FLW

I believe he is saying we should use our own oil, we have enough oil here to last us a very long time but the government will not let us drill for it.

moore1 has the connection, the T Boone abandoned wind mills. That is the affiliation.

I guess the financial guys would say FLW is still diversifying their portfolio. Having companies like Chevy, Walmart, and Dunkin Donuts provide sponsorship money is a brilliant move, and keeps them a little more insulated from fluctuations in the fishing economy. Im sure the Ranger brands will remain strong in FLW, but if not, then FLW should remain healthy.To me, it looks like FLW aims more at a family market, and BASS still aims at the pure fishing market. And, having said that, FLWs College fishing is going to be a major player for a while.Now Im just waiting for Larry Nixon to show up with an Abu Dhabi sponsored boat.

I was talking about the sponsors. The fisherman are top notch.

A good 2 man rowboat has a better holeshot than youre HO !

I agree! Well said

everyone that fishes flw knows the rules from the start. zack choose flw to fish, so must be ok by him. if he doesnt like the rules and continues to do well at the fishing game then maybe he can move to the elites.

The discussion on this topic is very positive. First FLW is a good tournament organization, as is BASS, though a small one atless than 10% the size in comparison to BASS membership. We would certainly like for FLW to revisit their format, if they will and Rangers parent company will allow it. While this is appreciated thread, we agree with rbcat on this one. Zack, Adrian, Travis, Jim, Jeremy, Chad and others all know the parameters. This is a very large topic and lots of politics were involved, back before when both organizations were solely Ranger boats at their respective Classics. This was back before some of you were involved in angling, and extends back before many of you were born.We have always been rogue and fought various systems going way back to Rayo Breckenridge and Tommy Martin in 1973 and 1974. That was our first taste of inequality as a company, towards our anglers. We fought that trend and we fought most every trend of lockouts since, including those we sponsored. Tommy Martin furthered that with his actions regarding the patch debacle at the 1985 Bassmasters Classic in Pine Bluff. We want our product and all products to have level playing fields. Then the merits of the brands and product will prevail. You must realize that going way back to the early 1990s and Irwins development of the FLW Tour series, with the owner of Operation Bass (Mike Whitaker) in Illinois, it was intended to sell more Ranger boats. Operation Bass already was a major stronghold for Ranger with the Red Man and Golden Blend series(s). Irwin eventually bought Operation Bass and it became FLW after the change in ownership. There was promoted intent in the first stages or FLW Tour to offer anglers a series with ore financial opportunity, though from origin of the regs it was a tie for only one particular boat brand. Guido Hibdon was one of the very first anglers engaged with Mr Jacobs prior to the affiliation to Operation Bass, at the time he and I were also working on another platform for anglers. We were both in early stages and Irwins perceived financial corporate muscle left anglers following the pied piper. Guidos family has now suffered where the platform he choose eventually aged he and his family out of sponsor favor. And we love both Guido and Stella, knowing him as a family friend going back to his youth in the mid 1970s. Too bad this format didnt come together at the time as it was on track, though it also had angler challenges we prefer not to mention. Anglers have always seemed to follow the path of least resistance instead of becoming vested both emotionally, and financially, plowing their own garden. We were the original first (#1) BASS sponsor of the revised BASS format that allowed another boat company other than Ranger in the late 1990s. Following that they went back briefly to a single boat and engine sponsorship, and Yamaha too their sponsorship to FLW briefly. Skeeter was unable to follow that sponsorship and was left without briefly In the early 2000s. Which their BASS sponsorship and our deciding to not forge ahead was a major reason for our primary anglers decision to leave BCB. Of course at that time we knew BASS was going towards single sponsorship and no one else was aware. That occurred and left Skeeter anglers with the non sponsor BASS company. We fought for an open platform when we were a sponsor of BASS. Back then our anglers got to use our boats, other anglers were forced to use either Skeeter or Triton. It took two years to open the format for each company to allow anglers to use the products they ran all season. This was a major concession by BASS and Don Rucks, and it cost BASS several sponsorship dollars. Though all parties came together, before the 2000 recession period that wasnt, and the 911 terrorist activity that was. That was a win for everyone except BASS and the boat sponsors themselves. FLW we think could revisit the boat situation in time. Much of this will depend on how the company and its sponsors enjoin future agreements now that Bass Pro Shop retains around 65% of the fiberglass bass boat market. Probably still similarly so if aluminum bass is considered. Things could continue to get shook up as the bass tournament market evolves going forwards. None of us know the intent of any organization going forward. We hope that open formats and fair and equitable exposure becomes the norm for all sponsors. While this format seems unfair to many it was the norm not so long ago on Classics. We could expand on this topic greatly and it could be a book in itself. Lots to consider here. Rick PS: Rooster… That stung… Yes…