Rayburn has hosted more B.A.S.S. events than any other lake in the U.S. There are more than 400 bass tournaments/year on the lake. And you guys are gonna cry about this one? The lake will be fine. Always has (except a few years after the LMBV) and always will.

I agree with everything you said but no denying the impact of new pressure. It has crushed Toledo bend. It won't be the same for years to come.

Yep, the pressure will increase and the fishing may get a little tougher, but the economic impact to the region will be welcome.

Don't look now but they are really smashing them this morning. Ehrler already has 21+ and there are a good number of guys with 15-16 already.

Except for the local businesses who need to stay busy as much as possible.

The local businesses do just fine. It's not a typical lake. Compared to a lake like fork loaded with businesses, Rayburn with the Corp and national Forest is pretty isolated. It stays busy

Look what happened to the local businesses in Zapata and Del Rio after the fishing tanked there. I don't see it happening to that extent in Jasper but the long term ecological impact of BASS holding events and touting lakes as #1 in the country are well documented. Falcon, Amistad, Toledo, Guntersville, etc... have all experienced downturns in fishing due to increased pressure from BASS tournaments and coverage. While there is no doubt that the short-term economical impacts are positive for the local communities and businesses, the long term impacts may be worse. Business is always steady in the Jasper area just because of the sheer amount of local/regional tournaments the two lakes host every year. Zapata got lucky that the turnaround time was so short, 2-3 years of poor fishing and it is now on the rebound. Del Rio fishing based businesses never rebounded, although the fishing has improved somewhat.

Just some thoughts on the matter. I can agree with both viewpoints... but as a small business owner I would take steady business over a long-term vs. a boon of single year and then no business.

No doubt

There are not 400 tournaments a year on Rayburn.

I bet it close to that. Any given weekend there is probably 10 different club tournaments that nobody minus the ones fishing know even exist. Last few Saturdays I've launched at Monterrey there were 4 or 5 clubs weighing in come 3:30. That's one ramp.

Question I have though, in the blog they were comparing Rayburn and Toledo. Toledo it says had 110 anglers vs Rayburn having 109. Who is the guy missing? Did someone drop out halfway through season?

Yea someone did, I read it in a blog or something earlier.

Jay Brainard. He dropped to spend more time at home with his newborn son.

Think it was Jay Brainard who dropped out. Perennially in the 90 place range since he joined the Elites.

You're probably right. Might be closer to 500, since this report was done by Todd Driscoll in 2010.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_rp_t3200_1561.pdf Bottom of page 3.

A total of 405 tournament events were held with 25,396 total participants.
Of these, 304 were conducted by �bass clubs� (<50 participants), 82 by
�lower open organizations� (>50 participants with entry fee <US$130), and
18 by �upper open organizations� (>50 participants with entry fee
>US$130).

This floors me. I guess I can't account for the 300 club tournaments. That's 6 per week! I know during the prime months there are 3 working man tournaments in the evening but they only last 3-4 months. Apparently there are a lot more clubs around here than I ever imagined. Thanks for the info.