RCL

[Bigfoot]

>Garbage....plain and simple. Anyone can interpert the
>payouts the way they choose. Personally, I call it a step
>back.....needing to have the right boat for the right payout
>is a step back. And what about all those C and L owner's who
>purchased boats under the premise that the original RCL
>circuit would be around for another year or two and then had
>that option jerked out from underneath them? So, in my view,
>it's a step back and the payouts and smaller. Understand,
>there are no sour grapes here. I just call it how I see it.

Jerry, I think you need to get the facts straight. Your issue is not with the FLW but with Lund, Crestliner and Brunswick. THEY decided not to continue their sponsorship any longer.
As far as the bonus money goes, can you say "Performance Incentives"? That's what Ranger, Evinrude and Yamaha are putting up. That way ALL anglers can benifit rather than a few that have bigger contracts with these companies. It's the best way to reward someone for using their product.
Each of these companies...Ranger, Evinrude, and Yamaha are putting up the money individually. It's coming out of their marketing/advertising budgets, it's not coming out of Genmar.
All you have to do is walk into Crestliner or Mercury with the FLW payout schedule, and see if they will give you a contract with performance bonuses for running their stuff to match the other competitors incentive money... All the way down 50 spots, plus the championship. If you are an asset to their team, it shouldn't be to hard to do.
As the previous post stated, check out the numbers and tell me there's not more to be made fishing the FLW.
As far as the Championship goes, if you make the top Fifty Pro's or Co-Anglers you get a Free shot at MORE money. This also is the best deal going for Co-Anglers.
It's marketing. It's incentives to run their products. You may or may not decide next year to run one of their products to be eligible for the incentive monies. That's your choice.

Rick

[jerry]

Thanks Bigfoot for joining in. We hashed this out another time at another place. There are facts that you have presented that I agree with. There are other things that are being stated regarding the sponsors that, while they might be true in your world, they don't hold water in mine, simply because they do not make sense. I won't go into this and I'm again taking the same road as last time and dropping this subject. I have theories and opinions about what has taken place that, due to their sensitive nature, I will not discuss here. I will say that we haven't heard the last of this, as there is impending legal action regarding some of these things.

Good luck to all the competitors in the FLW circuit this year and beyond. In the end, it's my desire to see ALL circuits cater to the fisherman instead of the other way around, just like in the Bass circuits.

[KansasState]

Its laughable to call it a step foward for Walleye fishing. When all boat brands are treated equal it would be a step foward.

Brunswick could not stay in the game because they would of been a second tier sponser.

I will say the lower entries for the Ams may be a plus, but as one the chance to win big money is why I fished it instead of the PWT.

get rid of your black motor and the tin can and your outlook might change on things or just don't fish it!

[WAZ]

Too many whiners. Fish the PWT. If you don't like it fish the FLW Walleye tour. If you don't like that one try the MWC,MWT,WAT,CWS, GNWC, the list goes on and on. Not every circuit is for everyone. Find one you like and fish it. If not, take the wife and kids fishing and bet on first fish and largest fish. If they win pay up.

Everyone has and opinion. Some right and some wrong. Now you have mine. Please keep up the whinning it makes me think of how fortunate I am.

Why would one boat or motor manufacturer want it's competitor to succeed? If you are not running the right boat don't blame the manufacturers that are paying the bonus. Blame the ones that aren't.

Well said, well said indeed.

I think Jerry makes a few good points. I am guessing he made, like many, substantial personal investments, in certain BRAND NAME top drawer equipment so as to participate in tourney events. It is very disheartening to make those investments w/o sponsorship help only to find the very next year most of the rules change, and your potential rewards and payouts are trashed. I would share Jerry's outlook.

People this is all about MARKETING! To sell a boat line and products being marketed, so whats the problem? Things will change again and again. But sell and buy is what its about here, they have had such great success on the bass curcuits why not on the walleye?
They own the rights to do it! You cant wear any clothes that don't support THERE marketed products if you make the cut at the Championship plus you have to run one of the boats they provide! MARKETING!!!!! if you like it play if not there are plenty of other tours out there!

Like it or not they are using it to sell product!

If your sponsors are not taking care of you for using (advertising) with their products, then step it down a level. These are professional tournaments - not intended for every Tom, Dick and Jerry. You could not go out and buy a Cubs uniform and expect to play for them! Let's be realistic here, not everyone can/should fish at this level...

I liked that Tom, Dick, and Jerry line.