Home › Forums › Bass Cat Boats › Beat the Elites in Virginia…What is up with this?
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BassFan posted a link yesterday to a tournament in Virginia that coinsides with the Elite event on Smith Mountain lake April 23-26. Same dynamics as the Elite events, even tabbed as Beat the Elites. They are even giving a $1,000 bonus if the winning anglers weight is bigger than the winning Elite Angler. What is the deal with this? Is anyone out in BCB land thinking about fishing this event? On the outside it looks to me like this is going to be nothing but trouble and I cant think of a reason why anyone would want to fish it or even sponsor such an event. I am also surprised the state of Virginia is allowing this to happen. In the area I live in, we have to request to hold an event on a given lake to the States outdoor department, in most cases there is a small fee for the application. On top of this, the event looks to be a sight fishing situation. I love fishing tournaments and love to follow the 2 major Pro tours, the fantasy fishing side of it is also great. I guess I am not sure what this Beat the Elites tournament is all about and what the thought behind it is. On the outside it sure doesnt seem like the best interests of the sport are being thought of with it. I kind of think about Mark Roses issue at the FLW Championship last year (he had a non-competitor come into his area and basically fish against him in that area, Mark was the day 1 leader), and see that being played out 100 times over as the 2 events compete against each other, espicially on a sight fishing event. I just think it is going to cause problems with the sport of tournament bass fishing, curious if anyone has signed up and your reasons to sign up. Or just general comments on it. Maybe the Elite anglers that frequent this board can give their thoughts on it. I do expect BASS to take measures to ensure this doesnt happen again. Nothing they can do about it this year.
This is a bunch of dumbA$$es trying to make some money from the benefit of having the elites fish their waters. Definatley a thumbsdown on the local county for approving a permit for this event. I am not saying an event cant take place at the same time, but the way they are marketing the event shows very poor sportsmanship and judgement on the tournament organizers part. This will be one of the shows to watch on Saturday mornings. Tournaments are always going to overlap somewhat especially on the bigger bodies of water, it happened last year at kentucky lake with the elites and a BFL event. Now Kentucky lake can surley support that many boats, but even there, it had some problems, not sure about this event though.I guess the event organizer is a disgruntled fisherman who wanted to be a co anlger on the elite trail and is pissed off about them canceling the cos. I will say though, he definately got the advertising/marketing he was probably looking for.
If this is true, it could get ugly that week. Especially if the guys come up on a pro and start using same technique and same area. I can see the water patrol/ game and fish / local law enforcement officials having a very busy week…. Rest assured, it is these kind of things that will have BASS moving to different venues, which usually results in local economy losses.96 Eyra/12 Mercury 175 Pro XS with 2015 single axle trailer2017 Victory Gunner
Unfortunately this is a bad situation. We should not pay our money and tie the ramp up. We know its a public access issue, though ethics are involved. No good will come of this. It is public waterways, though the ethics here are an issue. The supports of this individuals effort should be notified. If there is industry support it should be impacted directly. I remember when I did compete in the original Top 100 series that the Columbia, SC newspaper made a focused effort to address ethics concerns. They ran a half page article about how to follow the Pros and asked that the local clubs not hold events during the Santee Cooper event and the MegaBucks at Lake Murray. It was very well done and made a great difference. This is the opposite of that, and now these folks will have competition on water while they are working hard to try and make a career, or their living. Too bad! Of course we could just all go follow those in the secondary event and compete for their water. No rules broken there and they would get the message. My Personal Opinion on this one! Rick Pierce
http://sports.espn.go.com…hort_kevin&id=3888776 I love Shorts article about this. Man, the last thing I would want to do when the best Bass fishermen in the world come to Arkansas (my area) is go fishing! I would take the blessed opportunity to watch and learn from them not fish against them. These guys are good! Learn from them…
I also do not like the “Beat the Elite” idea. I think its dumb and I believe its an attempt to cause trouble. Ive heard alot of comments, both locally and on the web, where pros and anglers have said that if you want to “beat the elite” then why dont you go thru the rigors of becoming an Elite Bassmaster and actually compete, with their same rules…..I believe Kevin Short says something to that effect on bassmaster.com. Ive heard several folks comparing many of these guys to Elite wanna-bes. The error in that way of thinking hinges on pros and others thinking that locals actually like, admire, or care about the professional level of bass fishing, other than to say that some are aggrivated by having a pro derby on “their” lake. I dont agree with the locals up there, and their way of thinking……but I wouldnt miss the boat, from what I hear, about what they really want. If BASS didnt return to SML, the guys involved in the Beat the Elite accomplish what they set out to accomplish……from rumor in these parts……
That is an interesting spin on this. It doesnt make a lot of sense to me to try to keep an event like this away from any area of the country right now. These events really help the local economy in a major way. The $$$ brought into the area by these events just keep cycling through the area, so it is a win for everyone in that area in a very tough economic climate. I have heard the one about these guys being ticked off about the COs being cancelled. There were a few that made a pretty nice chunk of change on these events. I doubt we have heard the last of this one. They did get some press on the event, but at least in the bass fishing community, it isnt good press.
You can e-mail the tournament organizers and express your displeasure w/ their tactics at [email protected]. Their website gave me the impression that they are truly just trying to cause trouble. I guess they believe any publicity is good publicity. But it isnt a trashy pop singer shaving her hair to remove evidence of drug use so it cant be used in custody battles, it is fisherman interfering w/ other fisherman – I dont put this in the good publicity category. I know I had choice thoughts for the tin boat fishing on Jeremys prime area the last day of Wheeler after they watched him fish the spot the previous days. I think the organizers of this T are cut from the same shameful cloth. Im sure most of the elite anglers will conduct themselves in a professional manner, and it will only be a slight nuisance. But if ESPN were smart theyd put a camera on G-Man throughout the entire event. Now that would be some good TV…
Here are some links if you desire to write the sponsors and express your displeasure w/ their affiliation to this tournament. I looked w/ no joy for Valley Communications and Realestate One. Organizers – http://probassshop.net/events/contact.htm Probassshop.net – http://probassshop.net/sh…act_us&action=success Lake Watch Plantation- http://lakewatchplantation.com/contact_us.aspLast edited by rlb8s on February 7th, 2009, 3:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I CAN NOT BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DO THIS DONT YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO. I GUESS NOT, JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN NOT FISH WITH THE PROS YOU ARE GOING TO RUIN IT FOR EVERYONE. HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF SOMEONE CAME INTO YOUR JOB AND TRIED TO DO YOUR JOB AND TAKE MONEY FROM YOU WOULD YOU LIKE I WOULDNT THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE DOING. THESE GUYS MAKE THERE MONEY BY FISHING TOURNAMENTS ALL OVER THE PLACE AND THEY COME HERE TO SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE AND GUESS WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO RUIN IT I AM VERY ASHAMED TO SAY THAT I FISH AT SML BECAUSE OF THIS. AND THE SPONSOR I HOPE YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU ARE DOING AS HARD AS THINGS ARE RIGHT NOW I WOULD NOT WANT ALL OF THE BAD BAD PRESS YOU COULD RECEIVE FROM THIS I FOR ONE WOULD NOT BLAME THE ELITE FISHERMAN IF THEY DID NOT WANT TO COME BACK HERE I FOR ONE WOULD NOT. I JUST HOPE YOU PEOPLE NOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. I REALLY DONT THINK YOU DO
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