Bass under attack once again

This past week the MN DNR has decided to ease the smallmouth harvest regulations on one of the midwest's greatest trophy smallmouth waters.  While Mille Lacs is best known as a walleye fishery, the fall survey numbers are showing a drastically shrinking walleye population especially in the smaller year classes.  So what better way to deal with this situation then to blame the lake's trophy smallmouth fishery.  That's right.  The smallmouths are eating all the walleye.  C'mon man.

It seems that whenever there is a short-coming in the DNR's management strategy, the blame gets pushed to other outlying factors.  Let's blame the tribes, the cormorants, the smallmouths, the largemouths, global warming, etc.  You get the picture.  The real problem is the DNR trying to have their cake and eating it too.  They want to create a trophy walleye fishery by imposing slot limits to protect the bigger fish, but what this does is focus the harvest on the smaller fish.  Eventually when those older, larger fish die and you've harvested far too many smaller fish you're left with the crash that we're seeing today.  Is this a surprise?  Common sense people.

Smallmouth and walleye have thrived in harmony in many of the best fisheries in the country.  Lake Erie, the Bays de Noc, the Bay of Greenbay, and yes Mille Lacs all have had robust fisheries for both species.  You don't see efforts on these other bodies of water to remove the smallmouth population.  Why?  Because smallmouth aren't the problem.  You need to address the real problem which is the management plan.  Let 'em go and let 'em grow.  Remove the slot limits.  Create a minimum size limit of 14-15 inches.  Supplement with stocking when needed.  Stock larger numbers of prey species.  Adjust harvest quota's regularly.  All of these would allow for greater harvest and happier anglers.  I know it may be hard to admit that a specific management plan isn't working, but I think we've seen these restrictive slot limits have their downfalls.  It's time to stop playing the blame game and go back to the drawing board.

FLW vs. B.A.S.S by the numbers

I've heard the question asked many times, "Which ones better, FLW or B.A.S.S.?"  There's been varied response to this question.  Some say B.A.S.S. is better for sponsorships but FLW is better as far as the money goes.  It's tough to get an accurate answer when it comes to sponsorships because it's really unknown to most how FLW works its sponsorship contracts for anglers.  As far as the money goes, well, that question can be answered.  I ran the numbers from the 2012 season and this is what I found.

FLW Everstart Central division

Entry fees in 2012 were $1000 for pros and $400 for co's.
Pro division payout was 126% 
Co division payout 135%.
Each division paid out to approx. 33% of the field.

Bassmaster Opens

Entry fees were $1250 for pros and $350 for co's.
Pro division payout was 97%.
Co division payout of 141%.
Each division paid out to approx. 40% of the field.

FLW Tour Opens

Entry fees were $4000 for pro and $700 for co's.
Pro division payout was 131%.
Co division payout was 99%.
Each division paid out to approx. 48% of the field.

FLW Tour Majors

Same entries as FLW Tour Opens
Pro division payout was 131%.
Co division payout was 102%
Each division paid out to approx. 41% of the field.

Bassmaster Elite Series

Entry fees  $5200
Payout was 124%
Payouts to approx. 51% of the field.

Based on these numbers I'd have to conclude that FLW and B.A.S.S. were very similar.  FLW got the edge with payout percentages, however B.A.S.S. paid deeper into the field at the highest levels. 

It's worth noting that some significant changes have occurred for the 2013 season.  FLW has changed it's format for the top level and have done away with the Open/Major format and gone to a single six tournament tour schedule.  The payout structure has stayed much the same as in previous years.  B.A.S.S, however, has made some drastic changes to the Opens.  Entry fees have risen by $250 for the pro division and payouts have shrunk noticeably.

Bassmaster Southern Open #1

Entry fees are now $1500 for pros and $425 for co's.
Pro division payout dropped to 79%.
Co division payout dropped to 95%.
Payouts still go to top 40 anglers.

These are significant changes.  If the rest of the Opens follow this same trend it will result in a $580,000 rake imposed by B.A.S.S on the Open competitors.  Is this a sign of troubled times?  Or is it a "robbing Peter to pay Paul" scenario?  Either way, I think it's short sighted and ultimately will damage B.A.S.S.





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Scale fraud in B.A.S.S.?

This weekend I read an interesting post from Timmy Horton on his Facebook wall.  It was vague but it suggested that there needs to be a change in the scales that B.A.S.S. uses to weigh fish because there's the possibility of hacking into the system.  He contends that because the scales are digital and the fact that the current system allows us to see the anglers next to weigh that there is time for someone to hack into the system and manipulate weights.  Either that or he's suggesting that the weights could be manipulated by B.A.S.S. staff which is an even more scathing charge.  You can  read his post in its entirety on his wall from March 6th.    https://www.facebook.com/TimmyHortonBass?ref=ts&fref=ts.

I don't know what you think, but I've got to call this one of the most far-fetched charges I've seen in the world of professional bass fishing.  Do the anglers really have nothing else more pressing to worry about?  Is there that much distrust in the B.A.S.S. organization?  I don't think so.  I think some guys are suffering from a severe case of paranoia.  I wonder if some of  these guys making these charges also suffer from the munchies.   That would explain a lot. Or maybe this is just their way of explaining KVD's dominance.  Either way I think they're barking up the wrong tree here.

