. Get it together or we all loose!!!!!

[LUMPY]

EYE BASS..you couldn't have said it better. But the problem seems to be that everyone wants to beat up one or the other circuit. The fisherman need to let the dust settle on this subject and see how the circuits go this year. Everyone is bragging up the WWA and they haven't even run a tournament under that circuit yet. People like porkchop and jbird seem to be trying to add fuel to the fire everytime this subject pops up. An innocent question posed by one curious tournament angler gets turned into a ripping session. Seems to me the people that caused the whole situation was Steve Poll. Although he may be a wonderful person and tournament director, he obviously had something in mind when he attempted to piggy back the USFA tournament schedule. Why aren't you guys criticizing him. If you choose to fish the WWA for the higher payouts, more power to you. But if you choose to fish the USFA then more power to you also. As the saying goes, SHUT UP AND FISH..and people should learn another famous saying.......Breathe before you speak

[RAKO-AL]

SEE YOU ON THE HOT SPOTS.......

[porkchop]

by the way you talk you have never competed in a tournament before!to say that steve is at fault is stupid to say the least!does burger king call mcdonalds before they build a store next door? i dont think so!!!know all the facts before you start typing!!!this is a bussniess no matter how you try and deny it thats the way it is!!!

[St. Louis eye]

Give it a rest! Nobody cares about your thoughts, Mr. Chop.

[DK]

PorkChop,
You hit the nail on the head, tournament fishing is a business. What the wwa did was nothing more than smart business, they saw a way to make some money doing somthing they enjoy,and competition keeps businesses honest.

[porkchop]

thats im telling the truth!!!!!!!!1
and most dont like the truth!!!!!!!!

[porkchop]

thank you most of us know what im saying!!!
its the people that think we can have 100% paybacks in our tournament circuts that i cant understand??? know what you are talking about before they speak!!!!thanks alot

[fisherman]

I'm glad I fish the IWTT....

[J-MAN]

Hi Guys,
I have been reading this subject and have decided to tell all of you why I will pick the WWA over the USFA
1.Mike ran the tournaments and did a great job, there were no rule questions and no problems.
2.Last year I was lucky enough to cash 3 checks and win big fish once. I was very suprised by the amount!
3.At the Championships ther were fishermen allowed to compete that shouldn't have.
4.The cull rule it cost me some weight and there was no reason to have a cull rule. I asked the DNR and they did not issue the permit based on no cull.

John was very evasive and rude to me when I tried to get clarification of his cull rule

I look forward to a great year with the WWA and I hope to see you there.

[lumpy]

Then enlighten me oh great porkchop. If you would read the message that I posted and remove the biases that you have toward the WWA, maybe you would understand what I am saying. The only question I raised is everyone seems to be slamming USFA for the problems with the WWA. It takes 2 to make this problem happen. By more and more people like you adding fuel to the fire of thsi situation is making it worse for all tournament anglers. To deny that Steve Poll had anything to do with the problems that have occurred is, as you stated, stupid. Whether I have fished tournaments or not(although I have)is irrelevant. People need to let the USFA and WWA settle their differences. By fisherman piping in their comments, no matter which side they support, is just making the situation worse. If I were a casual observer of this mesage board, I would get the impression that USFA is the one causing all the problems and WWA is the angel in this situation. I have yet to hear from Steve Poll as to why he left USFA. There has only been speculation on behalf of anglers, but nothing from Steve. I think we should let Steve post a message as to why he left the USFA and then people can respond. You are an avid supporter of the WWA and I respect that decision. But is it necessary to belittle and degrade USFA? I realize that fisherman are concerned about this issue. But as you stated, it is business.

[lumpy]

By the way, porkchop, Burger Kind wouldn't be so foolish as to build a store next to a McDonald's. They would build it a distance away as to not provide a choice for people when they pull into one of the parking lots.

