FLW Striper Tourneys

[LargemouthTim]

Dont know if this was metioned yet.

FLW Outdoors


14.Feb.2006


BENTON, Ky. ? The organization responsible for bringing bass, walleye, redfish and kingfish anglers the most lucrative tournaments in history is set to make the striped bass community its next beneficiary. In response to overwhelming demand, FLW Outdoors announced Tuesday that it will launch the largest, most prestigious and highest-paying striped bass tournaments in history beginning this summer.

?The tournament-fishing landscape has changed dramatically since we introduced the Wal-Mart FLW Tour in 1996 and made $100,000, $200,000 and even $500,000 paydays standard at the top ranks in bass fishing,? said FLW Outdoors Chairman, Irwin L. Jacobs. ?In fact, next year we are prepared to pay the Forrest Wood Cup champion $1 million. FLW Outdoors is now creating the same excitement and opportunities in striped bass angling as we have in bass, walleye, redfish and kingfish angling. Our anglers know that no matter what fish species they prefer, they will be competing for the absolute most money available in the sport. Now, beginning in May, we will do the same for striped bass anglers.?

FLW Outdoors has been exploring and planning the expansion of its saltwater tournament offerings into striped bass for more than a year and originally considered launching the tournaments in 2007. That timetable was moved up, however, due to insatiable demand for quality tournaments along the Atlantic coast from Virginia to Maine.

?We have always tried to listen to what the anglers are asking for, and then we try to accommodate them,? Jacobs said. ?It?s really that simple. In this case, our research showed incredible demand for high-paying, high-profile professional striped bass tournaments to serve anglers in the Northeast. I took that information to several prospective sponsors and they were thrilled with the opportunity. We are not prepared to announce all of the players just yet, but I can tell you Wal-Mart, Hyrda-Sports, Wellcraft and Seaswirl have already signed on, as well as several other big corporate sponsors.?

Taking a page out of its successful redfish and kingfish playbooks, FLW Outdoors will offer the sport?s richest payouts, plus cash bonuses for Hyrda-Sports, Wellcraft and Seaswirl boat owners. Moreover, top finishers from every tournament will also advance to a no-entry-fee championship.

Complete details, including purses, dates, locations and registration information, will be released in the coming weeks. Hyrda-Sports, Wellcraft and Seaswirl boat owners will have priority entry into the new FLW Outdoors striped bass tournaments, which are likely to fill quickly once registration opens.

Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Stratos Owners? Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $36.9 million through 241 events in 2006.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, call (270) 252-1000.

Wal-Mart and many of America?s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world?s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com

[doyle007]

great, just what the fishery needs. :rolleyes:

[Brian E. Mullaney]

if they put a true slot on the bass like the Redfish it may not be so bad

[trout16]

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Web Results 1 - 10 of about 727 for flw striper tour. (0.25 seconds)

Did you mean: flw stripper tour

from google, now thats a tour I would join!

[Dar-Lynn]

Originally posted by Brian E. Mullaney:
if they put a true slot on the bass like the Redfish it may not be so bad I love that slot fish rule for the Reds .. it's a great idea. No need to bring the 'cows' in ... and it elimanates the 1 BIG fish wins the tourney thing ....

[doyle007]

isn't that slot the rule in the tourny since the southern states all have a slot limit regulation? i just checked florida's regs, and it says that the size limit is 18" to 27".

i don't think that the tournament rules are in place in order to help the fishery. i think that they are the way they are because of the state's regulations on the fish. when they start up their striper tournament, i fear that it's going to be a cow kill fest, with nothing contributed towards the fishery.

[Brian E. Mullaney]

Doyle - I agree the tourneys are following the states

But what does that matter?? If they arent killing big breeders thats the important thing smile.gif

[doyle007]

Brian, i agree that a slot limit would be great, but i don't see anywhere in that news article that they are going with a slot. did you read that somewhere? i don't see where the FLW tour would be doing anything but going for the biggest bass out there. let's hope that they don't have the DE Bay lined up for the spring at any point.

[Brian E. Mullaney]

we are both confused -

i didnt say it said in the article


i said "if they put a true slot on the bass like the Redfish it may not be so bad"

thats all - it didnt have any depper meaning smile.gif

[eh009us]

Wouldn't these same guys be fishing the day of the tournament anyway ?? I mean with or without a tournament, so what's the difference ? Now if they operate similarly to the Freshwater bass tourneys wherein you have to weigh the fish live using a "striper tube" or similar, that would be better but I really don't see the difference. Doyle, I don't buy your argument since in my tournament experience (though mostly freshwater) it has been about conservation and awareness, not a slaughterfest. It doesn't sound like all the rules are posted yet anyway, so we'll see....

