Out-Cast
A behind-the-scenes reflection from FLW Outdoors television personality Keith Lebowitz
(Editor’s note: Keith Lebowitz’s experience as a sports reporter and sports show anchor is considerable. He’s been acknowledged with industry awards numerous times: a 2001 honor from The Associated Press for the Fox Sports Net show “Southwest Sports Report,” a 1996 Emmy winner in the Los Angeles area for outstanding sports reporting on KTTV Fox Television, a 1990 Golden Mike Award for best sportscast at KCSN in Los Angeles and honors for his work as a reporter in 1999 for the Emmy Award-winning “Season of Speed” at KTVT CBS 11 in Dallas. He has interviewed many of the greats including Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky and Troy Aikman. Currently, Lebowitz is host of FLW Outdoors Television on FSN).
Four years ago when I was asked to become involved with FLW Outdoors and the sport of bass fishing, I chuckled at the notion that men and women were fishing for $100,000, $200,000 and $500,000 at FLW Tour events. Pardon the expression, but I ain’t chucklin’ no more! And neither is corporate America. The level of sponsors on the Wal-Mart FLW Tour is such that it should make anyone’s head turn. If not for our sponsors, the payouts and the lives of the FLW Tour anglers would not be the same. Fishing has become their full-time job.
How did Larry Nixon and George Cochran survive in a day and age when the money in the sport was slim to none? These are just two examples of pros who loved their sport so much that it didn’t matter what they were making back then (well, maybe it mattered just a little). When I asked FLW Tour pro Sean Hoernke to name his heroes in the sport, the first name out of his mouth was Larry Nixon. He told me that “without Larry and others paving the way for us young guns out there, we would not be in the position that we are today.” That “position” Sean is referring to is the comfortable lifestyle that many anglers of today can finally enjoy.
It’s safe to say that we will have close to, if not more than, 20 anglers cracking the six-figure mark in earnings this year alone with the addition of the FLW Series and its five events. Without question, that is the largest number FLW Outdoors anglers we have ever seen cashing in at that level. Shinichi Fukae is just the first to crack the $100,000 barrier in 2006 with his win at Lake Okeechobee, but many more will follow.
I’ve had people suggest to me that the sport of bass fishing may be growing too fast, to which I reply, “How could that be?” Why shouldn’t the best professional anglers in the world be reaping the benefits of the groundwork their predecessors have been laying out for years now? It’s happened in every other sport: baseball, basketball, football, hockey as well as the Tiger Woods Tour (err, I mean golf). FLW Outdoors is dedicated to growing this sport on every level. And the organization is determined to make household names out of the world’s best fishermen and women.
From the worldwide television coverage of FLW Tour events, to the creative technology that FLW/FSN producers have brought to the table, there is no doubt in my mind that FLW Outdoors anglers have never been in better hands or in a better position at any point of their careers.
In 2007, the first-ever $1 million dollar payout is there for the taking for the winner of the Forrest Wood Cup. Ask Larry Nixon and George Cochran if they ever thought that day would come in their careers, let alone their lifetime. Mr. Cochran still says “pinch me” to make sure he’s not dreaming about the $500,000 he won at last year’s FLW Tour championship.
Those who question the state of the sport need to open their eyes and smell the coffee, because what I see is a group of 200 pros and 200 co-anglers who have never been happier to make a 65-mph run in their Ranger boats to their “honey hole.” What I see are nearly 93,000 men and women fishing the FLW Tour, FLW Series, Stren Series, BFL, Texas Tournament Trail, redfish, kingfish-and walleye tours, who now have the opportunity to make a full-time living in a sport where that wasn’t possible 10-years ago.
So, if you’ve never been to an FLW Tour event, go now. But bring your Solar Bat sunglasses, because the reflection of the pearly whites from all the anglers fishing our tours is blinding.
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