Can made in the U.S.A. tackle companies survive long term?

If you read yesterday's post, you know that the majority of bass fishing tackle in our big retailers today is manufactured overseas.  Why do companies look to manufacture their products 6,000 miles from there intended consumers?  To gain a competitive advantage that's why.  What does that mean?  Let's look at how the tackle buying system works.

All the large tackle retailers in this country have tackle buyers.  These tackle buyers purchase the product that will be displayed on their store's shelves.  They make these decisions based on a couple key points.  Is there local demand for the product?  How much can they mark it up?  Is it affordable?  Does the product have broad market reach?  Boil this down and you're looking for a product that is relatively inexpensive and has been marketed to the largest amount of people.

Labor costs, in many industries, are the largest expense that companies have.  How do we cut labor costs?  Find a country with lower labor standards and you can lower your production costs.  How much cheaper is it abroad?  Let's look at China as an example.  The minimum wage in China varies from around $90-$180 a month.  Chinese workers put in 50 hours a week or more.  200 hours a month making less than $180.  That puts the hourly wage at somewhere between $0.50-$0.95/hr.  Federal minimum wage in the U.S. is $7.25/hr.  That's a cost savings of over $6.25/hr or an annual savings of $12,500+ per employee.  Of course, the shipping costs and taxes associated with shipping the goods over seas are higher, but in the grand scheme of things it's a no-brainer cost wise.

Now they have a product that they can offer at a lower price and extra money to spend on marketing it.  Lots of extra money.  More exposure in the media = more retail locations and on goes the cycle.  What does that mean for the companies manufacturing in the U.S.A.?  It means that cost will likely not be their competitive advantage.  It means that most will need to find a place outside the "big box" stores.  It means that they will have to learn to compete with one arm tied behind their backs.  What's the best way to survive in a sea of sharks with one arm tied behind your back?  Don't try to swim with them.

Do you know where your baits are made?

If you've spent any time watching the news lately, you'd have seen the scrapping in Congress over this country's financial situation.  It seems that the only thing Congress can agree on is that we need to create more jobs.   We know that the economy has sucked the last few years, but where did all the jobs go?  They've been out-sourced.  No,  not just the large Fortune 500 companies in the tech industry, but also in the very companies that play such a large role in what we love to do.  What I didn't know was how prevalent this trend had become.

This past weekend I decided to do a little research at the local Gander Mountain store.  What I wanted to find out was how many of the brands on the store shelves were made in the USA and how many were made elsewhere.  What I found was really disheartening.

Let's start with crankbaits and spinnerbaits:

Booyah spinnerbaits                      Mexico
Z-man Chatterbaits                        China and USA
Rapala                                            Estonia
Terminator Spinnerbaits                 China
Excaliber                                        China
Bandit                                             China
Strike King                                     Costa Rica
Bomber                                           China
Spro                                                 China
Rebel                                               China
Heddon                                            China
Storm                                               China
Luck-E- Strike                                 China
Manns                                              USA

Jigs:

Terminator                                      Vietnam
Strike King                                      Costa Rica
VMC                                                Phillipines
Booyah                                             China

Plastics:

Zoom                                                 USA
Reaction Innovations                        USA
Yamamoto                                         USA
Strike King                                        Dominican Republic and USA
Berkley                                              USA
Big Bite Baits                                    USA
Trigger X                                           Taiwan

Line:                          

Berkley                                              USA
Power Pro                                          USA
Suffix                                                 Taiwan
P-Line                                                Japan
Seaguar                                              Japan
Sunline                                               Japan


While these are the products in my local store, I think you'll find this trend in "big box" stores across the country.  Only one USA made crankbait company made it to the store shelves.  Tomorrow we'll talk about why this is so.

I don't care who you are this is funny

An old man rocking on his porch sees a young kid and his fishing pole walking down the dirt road. "Where you goin' with that pole?" he calls. "Gonna git me some fish with this here fishing pole!" answers the kid. Sure enough, as the sun is setting the old man sees the kid going home with a bucket of fish.

Next day, old man rocking on his porch sees the kid walking down the dirt road with some duct tape. "Where you goin' with that?" he calls. "Gonna git me some ducks with this here tape!" answers the kid. "You can't git no ducks with tape!" hollers the old man. But sure enough, as the sun is setting the old man sees the kid going home with the tape strung out behind him and ducks stuck all over it!

Next day, old man rocking on his porch sees the kid walking down the dirt road with some chicken wire. "Where you going with that?" he calls. "Gonna get me some chickens with this wire!" answers the kid. "You can't get no chickens with wire!" hollers the old man. But sure enough, as the sun is setting the old man sees the kid going home with the wire strung out behind him and chickens stuck all through it!

Next day, old man rocking on his porch sees the kid walking down the dirt road with some pussy willows. "Now hold on just a minute" calls the old man, "wait while I get my hat!!"