[doyle007]

ehoo9us, i'd like to think that these tournaments are about conservation and awareness, but i've seen the redfish tournaments on TV, and these guys don't seem to care to much about conservation. as an example, earlier this winter on either ESPN or OLN (i forget which), they were showing the OBerto Redfish tournament. the tournament was taking place in mississippi, yet some of the contestants were going to run a couple of hours down to venice, louisiana to fish. the helicopter that was covering the tournament showed two boats fly across a grass flat, leaving prop scars. the one boat stopped to check the lower unit, but the other guy found deeper water and kept going. this is not good for the environment.

as a follow-up to that fiasco, the fish that these guys caught were put into a live well, and then transported the 100 or so miles back to the location of the tournament. can you imagine the stress that the fish has to endure in a dark live well, smashing back and forth as the boat hits waves? that cannot be good for the fish. i'm assuming that they release the fish, but i'd like to know what kind of mortality rate they have.

another negative aspect is the sportmanship of the contestants. you see lots of guys swearing, smashing their rods into the water, and displaying actions that are definitely not promoting the sport. this is for a pay day, and nothing but a pay day. the article above states that clearly.

as you said, these guys would probably be fishing the day of the tournament anyway, so the fish will be just as dead. we also don't know what the rules are yet, and i'll be interested to read them, even though i won't participate.

i know that the redfish tournaments are no kill (at least no-kill until the fish is off of the scales), but i don't see any way that a boat could have a big enough live well to keep a cow striper alive and in good health to make this a no-kill tournament. i just don't think that we need extra exposure and wal-mart's profiteering when it comes to striper fishing. to me, striper fishing is a way to relax, and not worry about day to day issues. this tournament seems to be (based on what i've seen on tv with their redfish tournaments) nothing but a bunch of hot heads running around trying to catch some fish, and only taking just enough care of the fish to keep it alive until it's on the scale.

[eh009us]

Everyone is entitled to their opinions. We should all remember that we are role models to others in the way we fish and to the younger generation. You have to do your own research into the tournaments and form your own, again, opinion about the tournaments. From what Ive read and sen the mortality rates for bass tournaments are well over 80%, a far cry from when they first started.
I'm not sure I would participate, but then I have nothing against them. I have participated in several freshwater bass tournaments though, having run from one side of the Chesapeake to the other WITH fish in my livewell and the fish were released after the weigh-in unharmed.
Now, the shark tournaments I don't even get. But again, I would never Choose to participate in one.

[CHILLY]

Just go to any marina in the spring or fall on a non tournament weekend and look in the water near the cutting station. you will see 50-100 cow carcasses in the water. To attack a striper tournament with a 1 or 2 fish weigh-in is just crazy. I mean be realistic, I know most of fisherman want to see the striper population continue to prosper, but arnt most of you the ones posting pictures of your 30+ pounders on the barn. I fish tournaments and I have to say I have released many stripers and have seen alot of stripers released. basically whether it is a tournament or just a weekend fishing we are all in the same boat. 95% of us kill stripers. I can tell you that I personnally do not freeze fish so I only take what i can eat that day. I do not want to offend anybody,But dont throw rocks if you live in a glass house.

[ChristyBM]

What chilly said!!!

[cheapshot]

Chilly, nicely said!!

[eh009us]

Yup !

[doyle007]

chilly, i hear what you're saying about releasing stripers, and only keeping what you can eat that day.

i don't know what the top prize is in the ASA tournaments, but i don't think that you guys are out there trying to earn a living with the prize money. it seems like the FLW tournaments are offering big money, which in my mind changes everything. when big money is involved, i feel that gentle handling and doing what's right for the fish are secondary. again, this is just what i've viewed from the FLW tournaments on tv, and i know that these are only snapshots out of the entire tournament action.

I also wondered about what's behind the FLW tour in terms of doing anything good for the fishery. I can't find anything to indicate that the tour or Wal-Mart give anything back to the fishery in terms of grants, money for projects or studies, etc. I would love to see the FLW tour and Wal-Mart back up some major initiatives like helping to reduce or stop the bunker netting in the Chesapeake Bay and along our coasts. If they could put their big financial muscles behind an effort that would benefit the striper, then I'd be all for them and their tournament.

to date i've personally done two tournaments, both were no-bones tournaments. they were a good time, and i fished with friends, but then again winning top spot wasn't really important. top prize was a couple of hundred dollars, so no one was out there for the pay day. however, i don't think that i'll be doing any more tournaments. i like to release all of the fish that i catch. since i never use bait, and all of my fishing is with the flyrod or occassionally plugs, my fish are hooked in the mouth about 99% of the time. i fight them quickly, revive them, and then let them go. i believe that the last fish that i kept was a flounder that i caught on the fly about four years ago. i guess that's why i don't hunt either. you can't release an animal that you just pumped some lead into.

to each their own. i don't think that the FLW tour is a good thing for the fishery, but like you said, it probably won't make a difference one way or the other. good luck if you fish the tour. it would be nice for some local guys to win all of that money that is being offered.

