Crazy Weeks & Months in Bass Fishing
Posted by Jason Sealock on Tue, Aug 03, 2010 @ 09:08 PM
We went from ICAST to Triton sold to the same house as Ranger and Stratos, then to the Bassmaster Post Season, then to BASS being sold by ESPN and finally to the Forrest Wood Cup in Atlanta in a couple days (where some anglers believe there is a big announcement coming at the event).
Wheh! We're already out of breath. Where to start?
ICAST was buzzing this year with a positive energy that all of us were going to come through the woes of the down economy okay. Guys were upbeat and believed that things were looking up in tackle sales, and opportunities going forward.
When we got back from ICAST, there was was breaking news that Triton was sold to the same Platinum Equity investment group that just purchased Ranger and Stratos. That sent a shot across the bow of a lot of anglers and fans. But still most of us were pretty positive on the idea.
Photo by Alan McGuckin
Platinum Equity seems very serious about making it's mark on the bass boat segment of the boating industry, and they've been very successful in most everything they get involved with full throttle. They definitely have a great guy in Randy Hopper at the helm, who sticks with a reoccuring theme of a guy or group of folks passionate about fishing running the business.
Then the BASS post season sandwhiched itself between that and today's big news. The Post Season had a lot more drama than most can remember for a long time in the sport. But at what cost.
Kevin VanDam again proved he's one of the most dominant closers ever in the sport of professional bass fishing. We continue to be amazed at what he can do with the same equipment you and I use. Hats off to him and we have nothing but respect for his accomplishments.
Photo by Seigo Saito - BASS Communications
Yet most of the feedback we've gotten from fans says they don't like the Post Season at all and felt Skeet earned the AOY through more events than just the last two. So did we just see another asterisk put in the history books because someone confused MVP with playoff champion.
Today was another groundbreaking day in the history of B.A.S.S. Again the company appears to be in the middle of a sale to a new group of investors. What is very encouraging again is that Jerry McKinnis, Don Logan and Jim Copeland all seem to be genuinely passionate about bass fishing, and not just tournament bass fishing. It has always been our belief that if you're not extremely passionate about fishing, you shouldn't be in charge of a fishing company. So we're very excited for the future of BASS and the anglers as well as the members.
Photo courtesy of BASS Communications
But at the same time we're hoping and praying tonight for our friends at BASS that they all come through this on the positive side of the outcome. There are so many great folks at BASS that have had such positive impacts on the company and the sport. We hope all of those great folks get to continue in this great sport at a company they passionately worked to improve.
This will be an interesting week. We'll have feedback from many pros soon.
Wednesday we have the pleasure of getting a tour of the Zoom factory as well as the WEC crankbait factory with the man, the myth, the legend himself, Ed Chambers!
Then Thursday we'll be shooting videos with all the FLW pros over at the Forrest Wood Cup inside the outdoor expo and weigh-ins. So be looking for a lot more blogs this week with so much going on in professional angling and tackle manufacturing.
A special thanks to all of you who came by Wired2Fish.com to check out the news about BASS today and continue to drive us to work harder to keep you up to date on everything fishing! We spent about 13 hours in a truck today so we're sorry we didn't have more up to read. Will try to get some stuff up tomorrow from ZOOM.