yea none on rayburn or Toledo either

Going to keep my mouth shut so I don't get in trouble

Dax,
You had some good thoughts in your earlier post.

We are always interested in what your thoughts are.

USAFT staff

Bill25,

Do you think we could get a good turnout with a Rayburn Solo. Is there a fall-summer solo trail already there at Rayburn?

USAFT staff

Cedar Creek - Tawakoni division sounds good to me

My thought is not a good chose in lakes like I said you need 2 divisions north and south or east and west then a championship on a neutral lake for both divisons you will have alot more entries and put the entry fee at 100-125 the way you have it set up now there will be no draw and iam saying this from watching all the trails now!

Just my to cents not trying to step on toes or anything just being honest!

Dax,
Consider my thoughts as discussion points and not a final decision or to be argumentative.

* most of our existing anglers said they do not want another low entry solo division. Several trails are already providing low entry solo divisions.

* most solo Anglers have told us they prefer to fish close to home due to the cost of travel and hotels and prefer the higher entry fees to help offset expenses when they draw a check.

* if we scheduled two divisions and pulled 40 boats per division, because most anglers would not venture too far from home for low entry fee tournaments, how long would the program last, if only the top two places would cover the angler costs?

* The championship is the key, especially in a 3 tournament Solo series. That should be the drawing card. If we can get 30-40 teams in each of 3-4 divisions, the championship would pull 100 or more boats. After a couple seasons the division participation should improve.

* There are plenty of bass clubs, jackpot tournaments and weekday tournaments to fill the need for low entry tournaments.

If I knew the right button to push I would have pushed it already. That is why I am asking for thoughts from the anglers who have not fished with us as well as those who have.

We may add a Rayburn division because we already know there is a base of anglers there and most will not travel away from Rayburn, except to enter a championship. Fork anglers are also loyal to Fork.


Food for thought....

I in on RR and tex once I see the dates. Texas OU on the second weekend in October won't be a good weekend for me. Just saying.

RR and texhoma one sounds good , keep the entries at $200

how bout a hill country lakes

I think you are spot on. There is plenty of low entry fee tournaments and clubs out there! I agree with $150 to $200 entry fee. Higher stakes tournament will make it more reasonable for someone to drive longer distances to the lakes you choose. I just cant make my self drive two hours to fish a $50 entry fee tournament knowing that I have to win the thing just to get even on the day.

pines/sandlin

Here are my initial thoughts after watching Bud Light and Media trails this year and in the past, having fished both as well. At Lake Fork, last week Bud Light had 12 boats if I remember correctly on a Sunday team tournament. This past Saturday Media had over 40, which is considered very low. Why the discrepancy in number of boats??? The entry fee is the same. The payout is not.

I have seen similar situations on other lakes that I have fished both trails, not to mention scouring through both websites looking at results and comparing payouts. Both trails are 1:5 pay structures and same entry fee, but a drastically different payout structure.

There is little doubt that BLT is a well ran trail, but as some have mentioned in this post, there are simply too many trails. Guys have to usually pick a trail, division, circuit whatever to fish and can't fish every single one. Its too much time and money. So, when deciding what to fish, payout is usually a major deciding factor. And for my money, if I know that I can win $2000 in a 25 boat tournament, that's what I am going to fish.

Anyway, thats my .02 cents. I would probably not fish a Solo circuit unless I knew the payout structure upfront and it was posted.

Matt,
Media has a $160 85% payback ($132 less polygraph expense) and BLT has a $200 entry fee. They are not the same. BLT pays pack 80% ($160) in division tournaments with no expenses taken out of the 80% payback. Media pays back 85% with a polygraph expense taken out of the 85% before the payout is determined.

BLT offers an Alpha 211 with a 250HP Mercury in our grand championship (estimated value $50-$55,000) compared to Media's $10,000 for first place.

BLT puts 100% of the sponsors products and cash back into the payouts and or championships. Plus, part of the 20% we keep goes into the championship payout guarantees.

I did not post this to say one is better than the other, only to give the facts.

BLT also offers 5 more regional championships in Texas for anglers to enter with a $10,000 guarantee spread over the top 3 places ($5,000, $3,000 & $2,000) at all regionals.

Lake Fork has always been a strong circuit for Media. Our Fork division needs work but the payouts are not the same and Media has a lower entry fee. We were told by anglers, if we stopped allowing the Fork guides to enter our Fork division that the participation would improve. Next year will tell the story there.

Many of our divisions are doing fine and others are not doing as well. We will be reducing the number of divisions next year to improve participation.

We appreciate your thoughts.

USAFT staff