Aluminum Classic in Yuma

Well, Hammer and I reeked. We weighed in two small fish. Although I did
find some decent fish near the end of the day. I'll be camping on those
fish all day next weekend.

Jim Waits and John Turner won the boat. They are a couple of excellent
local guys who always do well.

The following is a bit of a criticizm / review of the event overall.

How can ABA improve its showing in the Aluminum Boats Only series? I just
fished the classic yesterday and there were only 19 teams out there
competing for a brand new Tracker PT 175.

http://media.trackermarinegroup.com/...504_R_04_w.jpg

To qualify to fish this classic was easy. Be an ABA member and fish ateast
one of the regular aluminum series season tournaments.

There was some upset teams that came close because there was no prize money
for anything but first place. The basic tournament was winner take all for
the boat. With so few anglers the entries didn't even pay for the boat, but
ABA is willing to do it again next season if Tracker is willing to help them
build the event and give them another boat at a discount for the next
season. Honestly though, it seemed that all of the top teams won some money
in the various options.

Tracker does not give them the boat. They sell it to ABA at a discount, so
when ABA has a poor showing they have to take the difference out of pocket.

From my perspective I think it was great. My partner and I had greatly
improved odds of winning the boat with so few of the qualifying teams
coiming out to fish the classic.

What do you think they could do to improve participation both in the
regional series and the classic?

Craig with ABA stated that the objective was to get people who normally
don't fish tournaments out to fish some tournaments. Hence the aluminum
boats only, and any aluminum boat if it has a livewell, even its a cooler
with an aerator were instituted for this series.

I think they can do a couple thoughts on the subject myself....

.... but please think about what would make it interesting to you to
participate before reading my ideas.

....

....

....

....

....

....

1. Reduce the basic entry fee for the series tournaments.
Guys who don't fish tournaments are not going to start with a higher
price tournament series. They are more likely to fish if its cheap to
qualify.

2. Make sure there are prizes for all the top finishers in the classic,
not just the series tournaments.

3. Spend some money on promotion in both fishing and non-fishing venues.
They are after all going after the guys who don't normally fish tournaments.

4. Exclude anybody who has won a tournament in the previous year in any
other local series. This would give some guys more confidence in
participating.

My ideas are just that, and the last one would be risky, but I think it
might more closely match Craig's stated goal.

What do you think ???

I am an ABA member, but I have absolutely nothing to do with managing or
promoting the organization. I do have a friend who is a regional tournament
director. I'm not trying to spam, but I really would like to see this be a
good opportunity for anglers to compete and have a chance at winning a boat
that they might not other wise have.




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19 teams competing for a boat? I'm in!

WW

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
Well, Hammer and I reeked. We weighed in two small fish. Although I did
find some decent fish near the end of the day. I'll be camping on those
fish all day next weekend.

Jim Waits and John Turner won the boat. They are a couple of excellent
local guys who always do well.

The following is a bit of a criticizm / review of the event overall.

How can ABA improve its showing in the Aluminum Boats Only series? I just
fished the classic yesterday and there were only 19 teams out there
competing for a brand new Tracker PT 175.


http://media.trackermarinegroup.com/...oTeam17504_R_0
4_w.jpg

To qualify to fish this classic was easy. Be an ABA member and fish
ateast
one of the regular aluminum series season tournaments.

There was some upset teams that came close because there was no prize
money
for anything but first place. The basic tournament was winner take all
for
the boat. With so few anglers the entries didn't even pay for the boat,
but
ABA is willing to do it again next season if Tracker is willing to help
them
build the event and give them another boat at a discount for the next
season. Honestly though, it seemed that all of the top teams won some
money
in the various options.

Tracker does not give them the boat. They sell it to ABA at a discount,
so
when ABA has a poor showing they have to take the difference out of
pocket.

From my perspective I think it was great. My partner and I had greatly
improved odds of winning the boat with so few of the qualifying teams
coiming out to fish the classic.

What do you think they could do to improve participation both in the
regional series and the classic?

Craig with ABA stated that the objective was to get people who normally
don't fish tournaments out to fish some tournaments. Hence the aluminum
boats only, and any aluminum boat if it has a livewell, even its a cooler
with an aerator were instituted for this series.

I think they can do a couple thoughts on the subject myself....

... but please think about what would make it interesting to you to
participate before reading my ideas.

...

...

...

...

...

...

1. Reduce the basic entry fee for the series tournaments.
Guys who don't fish tournaments are not going to start with a higher
price tournament series. They are more likely to fish if its cheap to
qualify.

2. Make sure there are prizes for all the top finishers in the classic,
not just the series tournaments.

3. Spend some money on promotion in both fishing and non-fishing
venues.
They are after all going after the guys who don't normally fish
tournaments.

4. Exclude anybody who has won a tournament in the previous year in any
other local series. This would give some guys more confidence in
participating.

My ideas are just that, and the last one would be risky, but I think it
might more closely match Craig's stated goal.

What do you think ???

I am an ABA member, but I have absolutely nothing to do with managing or
promoting the organization. I do have a friend who is a regional
tournament
director. I'm not trying to spam, but I really would like to see this be
a
good opportunity for anglers to compete and have a chance at winning a
boat
that they might not other wise have.




--
** FREE Fishing Lures
** Weekly drawing
** Public Fishing and Boating Forums
** www.YumaBassMan.com