Battle of Chick/Southern Open could see 500 boats

[Hank's Dad]

Just an FYI that Hank Weldon is thinking the Battle/Open on 4-29-17 could have as many as 500 boats on Chick.

TN is now the second largest state of high school membership for BASS and growing each week as more teams join.

DL.

 

[fishinvol]

That seems like overkill for one tournament .

 

[Hank's Dad]

The one on Guntersville this year saw 332 boats. Top 10% make the nationals. There's only 3 opens and thus the big draw.

 

[SHane]

If they have that many boats, would some lock thru to Nick or would that have any effect on the CFF tournament?

 

[Gone fishin]

Are we talking about a high school tournament or the bass master southern open.

 

[mighty minnow]

Great. You can't even enjoy the lake anymore due to the massive amount of tournaments on the chick. We will see the impact from it in a few years.

 

[Lx545]

Seems like we are already there. Thats why I usually fish the river. Worse fishing it seems but I'll take the solitude. Its not worth the hassle to me fighting to find a fishing spot. And when you do you can bet 4 people before you have wore it out. At least that's the way it seems to me. Can't imagine there is enough lake for 500 boats at one time.

 

[bntpolpatrn]

Lovely

 

[275prostratos]

gone fishin that's high school

 

[drdetroit]

Where ??
Out of Dayton??

 

[Allison2002]

Funny thing none of these tournaments are held on Watts Bar it's a heck bigger lake and can handle these big tournaments.

 

[kgg]

Yep, everyone has to have a tournament. Seems like I didn't have to rely on adults during high school sports. And was definitely more affordable! Lol.

 

[bricknbass]

Yep. Fishing is COOL. Again

 

[Hank's Dad]

There's a ramp being built in Spring City to allow for bigger tournaments on Watts Bar. It's not ready yet. I'm sure Rhea County will use it like crazy once it's ready.

 

[smbass77]

one thing I can't figure out, the leagues (BASS/FLW), and sponsors have been targeting the high school and college aged kids for a nearly 8-10 years now. What is happening to these kids after they age out of those ranges?

We aren't seeing an influx of young anglers in our adult clubs, or in local tournaments. It's almost like after they get out of college and reality kicks in, they give up fishing because of the expense. Seems like a bad investment for all the sponsors.

 

[derek81]

smbass77 - 11/28/2016 7:13 AM

one thing I can't figure out, the leagues (BASS/FLW), and sponsors have been targeting the high school and college aged kids for a nearly 8-10 years now. What is happening to these kids after they age out of those ranges?

We aren't seeing an influx of young anglers in our adult clubs, or in local tournaments. It's almost like after they get out of college and reality kicks in, they give up fishing because of the expense. Seems like a bad investment for all the sponsors.

I disagree with that. There are more young anglers kicking butt now than ever. Look at the CBA this year, several winners and people that fit into the mentioned age group did awesome. Same with BASS and FLW, there are some guys fresh out of college who are the real deal like the Lee brothers, Jacob Wheeler and our own Micheal Neal.

 

[saltyduck]

Totally agree with you Derek. It is also a way for kids to get a college education on scholarship. I think High School fishing is making a positive impact on tens of thousands of kids around the country.

 

[silvertalon]

fishinvol - 11/24/2016 11:05 PM

That seems like overkill for one tournament .

One more big one towards the decimation of the species!

 

[porthos33]

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derek81 - 11/28/2016 3:03 PM

smbass77 - 11/28/2016 7:13 AM one thing I can't figure out, the leagues (BASS/FLW), and sponsors have been targeting the high school and college aged kids for a nearly 8-10 years now. What is happening to these kids after they age out of those ranges? We aren't seeing an influx of young anglers in our adult clubs, or in local tournaments. It's almost like after they get out of college and reality kicks in, they give up fishing because of the expense. Seems like a bad investment for all the sponsors.</p>

I disagree with that. There are more young anglers kicking butt now than ever. Look at the CBA this year, several winners and people that fit into the mentioned age group did awesome. Same with BASS and FLW, there are some guys fresh out of college who are the real deal like the Lee brothers, Jacob Wheeler and our own Micheal Neal.

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Very true Derek, Just think it used to be just Brandon Paulanik. Now you see more young guys doing great!</p>

 

[Kirk]

Youth is the future of everything! Anytime you invest in the next generation of anglers you will gain positive results. The core angler group has to be replenished each year to sustain the industry. As older anglers leave the core group, the younger anglers slowly fill in the openings. A few years ago Tom Helton, Patrick Smith, Ben Biller, Matt Whitlatch and I decided as a group that the B&B Tournament needed to recruit some youth anglers. It started as a experiment and it worked. Today we have some really good late teens and college kids fishing with us each week. They will kick our butts if we let our guard down. I have several years worth of pictures of these little guys and gals peaking out from behind fish at weigh-ins. Now they are all taller than us. year after year they return to fish with us because a little seed was planted a few years ago.