[tillerboy]

It's unfortunate that fisherman will be forced to choose. Why couldn't the pioneers of the WWA have chosen a schedule that would not conflict with USFA? Competition has led to division. Having to choose between one or the other is going to cause someone to lose, and likely everyone may lose. Because the tournament dates overlap, we aren't able to try out the WWA and make an educated decision about whether they will be "better" than USFA. I'm not willing to make a switch without first trying WWA to see if they are all they claim. Also, WWA could've made an attempt to schedule the tournaments so as not to force fisherman to choose USFA vs. WWA.

[eye crosser]

This seems to be the big topic, I have fished Team Walleye before, I was not impressed with the money you win. They claim it is because it goes towards the championship, but then YOU have to pay for that too! An just take a look at the prize money there! An dont tell me to look at the [2] boats, thats one of your sponsers! I wish the PWT would come up with a team style for the weekend guys like me!

[Bayside]

Mr. Brett I don't know what kind of math they teach in Texas but you are incorrect. After winning one of your tournaments last year I went through and calculated the pay out for the entire field, it came to approx. 68%. If simple math functions change south of the mason/dixon line I would be interested to know!

[JOHN BRETT]

Sorry I haven't been up here for awhile becuase "GET A LIFE" crossed my mind.
Now,to reply to your numbers: first, the entry fee is $100 per team not $115 per team. The extra $15 is collected and returned to the point leaders in each state it was collected. It is paid back 100%. I believe the Minnesota Angler of the Year receive well over $1000.00 last year and you do not have to be at the classic to get it.
If you do not think rewarding the regional anglers of the year is a good deal then we can always keep the entry fee at $100 and still paybackt he 80%.
Just wanted to clarify your numbers. It is a $100 entry fee, not $115 and the $15 is a 100% payback. Thanks.

[John Brett]

Ya' know, Scott has one of the best bylines in the business: SHUT UP AND FISH!
This continual bashing of USFA and WWA is ridiculous, maybe it is because no one is fishing yet. Pick one of the circuits and go fish it. It is that simple. By mid-year you will decide to leave USFA for WWA or leave WWA for USFA or stay with the one your fishing, but this continuation of rumors and half-truths from people not in the know is immature.
Pick a tournament and go. Wouldn't you rather be casting a line than typing a message. John.

[fisher]

Sir, You just said that $15 from every entry is given to the state team of the year. That $1000 MUST BE WRONG! Just add Mille Lacs two events, 203 boats @ 15.00 would= $3045. Maybe I'm not getting it, or things are not adding up to me.

[tooMuch]

I'm starting to think this should be called Whiner Central instead of WalleyeCentral. This topic and then on the Fishing Reports Board the crap on the Spring Valley tournament, it is way too much. Think positive people, is that so hard to do?

[JOHN BRETT]

Mr. Bayside, if you look at 'Rigs' examples ahead of this reply you will see 103 teams and $8140 was paid back. At a $100 entry fee that is 80% or very close. The $15 is not part of the entry fee. I don't know how you figured 68%. Our payout matrix is a matter of public record and can be viewed by anyone. We even check the payout when they come back from the director. The actual payout ranges from 79% to 81% depending on the odd numbers.
OH BY THE WAY, I was brought up and lived most of my life north of the Mason/Dixon line, so I am sure I was taught the same math you were, but perhaps you calculator is frozen. Good Fishing, John.

[JOHN BRETT]

Mr. Fisher, I apologize. I made an error. The breakdown of the $15 is as follows and is written in the rules the same way. $10 goes to the championship, $2 to the Anglers of the Year and $3 to the Region Anglers of the Year (each region maintains its own collections). We have broken this out property in the past, but will now and post it at every tournament. It is published in the magazine each year.
We thought it was a good system because it does reward the leader in each state and the nation. We will make an effort to make it clearer at all the tournaments this year. Good luck John.

[fisher]

THANKS, I thought I was missing something!

[HooksNbobbers]

Boy the next month is going to pass slowly if you guys keep up this kind of banter!! Hey Tuck lets get the boats out next weekend? On the river?
Hook

[Jbob]

We will be staying with USFA this year. Who knows we may also fish some WWA events.

[EYE-GUIDE]

Hook-
Pick me up! My boat isn't in yet!!!!!!!!! Saturday?? Sunday works too!
Give me a buzz at work.