We had a crappie tournament on roberts the same time. Showed up to prefish Friday at 620am and was the second truck in pecan creek ramp. That was awesome!!! I was expecting complete McDonalds style chaos and insanity.

Agreed. As nice as BASSTrakk is, you know exactly who is going to win 99 percent of the time. There is no drama at all at the weigh ins. Just imagine how crazy Day 3 of the Classic would have been if no one would have known that Evers had a 30 pound bag.

As far as the TTBC, a ton has been said about it, but I will add that the music selection sucked (at least in my opinion and that of my friends) and they held it the same weekend as several other huge festivals including Wildflower in Richardson, which drew 70,000 or so people over three days. Combine that with zero adverting, a weigh in that isn't really a weigh in since there is only one fish being weighed, and a $20 walk-up ticket price (which is the reason I didn't go Sunday) and you have a bad turnout.

None of the live coverage venues on-line seem to have had a negative impact on turn out from tournaments past regardless of promotor, or at least not to the extent that was deemed questionable in regard to its success or failure. Bad traffic, on-line content, other active tournaments, good crappie fishing, bands or whatever are all variables every other major tournament promoters have to deal with as well but they still find a way to make their events a success despite of it all.

The success or failure of local events like TTBC, BASS, FLW and others is totally in the hands of the event organizers and the locals who would support them. In the case of last months event at RR it seems as though neither of which were prepared to hold up their end of the bargain in making the high profile TTCB event worthwhile in obtaining their collective goals. I seriously doubt the major sponsorship of TTBC makes that mistake anytime soon again, or until they can figure out what went wrong and how to correct it.

The enhanced live coverage that BASS has is improving by leap years almost each each event now and it has certainly affected some recent turnouts. Also time of year plays a big factor. This is the first week a lot of kids just got out of school and so many people are traveling on vacation etc. There is just so much going on in this area this time of year as well. The Classic draws so well in late winter/early spring as its the only show going so to speak.

I can see why turnout was low, since lake is so high and big, it would be hard to follow the pro's around. I was under the impression the Expo kinda suxed from what I have seen reported on here, but at least it was free this time.

Texoma lake is in the middle of BFE, maybe bring an event to a local lake like Lewisville, Ray Hubbard.

Or just maybe Pro Bass Tournaments close to D/FW aren't going to work, that may be the cold hard reality....

Lots of good posts here. The reality is North Texas simply doesn't work. People don't show up from the local trails to the biggest events in our sport.

People in other states/locations simply show up. They don't complain about tolls, the traffic, parking, number of vendors, and so on. They just come out and support the events.

Now if RedRanger was fishing in it..........

I went to one of their final day "weigh ins" when it was at Conroe and I just couldn't get over them not having fish to weigh in on the stage. When Dave mercer tries to pretend as though there are fish on a scale when there isn't is a major turn off for me

I'm sure it's been posted.. But when and what channel does it come on tv? Thanks

The major draw has always been the performers. The Tournament is secondary. They had good crowds with the TTBC. tournament format in the past. This years location just didn't work for them. Very little advertising. Weak Band selection.

You put it in a Metro area were people are tired of dealing with traffic then you better have good performers . Lots of options on things to do week after week in a Metro Area. At Lake Fork the event stood out. Rarely do they get a chance to see the level of performers the TTBC booked.

Add in the fact that Fork is a jewel and people wanted to see what the Elite guys can do on it that helps the Tournament too.

North Texas needs more youngsters bass fishing. On the weekends, people go where the kids want to go. There is a glaring lack of high school bass teams and junior tournaments in the area. If there were more youngsters competing in bass tournaments, they'd be begging their parents to take them to an event like TTBC

This is about as long-winded as I'll get, because what the hell do I know....

I've never attended these because I just got back into fishing and I've been out of the state or country, but I see what some of y'all are saying. People just don't attend.

I'm sitting here on 24hr duty wondering what they're doing wrong or what they could change in the marketing aspect.

Location issues: I like the idea of Lake Fork, because Fork is THE LAKE FORK! Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn may be fishing better right now, but I've never been to either so I don't know. I just know it's the place that brought me back to fishing. I won a donated trip/entry into TFF Lake Fork Guide Tournament back on Feb 6th. Having never fished Lake Fork before, and knowing it's reputation since a child, it was if I was on hallowed ground. Thanks to a fun guide (Mark Stevenson), Rob Lay who donated the trip and took me out for practice, and that lone 3.5lber that prevented me from blanking, I was hooked better than that fish. If we can all remember this about the waters we heard about when we were kids, I wouldn't give a damn if I didn't catch anything. It's the possibility of that childhood dream of your first DD LMB coming true that would keep me coming back. Damn, I really glorified the hell out that place, huh?

The only place I could see it working out would be Ray Hubbard or maybe Maybe.... the Colorado River System, Lake Travis with Final being on Lake Austin. But given closer to a major metroplex, it becomes less about the actual event. They can work in conjunction with local Bass Pro Shops footing the bill for big name entertainers, but you'd lose touch with the opportunity provided to smaller vendors.

In general, you can run a food trailer "food court" as well as local eateries. If it's true that it was $20 for final day, go with $30-$50 for a 3-4 day pass. If LJT Fest can pull a couple hundred for their multiday pass, we can support for 1/4 of that. Maybe offer a $100 family pass for the whole event. The more people, the more revenue. The expo portion can be included in admission price and minimal cost to vendors with small donations for door prizes. I mean, c'mon, nominate your Hometown (GoPro) Hero+! I don't have a marketing degree but can tell you that will work. I'm 36 years old and don't own a combo worth over $150, but if I was a teenager about to join my high school fishing team and won a rod from Mr. Dobyns himself... I'd be damned if I ever got rid of it. Strike King awards someone the full line of KVD lures presented by Kevin VanDam. LFT and Santone passing out their usual swag. These are known names giving back and being the ambassadors they naturally are, and little things like this will mold the future of the sport...... right down to the attendance of the TTBC.

I'm thinking about campgrounds, more involvement with TPWD and state parks, and some free boater and/or hunter education as part of it. It's the state of Texas, and I'll be damned if we have to sit back and watch these events go to [censored] when we have the ability for them not to. Tons of things that I could continue with this, but best I just cut it off.... Hope to see them make the changes y'all think will work.

I won't be a hypocrite, so I'll see y'all out there next year, no matter where it's at. Tight Lines to all......

Could've waited 20 minutes and just gone with +1^^^

I think and I might be wrong... But I think the North guys are so used to these thpes of events that a lot of them get tone deaf to events. Us down in the South/Central would like to see events like this every now & then. I just don't know how many people would show up here though.