I asked a couple of buddies that fish the tour, they all like it. Aside from the fact that, for those that travel with a co, which many do, it's going to bump their travel costs up $3000-$4000 a year. Upside is 180 less lines in the water every Thursday and Friday, less practice pressure (co's had no offlimits, so some of them showed up a week early with their boats and hammered the lakes), no more 4 hour weigh ins.

It will hurt some guys in finding fish, as two rods in the water during practice almost always better than 1. But sometimes having a co in the back will change how you practice, I've experienced that in the Costa's, can't explain it but it does. I think you will see that additional expense make it harder for the guys to make a go of the tour, and on top or increased expenses, the tour increased entry fee's i thnk $4-5k a year, and took away $45,000 in prize money (51-60 now only gets $5500 per vs $10k last year). It certainly seems like overall FLW is not headed in the right direction to help their "pro's" actually make a living.

So where are all those Co's gonna wear their jerseys now?

They already wearing them to their club tournaments and registration...

Bass Pro

I would bet the flw cup payout gets reduced also. If they are making it harder to even come close to breaking even in that 50 to 60 place range it's most likely going to reduce overall field in the future. Ken is correct about hurting pro's, increased entry's , expenses and lower overall payouts will take alot of player's out of the game.