[RottnCaptn]

Originally posted by doyle007:
i don't know what the top prize is in the ASA tournaments, but i don't think that you guys are out there trying to earn a living with the prize money. Chilly does! :D :D tongue.gif

[CHILLY]

yup, and keep your day job

[B&C]

I think these tournaments are going to be great, for fisherman and for the fisheries.
I was just reading on FLWs website that they give $5,000 cash to the DNR at every FLW tour bass event for habitat and conservation use on that lake or river or bay. And I also saw on there that one of the FLW sponsors gives so much money to conservation if FLW keeps a certain live release rate throughout the season. I buddy gets FLW magazine and they always have conservation type stories in there. So I don't buy that these tournaments will be bad for the fishery.

Someone brought up the point that when big money is involved, the fish take a back seat. I completely disagree. The fish are even more valuable then. I fished an FLW Red Man (I think they've been renamed now) bass tournament about 7 years ago, and in those bass tournaments, there are dead fish penalties. So they penalize those that kill fish. I went to the FLW tournament on the Potomac last year, and they have these big pontoon boats with huge holding tanks in them where the run the fish to after they are weighed and then the boats goes out into the river at difference spots and release the fish.

Think about this also. These tournament organizations (ASA, FLW, BASS, SKA) make their money from the fishery. Why would they bite the hand that feeds them. Now if they aren't catch and release tournaments, then I might have a different opinion.

Just my 2 cents. I'm looking forward to them.

[Ram336]

Me, my Seaswirl and Yamaha engines are ready too. ;)

[nocturnal]

The Utches tourny kills more lbs than any,and
no one says a word!Better rules better tournys!

[Guatemala Dave]

I think that there is definately a need, at least from the industry level for a tournament tour of some sort. I do fear that the current ASA tour is not a great example because of the dead fish on the dock syndrome that is finally being taken out of the billfish tournaments.

I have been trying to get a small local tournament going here for stripers and I have been part of the local fishing club, Absecon Saltwater Sportsmen trying to get an open tournament fired up for almost 20 years. It is hard to figure exctly what is needed.

I have some ideas I believe could go into a great tournament but it would take a lot of promotion and work. No need to bring them out now, but if any tournament directors want to share ideas I'm available.

I personally would love to participate, but my style of fishing is back bay hunting and even though I can catch em up on lures and bait I'm not going to be able to beat size witht he big water chunkers and trollers.

One thing that I believe would be a very detrimental phenomonon is that I'm sure you have noticed on televised tournaments that there are miles of open water with nary a boat to be seen. Out here that just ain't going to happen. There could be some interesting discussion when a metalflaked boat covered with logos pulls up into someone's favorite spot with a camera boat along side and a train of groupies to boot.

The east coast attitude may be a little more than those southern good ole boys can handle.

Over all I would realy love to see something that would attract all types of striper fishermen come to fruitation.

[VDAWG]

Originally posted by CHILLY:
Just go to any marina in the spring or fall on a non tournament weekend and look in the water near the cutting station. you will see 50-100 cow carcasses in the water. To attack a striper tournament with a 1 or 2 fish weigh-in is just crazy. I mean be realistic, I know most of fisherman want to see the striper population continue to prosper, but arnt most of you the ones posting pictures of your 30+ pounders on the barn. I fish tournaments and I have to say I have released many stripers and have seen alot of stripers released. basically whether it is a tournament or just a weekend fishing we are all in the same boat. 95% of us kill stripers. I can tell you that I personnally do not freeze fish so I only take what i can eat that day. I do not want to offend anybody,But dont throw rocks if you live in a glass house. you da man Chilly !!

[nocturnal]

G DAVE,about the ASA.WE kill 1 fish per day if
needed.If I catch a 35lb sat.I'm not killin 30's
on sunday!I do think they should give back to
the fishery.People do look at the weight board
and keep fish for points if needed for the trail
not just for pictures.

[cheapshot]

Go Todd!!

[CHILLY]

exactly

[undisputed]

i think all you asa guys just like to kill fish

[nocturnal]

No joe,just burn gas.

[undisputed]

lots of that