Big Jon Pro/AM/Under 24'

[GLF]

I was up to the Grand Rapids boat show this past weekend and picked up a 2008 Tournament Trail.

The Big Jon Pro/Am has three divisions. Pro, Amateur, and Under 24'.

What are your thoughts on the extra division?

[Losin Lures]

hmmm....Why would you add an under 24'? I guess I'd need to see their reason for this but i think it is kind of redundant. I fish out of a 21' Chris Craft and I don't see how someone in a 25'er would have an advantage over me and need to fish in a different class than me. If it is too rough for a 21'er to fish they won't call the other 2 classes. I believe they called the Amatuer side a couple years ago in one of the other tourney's and let the pro's fish and decided never to call it partial again because of the liability. Curious decision. Although I know some people feel they're at a disadvantage in smaller boats ( must be 18' minimum) but that is taken care of by the rod limit per boat. It will be intertesting to see how it works.

[Treblemaker]

Hopefully it will get many of the local anglers to consider joining in the fun. The reduced entry price should bring a few more boats out, many would already be fishing anyway. What better way to add to the fun or competing against your buddies, and pretty cheap with a few guys in. Once some of the guys see how well their catches can compare to top am and pro boats they will probably consider entering other tourneys as well. If it works out well to bring in more people, I would like to see it more often at more ports.

This will likely be the last year under the tournament trail brand name. GL2S or Great Lakes Salmon Series will be the brand of the future http://www.gl2s.com/. They are trying to get televised coverage and sponsors to take the little known salmon tourneys into the public eye. Once they capture the attention with the excitement and competitiveness of this sport I thing history will write itself.

[Three Bucks]

I have been hearing for years that the smaller boats can't compete. Now I have a 30' boat that will handle any waves but it isn't nearly as fast as the smaller boats. Maybe they need a division with a speed restriction.

I see no need for this division. I think that a requirement that someone who has won a couple of times should fish the Pro side makes more sense.

Bruce

[caznik]

That will be nice because some guys have only 17' boats and cannot fish bigger tournaments.

Rich

[caznik]

Well that sucks,

I should of read the rules first before I posted my first one. I see that you still must have a 18' boat or bigger still.

Oh well back to the fishing league...

Cazzzzzz:cool:

[2UNREEL]

I think that its wonderful. The more divisions the more opportunity to place and win.

I'm with you caznik those of us that have 17 footers will stick with the league.

[HitMan]

Their reasoning is based off the previous years of South Haven's reputation for having high winds and waves on either Saturday or Sunday. There has been a few concerns the last couple years about why it wasn't called earlier, lots of little boats quitting early, not safe fishing conditions and the list goes on and on. This way they can cancel the 24' or less division and let both the AM and PRO tournament proceed like normal when others think it is too rough or unsafe for the 24' or less boats and boats that are less than 24' can't complain it is too rough if they are fishing in the AM or PRO divisions. So they are just trying to eliminate the criticism and complaining from the smaller boats.

[GLF]

This will likely be the last year under the tournament trail brand name. GL2S or Great Lakes Salmon Series will be the brand of the future. They are trying to get televised coverage and sponsors to take the little known salmon tourneys into the public eye. Once they capture the attention with the excitement and competitiveness of this sport I thing history will write itself.

Cudos for them getting the T.V exposure. Unfortunately, I think the T.V. coverage is a few years to late. Everyone is already wondering how the fishing will be over the next few years. I think they would be better off filming Lake Ontario tournaments. At least there they would have some BIG fish to show off.

It will be interesting to see how it goes. You can almost bet there will be a couple of teams always on T.V.

I guess time will tell.........just like our fishery.

[Satisfaxion_Gauranteed]

It seems to me that the South Haven event had less boats in 2007 than it did in 2006?? Either way, I can see the benefit of trying to boost entries. With costs of everything increasing, it's tough to keep alluring possible anglers who've never done one of these before.

That South Haven tournament does certainly have that reputation of high wind days! We fished last year until it was called on Sunday. The boat does a mean hill climb!

Overall, I think the South Haven tournament is very well run and organized. That's a big part in why we'll be fishing it again this year.

[JWheeler]

I think that this is a great idea. I think it will draw more competitors no doubt. The draw for me is the cheaper buy in. Obviously, with a cheaper buy in there isn't as much in winnings, but it would also give someone with less expendable income more opportunity to fish tournaments.