Top 10 Reasons Why The BWS Will Survive 2008

     Although the American Bass Anglers Association is only going into it’s 2nd year of managing the Bassmaster Weekend Series, the series itself is only a half a second much older than that. With many anglers writing the BWS off once it was announced that the ABA would assume all management responsibilities, here are 10 good reasons why the ABA BWS will see success with increased participation in 2008.

10 – Hi-Seas becomes the official line of the BWS. Hi-Seas will give away a $1000 jackpot every month to one ABA member to submits their entry and will also award an end of the year jackpot at the BWS Championship. This is just another simple way to make money through member participation. 

9 – Regional format changes. In 2007, only the top 8 from each division qualified to go straight to the National Championship. The result was a final regular season event that had a significant decrease in angler turn out because of anglers not fishing who did not have a shot at advancing. In 2008, there will be a regional qualifier in which the top 30 from each division will advance. From the Regionals will be a National.

8 – Ears. After the 2007 season, ABA lent it’s ears to the voices of the anglers asking for ways to make improvements. The goal was to bring back the 2007 anglers and in addition recruit new participation for 2008. This alone gave proof to many anglers that they were willing to do what it takes to improve the series and bring more money to the hands of the anglers.

7 – Success at the BASS Elite Series level. This may sound a little weird to you but just listen. The FLW has seen a large increase in popularity in the past few years from the touring pros all the way down to the weekend series guys. A lot of their success has to do with their consistency and the inconsistency that was taking place with BASS. The short of it is, BASS is on a rebound with a great deal of success shown the past few years with the Elite Series. As their consistancy improves, so will the confidence in the grass roots anglers. That confidence will help draw back some of the anglers who had once traded their shirts for another. It might only be two or three per division, but it has to start somewhere. 

6 – An increase in staff. When the ABA took on management responsibilities for 2007, there were definitely some minor behind the scenes kinks that were later found in the coordination and running of the series. After taking a step back and evaluating the season, part of what ABA has done to help improve the problem is increase their staffing numbers to help better manage the influx in ABA membership. 

5 – Fair scheduling. If you look at the 2008 schedule, you will notice that the regional site will host divisions that do not participate in that area. For example: The regional to be held at Kerr lake will host the Maryland Div, NY East, NY West, Georgia East, and SC west. If ABA had placed Virginia or North Carolina Divisions to participate on the same lake the fish on throughout the regular season, that would have easily opened them up for scrutnity for the anglers.

4 – A successful 2007!

3 – Guaranteed $5,000 payout. After listening to the anglers, most of what the anglers wanted to see from a tournament circuit was better payouts. ABA with the help of Triton Boats has put in place a guarantee payout of $5,000 to the 1st place finisher regardless of field size. While you may think that this will result in a smaller payout for the rest of the field, it won’t. The guarantee is part the more money strategy that Triton has helped put in place.

2 – The Triton Black Gold Program. Triton reduced it’s participation with the BASS Elite Series in order to increase its participation with the grass roots anglers at the weekend Series level. The result is more money for Triton boat owners. In some cases up to double your money.

1 – The Bassmaster Classic. There are only a few places that you can gain entry into fishings most covented event and this is one of them. Anglers who wish to fulfill their childhood angling dreams of one day competing in the Bassmasters Classic will continue to take their shot at it through qualification with the Bassmaster Weekend Series.