Two days ago FLW Outdoors issued the announcement that it had adjusted the 2010 FLW Tour schedule. Instead of fishing Lake Chickamauga in Chattanooga, Tenn., the second week in April, the circuit will visit the Fort Loudoun-Tellico lakes in Knoxville April 22-25. On the surface this appears to be a minor change, but the ramifications for the bass-fishing industry are profound.
The Chickamauga FLW Tour event was the only direct conflict with the Bassmaster Elite Series, which is scheduled to visit Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia April 15-18. That means that for the first time in several seasons, we could see the return of the two-tour pro in 2010. And with BASS cutting their Elite Series schedule from 11 events to eight, fishing both circuits is an attractive option, especially for anglers with heavy sponsor portfolios.
The only hiccups are related to travel. The first two Elite tournaments take place in California on consecutive weeks in mid-March. Sandwiched around them are the FLW Tour event on Table Rock March 4-7 and the FLW Tour event on Lake Norman March 25-28. That means that after Table Rock, a BASS pro would have to travel halfway across the country to reach the Golden State. But the real problem is that after the second BASS event, the two-tour angler will have to drive over 40 hours to North Carolina. Obviously traveling by plane reduces this time considerably, but that requires the use of two boats – a rarity in this economy.
In addition to the West Coast swing, any pro fishing both the FLW Tour opener on the Red River and the Bassmaster Classic on Lay Lake would have a conflict. If a two-tour pro misses the top-10 cut at the Red River, he should miss very little Classic practice so long as he hustles from Louisiana to Alabama. But if he makes the cutoff, he’ll miss a substantial amount of time.
For FLW Fantasy Fishing players, there might be a few new names to brush up on at the start of next year. At this point, there has been no official confirmation of any BASS anglers committing to the 2010 FLW Tour. But many are musing the possibility – including Ish Monroe, Forrest Wood Cup champion Greg Hackney, Kelly Jordan, Dean Rojas, Tommy Biffle, Takahiro Omori, Michael Iaconelli, Steve Kennedy and Peter Thliveros, among others.
Without question, those aforementioned pros are some serious sticks that warrant some serious fantasy consideration. This situation bears monitoring over the offseason.